View report page

32
On the 28th October last, the Master of the sailing barge "Grange" of
Rochester, was found dead in the fore-cabin.
The cargo consisted of stable refuse, composed principally of moss litter
and horse dung. In the forecabin it was found that a light when lowered
into the cabin was always extinguished at a distance of about two feet six
inches from the floor. The air of the lower parts of the cabin was very
pungent, and of a nature which would speedily induce unconsciousness. On
removing the floor of the cabin, the bilges were found to be filled with a
quantity of black, filthy and offensive liquid.
The bulkhead dividing the hold from the cabin was of the usual insufficient
type, permitting free passage of foul gases from the cargo into the cabin.
I attended the inquest subsequently held on the body of the Master of the
barge, and was permitted by the Coroner to question the witnesses and to give
evidence, with the result that the jury, at my suggestion, unanimously recommended
that the facts should be brought to the notice of the owner, and that
this barge should have the hold absolutely cut off from the inhabited quarters
by a properly constructed gas-tight bulkhead ; these alterations have since
been carried out.
As recorded in previous Reports, whenever barges are found carrying these
cargoes and not fitted with proper bulkheads, action is promptly taken by
your officers, and when the recommendations usually made are disregarded,
Statutory Notices have been served upon the owners.
In this way, during the past four years, eighty-four barges have been
altered in accordance with the recommendations of the Port Sanitary
Authority, viz.:—
"That the existing bulkhead be removed and re-erected in double
"form extended to and connected with the outer skin of the vessel. The
"space between the two bulkheads freely ventilated, and the whole of the
" space under the cabin floor filled with a mixture of cement and coke
" breeze."
The recommendations follow closely the lines laid down by the Canal Boats
Act for canal boats engaged in the carriage of offensive cargoes, and the
recommendations as made were approved by the predecessor of the present
Principal officer of the Board of Trade.
Your Worshipful Committee, at my recommendation, wrote to the Board of
Trade calling their attention to the danger to life arising from the carriage of
offensive and dangerous cargoes on barges which were not properly constructed
for the purpose.
I was requested to call on the Board's Principal officer and discuss the
matter. I ascertained that the importance of this question was realised, but