Evening star., 1918-04-07
Life and Work at Hog Island Uncle Sans Biggest Shpyard
tc.pyrIsnt, ( : ,s,s. BY Frank G, Carpenter,

Copyright. 1918. by Frank G. Carpenter.'
49, PHILADELPHIA, Pa
We are busy on the island with big and iusty
And every man among us soon win show what
We win nck old Kaiser Willie and wen build
vifS. the ships we're busy building Hog
~J0ME with me to Hog Island. and
m see the biggest shipbuilding
operation in Uncle Sans
~ mighty shipbuilding program.
Fifteen per cent of all the steel mer-
chant ships now contracted for by the
Emergency Fleet Corporation will be
constructed there. Many Of the ways
are rapidly approaching completion
the keels of the first vessels have been
laid, and the parts Of which they are TO
Be fabricated have begun to flow here
from the different factories, all over
the country. A few months ago the
place where the shipyards now are was
covered with grass as high as your
waist, and in places with bushes as
high as your head. 1t was deserted and
desolate. Six miles, as the crow flies,
from the great bronze statue of Will
liam Penn. on the top of the city hall In
Philadelphia. it was as lonesome as the
valley of the Jordan near the Dead sea
IA dismal island of desolation in
great ocean of business activity. There
were shipyards to the north of 1t, ship
yards to the south of 1t. and ships were
building on both sides of the Delaware
for miles up and down stream Not far
away was the Philadelphia navy yard;
.vI mn mr.
airplanee Of the Aviation School across
the way. frightening the birds which
nested in the rushes.
Today Hog Island is one of the live
Hest labor centers of our live war ac-
tivities- Four months ago it was i'm
possible to get to it in a motor car
without being stuck in the mud. To-
5 trio trolley and steap railways that
connect it with Philadelphia and all
parts Of the country. There are ferry
boats which go there every few hours
and motor buses by which you can
reach it. within half an hour. That
part of the island which skirts the
Delaware river. not far from where the
Schuylkill flows in. has been almost
lifted out of the swamp. 1t is cut up
by wide roads of thick planks. hun
dreds of two-story buildings have gone
up, and from $4,000 to $4,000 men are
employed there building ships. The
shipyaTds cover hundreds of acres. The
tract which the government has leased
is equal to nine 100-acre FARMS and this
has been surrounded by tight fence
of pine boards about eight feet in
height. The boards run up and down
and a framework of barbed wires slopes
in from the top Barbed wires are
also nailed along the outside of the
fence. making it impossible to climb.
My first visit to Hog Island was in
the heart Of the winter. The country
had just had a great blizzard. There
was twenty-one inches of snow on the
ground, and in front of the shipyards
the ice reached far out into the Della
ware. Near the island. it was four
or hve feet in thickness. Nevertheless
the work was going on everywhere
There were more than $4,000 men on
the job. Motor trucks of five tons and
upward were hauling great loads of
of one kind OF another. Men clad in
rubber boots, which reached to their
waists were digging the trenches; some
were cutting holes in the ice on the
eage OF the Delaware and driving piles
through into the bed of the stream. In
the snow on the edge of the river they
were saving the piles to the right
lengths with cross-cut saws, and little
further over. were laying the keel
blocks of the ways. Hundreds of car
penters were working. large gang on
each building. and the two-story struc-
lures we're rising like magic. The same
conditions prevail today. although the
work Is much farther advanced. Every
thing Is being pushed to the utmost !;
the officials tell me they are up to date
with their program and that they will
complete their big order on time.
The Hog Island vessels are to be
Of steel throughout. and the parts of
which they are made are more in num-
ber than the animals Noah was able
TO crowd into the ark. Each vessel
will have about 10000 parts. and these
are to be made In 1.OO0 different fac
tories throughout the United States
and sent Shere to be assembled, each
part beNg fitted into Just the right
place In the ship.
Much Of the work oe fabrieating Or