sisted of 230 tons of shingle ($2 ton). The tobacco formed the ground tier under the main hatchway; cotton fore and aft and over the tobacco; silk, curiosities, and cotton in the cabin. So laden she drew aft 14 feet 8 inches, forward 14 feet 8 inches; on arriving in London, 6th July, 1864, aft 14 feet, forward 14 feet 3 inches; her best trim aft 15 feet 3 inches, forward 15 feet; and with a deadweight cargo, aft 17 feet 4 inches, forward 17 feet. Her port charges inward were £3 16s. 3d., outwards £1 16s.; pilotage in $3 foot, out $2 foot; fresh-water brought off in barges $1 ton. 1233. Spontaneous Combustion. Two cases of fire in cargoes of tobacco occurred in the Channel in the spring of 1863. The barque Trim, of Bristol, 214 tons register, Capt. JOACHIM BAUMANN, which left Bahia 1st January, with 260 tons tobacco, Brazilian measurement, arrived safely in the Channel. When at anchor off Osborne, 25th March, one of the men complained of steam and smeech in the forecastle. The seals having been broken, the hatches were lifted, but nothing extraordinary could be observed. At three the next morning fire was seen coming out of the main hold, and assistance being obtained, it was kept under by cutting up some of the deck planks, waterways, &c., to admit the hose from the engines, and the Trim was towed to Cowes, where two-thirds of her cargo was saved. The brigantine Trial, of Halifax, N.S., which left Bahia 18th January for Bremen, took fire in the Channel, and was abandoned off the Isle of Wight 12th April; her crew landed at Brighton. In both cases the fire is supposed to have arisen from spontaneous combustion, generated probably by shipping the tobacco in too green a state. It was leaf tobacco, in bales 80 to 250 lbs. each, wrapped in gunny, which was dry on shipment. Some of the Trim's cargo was screwed, which is said, is contrary to the rule at Bahia. At sea, in dry weather, her hatches were frequently opened; the top bales were damp from the exhalations of the entire cargo, and steam always escaped. Both cargoes were alike, and were stowed by the same stevedore. Tonnage. 17 hogsheads, weighing 10 tons, admeasure 850 cubic feet or one keel. The Admiralty allows one hogshead tobacco to a ton. Bengal, Madras, and Bombay ton 50 cubic feet tobacco or cigars, in bales; at Manilla 50 cubic feet in boxes and bales of tobacco, cigars, &c.; at New York one hogshead; at Baltimore 1,500 lbs. Virginia in hogsheads; 1,300 lbs. Kentucky do. ; 1,000 lbs. Maryland; a hogshead Virginia is estimated at a standard of 45 feet; Kentucky, Georgia, and Carolina, 40 feet; and Maryland and Ohio 35 feet. At Bahia, 12 cwt. leaf in bales, 16 cwt. in serons, 20 cwt. in rolls, 21 cwt. in mangotes, and 40° cubic feet of cigars, go to a ton. Casks, &c. Hogshead of tobacco 12 to 18 cwt. Cross hogshead 1,000 to 1,300 lbs. An Admiralty hogshead contains 242 lbs. net, barrel 160, half-hogshead 126, and kilderkin 83 lbs. Havannah bale 100 tbs., Lisbon last 4,000 lbs. Hamburg Tares. Virginia and Kentucky, Maryland and Ohio, Scrubs, Stems, American, 10; and Porto Rico, leaf, 2 cent.; St. Domingo, leaf, 8 lbs. can; Havannah, real; Brazil, rolls, 8 lbs. roll; ditto, leaf, 5 cent. 1234. TOMMING UP OR OFF is another name for shoring. When stowing, it frequently occurs that a cask, case, or other package will, as far as its own bulk is concerned, stow, where the want of sufficient entrance or of room to work, prevents its being stowed in the usual manner; it is more difficult if the package is heavy. Suppose there is space for three or more heights of casks, but an intervening beam prevents the riding tier from being stowed in the ordinary way, and compels the stevedores to stow that tier first. It is then lifted and propped up by "toms" or "shores" sufficiently high to allow the lower casks to be entered or set into their berth, when (if necessary) the toms are removed, and all the tiers properly stowed. This operation requires care, especially where the package is cumbrous or of great weight; sometimes the toms capsize, and when screwing certain elastic substances the danger is greatly increased. 1235. TON. This word is derived from a ton or weight of water, equal to 2,000 lbs. ; it appears that a cubic foot of distilled water weighing 62 lbs. was assumed as a general standard for liquids. This cubic foot, multiplied by 32, gives 2,000, the original weight of a ton. Hence eight cubic feet of water make a hogshead, and four hogsheads a ton in capacity and denomination, as well as weight. A ton 20 cwt. = 2,240 lbs. 1236. With regard to the Freight of Goods, the term ton is an arbitrary one. The first approach to a system of tonnage for freight appears to have been made on the East Coast of England, where a vessel called a keel was in constant use for loading ships with coalthe most important branch of trade there. A keel contains 21 tons 4 cwt., or 1,008 cubic feet compressed in a ship's hold to 850 cubic feet, or 40 cubic feet ton of 20 cwt.; this is the standard by which more or less all goods are freighted. 