Bob Learns About Ocean Trade (1953)

[Music] Bob likes to climb out to the furthermost point of the harbor and watch the ship sail Majestic Ally into Port A Large Harbor is an exciting place as the huge Ships Come and Go with their caros from foreign lands from the Orient they bring such things as coconut tea retan furniture and Japanese toys and today a ship of wild animals will arrive trains are on hand at the Docks to carry the cargo to Inland points here a Matson line boat is loing products from the southwest for shipment to Honolulu they buy the kinds of things an island country needs for its homes farms and businesses the long shoremen are loading the ship in all five hatches at the same time in the front hatch Lumber and the next hatch canned goods like Crisco the hatches are the openings in the docks down which the cargo is loaded it has been raining and the hatch covers are still in place a Pinkerton guard stands at the gang Plank and will not let anyone board the ship without permission Bob is lucky because Mr Turner the warehouse manager is a friend of his and has promised to take him on board to see the loading men at Sea take pride in their ship and keep it spotlessly clean the size of a ship is generally told by tons this is a fine large freighter and when loaded would weigh 14,000 tons from the bridge deck they have a fine view of the loading until loading time the cargo is stored in warehouses for protection against fire theft and bad weather small jitneys or lift trucks all the loads from the warehouse and place them in front of the hatch where they are to be loaded Mr Turner explains to Bob that when a country can raise more crops or manufacture more products than it needs it sends these things to other countries when a country sends things to other countries it is exporting in return it buys from the other countries the things those countries can produce best now it's lunchtime and this shift of workmen stop to eat sometimes three different ships of long shoreman Work loading a single ship and loading continues all night this ship will return from Honolulu with a load of sugar and pineapple steamship companies hire Pinkerton guards to protect their ships and docks sometimes 10 or more men will be required to guard a ship that is loading valuable cargo Bob thanks Mr Turner and the guard him and with a last look at the beautiful ship makes his way carefully across the busy Pier it is expensive for the steamship company to keep a freighter at Dock and so the loading is done as quickly as possible further down the dock piles of rock salt are stored temporarily waiting shipment to Japan trains brought the salt from the rock salt mines and the government bought the salt for a shipment to Japan the Japanese use a lot of salt for curing and pickling their fish and they also refine it for table salt the tractor shovels called skip Jacks scoop up the salt and they trucks carry the salt to the ship to be loaded Bob asks if he can take some home to show his family he thanks the men and goes on his way further down the dock the President Grant lies at anchor she just arrived from the Orient with an exciting cargo of wild animals in fact the first wild animals that have been imported from sayam in 8 years Bob admires the beautiful sweep of the bow of the ship she is about 500 ft long and 70 ft wide the president boats belong to the American president line every 2 weeks ships from this line leave for a trip around the world they carry both Freight and passengers Mr Chapman shows Bob the list of animals that are due to arrive 2 500 animals birds and snakes from cam Mr Chapman is a checker for the steamship company and keeps track of each load of animals to be sure the correct number arrived a crate of honey bears the bears are tame and Mr Chapman plays with them through the bars honey bears come from Asia and Australia ocean trips are hard on animals as they get at se on this trip they lost 20 monkeys six apes and 100 birds and one elephant died of pneumonia Bob asks who bought the animals some will go to zoos some to circuses and some to the companies that buy and sell wild animals Chico was the pet of the ship and attached herself to one of the ship's officers she likes to cuddle up close and be petted Chico is Almost Human she is used to hanging from the trees by her arms but she also walks upright like a man here Chico my Bob would like to have a pet like Chico the steamship company felt that people would enjoy seeing them unload the animals so they invited important people to be their guests and planned a celebration this way they adverti their ships the guests crowd around the hatch and watch the men try to make the elephants walk into the unloading crates Bob thinks this is a lot of fun this way in you go now Fast close the door and up comes to get his first view of this country cameras Flash and the guests walk over to the rail to see land gently on the dock the steamship company has invited Sabu the Elephant Boy and two actresses to welcome the elephants it's all fun and will mean publicity for the steam ship company all the newspapers have sent reporters for this event is unusual and funny and will have news value these animals are valuable in fact this boatload of animals is worth $35,000 and now Tim Buck too is coaxed into the stall he isn't as nervous as and up he comes timbuk 2 carries his trunk with him when traveling he is a valuable elephant and will sell for $4,000 Tim buuk 2 comes peacefully out of his stall to take a look at his new American friends why it wasn't so bad after all on the warehouse balcony a class of school children watched the unloading their teacher thought this would be a valuable lesson on harbors and the handling of cargo another elephant jumbo swings down in a net sack and is he annoyed several men trained to care for animals were on the two weeks Voyage to help take care of them the elephants seem relieved to have their feet on Solid Ground and are glad to pose with Sabu and the actresses for the photographers the newspaper men quickly take their pictures each man tries to get the best story for his paper Bob is having the time of his life but he also enjoys the everyday things that happen around the harbor the fact that these freers carry their cargo to and from the furthest corners of the world is exciting to Bob President Grant will return to China with a load of cotton and other American products that China needs the long shoremen unload the cotton onto the warehouse trucks or jitneys in China they will make the cotton into cloth sheets and clothes American tourists may buy Chinese kimonas or dolls and bring them back to the United States thus the finished product made from this cotton may come back to the United States Bob asks for a sample of the raw cotton to show his family the men like Bob because he asks intelligent questions and always wants to learn more today Bob has learned a lot about how goods are shipped to foreign lands he knows about exports and imports and how each country raises the things it can raise best and cheapest now it's time to go home Bob whistles and out comes the entire family to hear the news they think Bob was very lucky to visit the wild animal ship Bob's Pockets have many Treasures look Holly they were sending cotton like this to China it is in its rough State just the way it was picked from the plant this port ships cotton grown in California and Arizona and they even send it here from Northern Mexico to be shipped to the Orient and look Holly I picked the salt up on the dock it is rough like this before it goes through a plant and is refined wine for the table Holly thinks everything brother Bob does is just about right mother the man said I could come again may I go next Saturday goodbye Bob and happy memories of monkeys Bears elephants Chinese doll dresses rice and everything nice [Music]