View report page

43
What this means may perhaps be better understood when it is stated that
on shore anything less than 300 cubic feet of space per head would be
considered overcrowding, whilst the seaman must be satisfied with about
one-quarter of this allowance.
With regard to the amount of light permitted in this forecastle, the total
area of the lighting apertures represented 100 square inches to each division
of the forecastle.
Under the London Building Act, a room with the superficial floor area
contained in this forecastle would require two windows each of 12 square feet
area, say 4 feet by 3 feet. The amount of light permitted in this forecastle
may be represented by one small pane of glass about two-thirds of a square
foot in area, so that it may be realised what the conditions on this vessel were
if it is imagined that 10 adult persons take their meals and sleep in a room
say 10 feet by 12 feet and 7 feet high, lighted by one tiny window less than
1 foot square, situated near the ceiling, towards which the light would be
directed, with a shelf 2 feet wide placed under the window, thus preventing
the light from reaching the floor.
The visits to the vessels were made under favourable circumstances with the
sun shining brightly, but even then I saw a lamp burning in order that a man
might be able to write.
In the case of the second vessel the conditions will be seen to be a little
better with regard to air space and floor space, but not much. Sixteen
persons have to occupy a space equal to a room about 15 feet square, and the
total lighting area corresponding to a window in this case equals 11/3 square
feet. In the case of a house the windows of this room would have to
represent no less than 24 square feet of area, or say 6 feet by 4 feet, so that
the amount of light permitted in this forecastle is one-eighteenth part of
that considered necessary in an ordinary living room on shore.
In the case of the third vessel, there are 15 persons occupying a space of
128 square feet of floor space, and the gross area of the lighting aperture is
only 192 square inches, equals 1J square feet.
In the case of the fourth vessel, the lighting aperture falls as low as 87
square inches, or rather more than half a square foot, for a space occupied by
14 persons and available floor space of 116 square feet, representing a space
less than 11 feet square and containing 1,787 cubic feet of air space, or 127
cubic feet per head, less than one-half the minimum amount required by
persons on shore, but nearly double the amount allowed under the Merchant
Shipping Act.
That men should be required to live under such conditions is not right, and
under the circumstances it is not surprising to find among seamen and firemen
a large number of cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.