tier should be carefully laid with a uniform level bearing throughout the length of the bars. The first tier should be stowed as closely as possible. The keelson should have a full share of the weight."

557. Stevedores occasionally endeavour to persuade masters to allow them to stow railway bars, &c., solid each side the keelson, pretending that it will enable the ship to sail better. Their real object is to place a large proportion of the cargo on the ceiling, because it is easier for them, and it leaves more space in the hold to manœuvre the remainder of the bars, particularly if long, than when the hold is half full. Some shippers contend that the cargo should be so knitted together that a movement of the bars at one end of the cargo should be felt at the other end.

558. The Western Mercantile Insurance Association (Padstow), place the following restrictions as to cargoes of iron :-All ships except British A1, and those employed in the coasting trade, loading iron, shall not exceed the following per centage, viz.: 100 to 200 tons, 35 cent. over registered tonnage; 200 to 250 tons, 80 p cent.; 250 to 300 tons, 27} † cent.; 300 to 400 tons, 25 ♪ cent.; 400 to 600 tons, 20 cent.; 600 to 800 tons, 15 † cent.; 800 to 1,000 tons, 12 cent; 1,000 to 1,200 tons, 10 cent.; 1,200 to 1,400 tons, 7 † cent.; 1,500 tons, 5 cent.; pig iron and lead,

559. The Queen, Capt. CHRISTY, was loaded at Cardiff in July, 1863. The only dunnage used was on the skin, in the ends of the ship, to protect them from chafe. The bars were about 18 feet long. The first tier was laid fore and aft on the flat of the floor, close together, from the keelson to the bilges, say 20 bars each side, and was subsequently continued up the sides as the cargo rose. The next tier was laid grating-fashion, say 8 of these to 20 of those laid solid. When eight tiers were crossed, the height of the keelson was reached, and the bars were then crossed on the keelson and the lower tiers. In this manner the bars were continued up to nearly within four feet of the deck beams. The cargo was then "blocked off" by placing

across it two 24-inch planks about 15 feet apart. The rails (18 feet were then laid fore and aft close together, with the ends shifted in pairs and extending in and out 18 to 24 inches. The ends were then securely lashed with small chain to the main part of the cargo, which extended to within five feet fore and aft of the bulkheads. So laden she behaved well at sea. With 160 tons of Landshipping coal her draught is the same as when laden with railway iron.

560. The Leader, Capt TRENAMAN, loaded at Newport, in October, 1865. Her first tier of bars was also laid close on the skin, each side of the keelson, and carried up to the bilges, &c. They were crossed each side very light, say six or seven tiers, until the height of the keelson was reached; on it some wood was used to make it level with the tiers. The tiers were then crossed light, say 2 feet apart, until they reached within four feet of her hold beams, when they were stowed heavier, say one foot apart, until the beams were reached. [By having the iron stowed heavier at the centre of gravity, it made the ship more easy at sea, and in discharging there was less hoist for the principal part of the cargo.] Short bars were used to angle between the beams (which are about 20 feet apart) and were carried up to about an inch or so above the beams, which were kept free from the cargo. Then two planks were laid 18 feet apart, with their ends touching the sides of the ship. On the planks three tiers of bars solid, the upper tier shifted three bars forward and three aft for lashing with 15 to 20 fathoms of -inch chain, frapped with rope, which was wetted with a bucket of water or a mop, to tighten the fastening. With 260 tons NEVILLE's hand-picked Llanelly coal the Leader draws 12 feet 10 inches aft and 11 feet 7 inches forward.

561. Both cargoes were for London. Had they been going a greater distance it would have been necessary to shore the upper part against the deck, in which case the shores should be well cleated above and below. The Queen was loaded aground, where it would have been useless to shore her, as she would drop perhaps two inches when floated. Cargoes going foreign are usually laden afloat. When the cargo requires to be placed above the beams it should not rest on them; but if unavoidable the beams must be shored. It is not advisable to lash the cargo to the beams for security against shifting. In reference to blocking off it may be stated that some stevedores reserve a number of bars just the width of the ship, and in such cases as those of the Queen and Leader, these shorter bars are laid across the cargo close together, to the extent of say half the length of the long bars (laid solid), and are lashed down with them. [Some masters consider that this arrangement is likely to create a deviation

of the compass to the extent of a quarter point or half point, according to the amount of magnetism in the iron; see the article magnetism.] It is indispensable that when stowing as in the two cases above referred to, the stevedores should be watched closely, early and late, otherwise they will not sufficiently protect the skin of the ship with the bars laid solid, and will not place the ends of the crossed bars close against the protecting bars on the sides. Where this is not attended to and heavy weather is experienced, the crossed bars are liable to run against the sides of the ship and endanger her safety.

562. Cargo shifted. In 1854, the schooner Pearl, left Bristol with railway iron for Alicante; her beam was narrow, the cargo shifted, and she put back. When re-stowing the last five or six tiers, the master crossed the rails, burton-fashion, from side to side, with 24-inch deals, one at each end of the rails; the deals were not placed directly over each other; by this means the upper part of the cargo was securely bound together, as iron will not slide on wood like it will on iron.

