PLIMSOLL, Samuel (1824-1898). Shipping Reformer.
Autograph Letter Signed ("Samuel Plimsoll") to an unidentified correspondent, recommending an article in the 'Nineteenth Century' dealing with "a means of greatly diminishing loss of life and property at Sea".
1 page 8vo with integral blank leaf, 2
"I entreat you to read the paper reprinted from the March number of the Nineteenth Century I send herewith [not present] I believe it offers a means of greatly diminishing loss of life and property at Sea. Should you pronounce upon it in your Paper I should be grateful for a copy of the same containing your verdict . . ."
Plimsoll was already a committed social reformer when he became aware, in 1867, of the devastating effects of the overloading of cargo ships. Plimsoll's campaign in books, articles and finally as a Member of Parliament resulted in the adoption of the Plimsoll Line through the Merchant Shipping Act of 1875, the reference line which determines the limit to which a cargo ship can be loaded. A year later, the Liverpool Rubber Company produced a rubber-soled canvas shoe - water-tight up to the top line of rubber - which it named the plimsoll.
Traces of mount on the verso of the blank leaf.
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