The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1918-01-07
INGENUITY OF j. s.
ENGINEERS BALKED
PLOTS OF GERMANS
100 Badly Damaged Ships Have
Been Returned to Service in
Shott Space of Eight Months
Every One Good as New.

Special Correspondence 10 The Herald.
washington Jan. An the dpmaEr
cone SO 100 German ships ly then
crews. prior to their seizure boy thy
United States government when war
was declared. has been repaired ana
;hcso ships arc today In scrv ice. add
ing more than 500 ono gross tonnage
Go the transport and cargo fleets In
war service for the United states.
There ia evidence that 10 German
lcentrnl authority gave an order for de-
lstructiou on these ships otfertif' "n
or about February !. l9ti, -imultan-
Gus with The date set for unrestricted
submarine warfare ana that the pur-
pose was 90 iuflict such vital damage
10 the machinery Of all German ships
in our porth that mona could Doe oper-
atCd for from rs months 20 p yeUrs
German PurpuSc SignnllN Dcfoatcd.
This purpose han been defeated .n
signal fashion. I'm less than eight
months all the ships were iu service.
The destructive campaign Vf tho
German crcw- c|uuuiugly comprehend
Cd q sNs'au uf ruin which they be-
hcycd would uoocssitatc the shippIng
uf new machinery 90 substitute for
that which was ruthlcssly battered
down or p~uinstakiugly damaged hN
drilling or di-man'lcmont. There is
documentary proof D. the enemy
believed the damage irreparahlc.
To obtain now machinery would
have cntailed "a prolonged process %
design, manufacture. and installation.
Urged hy tho necessity of concerning
time the engineers Of the navy doc
partucut succeeded, by unique means.
in patching and welding The broken
parts and replacing all of the -tand-
ard parts which the Germans de-
{ tached from their engines and destroy
ed or threw overheard.
scheme OF Ruin Shrcwdly Devised.
The mechanical evidence b. that tho
campaign OF destruction was operated
ON these ships for more than two
months ana that the Germans were
convinced that they were making q
thorough job Of II. Their scheme OF
! ruin was shrcwdly devised, deliberate
ny executed. and it ranged from the
pluggiug Of steam pipes To the utter
/ demolition of boilers uy dry firing.
When the United States shipping
board experts first surveyed he ruin
y the belief was expressed that much
lncw machinery would have to he do
ISlEffNt lltttlNiifluINA anu AtiNNAAA'N
s making ~ months q fair minimum en-
y innate OF the time required However.
= ut the navy department, whore the
p need OF troop and cargo ships was an
urgent issue, officers of the bureau ut
steam engineering, lhtyius fu,ih that
the major portion OF the repair
. could be accomplished 10y patching
and Welding. declared II was possible
e 10 clear the ships for service boy christ
Fl mas, and the last of the fleet actually
o. took her final sea test - was order
cd into service as a. Thanksgiving gift
TO the nation.
Special MOrkmcn Soon ON the Joh.
To accomplish this end the navy de-
partm"nt secured the services OF all
= available m~achiucrl wcldcrs and
. patchcrs, many OF them having been
yoiuntarily offered Boy The railroads.
Although eXplusiy cs were not used
iu the process of destruction. tl, en-
= %ginctss uf the uaN department WEI
Away. conscious OF the danger Of hid
den charges Of high explosives which
@ might become operative ana diets-
trous when the machinery was pW tI
- a test. Instances of urtfUl pipe plus.
~ ginp. Of couccalinE steel nuts and hul,.
p p delicate cylinders ut dyr"au'us
G. ground glass lu OH nip % bcarIngt
= OF 'uhnI"Eiy H''l'"'''' 80
MING ilre '~Nl'"Eul9h'iH WIN N'@"'''
e ana similar means on sp"""''."' WIZ
" common enough 100 l'"u'' 'h'
nccrs q" make % rule c"'lint i"' 'l'''
''fh "'''Ii' '''lt Wv cue" Ky
was mo- boiler Tint "as NOT lhI'"'''
through every pll" Tor evidence ''
plugEInH no me'h'n'-'" 90. ""'
mat was not '"lnpIr''N
inspected ana rt"'s'Il"i'N ''I''' '
WAS finally passed "s .Ai'.
record "l p'hl'l' i"uhd "h 'u' sup
a memorandum WRITTEN 'N ''' ''''
/, WAS pleh'o up "n "n' '' ..' -'If
when save % '''hr'''' i''''' 'I '
\ destruction "n maj SNIP lht "h''l'
J revealed tnai i1" lis'. Wh''h "'" '.''
IDENTITY been I'lt ihI"NEh 'n over
was correct 300 every d"l'i' lN' ''-
lowing '- translation 'i '>''''''
U from tins memorandum
'@turhuurd tnd port hlFn pre- "le
cylinder with valve chest 'pp'i VS.
. hau"t outlet 'I'N2' nr"hrn OFT ''''
not Doe repaired
"-I4IHt4fl HH HNff NlEHlIs lNf'I