Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-03-30
CRUISING ABOUT HAMPTON ROADS
by FREDERIC }. uAsKIN.

NIEFoLK. VA. March oo.-Nobody
but Underwater virsinian ever viii he
able TO get the exact hang OF the
GEOGRAPHY hereahouts- what piece of
water is Hampton Roads pure and
simple. and what is James River, and
what is Elizabeth River, and what is
horseshoe, ana wiL;tt is Chesapeake
BaE-tha; is all quite beyond the lands
man. lie does know in general sort
OF way that here is Norfolk and Ports
mouth and Newport News and Old
Point Comfort, and that the wide water
is Hampton Roads That is enough
and II Is not altogether new. What
is new is that the war has Guickcncd
the pulse Vf the Industrial lie of the
REGION
Take Newport News The shpyards
have been here a generation, bu, they
never knew before what is was 10 toe
busy. Some 5000 men are ut work
tho WAYS are filled with huge hulks IN
tho making, the dry-docks arc urv.r
empty and in tho river lie always other
vessels waiting their turn to be
sorapcd, painted and cleaned FOR their
chance At more OF the juicy ocean
freight rates And then. to make the
picture complete. there rides The APP
pam--a ship without . country, bG'
with story that will last Is long ns
sailormcn can fight and spin a yarn.
ships are an old story to Newport
News, but horses ana mules by the
thousands are something new The
old West may have known TIA" like, but
certainly the East never before saw
large percentage of the horse and
mule population OF the United states
pass a given point Something like
500, 600 American horses and mules
have been shipped 10 the battle fields
OF Europe. ana fully third of them
nave passed through tho corrals At
=, ,.pi1
roads throughout the country. they
are shipped here and pcuucd tn huge
Corrals, one for horses and one for
mules. awaiting the coming OF tho ship
that IS TO take them 10 their end OF
fire and blood 1t is no unusual thing
for the horse mule population OF the
town TO run up 10 1000 or 5.oO0--thcre-
by yiVaiing the Shipyards.
Great sights in Shipynrds.
The shipyards just now are calcu-
lated 10 cheer the patriotic heart, f"-
few such sights have been seen in this
corntry since the days when iron YES
sells chased the wooden ships from tn"
seas. and the clyde hanl, Of Scotland
deprived the scapOrts OF Maine 81 their
prc-cmiucncc in ship building. Battle
ships. frcightcrs. tankers-thc fun ca
pacity OF the yard is in use for tho
building Of ships for the navy and
the American merchant marinc--while
plans ar: being made for extensions
already stretch we'll into tho next dec
ade.
Horses and mules are no, the only
exports, Of course; here is where the
best stcaming coal in the whole world
finds it's way 10 the sea, and the ships
that come TO seek coal 80 away laden
wiki whatever OF the products Of tho
South they desire. oil burners arc
blowing tho seven seas OF course. but
in The world OF ships there is sun
allegiance to Old King Coal. And IN
these waters he holds his court.
Norfolk brings TO mind three de-
LIGHTS -Iynnhavcn oysters, Smithiicld
hams and peanuts, No; little of tho
prosperity of this prosperous city is
based upon the nationwide demand OF
the baseball fan for the humble
"goober," and in the town OF Sunoik
just a few miles away, there is the
richest bank in the United states
whose every cent came from peanuts
Norfolk also has navy yard That
l. to say, the navy yard is named for
Norfolk. but actually it is IN Ports
mouth. another thriving city separated
from Norfolk only by Il fcrry-boat and
a slightly different city charter. II
may be mentioned in passing that the
county courthouse OF Norfolk County
is in Portsmouth. although Portsmouth
is not In Norfolk County, mystery
sealed TO the ken of all but Underwater
Y ,
a busy place too Here are always to.
he found some OF the biggest and best
of Uncle Sans lighting ships being
fitted up for sea The huge drydock is
well worth Il visit by itself.
Two Ships with Histories
And here at the navy yard are two
ships with hiSloricS--thc I;iLcl Fried
rich aud the Kronprinz Wilhelm. Both
Of them sought haven here months ar-
ter the world thought that German
ships had been driven from the seas
The icItel Friedrich in more plcaSan,
times was the most palatial vessel of
the Oriental fleet OF the Norddcutchcr
Lloyd and made her way from Bremen
to Hong Kong with carGocs of round
thc-world tourists, silk buyers and tea
iaSterS. Her wild ruin for the Mar
shall Islands and her escape into the
Atlantic. though making thrilling
tale has left her unsecured ana as
trim as ever. except for mounted guns
whose brccch- locks are now in the nos
session OF the United states Not so
the great Hamburger America liner that
lies alongside. She is so battered and
torn that how she ever came ont alive
and found this snug harbor is a mira
Gle. ii one may judge from her looks
Here they lie. and here they must lie
until the war Is over while their Of |
ficers keep their imprisoned crews busy
with scrapinc chiscls and paint pots
They were ccntcrs of social Cayetyj
at first, but after n half dozen Officers
"borrowcd' Yacht from Norfolk
man one fine night and decampcd, the |