Tombstone epitaph., 1918-07-21
/|XxZzrC GNhG II NUY2H -

wooden freghters each OF 4,7to tons lightweight
capacity
A year ago had in this country only a hand
FIJI of qualified shipwrights. and the yards en-
gagged in the building Of wooden vessels were few
and far between. of modest equipment and any
thing but up 10 date compared with their steel
competitors. How. then. has # been possible to
undertake so imposing program and to prom
iSe deliveries within periods unprecedenteily
brief: The story is To make every American
feel proud. for 1t is record Of Yankee ingenu-
ity and native adaptability at their best.
II was plain 10 the men concerned in direct
ing the Emergency Fleet corporation that il
would be quite out OF the question to recruit
Shlpwrights or TO train In the art with
in the time available The shipwrisht in his I'm
i>hed form is the evolution OF long years of prac
teal application. and this means an acquired cum
ming in the use Of very few hand tools.
just the same We are launching timber yes
sells after very short building periods, and these
unden!able results the consequence Of skill
fully directed efforts following lines. The
Emergency Fleet corporation first set about
recruiting labor from wide range of wood work
ing trades and they showed how these could
be employed. by reason of already existing me-
chanicai aids and others developing. 10 do vlrtu-
ally what had previously been done only by the
expert ship carpenter
We are turning out by the method ocean
going timber cargo carriers which the under
writer's do not hesitate TO give Al rating. This
achievement Is the outcome OF studied effort
cut out lost motion all the way from the forest
to the building plant and thence upon the finished
product.
Where the shipwrght used 10 hew and and
patiently carve the various curiously formed
structural units out of relatively material,
his less expert brothers. the house carpenter the
joiner, the wooden bridge builder and the like
accomplish astonishing things through the
agency of the sawmill. The sawmill in fact rep
resents today TO the wooden ship what the steel
mill stands for i'll the OF the fabricated
freghter.
BY means of planners that be set at any
angle and saws that will operate when tilted to
different degrees, it is possible for the present
day substitutes Of the master wood worker. the
shipwrisht. to shape and to bevel pieces of all
sizes and thicknesses and. besides. to do this in
a few minutes, where the ship carpenter re-
qured probably many hours.
The pneumatic drill commonly used in struc-
tural steel work has been modified so that Il
will answer for the boring of holes in the tim
bers Of a wooden ship pneumatic hammers,
adaptations of steel riveters. are driving the
bolts. treenaiis. plugs. etc. that bind timber
craft together; and portable planners and kindred
air or electrically operated tools finish on
faces and smooth joints that the adze and the
other tools of the shpwright wellnlgh dis
pensed with Further. these portable power.
driven aids are doing their work at speed ut
terly unattainabe by the traditional ship car
penter and his fellows.
As yet the concrete ship is too much of
city for predictions to be made the ultimate
maximum of practicable tonnage, nor
yet sure that the big concrete freighter % 1000
tons and more Is going to prove enduring and
economical However. concrete craft Of more
modest proportions have already established
their durability, their technical correctness and
the feasibility of constructing them rapidly.
The Emergency Fleet corporation. bearing these
facts in mind. is going right ahead to supple