What are qtls?

[goodbasil]

I bought a book last night. Uffa Fox's Second Book (1935) (Cost me $3.o6)
Anyway, I was reading about Bluenose on page 233 and it reads: The hold must be large enough for 4,200 qtls. of 112 lbs. each,....

My question, what is a qtls. ? Google ain't helping.

Merci.

[TerryLL]

Quintal

a quintal is a unit for measuring fish that is equal to 112 pounds or approximately 51 kilograms

[goodbasil]

Thank-you. I should sleep well tonight.

[purri]

counting codfish no doubt...

[Michael D. Storey]

Quintal

a quintal is a unit for measuring fish that is equal to 112 pounds or approximately 51 kilograms

and you know this how?? what an obscure piece of information.

[skuthorp]

I've heard the term as a measure but had no idea what it was. Thanks TerryL

[TerryLL]

and you know this how?? what an obscure piece of information.

I recalled it from a bit of dialogue in Captains Courageous, Disko Troop and Dan talking about remaining space in the hold. Had to go back to the original Kipling for the exact meaning.

[David G]

I wondered if it might be a quintal. I saw the word in Admiral W.H. Smyth's, The Sailor's Word Book. But when I looked it up again, it simply said, "a commercial weight of 100 pounds". Wikipedia, though, says there are lots of versions and values for the word quintal.... so Terry's interpretation could be correct.

[Canoeyawl]

From memory, a quintal is a hundredweight.
It was used to mark the weight of cannons and that weight in quintals was cut right onto the breech.
This was a convienient measure when you had only horses or men to move stuff. At a glance you would know how many horses (or men) and what tackle to use to shift a gun, or whatever.

[Concordia...41]

This place never ceases to amaze me :)

[skuthorp]

This place never ceases to amaze me :)
Yep, amongst the dross a few bright gems.

[Mad Scientist]

I have references which state that a Quintal equals 100 pounds and 100 kilograms.:rolleyes:

Metric quintals versus U.S. quintals. Very confusing!

Tom

[TerryLL]

Also, in English units the quintal was once an alternative name for the hundredweight and was defined either as 100 pounds or as 112 lb.

[S B]

If the book set the quintal as being 112lb, then it was refering to shipping weight of dried salt codfish. The quintal also refers to weights of fish in various forms, that will, when processed, result in 112lb of finished product. Round, gut out head on, split and salted etc., roughly 350 to 400 lb, depending on time of year and size of fish, for round.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Well, I confess to find this discussion a surprise, to say the least.

I always thought myself that a quintal was a volume (like a tun). Perhaps this is why it apparently represents so many different weights -- a certain volume of split-and-salted herring, for instance, would pack more tightly and hence weigh more than the same volume of raw fish -- but less than the same volume of sand ballast.

I note from the Wiki article that while there seems to be a lot or arbitrariness about the quantum of a quintal, all definitions seem to be based on weight, not volume. If the original basis was indeed volume, perhaps that's the cause?

Mike

[Ron Williamson]

Agreed.
I would guess that there wasn't a reliable method of weighing and keeping track of the amount of fish anyway.
The local commercial guys use 100lb. tubs or 1000lb.totes.
R

[tigerregis]

Thanks, notwithstanding the verity and validity of above suggestions, I am going to stick with the offered 112 lb. Multiplied by 20 it comes out as suspiciously close to a long ton. Compare with "quinze", the French 20.

[Ron Williamson]

I'm not great in languages or math,but quinze only compares to twenty if you subtract cinq.
Vingt is twenty in French.
Quinze is fifteen.
R

[Steve McMahon]

Quintal:
US - 100 lbs
Br. - 112 lbs
Argentine - 101.28 lbs
Brazil - 129.54 lbs
Peru - 101.43 lbs
Chile - 101.41 lbs
Mexico - 101.47lbs

Booklet of conversion factors and Mensuration Formulae I have had for as long as I can remember. Cover is missing, publisher unknown.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

... I am going to stick with the offered 112 lb. Multiplied by 20 it comes out as suspiciously close to a long ton.

If a quintal is 112 lb then it's exactly, not approximately, a cwt. And twenty of them would be exactly, not approximately, a ton.

But I note that while Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintal) gives some etymology for the word quintal, it doesn't have it deriving from a base of 20 anywhere. Rather, all antecedents seem to show that the word is based on a unit of 100 (widely-varying) something-or-others. (And if you're having a look, check under the 'Talk' tab as well.)

Mike

[S B]

The original post asked for the quintal in reference to the Bluenose, In that case the weight/volume relation of the hold were specified.

[Steve McMahon]

As it relates to the Bluenose I think the appropriate measure would be the British 112lbs.

[Stevebazz]

Quintal was also the name of a crew member on HMS Bounty. Matthew Quintal remained with Fletcher Christian and I believe his descendants are still living on Norfolk Island.

[Sailor]

I recal Hornblower telling someone he needed a certain number or Quintals of salt to victual Lydia.

[tigerregis]

I am sorry about the French 20. The correction is proper. In my mind there was some confusion, as in marketing it is used as a fifth of a group. So a fifth is 20%. These discussions about arcane subjects is fascinating. Thanks to Ron for remembering his French better than I.

[Dave Hadfield]

Check out this page, for obscure old measures...

http://books.google.ca/books?id=LM4nAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=quintal+barrel+tun&source=bl&ots=n7sQBVOWQf&sig=q38PsGz8zNq-kW3XHrBJlUIzBu4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=s3R0T-WuMaXj0QHujs3_Ag&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=quintal%20barrel%20tun&f=false

page 38 and 39

Dave