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Balloon
Sling
By Jon Halgren
I
stopped in at the dispatch hall to see the jobs to be dispatched that morning.
Opportunities looked good. There was a ship at the Banana Terminal, West
Waterway had a ship loading lumber, a vessel at Fishers Flour Mill, two ships at
Alaska Steam, and a refer ship at the Navy.
I did notice an order for 8 extra stevedores for
the ship at Fishers. Interesting, Fishers had started work yesterday with 5
gangs and 20 extra stevedores. I wondered what was happening.
As things worked out I was near the last to get a
job, but I did get one. I was the 4th extra stevedore on the slip of 8.
Carl suggested we stop and get coffee and a scone
at O. K. Lunch. We had time as it was about 7:25, we could get a coffee and a
fresh scone.
“Sure,
today is scone day. I will buy.” The O.K. Lunch was a restaurant with counter
seating only, no tables. The sisters that worked would begin at 4:00 or 5:00 to
start the lunch menu, delicious pies, and other home cooked foods.
We got to the ships gangway just before 8:00.
‘Chippey’ the foreman in charge said, “extra steves, new today go
the #2 hatch if you are the last four, the last four go to #3 hatch. You eight
are here today because we will work with balloon slings, in those hatches. Work
hard and you can sleep well tonight.”
“Balloon slings? Are we going to a carnival?
What on earth are balloon slings? I
think I will learn a few things today.
We started work by taking off the night tent and
landing it off shore. The boss yelled, “
Keep a walkway for safety, around the hatch.”
I looked to the dock to see four workers unfolding
what looked like a tarp. There was a
heavy rope going to the four corners, it looked like it was sewn, rope and tarp
together. Bags of the product came down a wooden chute and were stacked on the
tarp sling. When loaded the four
eyes were placed on the hook , the
winch driver was given a signal by the hatch tender to hoist.
As the cargo was lifted it came together in a big ball.
“Hey kid,
the work is down the hatch.” I climbed down the escape hatch. What a sight!
Yesterday, or the night shift built a worktable with cargo. The tables
were about 11/2 times the size of the loaded balloon sling. I will learn
something today.
The
table was about 6’ by 12’ and the table top was about 5’ above the floor.
The winch driver would bring in a sling load and gently land the load on the table. We would
unhook eyes of the sling and begin carrying the bulgur to the place of stowage.
Two stevedores stayed on top of the table and passed the sacks down.
When we emptied the sling we pulled it to the side
so another load could be landed. When the next load was landed we would send out
the sling. Everyone worked, the four on the dock, the offshore side and the
inshore side.
Coffee could not come soon enough. I enjoyed the
rest. I started thinking about a cat nap in the hold at lunchtime. I was tired.
We used the table until the afternoon coffee.
We could see that we would be using Fisher boards about 3:30.
The extra men started thinking about going home early.
Chippey yelled down “you four extra men stay
here and help after coffee. You are back to the hall at 5.”
My balloon
popped. The boss was right about sleeping. I got home, showered, ate dinner, and
headed for bed. My head touched the
pillow and the next thing I knew, the alarm sounded it was 6:00am.
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