Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1918-07-25

wooden freighters each Of 400 tons lightweight
capacity.
A year ago we had in this country only hand
full of qualified shfpwrights and the yards en-
gagged in the building of wooden vessels few
and far between. of modest equipment and any
thing but up to date compared with their steel
competitors. How, then. has 1t been possible to
undertake SO imposing program and to prom
Use deliveries within periods unprecedentedly
brief? The story is to make every American
feel proud. for it Is record of Yankee ingenu-
fty and native adaptabilty at their best.
1t was plain to the men concerned in direct
ing the Emergency Fleet corporation that 1t
would be quite out Of the question recruit
shipwrights or to train new men IN the art with
in the time available The shipwright in his fin
ished form is the evolution Of long years of prac
teal application. and this means an acquired cum
ming in the use of very few hand tools.
Just the launching timber yes
sells after very short building periods and these
undeniable results the consequence of skill
fully directed efforts following lines. The
Emergency Fleet corporation first set about
ing trades. and they showed how these men could
be employed. by reason of already existing
chanical aids and others developing, to do vrtu-
ally what had previously been done only by the
expert ship carpenter.
We 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 to
cut out lost motion all the way from the forest
to the building plant and thence upon the finished
product.
patiently carve the various curiousy formed
structural units out OF relatively raw material,
his less expert brothers, the house carpenter, the
Joiner, the wooden bridge builder and the like
accomplish astonishing things through the
agency of the sawmin. The sawmn In fact rep
resents today to the wooden ship what the steel
mill stands for in the of the fabricated
freighter.
BY means of planners that can be set Mt any
angle and saws that will operate when tilted to
different degrees, IL Is possible for the present
day substitutes of the master wood worker. the
shipwrfght to shape and to bevel pieces OF all
sizes and thfcknesses and. besides. to do this in
a few minutes. where the ship carpenter re-
quired probably many hours.
The pneumatic drill commonly used In struc-
tural steel work has been modified that II
will answer for the boring of holes In the tim
bers Of a wooden ship: pneumatic hammers,
adaptations of steel rfveters. driving the
craft together; and portable planners and kindred
air or electrically operated tools finish on sur
faces and smooth joints that the adze and the
other tools Of the shipwrfght are wellnigh dis
pensed with. Further. these portable power.
driven aids are doing their work at speed ut
teriy unattainabIe by the traditional ship car
periter and his fellows.
As yet the concrete ship Il too much of q now
city for predictions to be made to the ultimate
maximum of practicable tonnage.
yet sure that the big concrete heighter OF 1900
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
fncts In mind, Is going right ahead to supple
nnent our mercantile squadr0ns by substantially
s0coura91ng the building Of some Of freighe
ess and other nana1lthic boax