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voluntary, but it is to be hoped that they will take the long view and act on the
recommendations. New systems of heating and ventilation are recommended by
the Shipping Federation Committee, and though they appear sound in principle,
they have not yet been tried sufficiently widely to enable an opinion to be expressed
as to whether they will be found to be efficient in practice under all conditions.
The problem of the proper ventilation of small compartments without intolerable
draught is sufficiently difficult in premises ashore. It is far more difficult on board
ship and is surely worthy of attention from, and experiment by experts in practical
ventilation. At the present time it is almost the rule to find the ventilators to crew's
quarters plugged up by the men. Port Sanitary Inspectors may order the removal
of the obstruction, but they well know that it will be replaced at the earliest possible
opportunity, not because the men enjoy a stuffy atmosphere, but because they dislike
a cold draught. Firemen, coming from work in the hot stokehold, are naturally
very intolerant of a strong current of cold air in their sleeping quarters. It is not
uncommon to find ventilators opening directly over bunks, an arrangement which
should surely be altered before ever the ship is put in commission.
The Shipping Federation Committee have recommended a system of free
ventilation of alleyways, the bulkheads separating compartments from the alleyways
being incomplete above and below so that fresh air can enter and vitiated air escape.
This is undoubtedly a better arrangement than having simple cowl ventilators opening
directly into compartments, but even so there are possibilities of cold draughts and
consequently the blocking up of the spaces through which fresh air enters. The
Shipping Federation report also recommends a system of central heating of crews'
quarters by low-pressure hot water, and it would seem desirable to devise some means
whereby this hot-water system might be employed to at least take the chill off the
incoming fresh air. One of your Sanitary Inspectors, Mr. Clifford, has suggested
a scheme by which fresh air would traverse a hot-water radiator as it was admitted
to living compartments. The principle is, of course, sound, and is put into practice
ashore, but the details of its application to ship conditions would need special
consideration. The fact remains that the acute discomfort of a cold draught is
painfully obvious to the occupants of a room, whereas the ill-effects of insufficient
ventilation are not, and therefore ventilation will continue to be obstructed until
a practical solution of the problem is found. It is not a question of designing some
complicated and mechanical appliance, the system must be simple, inexpensive and
fool-proof, but none the less it calls for expert attention.
Mr. Clifford also designed an extraction ventilator which could remain in position
under any conditions without there being any danger of water entering the quarters
through it. This was brought to the notice of the Board of Trade, the Shipping
Federation and the Association of Port Sanitary Authorities. The Board of Trade
criticised the ventilator mainly on the grounds that if the ship was stationary and
there was no wind the ventilator would not function, but under such conditions it
would usually be possible to have side scuttles and doors open. In any case the occasions
on which this ventilator Avould fail to act would be few in comparison with the number
of times the existing ventilators are found to be completely plugged by the men.
If such a system of extraction of foul air could be combined with an arrangement
for slightly warming incoming air, even the small crowded compartments provided
for seamen afloat might be adequately and comfortably ventilated.
Increased cubic space and floor space per man, four-berth sleeping rooms, separate
mess rooms and drying rooms, and many more improvements are advocated in the
excellent reports of the Shipping Federation Committee, and the practical application
of these recommendations will be eagerly awaited by all who are interested in the
welfare of seamen.
There remains the problem of ships already in commission, and in which the
crew accommodation is unsatisfactory.
Perhaps nothing can be done in this time of trade depression, but if the improvements
suggested are embodied in all new ships, a new standard will be set and
proposals for improvements in the old ships will, in consequence, receive more
attention than they do at present.