Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-07-21
BUILD SHIPS IN A HURRY.
Incredible Speed In C-onstruction Due y
Klondike Boom.

Incredible Speed In Construction Due %
Klondike Boom.
am tie San Francisco Call: A
steamship. finished complete. from Keel
to ~smokestack, In six weeks. surely
that ia crowding things a little put
| the Alaska boom has made such work
necessary. That Is the reason 1t ID De-
ing done these days. Never In the
history of shipbuilding in California
has there been such activity In the
business. Every shipyard about the
bay Is working overtime. and In some
Instances day and night, so great Is the
demand for vessels to send to the arc
tic. OF course, there Is a great deal Oh
repairing and overhauling being done,
but new vessels are being completed
every few days. Over at Oakland snip
yard one day last week there were n'e
new ships on the ways at the sans
time. 1t Is safe to say that this nas
never happened before in this part Oh
the world. At the big foundries. where
iron ships are built, work is pusneo
as fast as possible, but r ships 90
not get together as rapidly as WOODEN
ones, so that 1t is tedious work watch
ing their growth. Wooden vessels come
into existence almost as il by magic
AID are nearly ready for sea as soon as
they are launched. It is to this class
that the greater number or klondiKe
vessels belong. One steamer, the
virago, that sailed for Alaska a rev
days ago, wa not in existence at all
on the first of last February. In fact'
her keel was not laid and 1t Is barely
possible the plans for her were not
drawn. But things went along smooth
" from the start. When she got into
the water she didn't leak a drop nor
vibrate with the motions Of the engine.
Before this vessel had her trial trip
she was booking passengers and load
ing freight. Scores OF men were at
work on her rushing things along. THIS
steamer had her trial trip on Monday,
the 14th ult., and two days later she
sailed for the north loaded down with
freight and gold-seekers. But she act
ed like a charmed being and sailed
through the Golden Gate as dignifedly
as a man-of-war that had been i've
years in course of construction instead
OF five weeks. Old salts said she was
as good a vessel of her class as was ever
built, Notwithstanding the short time
spent in putting her together. To see
one OF these Alaska vessels come into
being is like watching the work OF a
magician. The person who orders the
vessel or what her name is TO be Is OF
no Importance to the shipbuilder. He
simply gets word to build a vessel ac-
cording to certain drawings and speci-
ications and puts it down in his book
as a certain number. IL the vessel Is
ordered to be pushed through in a
hurry he starts work Immediately, and
within a few hours men are building
the ways on which the vessel is to be
constructed. Inside of twenty-four
hours the keel will be laid and the
stern post ready to be placed in POI
sition. At this time there Is not much
to be seen, only three lines Of timber
lying or the ground. But this Is the
start. A week later this same spot will
have a good part Of a ship on 1t. Scores
of men will be at work, and the sound
OF saw and hammer can be heard for q
mile. Nearly all the ribs OF the vessel
will be In position, and she VIII 60
ready for the planking. A week later
a goodly portion of this will be done.
The entire lower portion will be COW
cred and only the tips OF the ribs will
show over the side of the hull. At
this time the machinery Is being put
In and more and more men are finding
work on her every day. At the end Of
the third week the hull Is practically
finished, and in another week the deck
will be on and she will be ready for
launching. Now men fairly swarm
over her. At the end Of the fifth week
masts are iii, rigging set and sails bent,
and the greater portion of her painted.
1t only remains to put on the finishing
touches In the cabins. see that the en-.
gines are 0. X. and have a trial trip.