El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-30
rTIlDELPHIA, Pa, March 30

Of our CHIEF Gni pbl1loluB celLtI1f anu
they have been making ships here
from the days Of william Penn until
nov. The first steamboat which
ever carried passengers on the Amer
lean eo-tinent was built here. Il was
invented By John Fitch, and made g
speed OF eight miles an hour between
Philadelphia and Burlington That
was 20 years before the Clermont
invented by Fulton, first ran on the
within four years after the war
OF the revolution closed 162 vessels
were made in the Philadelphia ship
yards. and at the outbreak Of the
war OF 1912 this place was leading
the country in shipbuildinE- She
constructed many ships during the
civil war, and today she is the larg-
est shipbullding center Of the United
States
city hail tower, and, standing by the
statue OF William PENN look up and
down the Delaware river you would
see that il Is dotted with shipTards
for length Of perhaps 80 miles. In
deed it is often called the American
Clyde. and within a few months IL
VII be turning out steamers more
rapidly than the little river which
connects Glasgow with the sea.
Cover 80 Square Niles.
The shipyards already cover some
thing like 30 square miles. They
begin about p miles north Of Phila-
-celphla at Bristol There. on the
old Landreth seed farm. the Mer-
chants ShipbuildtnE company has
just established a fabricatinE plant
TO build vessels for the Emergency
fleet corporation. il has q dozen
ways already completed. and five
keels have been laid The land prom
lses 70 grow ships Quite as fast IL
once grew garden seeds
A little further south on the same
SIDE Of the river is the Trailer Ship
building company, and then come the
great yards OF the Cramps. who have
been noted as shipbuEders for Eener-
ationE. They nave made the fastest
OF Our American greyhounds and have
constructed many battleships and
cruisers for the United States navy.
Iney launched tens Of thousands Of
tons or shipping IN 1917 and their
plant Is now one Of the busiest Of the
country
Hauy Great Plants.
Stiu further south, on the opposite
side Of the river. in Camden is the
J. H Mathis shipbuilding company,
and below it. on the same side Of the
river IS the great New York Ship
building company I spent the day
at the latter plant and viii write Of
Il farther on In this letter. The es-
enlistment IS now in the hands OF
the government and il Is turning cut
ships as fast or faster than any
other plant in the country. II has
- cargo vessels in the different
stages OF construction, and a new
battleship for the navy. the Idaho. I
almost completed
Below the New York shipbuilding I
yards AZ Gloucester, n. Y, is the
Pennsy lvania shlpbuIiding yard, D
which launched more than y. 0G0 tons
OF shipping last year. and viii
greatly Increase its output in 19l8;I
ana sIu further south IS the EeW
Jersey Shipbuilding company.
On the western side Of the river I
opposite these plants Is the navy yard I
az the lower end Of the city OF Phlls-
delphia, and south Of that. Just be-
low where the SchuVlkiu runs into
the Delaware, is Hog Island. where B
the government is erecting the &
largest 1abr1catlng plant Of the
world. The work is being done byi
the American international Ship
building company. 1t has so ways
almost completed and they run for /
ABOUT Two miles along the banks OF /
ne Delaware It's first order is for
10 fabricated steel steamers Of IL
600. 600 deadweight tons.
South OF Hog Island IS the town of
chester. where are the Chester Ship
building company and the sun Shin
building company, and stir FUR
tner south in Delaware. at Wilming-l
ton, are the yards OF Pusev & Jones i
and those Of the Bethlehem Ship
oullqlng corporation All OF these ]
establ ishments are nov owned or al /
recLen by the United States govern
menL and their army Of employees ISL
WORKING overtime TO supply the 7
losses caused by the submarines Of
the Germans.
Big FahrieHtinE Yards.
The Emergency Fleet CORPORATION
ras three great yards for the build +
---l OF LaprlcaleQ ships and two Of
Lnese are on the Delaware river.
-heE are the plants 1 have mentioned
a. HOG Island and Bristol The other
1anricatlng yard is near Newark, n. I
ships
Fabricated ships means ships the parts
OF which are made in different factories
ofeE the country and cent 20 some general I
plan 70 Be assembled The parts are aIf
standardized and those made for one shin
VII DC for any OF the others. This IS a
ne. talng IN shipbuilding and it viii
probably FORM -le basis OF one Of our
greatest Iarloual industries. It iz based
-7'11 me rnzuula curing processes which
are now n use -n the chief shipyards OF
tne world, and 10 understand 10 one has
- 60 90 the old established plants where
nc. are constructing ships from the
The Largest Plant.
one ~ rhe largest Of these Sc the
New York Shipbuildinr company. 1t
makes IN its own Yards almost every
tnins that goes into The skip and Il SENDS
Tor the the product in the MAGNIFICENT
steamers and terrible vessels Of var which
u has been building Tor years
nave visited the yards OF this COM I
plny- They are situated FL New Jersey ]
a. the southern end Of the city CT Cam
GER ana about two miles from the Mar
ket street wharf They cover $50 acres l
me greater part OF which Is now under
roof Some single shops have more than
Is acres under one roof and there are
departments which cover acres
me Establishment has covered WAYS for
10 Fefela ALREADY in use, and eight with Z
out rooL covering almost completed some
= the ways are 1ee0 feet long. and thew
VII take IN the largest ships now being
MADE Inc company has already built
many big steamer Il made the Non
g'lia ana lfanchuria each OF which Is
80 long tnat 70 would I'm the street Of
city block from side % side and from
enc % end. and the hurricane deck would
reach 20 the height Of the fre-story
window Zach OF these ships has a dis
placement OF $500 tons. The Idaho. now
almost completed has over $4,000 tone
~ e 600 teer long anu % feet wide and
OF % operate lts great turbines
me New York ShipbuidinE company ]
pesan 20 use modern efficiency methods {
~ years ago It's officials tel me that
ne laprlcat-ng II ships IS rot new 10
tneu, and that the have been using .
staudercllzad methods for many years.
Long before The chpan automobile WAS
Us materials through the shops fl a con
l-nlQus procession from the raw 20 the
INNS NEG product and ec0nomizinE the
nalldiing ot the parts in every possible
way Ll-s efficiency has been EreatlV
improved and toa7z there is a continuous