Manure & shipping:

> >> History of manure... An interesting fact
> >>
> >> Manure: In the 16th and 17th centuries, 
> >> everything had to be transported by ship and it was also before 
> >> commercial fertilizer ' s invention, so large shipments of manure were 
> >> common.
> >>
> >> It was shipped dry, because in dry form 
> >> it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it 
> >> not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of 
> >> which a by product > methane gas. 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 term
> >> ' Ship 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
> >
> >> methane>
> >> Thus evolved the term ' S.H.I.T. ', (Ship 
> >> 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.