El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-30
Shipbulding Plants Covering 80 Square Frank c.n..,
Miles Are Rushing Work On u S. Vessels
Along the Delaware River the the Ship Building Activity
in World, Rivalng the Clyde Rve.

the walls. The work is a mighty com
hination Of the least and the greatest
and OF ths small and the large, carried
out to an infinite detail.
Bignssg T. Astounding.
To the stranger going through the shop.
the size Of most things Is astounding
Some o. the steel castings weigh many
tons. saw one which viii go into the
hun OF a vessel which weighed over TO-
600 pounds It was lifted By = man with
the touch OF lever, the motive power
being a 100000 pound crane which ran
overhead. I saw ships boilers 50 big
that an elephant could swim about in
them. and have a photograph Of one
o. these being dropped into the hold Of q
vessel saw steel plates as large as a
big sized floor rug and one or two inches
In thickness bent as easily as you bend
the pasteboard fan you use at the circus.
I saw these plates lifted up red hot and
hammered 70 shape and watched them
punching the holes By which they are
fastened together. forming the skin Of the
ship.
went through the forge shop. a vast
room as wide as Commonwealth avenue
in Boston. and many hundred feet long.
AiEaty hammers were pounding away
with q force that made the very ground
tremble, and among them was a huge
steel That press has capacity OF zA0,-
900 pounds. II viii take a billet Of steel
as big as a kitchen stove and knead i
as though Il were putty Nevertheless Il
y 3
watch case within it. and let tt down so
that il would just kiss the crystal with
out breaking the glass
Making Huge Boilers.
7 next entered 2 great shop where they
were making tubular boilers OF from Is
TO y feet IN diameter. and 10 or Il feet
long The boilers for an ordinary
freighter cost 100000. and single boilers
VIII weigh as much as so tons each. This
plant can turn out one or two every week
II made 70 last year The boiler shop
covers an area as large as that OF the
biggest department buildings at WASH
ington- Il IS filled with boilers and
smokestaclzs IN the various stages OF con-
s-ruction- Hundreds Of mel are working
upon them. and the noise IS so great that
you cannot make yourself heard
Ny days journey through the plant in
cludeG many other shops, embracing all
sorts Of industries- Fully one-haif Of
ike this IS used 70 make the fittings. fur
nishings and other things outside the
steel shell and the machinery OF the yes
sell There are great pipefitting shops
which require all sorts OF skin In plumb
ing Of one kind or another There are
sheetiron shops. where hundreds OF tin
smiths are required and shops where the
men work only IN copper and bras There
are cabinet shops whers all the ship fur-
uirure Is made and paint shops, where the
finishing Is done. The wiring and eiec-
tricai appliances Of a battleship are more
extensive than those o. q large factory,
ate a vessel Of that kind Is equal 20 that
consumed by q town Of 50oo people
And then the furniture The modern
steamer when completed ls more finely
finished than the parlors OF q millionaire,
and it has 70 be outfitted before Il leaves
FOR its work on the ocean Take FOR IN
stance the chip Congress. which was made
here and sent 20 the Pacific coast Among Z
the supplies needed FOR its outfit were
10000 towels and 20. 900 sheets- and its ]
restaurants were equipped with dishes
and other supplies sufficient 20 feed 500
people every half hour.
Gets Story Of ship Building. .
During my stay iu the shops ! got the I
The order having been received. the plans I
and Specifications have 20 be made, much /
the same as you would 90 about building I
D house. Every part OF the prospective +
ship Is first drawn on paper This is the i
work OF the naval architects, VINO have i
large drauEhting rooms connected with 4
the establishment After the drawings D
are completed they are given over % the D
ship builder they show him Just how Z
the vessel viii appear when she f. COM
pleted- He does not work from these I
plans. however They are taken 70 the 4
mold loft. which has a floor Ike an enor-
nous blackboard Upon this the plans
are reproduced. 50 that they correspond
10 the exact dimensions OF the ship
ETerT plate Eir1er and rib is drawn
put 20 its fun size, and every measure
neut fs verified and checked 50 that there
,annot possibly be a mistake After this
here Is a third ORA wing on what IS known
IS the SERVE board" This board has all
t is from this board that the ship
builder works
In building the ship il is Necessary first
10 form the skeleton or bones The
Keel IS laid down on blocks four or five
.eet apart along line which Stops
owarf che water. SO that the hull VIII