510 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 
the vessels now engaged in this traffic measure as much as 9,000 and 10,000 tons, 
and no doubt larger ships will be built. 
It seems evident, even after making allowance for the superior earning- 
capacity of these modern berths, that increased harbour rates will have to be 
charged to render such investment sound and self-supporting. This is a ques- 
tion that requires special investigation. Judged from a purely economical point 
of view, there is room for considerable doubt as to whether the advent of the 
large vessel has operated towards lowering the cost of sea-borne freight, includ- 
ing, of course, incidental charges, such as wharfage and tonnage dues, &c. The 
question is greatly complicated by the upward tendency of wages and materials, 
which not only increases the cost of ship construction, but also puts up the cost 
of working expenses and maintenance, which are naturally passed on by the 
shipowner. 
There are, however, other very important considerations which must be 
taken into account. Pressing as the economic question is, there are distinct 
advantages in the employment of big ships. Higher speed can be obtained, 
which, at this distance from Europe, is desirable for mails, passengers, and 
cargo. The time-element is certainly of urgent importance to Australia. 
Greater safety, seaworthiness, steadiness, and comfort are also secured. 
The class of wharf-construction that will come into use in the future, 
though important, is very uncertain at the present time. Timber has been used 
almost entirely in Australia. Reinforced concrete has been dealt with very 
charily, but it is safe to say that, if the local timbers had not proved so satis- 
factory from every point of view, reinforced concrete would have been largely 
used during the last fifteen years. 
Where space is available, longshore wharves, served by low-level road and 
belt railway, offer the greatest facilities for handling cargo. But as this is not 
always possible, jetties will continue to be used to a large extent. To provide 
shed accommodation and low-level road access to facilitate the removal of 
goods, without traffic congestion, necessitates very great width of jetty. In 
Sydney two plans are being tried to meet such cases. In one instance the jetty 
is 210 feet wide, with a sunken road down the middle which brings the cart-body 
to the level of the shed-floor. ‘ 
In another case, where the available water-frontage length is restricted, a 
type of jetty is being built with a high and a low side, so that when a cart 
is on the low side the body is at the floor-level of the higher side of the jetty. 
The high side, which extends over about three-quarters of the width of the jetty, 
will be used for inward cargo, which requires as much space as possible for 
sorting and stacking. The low side will be used for traffic and outward cargo, 
which goes aboard the ship as it arrives, and seldom accumulates on the wharf 
to the extent of more than four or five hundred tons at a time. These jetties 
will have an upper deck approached by a bridge from a high-level roadway. 
The upper deck will be constructed with high and low levels, similar to the 
lower deck, but disposed on the opposite sides. Thus, each side of the jetty 
will have a separate loading and unloading deck. On this account it will be 
possible to carry on the two operations together without confusion of outward 
and inward cargo, and the cost of construction will be relatively low. 
The position of the other Australian ports was reviewed in the same way, 
for the purpose of considering how far the Port Authorities are justified in 
accepting the challenge of the shipowner. 
3. The Distribution of Phosphorus in Steel. 
By Waurer Rosennain, B.A., D.Sc., V.R.S. 
The injurious influence of phosphorus on the mechanical properties of steel 
is very fully recognised, so much so that for a large class of important steel 
articles, such as tyres, axles, springs, &c., it is usual to specify that the 
phosphorus content shall not exceed 0-035 per cent. If phosphorus were 
uniformly distributed throughout steel it would be difficult to believe that less 
than four parts in ten thousand could exert a seriously injurious influence. 
Observation of all ordinary commercial steels, however, serves to show at once 
that phosphorus is not uniformly distributed. This matter has been studied, 
