Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-03-06
HARLAN, R|VETERS
MAKE NEW RECORD
Bethlehem Manager Gives Dinner
to Foremen Upon Success
of 100000 Drive"

gang hour and the increasing menace al
the U-boat peril the seriousness Of which
will not reach "A climax until late this
spring, showing the need for greater exer
tons in shipbuildlng, were some Of tn,
things J. w. Powell vice president and
general manager of shipbuiding operation,
of the bethlehem Shipbulding Corpora
tion told the toremcn or rIveters and
others at a dinner at the Hotel du Pont
last night The dinner was given the men
because IN the past three weeks they had
driven more than O0OO rivets week
Last fall the men were driving 10000
rivets weekly. MIR Powell offered the din.
ner If they should make it 100, 900 Two
weeks ago they attained 1l7.0O0 rivets
and last week, li7 900 rivets. The men
are now aiming at 100000 rivets and
another dinner.
MIR. Powell told Of the pressing need
for the men driving more rivcts and referred
Ia the remarks ot General Manager Jo cph
Il. Weaver of the Harlan plant, who had
spoken prior To Mr.. Powell. IN which Mr..
Weaver had said that the men were show
ing their efficiency IN the manner IN which
they were building ships.
HARLAN MAKES RECORD.
II want to tell YOU men that you
said You have averaged 10 rivets
per gang hour. whlrh Is record for the
country The average Is about ~ rivets
per gang hour This Is an average OF
about rivct for every minute and twenty
seconds.
This Is I'm age of workers. both for
brains and muscle but the government
has made It possible for tho shipyards 10
obtain men and skilled men nj rates ot
pay that should result III the best effort
being put forth According To the new
rates Just announced hv the government,
the average wage of Hhiphrilder TODAY
is more than siN dollars a day, ralculat-
ing every man in the yard It's such a
wage as Ia make Henry Ford's five-,iollar
a-daV wage look sck
We have not witnessed the worst OF the
U-boat menace
Within the next three or four months
we shall witness breakdown IN our ser
wee TO our soldiers abroad We have
had So many ships sunk. So many others
are in such bad condition and tho freight
congcstion near terminals has been so
acute, that things look anything but
promising. unless VIC speed M the bhlld-
ing Of ships
MUST INCRE ASH OUTPUT.
"If We don't gc, down on our mar
row bones this war IS lost THIS year
We glalI huild IN this country about
three million tons Of ships, and If We
cannot send out about sly or seven mil
lion tons next wear We cannot WIN
In this crisis tho ewes of the country
arc turned towards the shlpSards and the
eh,pworkcrs. The nation depends upon
YOU mon While the new smpyards Will
turn out thcir quota. the burden of the
strain will rest upon the old wards, upon
YOU men who have the know how
"SparrowS Point is Fastening her
launchings. Forc River Is increasing
her number nf rivctS and this increase
has got 10 ne general Nov we have
about 81 .oo0 men employed in our
yards l}y July | We expect 10 have 60 ono
employed
I'm mighty glad to bc here tonight
and to give YOU this dinner Ill be still
more pleased 10 clvc YOU another dinner
when Won have reached the COCOON
mark IN riyets driven ION have the abll-
itv and VIC are going TO give you The added
equipment with which to increase this
number from zoo. .OOO to three and four and
perhaps FIVE hundred thousand riycts per
week Two new comprcSsors will be install
glvc air Tor IT least 6O.oOO more rivcts
Nr Powell told Of how The corpora
ton was dong everything IN It's power
10 increase the capacity Of AL us plants.
He referred Ia tho effort being put forth
10 add To The comfort of the work.
through various measures, and appealed To
them for the sake of the hoyS who have
gone over and for this nation credit tO
do their utmost 10 increase tho Harlan
output
The dinner " purely informal. there
being about : rty guests and each fore
man or other head Of department or
section of the yard present WAS called
upon TO speak
William Watson. chief Of the Harlan
riveting force acted rs POSTMASTER,
and although this is not an every day
role for Bill. as his comrades affection
ately called him, he did himself proud in
introducing the speakers.
PRAISE FOR MEN.
General Manager Weaver told the men
that thev were credit to themselves and
the Harlan plant, that he had seen much
shipbuiding and that he would place the
Harlan men up against any other yard in
the country, per man for efficiency and
then have something, he believed, to spare.
Ii was through this efficiency that the
cost of launchngs and other branches
of the work were reduced TO a fglIrc
that the corporation might be pleased
with.
MIR " eaver read telegram from Mr.
jerks. who has supervision Tor tins dis
trict for the Emergency Fleet Corpora
tion. The telegram bore a congratulatory
message to the Harlan plant and its work
men for the progressive manner with
which the shipbuilding was being pushed.
J. NJ I4arken. at the head of the service
department of the Bethlehem corporation,
who came here TO inspect the yard ycster-
day said that II was a genuine pleasure to
witness what the Harlan employees are
doing IIc said nc visited the workmens
restaurant Al noon, took a plate, got his
knife and fork and ate a meal that WAS
more satisfactory than any he had had
for long time He commented on the
spirit displayed by the men who super
vised the lunch and SAID it spoke volumns
for the Harlan plant
He cOmplimented Mr. Weaver for
the very thorough manner with which
he was conducting the affairs of the
Harlan plant and said that the eyes OF the
shipbullding world were on him.
The remarks Of all of the men showed
the hearty cooperation prevailing at the
Harlan plant among its employees, and
spoke much for the future increased out
put. All Of the speakers pledged their
hearty support Of |'I}il'' Watson, stating
they would do all in their power TO help
him win that next dinner from General
Manager Powell