CHAPTER 1 
INTRODUCTORY 
THE subject of Cargo Handling has come very much to the 
fore of recent years, particularly in connection with the 
introduction of mechanical and automatic appliances for 
handling goods. The enhanced cost of labour, the stringent 
necessity for effecting every possible economy, and the 
value of expedition have forced the matter, in a very pro- 
nounced way, upon the attention of port authorities, ship- 
owners, and stevedores. 
ECONOMICAL SHIP SERVICE. 
The time which a ship spends in port is strictly idle 
and unprofitable. A ship is a transporting machine and 
can only be used to advantage when she is ploughing her 
way through the seas. As a warehouse, or store, she is 
too costly. The outlay on her boilers, propelling machinery, 
and navigating gear is an unremunerative investment while 
she is lying at her berth. Overhead charges run on and 
form a very heavy handicap to the profit and loss account 
of the vessel; for, let it be realised that the outlay on a 
modern steamship amounts to several hundred thousand 
pounds, and in the case of the larger liners, exceeds a million, 
often considerably. Even the loss of a day’s interest on 
such a sum is appreciable, while with wages and establish- 
ment charges added thereto, the total is unmistakably 
serious, and will run to several hundred pounds per day. 
The saving of a day in port on the occasion of each visit 
may mean an additional round voyage per annum, with