Details
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Reproduction
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Object numberCARCM:2009.29
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Creator
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Mark Townshend explains the system for charging rent on coal trucks: "When a coal truck was taken to the docks on the railway, the owner of the land charged rent for the load being on his land or in his warehouse. The slide rule was used to calculate the amount of rent to be charged for the goods while they were waiting to be shipped out. This was called the coal truck demurrage charge or shed rent. I worked as a Shed Rent Clerk and it was Ken Brown, who held the post before me, who gave me the slide rule. To be honest, I never actually used it. When computers came in, or adding machines when I started, this was defunct. But Ken was still using it up until the 1970s!
This is how it works: you find the date that the load arrived on the wooden side, then you slide the metal part down to the date, lining the dot at the top of the metal piece up with that date. Then you look for the date that the load is due to leave the land or the warehouse. The number of weeks to charge for will then be written on the metal piece opposite that date."
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Physical descriptionWooden rule with months of the year running along the top and numbers in a grid.
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Production place56 Stamford Street, London, England
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Production periodEarly 20th Century
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Object name
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Material
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Dimensions
- Height: 431 mm
Height: 862 mm
Width: 62 mm
Depth: 10 mm
