124 EFFICIENCY IN THE OPERATION OF STEAMSHIPS. 
From a study of this data one readily sees that fuel, cost of handling cargo, wages and 
insurance are the most important items of expense. 
Fuel is the most important item of expense in operation and is a subject to which 
little intelligent study has been given, and while general results have been compared, very 
little satisfactory data are obtainable. The U. S. Shipping Board has just appointed a 
committee to study this subject; this committee is afforded a great opportunity to render 
service to the profession. 
The prevailing practice today is to buy fuel on a price basis, and no consideration is 
given to the heat units contained therein nor to the subsequent results obtained. 
In vessels using oil fuel, where this fuel is carried in double bottoms, sufficient attention 
has not been given to the arrangements for heating the fuel in the tanks, with the result 
that in cold weather considerable loss occurs. | However, many interested in efficiency feel 
that the Shipping Board Fuel Committee will submit data and promulgate a set of rules of 
procedure which, if followed, will greatly improve results. 
Next in importance to fuel is the cost of handling cargo, which includes loading, check- 
ing, sorting, watching, and clerk hire on dock. Investigation revealed that the total actual 
cost per ton of general cargo handled in New York varied from $1.15 a ton to $1.65, and 
in the ports on the Atlantic coast the range in cost per ton was from $0.92 to $2.15. One 
interesting example is as follows: 
Cargo handled 152.4 tons general. 
Stevedoring a th) Siaz tale ate een earns hoe EEE $137.00 
Eooperage cs cis Hasler css Sioa eer anh cals Sar oe es ee 75.00 
Watches nat) tig aii tape ieee aetee sous maa erememei ne ea srarec wana 70.00 
Sorting and delivering ................60-00.-0 0205: 284.00 
MT Otal OSES kagirs acc eeinces Ae Ree eee ee eae RR ee cae $566.00 
Average cost, $3.71 per ton. 
One only need check up on a ship during the loading and discharging to realize where 
the money goes. This item alone, on an average, is one-fifth to one-sixth of the total expense 
and is seldom checked as to delays, waiting, overtime, etc. With proper supervision, even 
with the high rates of pay, this excessive rate per ton could be greatly reduced. 
Third in importance in operating cost of a vessel are wages afloat. So very much un- 
reliable data have been printed about this subject that great care was exercised to obtain 
only authentic data, and the rates of pay quoted on American vessels was taken from ship- 
ping articles which are on file in the commissioner’s office. The rates of pay on foreign 
vessels were obtained from vessels in service and shipowners, and for the benefit of those 
who are interested the information is tabulated and herewith presented (page 125) in the hope 
that it will speak for itself. 
The standard of living in this country is so different from that in foreign countries 
that it is absolutely unfair to compare American wages with those of foreign vessels. 
One of the most unfortunate lines of reasoning today is that by cutting wages one ob- © 
tains efficiency. It matters not in what capacity a man is employed, if the wages for that 
rating are higher than the wages for the same ratings in other lines, then the most efficient 
man will be found for the place. 
Perhaps the reader may find in the scale of wages herewith presented sufficient explana- 
tion as to why the native born American does not adopt the profession of the sea. 
