The Devils Lake world and inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1915-1920, 1918-11-13
STANDARD|zATI0N
CUTS FLEET COST
Ships Built Cheaper Than Was
Believed Possible Before
the War.
ADDS wealth TO NATION
Great Saving In Cost and Maintenance.
Of Ships by Adopting Standard
Sizes and Patterns-Lona
HauIs Cut.

Wakhington.-An item which event
ually will appear in tremendous fig
ures On the credit side of the great
war ledger to help Offset some of the
staggering figures of the debit side will
be the added wealth to the nation of
the huge American merchant fleet
which the demands Of the war have
brought into existence and which, pes
simists to the contrary notwithstand-
ing, will not pass with the passing of
hostilities.
The United States is turning out at
this time not only many more ships
than ever before in the history Of the
nation, but many more than any other
nation ever turned out in the same
space Of time. And, too, they are be-
ing built cheaper than before the war
it was believed within the range Of
possibilities. And the great secret Of
this rapidly of construction and econ.
omy Of cost is summed up in one word
standardization.
In times Of peace the building Of
merchant ships in the United States
was not quite a lost art, but 1t certain
~ was far from being one Of the great
and important industries here. The
United States government was keep
Ing hands off and there was little en-
couragement for private capital to 60
into the enterprise. But when the war
came all was changed. A great fleet
OF merchant ships became necessary
for the successful prosecution of the
war, for the conveyance of troops and
supplies to the countries overseas. The
United States government undertook
b task. Time became an important
factor and then it was discovered that
lack Of standardization was a serious
handicap and must be overcome if'rap-
Id progress and economy in cost were
to be considered. Standardization was
necessary and Standardization was nut
into practice.
Benefits Of Standardization.
The manufacture of clothing, hats
and shoes is largely standardized AZ
to sizes and patterns. For this rea.
son a standardized suit Of clothes or q
pair Of shoes costs much less than %.
called made to order apparel. It 10 be.
cause standardization permits Of the
use Of labor-saving machinery. plus
quantity Of production. Other familiar
examples Of successful Standardization
are found in the dollar watch and tho
corresponding thing in automobiles.
Americas problem, then, is to make
q dollar ship. 90 to speak. OF, IL you
prefer 1t. q seagoing "hivver," some.
thing easily replaced in whole or in
part, but at the same time q thorough.
~ sound proposition from the stand.
point of utility and economy. This
means Standardization all along the
line. The more nearly the fabricated
shapes for hulls and all ship machinery
and ship equipment conform to
standard sizes or patterns, the greater
will be the saving in initial cost and
maintenance Of ships.
It is the purpose Of the United
States Shipping Board Emergency
Fleet corporation to effect this. some.
thing it has already accomplished with
respect to many things. The fact
that no such thing existed when
emergency shipbuilding began made
early progress slow. There were not
only the problems Of organization. but
the further complication always ne.
tending large construction enterprises
oefore materials and methods have
1 hAA~vn A-HI-F- 4- .F"IaHE