El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-04-20
TITAsHE0GTON. p. c. April 90

TTTAsHNGTON. p. C.. April co.
w Crossing the oceans in greai
ships Of stone-
Saudbaggine the submarine with
clubs Of reinforced concrete.
Carrying supplies by the thousands
% tons 10 our troops and our allies in
vessels made Of sand and cement tied
together with STEEL
This IS one Of the live experiments
that the Emergency Fleet corporation
has 1ow under way. u is an expert
meut that promises much for its sue
cess. for 10 may create new fleet
that VIII rank side by side with our
vessels q steel and wood in gaining
the victory over the Germans
A branch OF concrete shlpbullding
has Just been created under the dlrec-
ZION Of Rudolph j. wig the scientific
expert 81 concrete Of the bureau or
standards. and a force OF marine
craftsmen and Of men skilled in the
handling and testing Of concrete con-
strucrior is already al work Ienrl-
tive contracts have been let for the
building OF several such ships SUD
fect Or ful payment on the part OF
government only upon their proving
safe and successful for an the pur-
poses for which they are planned
The carry LnE cur OF these contracts
iE now under way and n they sue
coed g. large slipbuiloing program
VIII be iuaueurated In many Of the
ports along our seacoasL
Risks Half OF The Cost.
The ships contracted for range IL
SIZE from 5000 TO 1900 tons and they
are TO be built after specifications
aud plans furnished bE the United
States government. The companies
engaged i'm such construction are In
The three cities of Boston. New York
and san Francisco The contrac-
sirh each provides that the govern
ueur shall pay only one half the cost
of building the vessel II i- 1alls TO
come up 10 an the requirements when
tested iu all sorts Of weather and
under various other conditions In
short. Uncle sam pays only one half
the cost Of the experiment II 10 should
fail 20 work.
But before I write more Of the gov
eminent plans let me tell you what
has been done in concrete shipbulld-
ing iu other parts OF the world. The
stone ship IS not a novelty. Away
back iu 1893 ten years before the
world was afflicted with the birth Of
the kaiser. a Frenclman named LamDOt
made a small boat OF reinforced con-
crete, and this was shown six years
later az the world fair in Paris. II
vas e success on The water. and as
late as 1903 was reported TO be in
first class condition
Built In Holland 38 Years Ago.
The Dutch began TO build barges
~ reinforced concrete 81 years ago.
and there are now barges Of s. tons
On the Holland canals. The Italians .
have been using concrete nar-es for .
more than II years and there rs one .
81 feet long and q feet vide which
las been employed on the Nelland .
canal since 1910. II is used for carry
ing sand and gravel and heavy loads
u stone.
We have been using concrete
1arEes on the Panama canal for eight
or nine years. and they have been
making great pOntoons there for
landing stages Of the same material
There are several concrete SccWs on
the ChesaDe bay and there IS .
concrete poHtcou Of IS3 tons in the
harb0r Of sydney. Australia There
are concrete boats on the Manchester.
ship canal and a concrete barge was
built for use on the Paris ship canal
only last year
Norway Builds Many.
Today enc OF the chief concrete
shiphuildinE ceuters IS Moray. The
Fouguer steel Concrete Shipbuilding
company there is making ships vary
ing fin size from 200 tons 20 5000 tons.
and these are intended 70 carry coal &
Ia the open season So Ear one Of zoe
tons has gone 90 sea- and FL is said
20 Withstand the storms Of the ocean
7 have before me q cataloE issued by
me Ecugner company In this It Of
fers 90 deliver seaW0rthy ships OF 200
cons. dead weight within three or
four months. and states that il VIII
have some ships OF 5000 and 1000 tons
ready for delivery this year. The
Germans have also done something in
concrete shiPhuudiug. but no statis-
ties as 20 their progress are for OBJ
rious reasons available Just now.
Last year concrete ship construction ]
vas going or IN Denmark. France. Eng
ls1d. Norway. spain. Canada and the
United States our consul an CHRISTIANS
has lately described plant at Norway,
where concrete vessels Of 5000 tons dis
is-srleuf are being built and 10 is stated
-lz- --e Swedish minister q marine has
recently ordered lighter NJ 1000 tons OF
q plant where they are now erecting ways
f0- -he nui ding = ships Of 5000 tons.
Largest One Launched On California
The largest concrete vessel ever