The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1915-12-30


were purchased by a machinist and
boiler maker and stored in the Erie
basin, where they remained several
years, neglected and uncared for.
| Soon after the war broke out they
suddenly became the objects of great
activity. A number of wOrkmen ap-
| peared on the scene, the decks were
scraped and painted, the engines and
machinery overhauled and the boats
soon took on the racy, businesslike
appearance which had distinguished
them when they were on the active
naval list.
| Sale Falls Through.
| No explanation of this sudden
change could be obtained, SO customs
guards were placed in charge Of the
boats day and night, with instructions
to forbid them leaving the pier until
the collector had given permission for
them to do so. The owner then ap-
peared and stated that he was nego-
tiating the sale of the craft and that
they were to be taken up to the great
| lakes. It was shown to him that all
that would be necessary to make the
vessels effective fighting machines
would be to mount couple OF tor
pedo tubes on the decks, which still
contained the ringbolts and the bases
on which the torpedo tubes had for
merly been mounted.
Also it was shown to the owner that
as there were two British cruisers on
| guard outside of New York harbor,
| the possibilities in case these torpedo
| boats should fall into the hands OF
irresponsible parties were too serious
to be lightly disregarded, and that II
the vessels were sold they would not
| be permitted to leave the custody OF
| the customs authorities until the iden-
| tity of the new owner and his pur-
| pose of acquiring craft of this type
were fully investigated. The negotla-
| tons for the sale Of the boats appar-
emily fell through, for at the present
time they are still in the hands or
| the same owner and are still under
the supervision Of the neutrality bu-
reau, day and night,
| The great fleet Of German and Aus
L
trian passenger and merchant YES
sells CT of the former and four OF
the latter now tied up at the docks
| in the New York harbor has been
under the constant surveillance of the
neutrality squad" These vessels are
not interned. They are merely self
detained and, so far as the United
States is concerned, are quite as free
| to come and go as the ships OF any
other nation, If they so elect. All that
| the customs authorities demand is
that any cargo taken aboard shall con-
| form strictly to our neutrality laws
and the vessels clear according to the
| proper formalities.
Vast Amount of Work.
A trip around the harbor in the
launch Neutrality, which is always
| ready to respond at moments notice
| to an emergency call from Mr.. Ma
lone or any of his subordinates, gives
some idea of the vast amount Of work
and the tremendous responsibility in
volved in keeping the port Of New
York neutral.
| Exorbitant freight rates and the GER
tainty Of obtaining cargoes have
drawn ships of all descriptions from
| all sections of the globe to these wa
ters The Oldest sailors say they have
never before seen such large and
ill-assorted fleet of tramp ships as
| there is now in the harbor. Any sort
of craft that will keep afloat is well
coined by shippers.
| Millions and millions of dollars
worth of war supplies purchased by
| the allies are awaiting shipment The
volume of exports now going out of
| New York from week to week far ex-
ceeds any previous movement of the
kind from any port in the world in
| the history of modern times. The
| shipyards of Europe, America and
Asia have been ransacked; craft that
had been assigned to the scrap heap
has been resurrected and put into
| commission. Some of these ships
have made more money for their own
ers on single voyage than their
| actual worth in the market. The
shippers are not particular what sort
Of cargo they carry. Dynamite or gun
powder, automobiles or mules are
all the same to them so long as they
| can get the benefit of the high rates
which this wartime traffic bears.
Passing under the shadows Of the
great German steamships tied up at
| their docks in Hoboken after the man.
ner in which an ice company is forced
| to stable it's horses in the winter time,
tour of investigation soon leads to
/ scenes of unusual activity along the
| piers at Weehawken. The huge grain
/ elevators operated by the West Shore
railroad are pouring wheat by the
/ hundreds Of thousands of bushels into
the steel hulks of vessels steaming
/ under the Norwegian and Danish
~ c..-~ l. l<>~~r~ i, -