The deck officer who has had experience with elephants will not waste any time over such futile manoeuvres. He will order four slings io be fixed under the animals feet. The elephant does not like this and at times seems in danger of falling out of the slings, but it is the best way of getting him on board. Unfortunately, it appears to put the elephant in a bad mood and is liable to cause him to repeat his stampeding on deck. The elephant that has been to sea before gives less trouble, for it seems to understand that there is nothing to be frightened about, and such animals can often be made to walk either up or down the gang planks, Explosives are among the dangerous cargoes and thorough precautions are taken to prevent catastrophe. Cargoes of petrol, gases, explosives, ammunition, detonators and fireworks are handled in most of the world's ports under the most stringent regulations. The men who handle these cargoes are not allowed between decks with tobacco, nor with knives or other bright articles that might produce a spark, The inspectors search each man before he starts work and they are even on the watch during working hours for a surreptitious infringement of the rules, To minimize the risk with explosives it is usual to unload at the rate of 24 cases a time, Each case weighs about 50 lb, which gives a sling weight of 1,200 1b. In this way the risk of a sling load of explosives talling on to the whart is reduced.
The danger with explosives is detonation following careless packing. To guard against this the cases are packed in tightly, with all the tiny spaces filled so that one case cannot roll against another. The railway authorities have careful regulations for the safe conveyance of explosives and so have most of the shipping companies, and the fact that so few accidental explosions occur at sea is proof that these regulations are usually carried out scrupulously,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.