The Washington weekly post., 1899-05-16
Wrecks Repaired and Old YES
sells Made New.
NAVAL CEMETERY CLOSE At HAND
Oakland Greek, California, IL the Refit-
tIHg Place OF All the ships on the Pacific
Cosst-How a Ship Was Made 30 Feet
Longer by Splicing in "a Middle Section
Bandaged Wrecks with Bottoms Torn
Out Brought in for Repairs

Missing Ships Is matter for fiction, but
true il Is that In Oakland Greek there is
both a hospital and graveyard for those
time and trouble-worn craft which need
the knife or skill Of the ship surgeon q
the quiet Of the mud cradle on a shelter.
ed shore No matter what the ailment ol
whether il be fatal, Oakland Creek is the
{ haven for the injured OF the steam and
wind-jamming vessels which come 10 this
port. Is ii an abrasion OF the skin, q
broken rib or nose a fractured backbone
or the loss Of a limb. one Of The minCI
ailments like a leaky seam or need OF
cosmetics, there the damaged craft may
90 and find The akiIlful surgeon and tie
capable physician who. with prescience
born OF experience, will diagnose the com
plant and find the means 10 right the
defect and make the craft ready to once
more face the gale.
An interesting place is a shipyarl where
the principal business is % repair vessels
in need Of such. 1t is the surgery ward
Of the hospital in wood. There are found
men who can use wood and make from ii
anything which has ever before been
fashioned. Plahks and oakum are the ep-
ldermis, sawed timbers the ribs and back
bone, and tall pines the limbs of the ship,
and these whatever the form in which
the maker originally made them, may be
replaced. the wounds healed by paint, ard
the ship sent out almost as good as new.
Many times there comes to the ship hos
pital a vessel which seems 10 be unworthy
the fixing up, and the first thought is that
it is best to condemn al once and send the
craft TO the bOneyard. But there is as
much sentiment about ships as any IMAM
innate object may inspire. Like the old
schooner which laid the Foundation of the
fortune of one of the pioneers 0f the lay
carrying trade, when it came TO the end
of its usefulness, to all appearances, it
was put upon the beach ana the owner
began to figure upon the repairing and re-
fitting of the vessel. He vas reprOa"hed
for this by some Of his friends, but said,
a. he prepared 10 lengthen and wider the
old ship, that it had made for him his
fortune. and he would not allow the YES
sci TO pass out of the register. Even if
there is nothing bat the ma-plats, it
will be the same old ship to M" he put
il, and there the matter rested Until there
came from the dock new schooner hdif
again as wide and nearly es much ionser,
with only the fewest possible of the old
same and to the proud owner it was the
ship which had SO often carried his for
tune safely
Never Too Late to Mend
Side by side with the cripple which
has been hauled out on the marine rail-
way at the yard stands the new YES
sci, ship of wooden hull. ready to be
put into the water perhaps, or in any Of
the progressive stages of advancement
from the plank and square stick 10 the
completed craft. One represents the
first. and the other probably the. next
TO the last stage of the ship. The num-
Der of ills which may Overtake a ship
and yet leave il capable of repair and
refitting SO that il is a seaworthy craft
is legion. Some of the most remark
able accidents have happened TO the coast
ing vessels of this port, which seemed
to leave them in condition only for the
junk heap, and yet in the skillful hands
of the surgeon there has been renewal
of life and the rehabilitated craft have
sailed away good for many years of serv-
ice.
All abou: :he yard lie parts of vessels
which have been taken out in the proc
eSS of reconstruction, and Wh9n there
was needed new timbers, grim remind
ers of the changing elements Of the YES
Yels which carry the trade of abe coast
uncanny, perhaps, as though the surgeon
filled his clinic-roOm with the dismem-
bered limbs OF his patients. Here fig
urehead used to hold in the outstretched
arms bundle or oakum seems 10 remind
one of skull filled with tobacco on the
shelf Of an unfeeling student There the
butt end of a mast sawed off when the
stick was cut down to fit the meaner use
of serving as helder OF the anvil. re-
minds one of a candlestick made from a
forearm. All about the memory of wind
and wave, of tossing Whitecap and pound
ing rock, singing song of death under
the twanglng OF the surf, now fitted TO
the tunes of peaceful saw and hammer.
Splicing a Ri: Ship.
Just below the bridges in Oakland har-
Dor, on the Alameda side, is the hospital.
so of the sea the shops seem to be
Old ships houses. and, in fact, some of
them are. There now lies alongside the
dock Of the yard the latest ana most re-
markable effort to make the old INTO the
new, the steamer Bertha. which, Gfter
many years among the fogs and tides Of
Alaska, was sent there 10 be remade. Ii
was found that the ship could be cut in
TWO parts and those parts moved away
from each other, and in the space thus
-
ship built. So successfully was this done
that the ship, but for the Old name upon
the bow. would pass for new one. Yet
there is in her something OF every old
feature of construction. The Bertha.
when taken 10 the hospital. WAS l4J feet
long, now her total length Is 80 feet
Then the tonnage was 4y5. now Ii has been
increased by The addition of 240 tons. and
the little vessel IL In fine shape fer the
northern waters. Many others OF the
cOaSJlng vessels have been thus treated
the WeeOJt, the Golden Gate. and the
Jennie being Of recent examples, tuI in
none was such radical change made for
the new form of the Bertha is One-lhird
larger in most of the essential features
than The old.
The building Of new ships and the put
ting into Sn old one Of an entirely new
section. however. are not the mos usual
tasks which confront the chief surgeon of
such yard. Ii is 10 take care of the
of the merchant feet as repre-
Sentrd by the vessels OF the cotton type
and less. To this class Of ship. whether
IL be sailing or a steam vessel there
come many Sucn accidents as will drive
them 10 the hospital One Of the worst
eases which has been brought In of recent
years by those ambulances of the sea, the
tugs. was a schooner which,
with = lead Of lumber. had been in COLI
sion of Pol't Bonita with a heavier ship.
The result OF the meeting was 4 badly
damaged nose, in fact. the schooner had
lost that feature almost entirely Ii was
iTiven of 10 one siSe badly, and there SeegI.-
1 No chance 20 save the vessel from sink
Ing al. the time she vas being tcWed into
The creek. But il was high tide and the YES
sci WAS beached at a soft spot and run up
Oh the mud as far as possible. Then men
working down 10 the water edge sawed
and drove and banged away al the head
of that cripple. and, as a result. she was
sent away within few days with a new
feature water-tght and comely. and all
the time while this was being done the
cargo Of the vessel was never disturbed.
Puttinc la 1. Battom.
This was from all sides a most peculiar
case. but another viii show the problems
v nich sometimes confront the man In tie
iraughting-Teom Of such a yard the dag
losinE surgeon. Some years ago there
came into port a vessel swathea in can
vas FOR there had been a collision with a
Scl,y reef and the bottom had been torn
,ut OF the ship. The ribs had been smash
"a into so many pieces that even the
model OF the ship could not be guesged.
Piaukiug was dished and torn. aad then
.am= the task Of getting out new frames.
shaping the model anew. ana designing z