The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-05-04

y WASHINdTON, April 1.-THE Nd
3 program for building a
vest fleet OF wooden cargo ships 20
transport supplies to the Allies and
thus defeat the German submarine cam.
paign win be put definitely under way
Monday, when the Shipping Board viii
form a 100000 corporation to build
and operate the vessels.
The corporation will be organized un.
Ter the laws OF the District of Colum
bia and its entire stock will be held
by the shipping board. In legislation
70 be introduced in congress early in
the week, the board win ask authority
70 increase the stock in future IL need
ID to as much perhaps as 1926, 600, 900.
For the present the $5O,OO0,000 will
suffice.
Private shipyards will construct the
.hips on standardized plan adopted
BY the shipping board on basis in
most instances of 10 per cent profit.
some contracts will be let for specified
sums. The board probably will finance
some yards, although private capital
already Is offering millions for con.
struction Of the vessels.
Major Gen. Cocktails, who at the di.
rection Of President Wilson has agreed
to supervise building of the ships, will
come to Washington to take charge Of
the work as soon as he can arrange
to leave his task Of building New Jer,
sey highways. L. A. Eustace, Bos
ton mining engineer, who, with +
Huntington Clark, New York engi-
aeer, eonceiyed the idea Of wooden
ship feet, probably will be associated
with him.
The law creating the Shipping Board
provides for a corporation, the major
ity Of whose stock must be held by the
5oafd It's Directors will be employed
by the board, who win elect their owr
officers, General Goethala probably viii
be elected General Manager Of the cor
poratiop, and Mr.. Eustacc, who Is AZ
,mploye of the board receiving a salar.
" 81 a year, and Mr.. Clark, Directors
The 100000 tons of German shipping
aiken over by the Government with the
declaration of war undoubtedly will BIZ
nut under the corporation, as will the
AUSTRIAN ships now in custody of the
United States. The general opinion Il
hat the German and Austrian ownerl
viii be paid for the vessels use during
he war and for the ships themselves q
hey are lost or are retained.
The story of how the wooden ship
building plan grew from an idea con
,eivcd simultaneously by two mining
engineers until il has taken place OF
he forefront Of Americas war polio,
eveals that Yankee inventive gcniul
ind ingenuity were as ready TO NEE
he present emergency as at any tim
Of national stress in the past.
After Mr.. Eustace and Mr., Clark ha,
been called to Washington by ChairmaI
Denman of the Shipping Board, and TIL
board concluded to take up the plan
Mr.. Eustace decided to interest Genera
Gocthals and went to lay the idea be
fore him. The canal builder immedi
ltely seized on the plan as the one wa,
by which the United States could d
most to aid the Allies in defeating Ger
many. Then General Cocktails was toll,
the board wished him to take charg
Of the work. Reluctant at first to leav
his post in New Jersey, he finally wa
convinced the nation needed him.
General Cocktails was chosen to hea,
the work, it was explained tonight, 70
three rcasons--his capacity, his Germai
| descent, and as testimonial TO tn
loyalty of American citizens of Teu
tonic extraction, and because he Is con
sidered the one man in the Unite
States most offensive to Germany Ger
many, it has been said, has never for
given the man who constructed tn
canal when German experts said j
could not be accomplished.
i In their efforts TO persuade Genera
Goethals to take charge Of building tn
ships, il was pointed out that he prob
ably would spend before the war wa
over as much as or more than wa
expended in building the canal.