San Francisco Waterfront History
San Francisco Waterfront History
The San Francisco Waterfront
The Social
Consequences of Industrial Modernization
Part One; "The Good Old Days"
By Herb Mills
Page 18
Towards 7:45 A.M., the men had to move toward the pier head. The dock workers who had been dispatched directly to the dock walker now received their assignment, as did the late arrivals to the gangs or ship walker. The day began in earnest when at 8:00 A.M. the ship walker hollered, "O.K., men, let's go."
As the shipboard men streamed onto the stringer of the dock, the dock men for the gangs were raising the doors of the cargo shed along the length of the vessel. They then proceeded to locate and ready the stevedore gear and dock equipment which would be required.
Having cleared their immediate work area of any debris and having constructed a suitable seat (or "house") for themselves, they would presently stand ready to secure the "save-all" (i.e., a cargo net which is slung between the dock and a vessel so as to prevent a dock man or any spilled cargo from falling into the water).
Meanwhile, and on the basis of the information given them by the clerk with whom they would be working, the other dock workers were "setting up" for the palletizing and de-palletizing of cargo.
Having ascended the gangway, the shipboard men moved to their respective hatches via the inshore fore-and-aft passageway on the weather deck. The members of each gang then proceeded to rig the ship's gear which they would be using. Essentially, this consisted of "spotting" or positioning the two cargo booms through the use of wire rope preventers and rope guys.
With the assistance of the dock men—whose position allowed them a better sighting-the inshore or yard boom was spotted over the dock. As a rule, the offshore boom or midship boom was spotted just offshore the hatch. To facilitate the performance of this work, half of the holdmen took responsibility for rigging the yard boom, while the other half rigged the midship.
Except when operational circumstances might dictate otherwise, this "inshore" and "offshore" division of the holdmen would continue throughout the job. Each of the booms was serviced by an independently operated winch. By means of these winches, the wire ropes or "falls" which passed through the block at the top end of each boom might be independently lowered or hoisted.
