the usual charge for stowing is 90 soldis p 1,000 staves. The expense of the crew for say two months at Trieste was about £113. The port charges, and everything included, were about £60, viz. : : EXCHANGE.-Florins 128 75 for £10 sterling. 100 soldis are 1 florin Austrian. The Messina was detained at Trieste owing to the war, and the Government pressing all the railway cars for conveyance of troops, stores, &c. About 20,000 day is the usual day's work. 1052. Staves-Trieste. The brig Phantom, of Salcombe, Capt. W. MASTERS, 249 tons register; length, keel 108 feet, measurement 114; breadth 24 feet 2 inches, depth 14 feet 7 inches, loaded at Trieste, and left 29th September, 1868. Her cargo consisted of 133,388 oak staves, in 188,500 pieces, of the following dimensions, namely, 37 inches long, 5 inches broad, and 12 lines thick, French measure. They were stowed in bulk, fore and aft, on their edges, as stated in "STEVENS ON STOWAGE." The brig had 25 tons of shingle ballast. When kindly supplying these details, Capt. MASTERS with much candour, says, if I had stuck to your rules I should have had my ship in much better trim. You say 40 to 50 tons of ballast for a ship of 500 tons; I had only 20 to 25 tons, when I ought to have had at least 40, as my deck-load was about 40 tons weight. By having ballast enough in the bottom to make a level for the ground. tier of staves we should have taken just the same quantity, and the ship would have been much stiffer at sea; as it was she was very crank. With this cargo her draft was 13 feet 6 inches aft, and 11 feet forward. With a dead-weight cargo of 408 tons Cardiff coal, she drew 14 feet 10 inches aft, 12 feet 4 inches forward; her best trim at sea may be taken at 2 feet 6 inches by the stern. Her port charges at Trieste on the above cargo were £27, and at port of discharge, Grimsby, £16. Freight is paid for 133,388 staves, in 188,300 pieces, from 18 inches to 28 inches long. Staves are an expensive cargo, taking in and out, as the ship has to bear the cost of measuring at Trieste, as well as the stowage. This cargo measured 45 standard at 4 florins standard, and £11 stowing, to £16 discharging. The deck load measured 12,000, the hold 121,000. Freight 78. Gd. P hundred, equal to 5s. 6d. quarter grain. 1053. Messrs. FURGUSON and GRAY, of South Shields, write to the Shipping Gazette, 4th July 1868: "Our brig Lawsons, 244 tong register, was chartered through a London broker to proceed to Memel and there load a full and complete cargo of staves, for West Hartlepool, at £10 10s. mille of pipe staves, other dimensions in proportion as customary, according to Custom-house measure and certificate. She discharged. When the cargo was loaded at Memel, the master made complaint of his being supplied with so few pipe staves, but the shipper told him that he had only 14 mille on board, but they would turn out 17 mille at Hartlepool, and pay upon that; but upon coming to settle freight with the receivers of the cargo, they would only pay upon 1338 mille, making a total freight of £144 15s. 11d., thereby depriving us, as we consider of about £38, as according to the London and Baltic printed rules the mille of Baltic staves of 1,200 pieces is equal to 20 loads of fir timber; and according to this rate, the vessel had on board and delivered 17% mille of staves. We have written the receivers of the injustice of this settlement, but their reply is that they will pay no more, and if we are not satisfied, we can go to law. Your opinion upon this matter will oblige. The editor answers: "The ship was entitled to freight on a full and complete cargo, i.e. at £10 10s. P mille of pipe staves. She was not wholly laden with pipe, therefore other staves would have to be taken in proportion. The mille of running pipe is equal to 20 loads of fir timber. The Baltic mille standard of 1,200 pieces, is equal in measurement to 16 loads of timber." 1054. Damaged. In the Liverpool County Court, 8th May, 1858, M'MURDO v. STEPHENSON. This action was brought to recover £13 178. JAMES HALSALL, managing clerk to plaintiff, stated that the staves were irremediably damaged by lard, in the ship Thalatta, from New Orleans. The grease penetrated to the heart of the wood, and could not be removed in the process of dressing. The charge for freight was £6 thousand, that being as high a rate as had been ever paid by plaintiff, and much more than was customary for staves when brought as dunnage, which they frequently are in cotton-laden ships. Mr. DRYSDALE, stave merchant, had examined them soon after arrival; they were injured by grease, and he estimated the injury at £13 178., that is £3 per 1,000 for the hogshead staves, and 10s. per 1,000 for the small. Mr. STATHAN contended that staves were always brought as dunnage, and were therefore taken at a lower rate than otherwise. The cargo of the Thalatta was a general one, and the parties who shipped the staves saw how they were stowed and made no objections. Mr. HIME argued that such a defence was not open to defendant. His Honour, Mr. BLAIR, did not quite concur in that view, and allowed evidence to be heard. Defendant deposed that the staves in question were double staves, and unless brought as dunnage would have been charged £12, instead of £6 per 1,000. Staves are frequently brought with lard. Capt. WILSON, of the Mountaineer, had just brought a quantity as dunnage, with cotton and corn from New Orleans. He received £5 