El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-04-13

o. the vessel Il consists OF several long
tiubera carefully foined 30 that they
make one solid Log almost SEQ feet long.
The keel is laid upon blocks with one end
near the water. and DO slopes upward 90
gently that when the vessel - completed
Il car be slid right down into the water
Il g. upon this keel. or backbone. that
the RIBS OF the ship are built up. They
rise from the keel Of the ship IN the
shape o. great bow. each nib being Of
enormous size aud great strength II takes
5000 feet OF timber for a single rib that
runs from one side OF the vessel 20 the
other. and when you remember that there
are IS such ribs in the hull of one Fer
ris vessel you viii see the great amount
alone. The keel and the ribs make the
framework OF the hull; they are, ~ u
were. the bones Of the ship.
The framework has 20 be now celled
with thick tirnbers On the Inside and COW
cred with thick planlzs on the outside, and
crusspieces are put IN 20 hold the frame
work together The whole seems simple
until YOU know the enormous size Of the
tlmbers. and the means by which the
structure is so put together that no strain
can force it apart. Take the thickness
OF the walls and the bottom Of a hull or
one OF these ships The bottom Is 30
that 20 one or two feet The ceiling on
the inside Of the frame Ls eight inches
thick. and. including the frame and the
plankinE. IS almost two feet from the
Joined with Wooden Pins.
All these parts are made q wood and
they are Joined together. not with rails
or iron bolts. but with wooden pins,
which viii expand and contract Ike the
wood which they hold together. This is
necessary 20 keep out the water and con-
seduent rot- The pegs are known as tree
nails. Each IS as big around as the
handle Of a pitchforlz and two or three
feet long Il takes many thousands OF
them FOR every vessel OF a wooden fleet
A ship carpenter. working on one Of the
Ferris ships. told me that more than
quarter Of a million tree1slls woula ns
required for that boat. The best wood
for the pegs Is the locust Il comes here
by the carload. cut in little square sticks
which are turned out TO size The sticks
cost X cents apiece
completed and before thea outside plank
Ing &c put on Il IS inclosed IA basket or
lattice work u great steel straps. each
feet IN width. There is one big iron band
that runs clear around the TOP Of the hull I
and the others run criEscross from there
10 the keel. being bolted together 20 that
the whole framework IS held tightly en-
1raced by a lattice OF iron
After the hull q completed the rnast7
have 70 be fitted and the steam engines
and other machinery have 20 be put IN Z
IN the new wooden steamers the engines I
are in the center Of the boat with great Z
smol1est1cE rising above them II Is {
here that the officers have their quarters I
There is q mast IN front and behind. I
equipped with booms for unloading and I
leading the cargo The ships are worked I
With a screw propeller and all Of the ma I
,hinery Is standardized.
T. i7 Impossible 20 appreciate the sub /
-tanlial construction of the emergency j
wooden fleet without visiting the yards I
and seeing the work under -ay. Every /
hing fits 20 the nicely OF steel cOnstruc- /
lion. and the building Is that Of cabinet !
maker rather than a carpenter me Ine- I
are wonderfully beautiful and the whole }
.eems 90 be built 20 last
Durability Not Necessity.
As 7 went through the yards asked 4
he constructors as 20 the probable life I
n tho ship In reply Mr. Lynn. who IS 3
.uperintendiue tho wooden shipbuiiding Z Z
he emergency fleet at Baltimore. said ct Z
10 not think 10 makes much difference ]
not We are now spending more than
800. 100000 a day % carry on the war and /.
we can cut down the time by a very /
'ew weeks 20 will more than pay for all .
De wooden ships NC can build
some OF the old shipbuuders q the .
asst at least . years. and that many i
would still be aloat during the next gen
ration The records of vel known ships q
Y the past confirm that conclusion
It must be remembered that the waters
y the world were Travelled only on Wool I
or five or six thousand years before any
me thought OF making vessels o. iron or
steel The Phoenicians and early EEyp-
ians used wood for their ships. and so did /
he Greeks and the Romans. Columbus
'rOssad the Atlantic in a wooden ship
hat was not one-third as long as these
'ossels and five years later Vasco da
Hama first rounded the Cape Of Good