20 cwt. wheat, some sugars in bags, &c., go to a ton, and measure about 40 cubic feet. 1237. If all other goods weighed the same as coal, wheat, &c., (where the weight and measurement are so nearly equal) little difficulty would occur in regulating the freight. Being otherwise, the merchant and shipowner make a mutual arrangement, governed to a certain extent by the above data, for the conveyance of goods, which are in some cases estimated by weight, in others by measurement, and in others by quantity and number; but the term ton is retained in almost every case. The difficulty which a master has to contend with in taking cargo, irrespective of the sharpness or flatness of his ship's bottom, is to know exactly how much of different sorts she will carry or stow. This applies especially to compressible articles like hay, hemp, cotton, hides, &c., and to cargoes in casks. 1238. Heavy goods are generally freighted by weight; sometimes more than 20 cwt. are allowed to a ton for freight. Light goods are freighted by measurement, and it often occurs that more than 40 feet are allowed to a ton for freight, and that even then the weight is much less than 20 cwt. The following table will make the subject more clear. 1239. Besides these seeming discrepancies, the rates vary in different ports, as may be seen by comparing them in the various tables at the commencement of this work, where there is also a very useful table for finding the number of tons of coal a vessel will carry; a table for calculating the space required for goods which can be measured by the bushel, is appended to the article seeds. Foreign tons are referred to in the article tonnage, which follows. 1240. BRIDGNELL's Indian Commerce says: a vessel floating on water is capable of carrying only a certain quantity of goods, the utmost extent of which is such, that if any extra quantity be added, she will no longer be considered safe. The maximum which a vessel can safely carry is generally known, and when loaded she has a draught of water varying from 2 to 20 feet, more or less, according to her size and build. The space also, that is allotted to store goods in the hold, can be ascertained and is generally known, it being always desirable that a vessel should be so loaded as to carry her maximum of cargo, and that it should be so disposed as fully to occupy the entire available space in her hold. This is the primary object for when thus loaded there is a great probability of realising the best freight. Thus, for example, it is desirable that a vessel capable of carrying 700 tons, should be loaded with 700 tons of goods, and if her hold has a space of 42,000 cubic feet, the goods engaged should be so apportioned as to occupy the entire space. In the above case for every ton of goods there is a space of 60 feet (*88°), and if any description of goods, every ton of which occupies 60 feet, was engaged for it, the vessel with this kind of cargo should be loaded in the manner that is most desirable. But goods are of variable densities, in illustration of which it may be mentioned that whilst a ton of saltpetre occupies only 35 feet, a ton of ginger occupies 80, and it is owing to this variation in the densities, that it becomes difficult to assign the due proportion of each of the many kinds of export cargo that would serve in the aggregate to fill a vessel in the way referred to. If a vessel, say of the above tonnage and capacity, were required to be loaded with one kind of dead-weight and one kind of light freight, and if 35 and 80 feet were the cubic representatives of a ton of each, it would be apparent that 700 tons of the dead-weight would occupy only 24,500 feet, and leave 17,500 feet unoccupied, while on the other hand 700 tons of light freight would occupy 56,000 feet, or 14,000 feet more than her space. Consequently only a due proportion of each can occupy the entire space and jointly weigh 700 tons. It is from the want of acquaintance with the method of ascertaining this due proportion that many vessels leaving port are obliged to re-land a quantity of goods which is in excess either of her tonnage or the space in her hold. By adopting, however, the following formula when chartering, the trouble and loss occasioned by re-lands will be entirely removed, a full cargo obtained, and the most advantageous freight realized. Find the average space per ton in a vessel, by dividing the space in her hold by the tonnage she can carry. From this average deduct the space per ton of dead-weight, multiply the remainder by the tonnage, and divide the product by the difference between the space per ton of light freight and that of dead-weight. The quotient is the amount of light freight required, and the difference between it and the tonnage, the amount of dead-weight goods. Let the formula be applied to the foregoing case. Tons... 700) 42,000 feet (60 average space per ton 42,000 Light freight space per ton 80 ditto 35 25 difference; multiply by Difference 45) 17500 (389 tons nearly for light freight Total 42,005 feet, shewing a difference of only 5 feet in excess, owing to the omission of fractions. [It has been suggested as much easier to work out the formula thus, ONE-Multiply the space per ton occupied by the light freight by the tonnage of the vessel, and subtract the product from the space. in her hold. Two-Divide the remainder by the difference of space occupied by a ton of each kind of cargo; this gives the number of tons of light freight; which subtracted from the tonnage of the vessel gives the number of tons for dead-weight. Thus using the same example : By this mode the long division sum was avoided, viz., the one for finding the average space per ton in the vessel. In practice a fractional number will occur more frequently than otherwise, and this will involve a complication in the former mode which will be obviated in the latter.] |