563. A schooner left Cardiff on the 5th of March, 1865, for Lisbon, and on the 15th foundered in the Bay of Biscay. She registered 89 tons, was 72 feet long, 19.4 broad, and 10-4 deep. Her cargo consisted of 123 tons of railway and rod iron, and 21 tons of coke. The railway iron, 6,885 bars, of small size, 17 or 18 feet long, was stacked diamond-fashion and levelled on the top; it extended four feet before the foremast, and was within five feet of the after bulkhead. The bars did not reach the beams by about two feet, and a man could walk over them. The rod iron, about 13 feet long, packed in 310 bundles of 14 cwt. each, was placed in the wings "out of the way of the wet from the hatchways." The coke was thrown in last, and when at sea, it seemed to drop between the bars and made the cargo yet more heavy below, and at the same time decreased the elasticity of the iron, greatly to the disadvantage of the sailing of the ship. So much weight below and in the wings made her roll in heavy weather; she sprung a leak, and the crew were obliged to take refuge in a passing vessel, which brought them safely home.

564. A ship of 850 tons register, bound to the East Indies, was stowed in London as follows: the first tier of railway iron was laid solid, fore and aft, about two-thirds of the distance from the keelson towards the bilges; the second and third tiers grating-fashion; the fourth solid, and so on, until the height of the keelson was reached. The wings were then filled with wood railway sleepers up above the keelson. The first four subsequent tiers were laid open, the fifth

solid, keeping the wings filled up with sleepers as the iron rose. In this manner the ship took in 900 to 1,000 tons of iron, which reached to about four feet before the foremast, as far aft as the mizen mast, both ends and the wings being filled up with sleepers. The remainder of the cargo consisted of general goods over all. So laden she behaved well at sea and made a successful voyage. This method of stowage keeps over-weight off from the bilges and brings the iron to a proper height. Railway sleepers are very suitable in the same hold with railway bars.

565. Railway bars for the East Indies are mostly oiled, which greatly increases the danger of shifting; loose straw or sawdust is sometimes used in stowing the last part of such a cargo, to decrease this risk. In charter-parties for "railway iron," iron chairs and fish-plates are occasionally included with bars. The quantity of chairs and plates should be proportionate to the bars. For use, four fish-plates are required to each bar for securing it to the sleepers, and in this proportion there is not much danger at sea, especially if placed in the ends. It happens, however, at times, that as much as 100 tons of fish-plates are sent say with 150 tons of bars; and a schooner so laden at a Welsh port foundered in the Bristol Channel. The fish-plates were placed on the bars. Occasionally bars of round iron are sent on board to be stowed with railway bars or bars of flat iron. Although stowed at a considerable depth in the cargo, when heavy weather is encountered, all the upper part has been known to roll on the round bars, and to endanger the safety of the ship; it may be better in this case to place the round bars in the ends. Small rod iron was formerly tied at each end in portable bundles; when loose they are very liable to roll about in a ship's hold. In chartering for old engines, machinery, &c., the character of the articles offered should be known so as to ascertain whether the freight should be by weight or by measurement.

566. Swedish bar iron is occasionally shipped to Hull in large parcels, sometimes in entire cargoes; to London it is shipped in parcels from 30 to 50 tons, rarely as much as 100 tons, and most frequently as ballast for wood and grain; freight is usually at a ballast rate, say cargo 20s., iron 5s. to 10s. Small parcels are placed below; for greater a sort of well is often built up with deals, sometimes the whole length of the hold; the iron is placed there, the loading being completed with deals. This raises the weight more towards the centre, and is intended to make the ship work easily at sea. The principal point with importers is that masters should use sufficient dunnage, so that the bars shall not come direct on the

skin, where they are rather prone to place it. Rust is the great liability to be avoided as it greatly deteriorates the market value of Swedish iron. Quantities of Swedish keg steel come as ballast with cargoes of oats, in which case they are usually spread out equally over the bottom of the hold. A Hull merchant says "the usual way of stowing full cargoes of iron is to dunnage the bottom well, then put a deal upon its edge up and down the ceiling, and pigeoncote the cargo as far fore and aft as will bring it within about 18 inches of the combings."

567. To save extra pressure in the bilges, one experienced owner recommends iron to be kept as much as possible fore and aft on the flat of the floor, and that when chequering, the chequers should be closer over the keelson and amidships than towards the sides. When stowed close in the bilges, and the ship heaves over, the pressure must be excessive. The keels and keelsons of iron-laden ships have been sometimes injured when they have taken the ground, in consequence of all the weight being placed on the frame and none on the keelson. Care should therefore be observed to lay the bottom iron as high only as the top of the keelson, so that the first 'thwartship tier should have a bearing on it; the keelson would thus sustain a fair proportion of the weight of the cargo.

WEIGHT OF WROUGHT IRON BARS, 12 inches long, in Pounds avoirdupois.

Weight of a copper rod 12 inches long and 1 inch diam eter=3.039 fbs. Weight of a brass rod 12 inches and 1 inch diameter=2·86 lbs.