ClIAP. XXIII.] COST OF HANDLING AT PORT. 
contained in each is known, have been weighed, and a figure fixed for the 
average relation between volume and weight of the ore. In the case of the 
Central Provinces Prospecting Syndicate it has been decided that the 
correct figure is 16 cubic feet to the ton. And to allow for any 
losses, they are allowed by the railway to load on the assumption that 
161 cubic feet of ore go to the ton. For each company's ore the figure 
has to be determined separately, but it is seldom that the figure exceeds 
17 cubic feet to the ton. In cases of operators railing only small quan- 
tities of ore actual weighing is still resorted to. For loading by volume 
a horizontal chalk line is drawn round the inside of each wagon at the 
height above the bottom of the wagon to which it has to be loaded in 
order to take the amount of ore the truck is allowed to carry. This 
loading is done from the ore stacks at the station by men, women, and 
children. The cost of this is about 1 to IJ annas per ton, and is paid 
by the mine operators. In cases where the ore has to be transferred 
from wagons on the narrow gauge to wagons on the broad gauge, the 
transferment is done at the expense of the railway. Such is the case 
at Gondia, where ore carried from Balaghat and Chhindwara on the Sat- 
pura Railway (2|-foot gauge) has to be transferred to broad-gauge wagons. 
For the carriage- of the Central Provinces ore to Bombay whole trains 
are usually employed. 
When the ore-train arrives at Bombay the ore is dumped and stacked 
on the storage ground at Malet Bandar ; or if a ship is waiting to be load- 
ed the ore is carted or trammed at once to the 
Cost of handling ;.t th- dock side. Here it is dumped in heaps on the 
port of shipment : Bombay. ix i j. e jj.j.ii t, 
edge of the wharf and transferred to the ship by 
means of buckets attached to the ship's slings or derricks. To obviate the 
delay and uncertainty involved in carting the ore from the storage ground 
to the dock, a dock tramway has been constructed from the storage 
ground at Malet Bandar to the dock. The dumping at the storage ground 
is usually necessary ; for it is necessary to have a stock of ore on hand so 
that there may be no shortage of ore when a ship is ready to be loaded. 
The charges per ton usually incurred at Bombay l are as follows : — 
A. p. 
Unloading wagons and stacking on dump ..... 2-0 
Siding charge .......... 2-0 
Railing to dock on dock tramway ...... 10-6 
Wharfage (inchiding the loading into ships). .... 8-0 
Rs. 1-6-6 
1 Kindly supplied by the Secretary to the Bombivy Port Trust. 
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