The Washington herald., 1918-03-01
BOARD HALTS
"a CONTRACTS
FOR VESSELS
Shipping Directors Cancel
Agreements with
Contractors.

Summary action against pllsmanaged
shipyards was announced last night by
the United States Shipping Board.
Fwenty-four steel ship contracts
we're cancelled. Further cancellations
are under advisement.
Inspection is being made now OF In
efficient yards with a view to CON-
mardeering them and putting them
under government control
The first Of the yards TO feel the
heavy hand Of the board are the
Southern Shipbuilding Company Of
Charleston, s. c.. which has Just lost
the contracts for sixteen steel ships
and the Hampton Shipbuilding Com
pany, Of Norfolk. whose contracts for
eight ships have been cancelled.
No More Experimenting.
Edward N. Hurley chairman OF the
Shipping Board, said last night that
short shrift would be given to palter-
ing. The board has lost patience with
the South's receding promise to fur
nish timber for the wooden shipyards.
1t is now communicating lumber on
the property Of the members of the
Southern Pine Association, which
holds the bulk Of the contracts and
had not filed them.
The board, il was said bluntly, will
finance no more patriotic get-rich-
quick schemes; there will be 10 more
Hog Island shipping programs. The
board will develop no more private
yards with government money. 1t will
start no new shipyards, or subsidtze
incipient ones with cost-plus contracts.
All Patriotic.
Since the passage of the $1,000, 900
appropriation by Congress for build
ing houses for shipyard workmen,
every community near water deep
enough to float a rowboat has come
forward with a patriotic offer from
its prominent citizens to let the gov
ernment finance . shipyard, boom the
town and build houses.
Not one cent OF the $50. .oOO, 900, it was
said, would be spent except where
ships are being built, and only then
when all other means to provide hous-
ing by improving transportation has
failed
The Southern wooden ship program
has not met the great expectations Of
its promises, according to the Ship
ping Board.
Following fruitless conferences with
the lumber interests, in repeated at
tsmpts to speed up production Of tim
Der, the Shipping Board has sent its
own stah OF loggers into the timber
country with authority to commander
all suitable trees.
Any one who wants to build ships
for Uncle Sam has got to show re-
sults when he gets the contracts, and
has got to have the organization with
which to build ships before he can
get contracts, says Mr.. Hurley.
In addition to this enforced COM
Wandering of groups of trees here
and there, the board has had to ship
5000 cars of lumber from the Pacific
coast to exc out the Southern supply.
One New ship.
The Southern timber men. according
to the board, influenced by trade con-
siderations, have sent to the ship
yards mainly small timbers for the
upper parts of ships. leaving the yards
frcd with small stock but unable to
proceed with construction because the
large timbeTs for the lower part Of
the vessels had not been produced.
One new ship was added to the
Shipping Boards feet yesterday by
the Skinner and Eddy Shipbuilding
Company in Seattle, which turned
over to the Emergency Fleet Corpora
tion the steamship West Arrow" &"
after a trial trip showing a speed Of
13 L. knots. The same company,
which has delivered a total OF seven
ships of 81 500 tons from its ways in
four months, also launched the Ca
noSa.'