per 1,000, but if they had come as cargo he should have required double that rate. His Honour said he did not think much of the fact of their being brought as dunnage; the staves were shipped upon a general bill of lading, and if placed with a commodity peculiarly likely to injure them, the master was liable. It would have been easy to have guarded against that by having a clause to that effect inserted in the margin of the bill of lading. Judgment for plaintiff. Proportionate Tonnage. The following quantities of staves severally weigh 15 tons, and occupy a space of 850 cubic feet or 1 keel. The staves to average 6 inches in breadth. One hundred staves contain 120 pieces; 1 mille is 10 hundred, or 1,200 pieces. Baltic, as cargo: 1 mille running pipe equal to 20 loads of fir timber, 1 mille standard, 1,200 pieces, equal in measurement to 161 loads timber. 1 mille West India, 1,200 pieces, equal in measurement to 5 loads timber. Dantzic pipe are of three different sorts, crown, brack, and bracks brack. The usual size of crown pipe staves: not exceeding 72 inches in length, 7 in width, and 3 in thickness. Brandy staves: at least 51 to 58 inches long, as thick and broad as pipe staves. Hogshead: 42 to 45 inches long, breadth and thickness as pipe staves; all English measure. The quality is ascertained by the following marks to distinguish each sort: Crown pipe staves stamped at the end K Brack in middle I Brack in middle I Bracks brack I.I When pipe staves are taken for broken stowage at Dantzic, freight is paid per mille, that is 1,200. For broken stowage from Memel and Dantzic staves usually receive half freight. Christiana, for hogsheads occupy much space, therefore more than ten ought not to be counted to a deal. Stettin: one mille pipe staves, 1,200, is equal to 1,800 hogsheads, 2,400 barrels, 3,000 hogshead headings, or 4,800 barrel headings. In some parts of the continent staves are reckoned by the shock; thus, a long thousand usually consists of 20 shocks, each of 60 pipe staves; hogsheads 30 shocks, barrels 40; Headings, pipe 40 shocks, hogshead 60, barrel 80. Quebec pipe staves are from 64 to 68 inches long, 5 to 6 broad, and 1 to 3 inches thick. 1-inch pipe staves are one-third less than the standard; every -inch above 14 is charged one-fifth more, without allowance for breadth. 1 mille or 1,200 standard Quebec staves=343 feet 9 inches, or 613 loads. One bundle of oak laths, 120 pieces, 4 feet long, 374 equal to 8 tons. STAVES, CALCULATION OF, AT QUEBEC, 1832. Under the article Timber will be found several comparative results applicable to staves. 1055. STEAM AS AN EXTINGUISHER. ROBERT WISE, steam-ship agent, at King's Lynn, says, in a letter dated September, 1869, and addressed to the Board of Trade: "I have had practical experience of the effect of steam at a nominal pressure, on board a wood steam boat which was set on fire by the coal in the bunkers igniting some hours after the vessel had been moored. The vessel was internally all in a blaze, to such an extent that the pure flame glared from the top of the funnel to the height of from six to nine feet. Persons from the shore were clearing the decks and had given the vessel up for lost. On board this vessel there was a man-hole hatch directly over the boiler. This hatch was removed and water was thrown on the boiler (it being very hot from the flames passing through the furnaces.) The water was converted into steam, which penetrated every part of the interior, and had instant effect on the fire, and the vessel was saved. There is no doubt that steam at a moderate or high pressure, generated within a boiler, would be still more penetrating and effectual. If, therefore, every steam-ship were provided with a pipe attached to the steam chest, and conducted by the sides of the ship to each compartment, with a cock or valve, so that in case of fire the cock belonging to any compartment could be opened to allow the steam to enter (the hatches being battened down and the bilge taps closed to prevent escape,) the steam would very soon overcome the fire and completely extinguish it.” 1056. STEAM ENGINES. It is estimated that marine engines with boilers full of water, average from 15 to 18 cwt. per nominal horse-power. The effective horse-power of some of the best-made compound engines, is about five times greater than the nominal horse-power, thus the 350 horse-power nominal of the steamer Atrato, worked up to and indicated 1,575 horse-power. 1057. STEEL. Bar steel is sent from Sheffield in bundles of about one cwt. each, and may be stowed as bar iron. Tilted cast steel and shear steel for exportation, are packed in extra strong cases of about five cwt. each, iron bound. The air arising from salt-water will always create a certain amount of rust on steel, iron, &c., and no master should be considered liable for injury by rust, unless it can be clearly proved to having arisen through negligence on his part. Sheffield cutlery for exportation is sometimes packed in a prepared paper which is stored twelve months before being used, and is then placed in a room warmed by a stove that every particle of dampness should be removed. For Australia, cutlery is packed in air-tight casks, lined with tin. A faggot of steel weighs 120 lbs. 1058. STEERING.-Rule of the road. Being aids to memory, in four verses. By THOMAS GRAY. (Inserted by kind authority.) Two Steam-ships meeting. 1. When both side lights you see ahead— |