CHAPTER I

THE MEASUREMENT OF VESSELS AND TRAFFIC

IN describing the various types of vessels, and in discussing ocean transportation, frequent use must be made of the words "ton" and "tonnage," and, in order to avoid confusion and error, it is necessary to keep clearly in mind the several meanings in which these terms are employed. Tonnage may refer either to the size of the vessel or to the amount of the ship's cargo; accordingly, there are two distinct kinds of tons: the vessel ton and the cargo ton. Each of these two kinds of tons is used with several different meanings.

Vessel tonnage is of three kinds: displacement, gross register, and net register. The displacement tonnage of a vessel is its weight, and is equal to the weight of water displaced by the ship when floating. The gross register tonnage is obtained by dividing the number of cubic feet in the capacity of the ship by 100. A vessel has one 66 gross "ton for each 100 cubic feet of capacity.1 The net register tonnage is obtained by dividing by 100 the capacity in cubic feet of the space available for cargo

1 This method of determining gross-register tonnage dates from 1854. To secure a uniform practice in measuring and registering vessels the British Government, in 1852, adopted a method of measuring the cubical capacity of hulls that a Mr. Moorsom had worked out. The Admiralty, not wishing to change the statistics of the tonnage of the British marine more than was necessary, instructed Mr. Moorsom to submit a plan of applying his method in such a way as to cause a minimum change in the existing registry of ships. Mr. Moorsom found that the total registered tonnage of the British merchant marine as then registered was 3,700,000, and he found that by the application of his system of

and passengers. From the entire capacity of the ship are deducted the spaces occupied by machinery, crew accommodations, and certain other housings, carefully designated by law; and then the number of cubic feet in the remaining capacity is divided by 100 to obtain the net register.

In the shipping statistics of all countries a ton gross register means 100 cubic feet of ship capacity; but as the rules applied in measuring the capacity are not identical in all countries, vessels of the same size under different flags may vary slightly as to gross tonnage. In the determination of the figures for net registry the laws of different countries vary more than they do in regard to gross registry; nevertheless, with the exception of the "Danube" measurement, which is applied to all vessels passing the Suez Canal, the British practice as regards the measurement of gross and net tonnage is followed with minor variations by all commercial countries.

The rules of the Danube measurement were adopted at Constantinople in 1873 for the Suez Canal by the International Tonnage Commission. The net register tonnage of vessels when measured by the Danube rules will average fully one-fifth more than when measured in accordance with British or American laws.1 The canal tolls are levied on net tonnage.

measurement the total capacity of the hulls of the British fleet was 363,412,456 cubic feet. "If," said he, "the real total capacity in cubic feet is divided by the total registered tonnage the dividend will be the figure by which the capacity in cubic feet must be divided in order to produce this registered tonnage.' The ratio of existing tonnage (3,700,000) to Moorsom's figures for capacity (363,412,456) was 98.22, but for the purpose of easy calculation the British Government adopted a divisor of 100 instead of 98.22, and this figure was incorporated in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854.

1 The laws of the United States regarding the measurement of vessels may be found in Sections 13 to 26 of the Navigation Laws, Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce and Labor, Washington, D. C.

The cargo ton is of two classes, weight and measurement. The weight ton may be the "short" ton of 2,000 pounds, the "long" ton of 2,240 pounds, or the metric ton of 2,204.62 pounds. The traffic of American railroads and waterways (with the exception of anthracite coal, which is handled by the long ton in the Eastern States) is measured by the short ton, and this ton is the one generally used within the United States. In ocean commerce the weight ton is the long ton of 2,240 pounds, except in the trade of those countries that use the metric system and employ the metric ton of 2,204.62 pounds.

A large share of the cargo of ocean traffic is not shipped by weight, but by the measurement ton of 40 cubic feet. Grain and minerals move by weight; but manufactures, general merchandise, and even lumber, are regularly handled by the measurement ton. The adoption of 40 cubic feet for a measurement ton is said to be due to the fact that a long ton of wheat occupies 40 cubic feet in the hold or berth of the ship. In the Government statistics of the cargo tonnage of ocean commerce, both the long ton and the measurement ton are included, and it is not possible to ascertain the actual weight of the traffic of ocean commerce.

The ratio of net register to gross register tonnage and cargo tonnage of a modern freight vessel loaded with general cargo is as 1 to 1 and to 24. The net register is about two thirds the gross, and the cargo tonnage averages about 24 times the net register. In the large modern sailing vessel the net register is about seven eighths of the gross, and the cargo tonnage of the loaded vessel will average about 13 times the net register.

All vessels flying the American flag are listed and documented by the United States Government. Before a vessel can be put into service its machinery must be inspected, and the ship measured, by officials connected

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with the Bureau of Navigation in the Department of Commerce and Labor. The vessels engaged in foreign commerce are "registered," and those employed in our inland and coastwise commerce are enrolled." All vessels of less than 20 tons measurement are "licensed." It is customary to use the term "registered" tonnage when speaking of our shipping engaged in foreign trade, and of "enrolled" tonnage when referring to our domestic vessels.

CHAPTER II

THE HISTORY OF THE OCEAN CARRIER- -THE SAILING VESSEL

THE brief sketch of the technical history of ocean transportation presented in this and the following chapter is written with reference to the transportation of the maritime commerce of the British colonies in America and of the United States. The account is confined to the period since the beginning of the seventeenth century, and contains a description of the several types of ocean carriers that have been successively employed by Americans for the carriage of their domestic and foreign com

merce.

The two general types of vessels now used in ocean commerce, the sailing vessel and the steamer, have passed through numerous stages in reaching their present highly efficient forms, and a brief study of the evolution of the sailing vessel during the past three hundred years, and of the steamship during the past century, will throw light upon the history of the service as well as of the agent of ocean transportation. In general, the agencies employed are developed with reference to the service; and they indicate, at least in a rough way, the nature and importance of the transportation services performed from period to period.

The ship is a tool or mechanism used mainly by shippers to accomplish commercial exchanges. The adaptation of the mechanism to the work to be performed has