The Raymer enterprise., 1918-07-18

wooden freighters each of 400 tons deadweight
capacity.
year ago we had In this country onIy.a hand
full Of qualified shpwrIghts, and the Yards en-.
gagged IN the building of wooden vessels were few
ana far between. of modest equipment and any.
thing but up to date compared with their steel
competitors. How then, has It been possible to
undertake so imposing program and to prom
ise deliveries within periods unprecedentedly
Dr1eff The story is one to make every American
ieel proud, for 1t Is a record Of Yankee ingenu-
ity and native adaptabity at their best
1t was plain to the men concerned In direct
Ing the Emergency Fleet corporation that It
would be quite out of the question to recruit
shipwrights or to train new men In the art with.
In the time available. The shipwrlght in his fin-
ished form Is the evolution Of long years Of prac-
hcal application and this means an acquired cum
ming In the use Of a very few hand tools
Just the same we are launching timber ves-
sells after very short building periods, and these
undenlable results are 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 yirtu.
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 tn
cut out lost motion all the way from the forest
to the building plant and thence upon the finished
product.
Where the shipwright used to hew and cut and
patiently carve the various curiously 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 sawmill. The sawm In fact rem
resents today to the wooden ship what the steei
mill stands for In the case of the fabricntad
freighter.
BY means Of planers that can be set at any
angle and saws that will operate when tilted to
different degrees. 1t is possible for the present
day substitutes Of the master wood worker. the
shipwright, to shape and to bevel pieces of all
sizes and thicknesses and, besides. to do this In
few minutes. where the ship carpenter re-
quired probably as many hours
The pneumatic drill commonly used in struc
tural steel work has been modified SO that II
will answer for the boring of holes in the tim
bers OF wooden ship; pneumatic hammers.
adaptations OF steel riveters, are driving the
bolts, treenails, plugs etc, that bind timber
craft together; and portable planners and kindred
air or electrically operated tools finish Of sur
faces and smooth joints so that the adze and the
other tools Of the shlpwright are wellnlgh dis
pensed with. Further, these portable power.
driven aids are doing their work at a speed ut
tery unattainable by the traditional ship car
penter and his fellows
AS yet the concrete ship Is too much of n nov.
city for predictions to be made as to the ultimate
maximum Of practicable tonnage. nor are we
yet 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 and
the Feasibility Of constructing them rapidly.
The Emergency Fleet corporation bearing these
facts In mind, Is going right ahead to supple
ment our mercantile sqradrons by substantially
encouraging the building Of some scores Of freight
ers and other granolithIc boats