THE TRANSPORT OF TOBACCO.
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The Carriage of Valuable Cargo by Motor Vehicles.
LIVERPOOL is credited -with having one of the largest tobacco warehouses in the world, and when the man in the street purchases his modest ounce of his favourite brand from the local tobacconist he has probably no thought of the relation of his small transaction to the huge " smoke.' trade of the Merseyside port-. Take, for instance, a load of tobacco, similar to that shown in one of our illustrations, the like of which may be seen any day of the week at the Liverpool docks.which, if the consumption was at the rate of one ounce per day, would take 1,130 years to pass into use. Each keg contains 10 cwt, of the fragrant weed, and both the Sentinel steadier and the trailer each carry eleven of them. To speak of a ton of tobacco does not convey much meaning, and it is better understood by speaking in terms of ounces. The load shown on the steamer and trailer weighs about 410,0® ounces, and is worth probably £10,000.
When steamers laden with tobacco arrive at Liverpool the cargoes are taken to the gigantic Stanley Dock warehouses of the Mersey Doeks and Harbour Board, and after the duty has been paid, they go to the various manufacturers, who prepare them for the delecta
tion of the connoisseur, either in the form of pipe tobacco or cigarettes. The first transport operation of tobacco on its arrival on these shores is undertaken by motor lorry, generally steam wagons.
There are several intermediate functions of road transport, the final one being the distribution of the cases of cigarettes and tobacco from the manufacturers' works to, the wholesale distributing depots by light van. One of the smartest distributing vehicles in the Liverpool tobacco trade is the Garford van on giant pneumatics, which is owned by Cope Bros., Ltd.; of Lord Nelson Street.,.