El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-04-06

throughout the year. me ways extend
along the Delaware river for more than
water and each consists Of q long TOW Of
blocks. laid one upon another. where the
keel OF the ship IS 70 rest Most OF the
ways are now completed. and some have
vessels rising upon them Others are
still IN process OF construction and We
can see the enormous work required %
build a plant Of this kind In the frs,
place the shipways must have solid
The weight OF each vessel IS some thou
sands OF tons, and Il must rest as firmly
as the house on the rock The foundation
IS made by driving down piles or great
trunks Of trees, 50 or more feet Into the
earth Think OF building steel steamers
Of S000 tons IN the tree tops. That Is
what they are doing right here on the
Delaware They have already sunk a
great forest Of $1,000 trees which once
reached 70 the height OF q seven or eight
story building down into this island. and
upon them have constructed these Wayu
Tor building the ships.
Each wav is considerably wider than
the ship which Is 10 rise up within e.
IL has a railroad track at one side. and
in the center is a -ow OF blocks. on
which the keel is 20 rest. -hile along
the bottom o. the keel blocks are the
iron pipes which carry the compressed
air. and furnish the power for the pneu-
matte riveting and calzing machines IN
some OF the ways ships are already be-
ginning TO rise. There IS a scaffoIdInE on
each side and the skeletons OF the great
vessels are now 10 be seen The great
locomotive cranes are IN operation ard
the riveters are fastening the plates 10
the framework
Driving Trees Into the Ground
7 spent some time watching the con-
struction OF the ways The great pile
drivers force the tree trunks Jar DOVE
into the earth. until they look ike tn
stumus Of a clearing Then men out of
the stuups close 20 the ground They
use rrosscut saws and some stand up
TO their knees in the water. They wear
rubber boots that reach TO the thighs
and work away as though it were sum
mer. rather than winter
In one place ] saw them driving piles
made o. concrete In this case a steei
finger almost as large els the pile forcee
its skin Of steel far down into the earth
II IS then Withdrawn and the concrete
mixture IS poured into the skin and hard
ems 20 stone Some piles o. this kind
within a Few hours after driving are as
solid as the wooden tree trunks under the
shipwayE adjoining
No SIaekers There.
During my trip through the yards I
studied the worEmen- I looked about
for loafsrs and slaclers. but found no
ono who did not seem 20 be doing his
bit with all the muscle and bruins he
possessed heard no dissatisfaction ez-
pressed and 7 ike TO think that there is
patriotism mixed with the work The
men seemed impressed with the fact that
they are helping in winning the wa-. and
this idea IS stimulated by signs In red.
white aue blue which are put Up every
where You find them on the stumps near
the shipWaTs, on the walls o. the bar
racks and IN the mess houses have
some OF the signs before me and viii give
few samples;
What We do over here - going 20 help
2 lot over there Good shipbuilders arc
ths best kind u good Americans Do
your partt' The sooner we finish those
ships the sooner the war viii be ended"
ships. Shipsi ships. Are ths only means
OF getting supplies over there uuiclc-'
The loren En- OF the works are chiefly
Americans, but ths rank ard file are
largely made up Of Greeks and Italians.
and they are as a r1iC- more brawuv and
better looking than tho men YOU viz
find On an ordinary COB Great care is
taken in hiring the labor, Tor g IS I'm
portnnt that no disease OF anything ia
fictitious be brought into the yarda
an Carefully Examined.
Every man must go through carefrl
examination. physical and otherWiae. BE-
fore he r. put % work He r. made 70
urdress 70 the skin and given a bath. a
haircut and a shave He then =nss 70 the
doctor. who examines him Thoroughly In
the meantime his clothes have been
washed and put through a ranid drviug
process 50 quickly that by the time he -