Now You Know >> >> 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.
