The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-08-24
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wooden freightcrs each Of 400 tons deadwcgh.
capacity
year 100 We had in this country only n hand
fHl Of qualified &hpwrights and the yards en-.
gagged in the building of wooden vessels were few
and FIR between, of modest equipment and any
thing but up to date compared with their steel
competitors. How, then. has it been possible to
undertake 50 imposing program and to prom
Use deliveries within periods unprecedentedly
breff The story is to make every American
feel proud, for it is record Of Yankee ingenu-
ity and native adaptahility at their best
It was plain to the men concerned in direct
ing the Emergency Fleet corporation that it
would be quite ont of the question to recruit
ShipWriShts or to train new men in the art with
in the time available. The shpwrisht in his fin
iShed form is the evolution CT long years of prac-
teal application, and this means an acquired cum
ming in the use of very few hand tools.
Just the same launching timber ves-
sells after very short building periods. and these
undeniable results the consequence Of skill
fully directed efforts following new lines. The
Emergency Fleet corporation first set about
recruiting labor from wide range Of wood work
ing trades and they showed how these men could
be employed. by reason OF already existing me-
chanical aids and others developing to do vrtu-
ally what had previously been done only by the
expert ship carpenter
We are turning out by the new method ocean
going timber cargo carriers TO which the under
writer's do not hesitate to give AL rating This
achievement is the outcome of studied effort 10
cut out lost motion all the way from the forest
to the building plant and thence upon the finished
product.
Where the shipwrght used to hew and cut and
patiently the various curiouslv formed
structural units out of relatively raw material.
his less expert brothers, the house carpenter the
joiner, the wooden bridge builder and the like
now accomplish astonishing things through the
agency of the sawm The sawmill in fact rem
resents today to the wooden ship what the stee,
mill stands for in the case of the Fabricated
freighter.
BY means of planners that can be set at INV
angle and saws that will operate when tilted TO
different degrees it is possible for the present
day substitutes Of the master wood worker. the
Shipwright. to shape and to bevel pieces of nj,
sizes and thicknesses and besides, to do this In
q few minutes, where the ship carpenter re-
quired probably as many hours.
The pneumatic drill commonly used in struc.
turai steel work has been modified 80 that II
will answer for the boring Of holes In the tim
bers Of wooden ship; pneumatic hammers,
adaptations O. steel rveters are driving the
bolts, treenails, plugs, etc, that bind timber
craft together; and portable puners and kindred
air or electrically operated tools finish off sur
faces and smooth Joints that the adze and the
other tools of the shipwright are wellnigh dis
pensed with Further, these portable power
driven aids are doing their work at a speed ut
terly unattainabe by the traditional ship car
penter and his fellows.
AS yet the concrete ship is too much Of a nov
city for predictions to be made as to the ultimate
maximum of practicable tonnage, nor are We
get sure that the big concrete freighter of 1000
tons and more is going to prove enduring and
economical. However, concrete craft Of more
modest proportions have already established
their durability. their technical correctness
the feasibility OF constructing them rapidly
The Emergency Fleet corporation, bearing these
facts in mind, is going right ahead to supple-
ment mercantile squadrons by substantially
the building of scores Of freight.
ers and otner grauolithic boLse