The ship is taken to a coal wharf and the coal is slid down in chutes, or barges are run alongside and great buckets, hoisted by steam, swing the black lumps into the hold or bunker.
The navy style, as practised on the "Yankee," was quite different.

The barges were brought alongside, the men divided into gangs--some to go in the hold of the barge, some to go on the platforms, some to carry on the ship herself.

The barge gang shovelled the coal into bushel baskets; these were carried to the men on the stages; and the latter passed them from one to the other, to the gun deck; finally, the gang on the vessel carried the baskets to the bunker holes, and dumped them.

The ship was well provided with hoisting machines, but, for some reason, this help was not permitted us.
It was a long, inexpressibly dreary day's work, and though undertaken cheerfully and with less complaining than would have been believed possible, the drudgery of it was a thing not easily forgotten.

Before the day had ended, all hope of getting ashore was lost, for we were told that no liberty would be given.
The following day and half of our stay in New York harbor was spent in the same way--shovelling, lifting, and carrying coal.