The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-04
PENNSYLV WANNA TOWN NEAR WAKES
 FROM INDUSTRIAL SLEEP OF YEARS TO BUILD STANDARDIZED VESSELS

Chester. Pa. May 3. Two years ago this town was wrapped in a profound elumber that would have made Rip Van Wlnkle's sleep seem like an af-i ternoon's siesta- People came here for nelanehollc retrospection and to i've in ths past. like fhe people who visit Sleepy Hollow Cemetery on Sun day afternoons
 When they mentioned Chester at all # was to talk about what the place used to be back in the colorful days of the American clipper ship.
 To-day. however. Chester Is whiz- xinx along on the wings of war boom She has signed new and un- limited lease on life and is throbbing with a fiery energy that Is making the weI-known oldest fnhabitant won- der wha6her he Is on the Delaware or the banks of the Clyde.
 The best part of Cheeter's war boom is that when the echo of the last gun dfes away in Europe the boom is not going to blow up . mean habit that var booms frequently develop.
 Buxiness men here believe that the firing of the last gun will give added impetus to Chester,s industrial drive. because they are confident the demand for ships will be even greater then than now
 And shipbuflding is Chester's fa- vorite indoor and outdoor occupation.
 Chester im,t going to build any Va terlands or Aquitanias or Brittanics, but she is going to take a leading part in PhilAda1phia,s effort to relieve Eng land and Germany. of. the monopoly -dn standardixAd ship construction
 Chester is already concentrating on the standardized ship, and in shori time win be turning them out the way Detroit creates FordA.
 Phi1adelphiz, led by Chester, is go ing to be the home of the marine fliv- yer. although the word sfhvver doasu't seem to go well with the big brawny upsfandinx, s10,000-ton yes sel thai Chester Is standardizing.
 The capacity of the great yards about Philadelphia has increased from 40 to 50 per cent. in thD last eighteen months, and this added power is being put almost entirely into building car 20 carriers of one type
 In this short space of time three new plants have been started, two oi fhems in Chester. In the latter plants the kee1s of several of the new stand. ardfzed freighters were laid long be- fore the yards were finished.
 The first of the Chester yards to be- kfn work on the standardized shiI was the Chester Shipbuilding Go. whose president is Charles P. M Jack. Scotchman by birth and, be. fore he came to Chester, consulting engineer in New York.
 Eighteen months ago what is nov the plant of the Chester Shipbuildini Co.,, employing l TOO men and run. hing at full blast, was the trusted ruil of the once famous shipyard of JohI Roach, which had been idle for thu better part of generation
 The Chester yard has recentl! launched three tankers of 5000 tom deadwefght carrying capacity. One O them, the Ma1manger, had hardly en tered the service before she was tor pedoed by a German submarine of the Irish coast. One of her sister ships will be ready for delivery in twt weeks.
 The yard of the Chester Shipbui1d ing O., is standardized at 5000 ton for tankers and at $500 and 1000 tom for cargo steamers The concern hal orders for eight such tankers and fol eight freighters, of which five tank CTS and three cargo ships ara insva rfous stages of construction Thl yard possesses seven shipways for yes sels up to 450 feet in length ant ranging in deadweight capacity up ts 10000 tons.
 Tn the last twelve months Chester population has more than doubled but the shipbui1ders of the place sa.