Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-11-05
BUILDING SHIPS Y
DECLARED EPIC
IN FOUR PARTS
Construction, Launchingi Cam
oufIaging and Fitting Out
Parts Into Which the Work
Is Divided,

10y soRNrne JOURNAL speelhl LEASED meUI i /
Alameda. Calf, Nov 1.-The buiM-
mg OF ship is a four part epic;
construction. launching, camouflag-
ng and fitting out The principal
effort at The plant Of the Bethlehem
Shipbuilding Corporation herehs con-
fined TO getting the ship builtT tested
and off the ways The outstanding
law is Speed" but this must he
speed without haste Or neglect. The
whole scheme of things in the yard I
is so big SO busy and SO dramatic that
few of the seven thousand workers
have failed to catch its spirit II has
inspired some of them to verse about
the great effort as Il whole and otietS
about the efforts of individuals. Here
is a stanza from the pen of ID. NJ.
Robertson, a yard boss, on the vir-
tues of his chief, d. Stevenson super
intendent of hull constructions
D." You get me. Finished, is his cry,
No use to reason how or why,
His enc desire, his fond ambition,
TO watch ships grow into completion.
Finished
The plan is to launch a ship about
once in two weeks. The plant Is held
by government contract to the turn
ing out of a certain quota Of ships in
specified period But contracts are
mere Formally here. There is no
mere necessity of binding the Bcthle-
hem workers to II production contract
than there would be to impose a light
ing agreement on the sun or the
stars They are out to go the contrac-
tural feature one better through their
spirit and enthusiasm. They boass
more of what they are doing than of
what they are getting. That is why
the plant is flying efficiency pennants
and plans to keep those pennants
coming until the emergency is past
Light comfort and hard work are
the by-words of the plant. The ma
chine shop has $1,000 panes Of glass
and all the places where the workers
are obliged to gather indoors are con-
structed to let in as much of the ele-
mental outdoors as possible, with the
exception of wind and rain. An emer
gency hospital is maintained with
numerous stations about the yard.
There is well equipped fire depart
ment also. Much of the work is haz- I
ardous, but the element of danger is
a drawing card. Most of the mem
will be found where most danger lies,
4 Self Made Man.
Dave" Mowatt, yard superintend
ent, is an example of the opportuni-
ties the plant affords its workers and
the efforts the executives are making
to detect and reward particular merit.
few years ago MOWatt entered the.
plant as the humblest of workers, He
rose rapidly and brought number
of others up with him. The Bethle-
hem company always presents NUM-
Der of good fair targets to shoot at in
the line of promotions and Dave
Mowatt developed skilful marksman-
ship. Much of his time is devoted TO
showing others how to do tb~jthings
that he has done. All
Many things that thes outsider
might net consider particularly, es-
sential go into the making and launch
ing of a ship at this point. Even sheep
are important in the building of boats
to carry men and supplies TO whip
the kaiser Their tallow, particularly
suited to grease the ways, is used in
every shipyard. quarter Of a mil
lion pounds of it were used in all
yards July Fourth to send ninetyfiVe
Cargo carriers splashing into the wa
ter, halfway en- their errand to crush
the "Spurlos Versenkt" ropes Of the
Pots1am crowd.
RAISE Sneep TO lalllGn .sHlpSi IL
an appeal made by William Thomp-
son, launching master at the Bethle-
hem yard To him sheep raising is
q fundamental requirement of the war.
To other department. lheadS. likewise,
some one thing. seemingly minor
looms big.
Ships, however. when well built,
must be we'll launched before they
can play their part. A thousand lit
tie, things go TO make a, vessel itself
only unit in the fleet of hundreds
of thousands demanded by the coun-
try from the army "over here 70,
the support of the army over there"
The Launching.
To launch ships, the ways are
creased a week ahead here. This is
to permit the absorption of the luDrl
cant, half tallow and half oil com
pound. A few days before the launch
ing as much as possible of the false
work is taken from the ships era
dle!" Then all that is necessary to
start her down the ways is the knock
ing out of a few blocks to trip the
starting mechanism.
Fifty men are used to displace these