PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
"| 2 | 3
Reference :-
TLC.O. 885
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
4
their fect off the deck, and the lower end secured to a cleat on the lower deck on the further side of the lower hatch, thus forming a safe and convenient hand-rail.
These may seem small points, but they will not be found so in practice with women often far advanced in pregnancy and children Hatch covers. going down these ladders at sea. Of course these remarks apply to the main as well as the after hatch, as both are used by coolies; but at the latter it is preferable to have the opening of the hatch cover aft and not at the side, as this hatch is mostly used by women and children. I very much prefer, and in fact would go so far as to say, that both fore and main hatches should always open at the sides for sani- tary reasons, as well as convenience. In rough weather it is at these points that seas are shipped, and as the water comes over the weather side, all that is required is to shut clown' the flaps on that side, and draw the paulin over them, and the water is thus effectually kept from getting below, and the whole or one half of the lee flap can be left open and the ladders fastened on that side, thus allowing the people to come up and down comfortably, besides giving a full outlet to the final air from the coulic-deck, a point of no small importance when most of the other outlets for foul air may have to be closed. In cold weather the coolic deck at the main hatch (then the coldest part) can more easily be kept tolerably warm without interfering with ventilation, or with the people passing up and down, and in rainy, muggy, weather the tarpaulins can be rigged tent-fashion by being stretched to the bulwarks with the same advantages, whereas with the hatch opening athwart ship, the paulin has to be let down to cover the opening, thus completely stop. ping the circulation of air, and being very much in the way of the people passing up and down. In one of my voyages with the hatch (main) opening athwart ship, the wind lifted the corner of the paulin as a sea struck the ship, and let all the water down below, which could not have happened had the hatch opened at the side. With all these disadvantages my experience hitherto has failed to show me any counter- balancing advantages,
Sleeping
platforms.
On the coolie deck he will find the usual fittings of plat- forms along the sides of the ship fore and aft. These should be firm and solidly constructed, as they are for the people to sleep on, and should not be too narrow, ie., not less than six feet from the skirting board to the side of the ship at any part of the ship (as require by the Rules relating to colonial emigration, Act XXI. of 1883, Indian Government, p. 89), and the ends of the skirting boards should meet at the stanchions, and both be nailed to them. Stanchions and
5
skirting boards are now generally either painted or coal tarred, the old abomination of whitewash being done away with, and the ends of the stanchions should be firmly secured to the deck, both above and below, by cleats to prevent their working loose when the ship rolls.
I have often thought of recommending that the stanchions Proposed for the sleeping platforms should be made of iron, slipping alteration in into an iron shoe above and below, and kept in place by an
fittings, iron bar from each stanchion to the side of the ship, also fitting into an iron shoe at each end, these shoes to be fastened by screws to the deck above and below, and to the side planking of the ship respectively (the fourth shoe being of course in the stanchion itself for the reception of one end of the cross bar). Each cross bar to have divisions on each side of its upper surface to receive the ends of the bottom boards, which should be at least 14 inches thick, and to pre- vent the ends of these boards from slipping off when the boards are bent by the weight of the people, an iron bar, with a hook at each end, to be fastened on the skirting board, similar to those used in iron bedsteads, or two bars diagonally hooked at the ends to the stanchions and side of the ship.
The skirting boards (but it would be better if, as an Irishman would say, these also were made of iron) could be made to slip into a groove on each side of the stanchions, which should be fitted with a step for the people to climb up on the platforms,
The advantages of this structure are, I think, obvious, but Advantages of
proposed
I may mention one or two of them :-
I. The bottom boards on which the people lic, could with structure. the greatest ease be taken up on deck to be scrubbed, and while removed the sides of the ship and the deck beneath the platforms could be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, which I need scarcely say would be of enormous utility, in the case of there being any infectious disease on board, and is at present practically impossible as the ends of the bottom boards are wailed to the cross bars, to say nothing of the ease with which the stanchions themselves, cross bars, and skirting boards could be taken on deck and there washed and disinfected should circumstances render it necessary. In fact, with this construction, I should employ the coolies in doing this so that the whole of the 'tween decks should be thoroughly scrubbed. and cleaned twice a week when the weather permitted.
II. The greater strength and solidity of the whole, a inatter of no little importance as I have found by experience when the ship is in a heavy sea.
8855 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
ت
!
Proposed
alteration in
fittings,
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.
Reference :-
8855 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
Advantages of
roposed
tructure.