Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/231

 twenty-five feet, and a capacity of three tons, so fixed that they can lift goods from the railway waggons to the platform, or to the hold of a vessel, or vice versâ. With screw steamers, of which the Company possess four, it is practicable by one operation to take a package from the waggons and deposit it in the hold of the vessel, but with paddle-wheel steamers, owing to their greater width, the hydraulic cranes are worked in connection with a winch which raises or lowers the goods between the hold and the deck.

The harbour and quays are illuminated at night by five powerful electric lights, one being fixed at each end of each warehouse, and the fifth at the south end of the harbour.

The mode of carrying on the working is as follows:—Waggons containing export traffic for shipment, having been brought by the train engines, and deposited close to the entrance of the export warehouse in reception sidings provided for the purpose, are drawn up by hydraulic capstans, and placed in exact positions opposite the berths, where are moored the vessels into which they are required to be unloaded. The goods are taken from the waggons, checked with the invoice, and lowered into the vessel, full particulars of the goods shipped by each boat being recorded in a "Transfer-book." The clerkage is carried on simultaneously with the actual handling of the goods, so that almost as soon as the hatchways are closed, and the gangways removed, the invoices are sent on board, and the vessel is ready to leave. Specially heavy articles, such as furniture vans or machinery, are loaded on the quay by means of 18-ton hydraulic cranes, or, if necessary, by a pair of shear legs, which will carry eighty tons.