When People Ask What You Learned Today .....

Manure... An interesting fact

Manure :  In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything 

had to be transported by ship and it was also 

before the invention of commercial fertilizers, 

so large shipments of manure were quite common.

It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed 

a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, 

not only did it become heavier, but the process 

of fermentation began again, of which a by product 

is methane gas of course. As the stuff was stored below 

decks in bundles you can see what could (and did) happen. 
Methane began to build up below decks and the 

first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!

Several ships were destroyed in this manner 

before it was determined just what was happening 

After that, the bundles of manure were always 

stamped with the instruction ' Stow high in transit ' 

on them, which meant for the sailors to stow it 

high enough off the lower decks so that any water 

that came into the hold would not touch this 

volatile cargo and start the production of methane.



  Thus evolved the term ' S.H.I.T ' , (Stow High In Transit) 

which has come down through the centuries 

and is in use to this very day. 

You probably did not know the true history of this word. 

Neither did I. 

I had always thought it was a golf term.

Thanks Dan