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24. Officials and Masters of Pittsburg Steamship Co, The first annual meeting of the officials and masters of the Pittsburg Steamship Co. was held at the Hollen- den hotel, "Cleveland, last week, open- ing on Wednesday and concluding with -the usual dinner on Friday even- ing. These meetings are growing an- nually more important and are ex- tremely valuable to the company. They have contributed much to the unity which is so distinguishing a characteristic of this fleet. The Pitts- burg Steamship Co., notwithstanding -its great size, is a more compact and more cohesive body than any oth- er company on the lakes. In his opening remarks, Mr. Harry Coulby, president and general mana- ger, congratulated the masters upon the successful way in which they had navigated their vessels during the last season. He dealt at length upon the welfare plan recently promulgat- ed by the Lake Carriers' Association and predicted that conditions would be better than they had ever been if the men themselves enter heartily into the spirit of the plan. Mr. Coul- by's remarks in full upon this subject will be published later. At the afternoon session Mr. Her- mon A. Kelley, general counsel for the company, addressed the masters on "The Causes of Accidents and How to Avoid Them." He illustrated his subject 'by reference to specific collision cases and how they could have been avoided. In the general discussion which followed much time was devoted to the subject of navi- gating. freighters in congested and narrow waters. ' At the second day's session, Mr. Coulby announced the appointments for the season of 1909, which are pub- lished elsewhere. Mr. Robert Logan, general manager of the American Ship Building Co., addressed the mas- ters on the subject of "Proper +Dis- tribution of Cargo on Board Modern Freighters." Mr. Logan in part said g "During the past 15 years the size of lake vessels engaged in the ore or lumber freight trade has increased from some 3,000 tons to 13,000 tons carrying capacity, and from 300 to 600 feet: in length; involving many new features in type and construction and making the question of the distribu- tion of the load tobe one of very great importance. This is particularly so in the longer class of vessels. "The. stresses producing strain on the hull resulting from the distribu- \ TAE MarRINE REVIEW tion of the load lengthwise of the vessel, are the most severe to which the vessel is subjected. I think 'it will be conceded general- ly that the - best distribution of the cargo load, is the one that will cause the least amount of strain in the hull, when the vessel is afloat in still water, for all such initial strains in the hull are just so much added to the strains that necessarily take place when the vessel is under. the action of the waves, consequently they ought to be avoided as much as _ possible. "All modern lake vessels built to carry coarse freight in bulk with the machinery aft and accommodations forward have when loaded equally 'between those parts a natural ten- dency to sag or draw more water amidships than at the ends, due to the fact that there is an excess of buoyancy over weight at both bow and. stern. "About 36 per cent ot tne load should be located in the forward third of the cargo hold, about -30 per cent in the amidship third of the hold and about 34 per cent in the after third of the hold, and this distribution will be found to give the minimum amount. of strain in the hull and: at the same time give the vessel -her proper sailing trim, three to six inches by the stern at the loading port. "In the case of tow barges of the usual form the loading ought to be Similar 'to' that given for steamers, the heaviest weight ut the two ends. "When sailing light or without cargo another condition is met with and one entirely peculiar to lake vessels propelled by steam. When _ good weather prevails all that is aimed for under these circumstances is to get the propeller wheel under the water and if the weight of the ma- chinery, boilers and fuel, all in the after end, are not sufficient for this enough water is run into the after tanks until the boat may be drawing 14 to 15 feet ait-and nothing at all forward, giving a draught of 7 to 7% feet amidships. In this condition the vessel is: subjected to a hogging strain, having an upward. pressure from.) buoyancy centered _somewhat aft of .amidships pressure .at.'each, end due to the 'weights there not being entirely sup- ported by water. This condition jis not very severe on the ship in calm weather, but in any kind of a sea the strains will be extremely severe and even dangerous. and: a. downward.,, "Tt may also be greatly aggravated -- by a wrong manipulation of the water -- ' ballast when it is desired to sink the -- bow. This ought to be always done by flooding the ballast compartments from aft to forward until the desired draught forward and aft has been ob- tained, and never by flooding the ends © and leaving the midship compartments empty." At the afternoon session Major Charles Kellar discussed the lake sur- vey and the work of the lighthouse department. The third day's session was devoted to the problem of loading and unload- ing. At the morning session the rep- resentatives of the loading docks met with the men. It was the consensus of opinion of the dock superintendents as well as the masters that there should be men on all the docks to handle lines. The policy was pur- sued at Two Harbors last year with the result that there was not a single damage case at that port. It makes the work of getting a steamer into dock much easier, as well as obviat- ing the danger of sending a man over the side of the vessel.- The plan will be suggested to the dock superintend- ents of other ports for adoption. Better dispatch. and less shifting were also pronounced. The dock superintendents at the receiving ports met with the captains at the afternoon session. It was sug- gested that better results might be obtained in some cases by working more shovelers in the holds of the bulk freighters. Changes in a number of ships that were built before the girder system became in vogue were also suggested and it was announced that the Pittsburg Steamship Co. in- tends to make alterations in 15 of its steamers to conform to the modern practice of unloading. "President Livingstone of the Lake Carriers' Association addressed the men during the afternoon session on the subject of Aids to Navigation. Mr. Livingstone especially inquired regarding the efficiency of the lighting system in the new West Neebish, channel. 3 The sessions were concluded with « the annual dinner at. the Hollenden on™ Friday evening. Mr. James H. Hoyt" acted as toastmaster and the speakers : included Mr.: Coulby, A. F. Harvey, Wm, Livingstone, H. H. McKeehan, Wm. A McGonagle, J. H. McLean, D, Sullivan, H. G. Dalton, W. B. Lig