Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1918-07-27

> wooden freighters each Of 400 tons lightweight
capacity.
year ago we had in this country only hand
full of qualified shipwrights, and the yards en-
gagged in the building of wooden vessels were few
and 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 a program and to prom
Use deliveries within periods unprecedentedly
brief? The story is one to make every American
feel proud for it is n record Of Yankee ingenu-
ity and native adaptabIlity at their best.
1t was plain to the men concerned in direct
ing the Emergency Fleet corporation that II
would be quite out of the question to recruit
shipWrights or to train new men in the art with
in the time available The shpwright 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 a very few hand tools.
just the same launching timber YES
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
chanica 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
writers do not hesitate 10 give Al rating This
achievement is the outcome Of a studied effort to
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 Ike
now accomplish astonishing things through the
agency Of the sawm The sawmill in fact rep
resents today TO the wooden ship what the steel
mill stands for in the case Of the fabricated
freighter
BY means of planners that can be set at any
angle and saws that will operate when tilted 20
different degrees it is possible for the present
day substitutes Of the master wood worker, the
shpwrght. 10 shape and 10 hevel pieces Of all
sizes and thicknesses and, besides to do this in
II 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 it
win answer for the boring OF holes in the tim
bers OF Wooden ships pneumatic hammers,
adaptations of steel rveters. are driving the
bolts, treenails. plugs, etc, that bind timber
craft together and portable planners and kindred
air electrically operated tools finish off sur
faces and smooth joints so that the adze and the
other tools Of the shpwrght wellngh dis
pensed with. Further, these portable power
driven aids are doing their work at & speed ut
terly unartainable by the traditional ship car
penter and his fellows.
As yet the concrete ship is too much Of nov
city for predictions to be made as 10 the ultimate
maximum Of practicable tonnage, we
yet sure that the big concrete freighter Of 1000
tons and more is going 10 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 n mind, Is going right ahead to supple
ment our mercantile squadrons by Substantially
encouraging the building If some scores Of freight
ers ana other granolithic boats.