COLLIERS 245 



only for half a ton a final elevation which puts the 

 last financial straw upon the burden-bearer's back. 



A journey down the Thames towards the sea will 

 give an opportunity of seeing many of the gigantic iron 

 and steel structures that have been specially erected for 

 the prompt discharge of sea-borne coal ; and in most 

 of the continental ports on the North Sea borders the 

 same description of mechanical appliance may be 

 noticed. Vast fleets of lighters are constantly em- 

 ployed in dealing with this branch of trade alone. 



When Plimsoll waged his noble war against rotten 

 and overladen ships and that was less than fifty years 

 ago he described the North Sea colliers. They were 

 then mostly screw-steamers, though there were still 

 many of the old class, and were generally to be found 

 lying between Blackwall and Woolwich. They were of 

 small size from 150 to 600 tons and were built as 

 brigs, sloops, or schooners. Most of them, however, 

 were brigs. 



A visit to two or three of them, said Plimsoll, showed 

 a state of things which was common to all. A collier 

 brig was generally worked by a captain and a mate, who 

 lived in a small dirty cabin, and by four men and a boy, 

 who lived and slept in the most miserable of forecastles. 

 This forecastle was very small, and so low that no person 

 of ordinary stature could stand upright in it. It was 

 dark, and the only approach was by a very small hatch- 

 way. The forecastle generally contained a quantity of 

 old ropes, some rusty chains, a large tub of grease, and 

 some damp canvas. These things, together with three 

 or four dirty hammocks, took up the whole space, 

 and it was only from sickness and the most urgent 



