Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-01-15
PEARL HARBOR
WORK NEARING
ITS COMPLETION
Construction of Shops and
coaling Plant Has Been
Going Steadily On
DRYDOCK DISASTER
DIDN'T STOP WORK
New Naval Hospital Is a Model
Building That is Almost
Ready for Occupancy

Some of these days q sea serpent
will be discovered in Pearl Harbor,
or a shot-up German cruiser will run
in for refuge, or there will be some
other free show to warrant the run
ming of special trains to Uncle Sans
big Pacific naval base. Then the Ho-
nolulu populace Will descend en- masse
on. PuuIoa, and find out for the first
time that great industrial colony Is
fiourishing unnoticed within 20-min-
utes' train ride of the city.
For some years past with ever-in-
creasing importance, the work OF
securing a strong naval outpost for
the nation has been forging ahead.
There have been setbacks, 1t Is true,
but delay and. disaster has been al
most exclusively confined to the dry.
dock, and while for almost two years
work on the big ship basin has been
at standstill, construction work on
the yard proper has been going right
along. The general public has como
to think of the Pearl Harbor naval
station and the drydock as one and the
same thing, and the fact that the dry
dock sis only one of the many great
undertakings connected with the sta
ton has been lost sight of. It is true
that the dock Is the key to the entire
mechanism Of naval construction and
repair, but while drydock work was
stopped pending settlement between
go3efAmeAt and contractors, the other
works have been rushed to compile
ton. When the dock is finally fin
ished it will form the last link in the
chain of shops, machinery and appli-
ances that go to make up a highly
efficient plant for the repair and main
tenance of the modern boating fighter.
No Longer a Project.
The Pearl Harbor naval station Il
nc. longer q project - 1t Is to all In.
tents and purposes an. accomplished
fact, and while 1t is estimated that
the drydock VIII not be finished until
1918, it will only be a few months now
before the yard-will be ready to ham
die all ship repairs not requiring dock
ing of vessel. The huge floating
crane can lift and place almost any
weight of machinery that might have
to be taken out of or placed in ship,
and the complicated machinery for re-
pair and maintenance is now In the
proper shops, in most cases assembled
and ready for use.
Two big undertakings that are ap-
preaching completion are the naval
hospital and the coaling plant. The
former is SO per cent finished, and
while the latter may not be ready for
another year, a great deal of the heavy
construction work, including the con-
crete storage basin itself, and q con-
crete wharf, that any battIeship can
come alongside of, Is finished.
The hospital location is about the
choice of the entire yard The origin
al plans were pruned to a considerable
extent, for while money was appropri-
ated and available for q much larger
main building and several more sets
of quarters and outbuildings the Sec
retary Of the navy formed the opinion
that smaller establishment would be
sufficient, and refused to order the
full expenditure The extra funds can
not be appropriated for any other pur-
pose, and are tied up hard and fast at
the present time, much to the disap-
pointment of those who had counted
on a model medical establishment for
Pearl Harbor. However, the hospital
as 1t now stands is very fine build
ing. 1t provides for about 100 beds,
but broad lanais and extra space
Continued on page four)