The evening leader., 1918-08-20
MILLIONS FOR FLoRIDA-BUILT
SHIPS.

L iStCASI Hdu USSH lufHiSHeu Win re-
port on the shipbuilding activities ir
Florida, which showed that up to July
l contracts had been placed by the
shipping board with the yards al
Jacksonville, Tampa and Pensacola
for 6S ships with a total tonnage OF
435,000 tons and at total cost OF
$66,818,840.
Since that time number of addi-
tional contracts have been awarded to
the various yards and to other yards
that are being established at other
points in the state so that the aggre-
gate of the ships already completed
and now under construction and for
which contracts have been placed will
involve the expenditure of the great
sum of at least $75,0OO,0O0. Think Of
that much money being expended for
manufacturing in year in a state
that has never been considered a
manufacturing state and until this
war brought it's wonderful facilities
and advantages to the notice of the
government, big investing capital
fought shy of any attempts to inter-
est it in any manufacturing enter
prise, even ship building, for which it
is especially adapted.
Now Eastern and Northern capital
lists are falling over each other to get
into the new projects here and, as
naturally follows, other enterprises
are now being taken up by the capi.
talistie friends of those already inter
ested and Florida is enjoying an ere
of big development that augurs wei
for its rapid progress and growth il
the next few years.
Jacksonville, with its harbor neal
the Atlantic ocean, leads in the ship
building industry in the state and il
this city at least thirty-fve million
dollars worth of ships have been con
tracted for, including the recent con
tracts made with the new owners Of
the Hillyer-Speering- Dunn yards OF
the South Side. 1t is understood thai
the Eastern capitalists who have tax
en- over this yard will enlarge it anc
employ many more men than at pres
ent. The big Merrill-Stevens plant
which has grown from a swamp ant
forest on the shore of the St. Johns
river within year to one of the mos
modern and complete building
plants in the country at cost of two
and a half million dollars, is now en-
ploying almost 1000 men and expects
to have fully 5000 on the payroll by
the end of September. The new con.
crete ship-b building plant is being
pushed and expects to get into opera.
ton this fall with about 5000 to 4,00(
men on the payroll and the new dry
dock and marine railway will also bs
operating with about $500 men EN-.
ployed and the Murdock & Thomas
yards will employ at least 1000 men
making a total enrolment of more
than $4,000 men employed in ship
building projects in Jacksonville. .Ther
there are number of auxiliary plants
engaged in furnishing certain parts
and fittings for the boats and these
employ several thousand people, sc
that~it is safe to say that by the first
of the year the army engaged in help.
ing to supply ships to win the war will
aggregate 10000 and the payroll will
average close to a million dollars q
week.
On July Tampa had 1887 men EN-.
ployed in the ship-building industry
and is constantly increasing the num-
Der. Pensacola had 1858 engaged in
the building of ships at that time
Tarpon Springs, Panama City and
other points are now building ships
and Miami is preparing to enter the
lists, so there will be quite formida-
BILE array of manufacturing plants all
along the LOO miles of sea coast of
Florida, where work on the ships can
be continued throughout the year
with minimum cost for fuel and with
the base of supplies near by and many
good harbors available.
There is every reason to believe
that ship-building will be carried on
extensively for many years after the
war, in order to supply the nations
that have had the major portion of
their ships sunk, to provide a great
merchant marine for this country and
a coastwise shipping service that will