19- 2 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Mr. Richard. Oulton. V ( 26 May.) % i i h « Sir, Notice to Master Measuring Porters. u I hereby give you notice that I do not require your attendance as master measuring porter for the discharge of coals now on board the vessel called the Unity of Dublin, lying in the harbour of Dublin; and I caution you not to come on board the said vessel, as if you do after this notice I shall bring an action against you for such trespass. Dated this 23d day of August 1820. " To Mr. John Murray, " John Tomlinson. u on board the schooner, Unity, Was it with the view of benefiting themselves, or for the advantage of the purchasers of coal, that they called such meeting?— It was with a view of benefiting themselves. Do not those factors alluded to resist the coal- meters superintending the measurement of coals in their yards?— They do. Whenever coals have been seized in the street for deficient measure, has it not almost invariably appeared that the coals so seized had been sent out of coal- yards?— It generally does. There bad been some coal lately seized that left the quays, and those coals were pillaged by what are called pickaroons on the quays. What are the pickaroons?— They are the wives and children of the coal- porters. Are not all coals bought at the pits by measure?— They are, as appears by Mr. Curwen's letter. Do not coals often lie a considerable time, particularly in bad weather, on the banks of the pit, previous to their being shipped ?— They do; for while the ships are in Dublin the colliers are employed at the pits raising coals, which remain on the banks till shipped. Are not coals liable to have their weight increased by being exposed to wet and rain?— I have no doubt of it. If vessels on their passage to Dublin laden with coals should ship water, and the coals were to be sold to the consumer by weight, would not the consumer have to pay for the weight of the water so shipped?— He would have to pay for the weight of water absorbed by the coal. Did not a captain of a Whitehaven coal- ship inform you, that having at one time shipped a cargo of coal of the usual quantity, which he had shipped after bad weather, that he had ascertained by the draught of the ship that the cargo must have absorbed upwards of twenty ton of water previous to bis taking it on board ? — He did. Do not the captains on that account take a less quantity of coals on board in winter than in summer?— They do; for in winter the coals are so wet that they cannot take within several tons of what they do in summer. As the ship- owners profits arise from the number of voyages the vessel makes, is it not for the advantage of the ship, as she returns in ballast, to have her cargo quickly discharged?— Certainly. Does not that desire often induce the captains to dispose of the coals at a re- duced price?— It certainly does. Would there be a more considerable delay in discharging a cargo of coal by weight than by measure; and would it not require a greater number of hands to do it?— It would. I have a certificate from Mr. Williams and others, glass manufacturers, to that effect; they are of opinion, that a ship would not be able to discharge above thirty tons by weight in the time they can discharge sixty tons by measure, and in consequence of the delay, that it would raise the price of coals, as w ell as the price of delivering them. In the confusion of discharging vessels on Dublin quays, where six or seven ships are sometimes discharging one over the other, do you think that coals could be accurately weighed on board ?— I am satisfied that they could not, nor do they even weigh them on board in Cork, for they often throw them out on the quays altogether, and then weigh them; and even that could not be done on Dublin quays from the number of ships at times discharging, and the number of cars and drays on the quays. If in selling coal by weight the captains were delayed in discharging their cargoes, would it not have the effect of raising the price of coals on the consumer?— I have no doubt that for all the delay that the captain is under he always takes care to lay on an additional price. Does