On the Modes of Shipping Coal. 213 



stage or tramway. Provision is made by means of blocks 

 and tackles for lifting the platform clear of the shrouds and 

 rigging of the vessels when they are brought alongside of 

 the wharf. This drop has of course no great amount of 

 projection beyond the line of the wharf or front part of the 

 fixed stage ; it is principally in use at Middleboro', where 

 there is a dock for the reception of the colliers, and where 

 by means of this drop two men can load about 120 tons per 

 hour. 



These are the various systems now in use at the before- 

 mentioned ports for shipping coal on board colliers, and by 

 which an enormous amount of coal is shipped with very 

 little delay or inconvenience. It is evident that, both in 

 England and in this Colony, the charge for freight will form 

 the largest item in the cost of coal ; any arrangement, 

 therefore, by which a vessel can be loaded rapidly will go to 

 diminish this head of expense. The saving of a single day 

 in loading a vessel on the east coast will be equivalent to a 

 reduction of 8 or 9 per cent, at least in the freight, — • 

 throwing altogether out of consideration the diminution of 

 risk -to a vessel lying alongside a wharf in an exposed 

 situation. 



I have not given any sketches of the different kinds of 

 machinery employed, not having brought out the drawings 

 with me ; but I have sent to England for them, and when 

 they arrive I shall be happy to lay them before the Society. 

 In the meantime I shall be willing to give any information 

 which may be necessary to enable any competent person 

 either to make a model of the machine, or such a drawing 

 as may be sufficient to guide a contractor in forming an 

 estimate of the cost. 



