TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 695 



million tons. The consequence of the preponderance of exports is that ships arrive 

 at the port mostly in ballast, and special provision is required to he made for the 

 discharge of this ballast. There are four steam and two hydraulic cranes for this 

 purpose, each capable of discharging- 60 tons per hour. These cranes discharge the 

 ballast into railway waggons, which are conveyed a distance of about two miles to 

 land where the ballast is deposited. 



To provide for the safe removal of the vessels from the ballast quay to the 

 loading berth, after the discharge of the ballast, wooden booms, weighing from 5 

 to 20 tons each, are now fixed, one on each side of the ship, to keep it steady. The 

 growing use of water ballast for steamers engaged in the coal trade at the present day 

 has greatly expedited the preparation of vessels for receiving their outward cargoes. 



The coal traffic of the West Dock is supplied exclusively by the Taft' Vale 

 Railway from Merthyr, Dowlais, and the Aberdare and Rhondda A^ alleys. The 

 traffic to the East Dock is supplied jointly by the Taff Vale, Rhymney, and Great 

 Western Railways, the last of which is the means of communication with the great 

 coal-field now being opened hi the centre of Glamorganshire, in the Ogmore dis- 

 trict. The London and North- Western and Midland Railways have also access to 

 the docks by their connection with the above railways. 



A very large extent of siding accommodation is required for working the coal 

 shipping trade ; for, owing to the fluctuations of the trade, loaded waggons have to 

 be stored in the sidings at times when the supply exceeds the demand. The extent 

 ef sidings provided and maintained by the Bute Trustees in connection with the 

 docks amounts to fifty miles in length (of single line), the whole of which is at 

 times fully occupied. 



Coal Tips. — The number of tips for loading coal at the Bute Docks is as follows, 

 viz. : — 



13 balance tips at the West Dock. 



14 „ „ „ East Dock. 



6 hydraulic „ „ East Dock and Entrance Basin. 



1 „ „ „ Entrance Channel for loading in the tideway. 



8 „ „ „ Roath Basin. 



42 total number of tips. 



Anti-breakage Cranes. — As the South Wales coal is of a very brittle character, 

 it is found necessaiy to take special precautions for reducing the loss by breakage 

 that occurs in discharging the coal waggons into the ship's hold, and for this purpose 

 anti-breakage cranes are applied to each coal tip with great success. A square 

 iron bucket, holding one ton of coal, and made hopper-shaped, with a hinged 

 flap for discharging at the bottom, is suspended from an independent light 'jib' 

 crane, fixed at one side of the tip frame, and having, in the hydraulic tips, hydraulic 

 lifting and turning motions. In commencing the loading of a ship, this bucket is 

 filled from the shoot, and then lowered to the bottom of the hold and emptied, the 

 process being repeated until a conical heap of coal is formed high enough to reach 

 nearly to the hatchAvay ; the shoot is then allowed to discharge freel}', and delivers 

 close down upon the heap, so as to prevent any breakage of the coal by the vertical 

 drop. These cranes are also used with advantage for discharging ballast or ordinary 

 merchandise, and for fiUing into waggons the small coal that passes through the 

 screens in the shoots on to the ship's deck. 



Notwithstanding all these precautions, the proportion of slack that is found in 

 the coal when the ships are discharged at the end of the voyage is generally too 

 large to be satisfactory, and the author considers that this is due to the want of 

 care in trimming the coal in the ship's hold, in which process great breakage of 

 coal is caused by the carelessness of the men. This has been practically tested at 

 the Bute Docks, by loading a vessel with coal by means of wheelbarrows filled 

 direct from the waggon and lowered into the hold, and then wheeled at once to the 

 far end of the hold, so as to avoid any subsequent trimming ; the result was that, 

 though some extra cost of loading was incurred, the coal was delivered in such 

 exceptionally good condition that the extra cost was much more than cohered by 

 the reduction in the loss from slack. 



