Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-03-30
ALFRED LYNCH
On Work Of Commissioners Of Navigation


VTNIE nature and scope of the work en-
i conpassed in the authority OF the com
missioncrs of navigation here are facts not
to Alfred Lynch, statistician of the port of
Philadelphia, connected with this depart
ment. who maintains set of records and
complies lists of figures that would tax the
brain of the average mathematician.
And these figurcs,' points out Mr.
Lynch, ''must be absolutely accurate, rather
than be to a great extent imaginary, as Is
the case with some statisticians. Dream
figures are not enough. and there are too
many groups Of people ready to catch US up
at the slightest mistake for us to take any
chances with accuracy OF statement.
II will point out further on the various
agencies which call upon us for items OF IN
formation concerning the doings or the poL.,
First, let me list In brief substance the
statistics which we compile.
Every ship which comes into the port OF
Philadelphia must report to the commission
crs OF navigation through her captain OF
| consgnce And the information that the
| latter must give to us includes the following
| points:
First. Name of vessel and of her cap
tain.
Second Port hailins from and port
| bound for.
Third. Nature and amount of cargo.
Fourth. Consignee of cargo.
| Fifth. Consgnec Of vessel.
Sixth. Gross and net tonnage.
Seventh. Draft Of vessel
Eighth. Pier loaded or discharged At
Foreign vessels must supply the same
data but in this case much OF the inforna-
ton, including that concerning the cargo
comes directly from the custom house. The
navigation commissioners have wider scope
than any department Of the port, since our
investigations include every vessel from the
larger liner to the smallest barge.
Includes State Nautical School
Our department, which is under state
control, BY the way, has charge Of the hcens-
Inv of pilots and includes under its Jurls-
diCtion a state nautical school. 1t was In
st!tutcd, In It's present form, III iO,, u
succeed the former Board OF Port WardenS'
Other states have similar bodies at ,hell
ports known variously as board OF harooi
officials, port wnrdenS and harbor commis
sioners. We have records, by the way, 0,
vessels clearing and arriving at this por'
as far back as 1T6O.
still another feature of our work. which
was temporarily taken over by the govern
lnent as IA war measure. was the care nn'
charge of anchoragcs, and in the near fu
ture this will probably be again turned ove'
10 ur. Allied to this work, we settle dis
putes as to docking privileges and similaa
questions. incidentally, we have charge Q
me licensing. the building Of all wharYes II
Delaware and Bucks counties.
1--WE have q boat on the river whose chic
duties, In addition TO the former one o
anchorage tending, is to go after vessel
| which through careleSSness or tOrgctfulnesS
have forgotten to register with us az the
are required to do. To carry out the mani
fold phases of our work we have n port cap
, tain. boat crew and vessel clerk in additio
to such positions as stntistician and secre
tary.
ITO come to the question OF the variou
sources from which come calls for statistics
. and which are assisted BY our figures. | ca
] first mention the uses of figures showing th
drafts Of vessels.
. ''Thcsc are needed particularly by til
United States engineers Office For example
! II n vessel drawing twenty nine feet of wat'
: comes up the channel without any trouble
= Il shows pretty conClusiyey that We have
,, thirty foot channel in the Delaware, AS
= spccifcd by the government, On the othC
- hand. If vessel of that draft report
a dif6cultiCS the government engineers invest
gntc for possible shoals. As IL general
a. Known, the port IL after u thirty live. fox
= channel all the way down. and the averal
n drafts ot vessels coming here are Of pl
n culinr interest in connection with this pla
k Net Tonnage Important Factor
!" Gross tonnage Is a comparatively unin
nortant item since 1t does not carry any de
"a ipltc Significance, but net tonnage Is OF 4
ii greatest interest to port ofncials. both he
40 and throughout the country, who desire
sec how the various ports compare in {
t.l.T