The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1914-06-25
PERILOUS CARCOES
Sailors Dread Ships That Carry
Sugar, Coffee or Cotton.
ACIDS ALSO ARE DANGEROUS.

Dynamite and Other Explosives Are
Tame In Comparison With Chemicals
That Are a Constant Menace to the
Vessels In Which They Are Stored.
Deliver us from a cargo of sugar or
coffee or cotton" is the prayer that
many sailors send up when they are in
doubt as to what fate will bring them
lext In the cargo line They welcome,
Utmost gladly, a cargo of dynamite or
other explosive, but they dislike the
positive discomfort and danger that
come to them with the cargo of sugar,
coffee or cotton.
At first sight it seems that dynamite
would be a cargo to be carefully side
stepped, but from sailors point Of
view more things than the mere dan
ger involved are to be considered. A
cargo of sugar is bad. Put hundreds
of tons of cane sugar in casks in the
hold of a vessel and let the ship steam
through a belt of hot weather The
odor is sickening. The sailors cannot
get the sweet taste out of their mouths.
They crave vinegar or lemon juice
anything sour. They lose their appe-
tites and are always glad when a voy-
age on which the cargo was sugar is
over.
Coffee is as disagreeable as sugar, in
addition to being really dangerous. A
cargo of green coffee is not at all un-
| pleasant at first, but the odor rapidly
pals on the olfactory nerves. In damp
weather 1t becomes dreadful. 1t seems
to impregnate everything in the ship
and eventually the crew lose all appe-
tite and sometimes become seriously
Ill.
Cotton rs a really dangerous cargo.
If little oh happens to touch raw cot
ton the result is what is called spon-
taneous combustion. A single bale Of
cotton saturated with such an oil as
boiled linseed, and lying at the bottom
of hold, can be compared only to a
slow match attached to a bomb. In
fact, it is even more dangerous, be-
cause while there might be ninety-nine
chances out of a hundred that some
thing might happen to prevent the ex-
plosion of the bomb. there are about
500 chances in 1000 that the cotton
will burn.
Onions also cause sailors much dis
comfort. The French steamer Yarra
with a cargo of onions from Alexan-
dria to England, lost one man and had
three others rendered insensible by
fumes rising from the'tons of onions In
her hold.
Acids and other chemicals form dan
gerous cargoes. Carbide of calcium.
for instance, is more dangerous than
dynamite. Acetyline gas is made from
this chemical, and the gas is constant
ly given off If the product is exposed
to air. Some time ago the Hamburg
bark Hebe was towed into Plymouth
sound, England, in a disabled condi-
ton. Her cargo was 200 tons of cal
cium carbide. When the commander
in chief at Devonport learned the ma
ture of the disabled bark's cargo he
ordered all the war vessels in the
sound to take refuge at Hamaze and
forbade the Hebe to stand in for re-
pairs until all her perilous cargo had
been removed by a barge of the war
department.
The Voiturno, which burned at sea,
had a cargo which included rags, peat
moss, barrels of spirits. tar and oils,
together with drums of various chemi-
Gals. Water could have little effect on
the flames from such a combination
when it had caught fire.
Nitric and sulphuric acids are dan
gerous cargoes and add to the dangers
of the sea when carried aboard ships.
Some years ago the Phoenix liner Mich
igan was caught in gale while COM
ing to this country. She had a deck
load of sulphuric and muriatic acid in
metal drums. A huge sea washed over
the forward deck and broke a number
of the acid drums from their lashings
sending them crashing around the
deck. Volunteers were called for tC
heave the drums overheard. The crash
ing of the sea and the rolling on the
deck had split some Of the containers
and the acid burned the flesh of the
sailors who responded to the call fol
volunteers. The battle with the dead
ly acid drums waged for an hour. Maj
after man was forced to fall out from
the line Of battle and go below Il
have his wounds dressed. When the
situation was becoming critical the
danger was eliminated the way it haC
comedy another wave washing ovel
the vessel and carrying away the un
fastened drums and part of the lee rail
Shipmasters dislike carrying drums
Of acid where they cannot be reached
readily. A Chilean ship put in at tn,
Falkland islands leaking badly. He
cargo was made up of drums of aciC
and chalk. The acid had leaked from
the drums and mixed with the chalk
forming carbonic acid gas In the hold
This gas is deadly and the crew coult
not make repairs. Meantime the aci,
had gathered at the bottom of the holt
and eaten away the iron frames Of tn
ship.-New York Press.
For His Own Use