El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-04-13
TWO ARMIES OF 100000 EACH ARE At FRANK CARPENTER
WORK BUILDING SHIPS TO WIN WAR e. 9ss BY Franz
Great Wooden Vessels Car Food Forces France and
The Allied Countries Are Being Rushed As Emergency War Work;
Texas Builds First Of The Fleet.
BY
FRANK C. CARPENTER
Copyright. 1918 by Frank
G. Carpenter.)

are shipped The West Coast bureau VII
have exported IN the neighbo-hood OF ~
000. 900 feet by the first Of April or ABOUT
enough. IL sawed into boards an men
thick 70 cover road ten feet VIDE from
Philadelphia to Chicago.
have from King II. Puleu. o. the
Southern Pine Emergency association m
formation as to what has been done ~
the soHthern forests. He tells me tnAt
every shipyard on the gulf and Atlantic
coast south Of Baltimore ts fully sup
piled with all the ship umbers nes9eo
for maximum operations. ana that notntl6
now stands in the way Of successfully
carrying out the wooden snip plan IN
Iarce volume The Southern Pine asso-
citation has modified the sawmills OF ina
part Of the country. ana the orders o. the
fleet corporation are sent 70 me places
best equipped for the work and the TIM
bers are forwarded 70 the shipbuilding
yard. shared as near as e possible Tor
the require ments OF the vessel
The association has accurate statistics
OF the forests. and II knows Just where
the big timbers are IT is souetimes neo-
single tree Of the largest requirement. but
there are thousands Of men at work u
the woods and long lumber trains are
now moving from TIE forests 70 the yards
Includes l1.OeO Saw Mills
The southern pire producing territory
embraces the forests OF nine large states,
and within its boundaries are sornetnlns
like II. 600 sawmlils- The association be
all the thinkers needed by the government
Tor years to come. and its officials say
that there will be no delay n forwarding
any and all the timber the emergency
fleet may demand TO any port where the
wooden ships are new building
But few people realize the strpendous
size Of this wooden fleet underta6ir-E-
Four hundred ard - shirs have been con-
trscted for. Surprising each ship 70 be
the length OF the Ferris model Whlch p
the standard wooden vessel the ships y
Joined end TO end would make soma
lire Of wooden steamers p miles N
length. The wood OF each ship n made
into lumber would III a train mile
long and the lumber required Tor the
whole fleet would load enough ears 20
their fullest capacity to fiji q track rom
PHILADELPHIA to Pfttsburg. or double
track from Boston 70 New York me
arrrerate terrace Of the wooden fleet VIII
equal more shipping than W. ~, ~. - y
Great Britain in the year before sne en-
tered the war. or about four times as
much as the United States was annually
building prior TO that time
All Of Large Size
Each OF the Ferris ships is % Be Just
about 2g1 feet inches long. f5 feet vide
and it's depth is IS feet II IS 10 carry
$500 tons OF cargo and IS TO be moved By
per hour The timber Of the ship must
BE- Of the very best character II Wl- re
ouire for each vessel 100000 feet, or
enough n cut into lumber. 20 cover
ffeld o. 81 acres with boards an inch
thick. But this wood r. not IN lumber
Il is 81 enormous ti-nbers, some OF when
are 80 OF 40 feet long
The keel for each vessel f. l4 Inches y
16 inches and Il runs the fun length Of I
the ship. The timber which forms the
ribs or framework Is Of great thickness.
worlr are a foot wide and 50 inches thick
There Is almost three feet Of wood rom
the Inside floor Of the vessel &c the water
beneath f. The floor e as thick as
e
about through the yards I have had 20
climb upon timbers q this character
They come from trees as big around az
che horrheads used for tobacco. and the
as 500 per thousand The average cost
Of all the wood In the vessels e about s4- 3
per thousand.
watch the ships going Up. They have
been building wooden sailing vessels Tor ]
several years at the plant OF Ene COAST Q
wise shipbuilding company, here n BAL
tfmore. and they now have six SHIPS on ]
the way. One Of them viii be launched I
before this letter Is published There are I
wooden steamers o. the Ferris model. On j
the ways Of the Henry smith e. sens /
Shipbulldlng company and OF the Mary \
land ShipbuildinE company, 50 thar We I
can see the vessels in almost every stage ]
u construction We begin our journey IL 4
the mold lofts where the designs and
-uerffica tons made by the architect are
turned into patterns sawed out or Wood-
These patterns are % the exact sizes OF
The parts Of the ship, and from them the
ship viii be built
Il seems strange 20 think OF making
ship from patterns, but the truth Is these
great wooden steamers are cut out from
patterns Just as q tailor cuts out suit
n clothes. The tailor lays his patterns
ln the goods and marks the lines out with
,hauz- A shlpbunder uses similar patterns
made Of boards half an inch thick and
he lays these on the thick timhers and
marks out the fitches and frames. The
.imbers are then run through the sawmiu
which takes the place OF the tailcr's knife
81 scissors. and cuts out the frames
Backbones Are Strong
IN the meantime the shipway mas been
cleared and the keel has been laid The
ihip's way is the foundation upon which
he heavy ship is 20 be built The keel IS
he long square timber which forms the
bottom. or backbone Of the vessel lts
thickness Is equal 70 the height Of an Or
iInary stool. and Il runs the entire length
D., nHHTT