The Monticellonian., 1918-09-06

about 30oo00o tons for coastwise, West Indian and South American trade
 The navy overseas transportation service started operations last autumn. Its first act was to take over 12 oil tankers to supply ships with fuel oil In the emergency 1t was necessary hur riedly to commission the shippers who had been running ships under civilian auspices, put them into lieutenant commanders uniforms and send them on their way with q book of navy reguia- tions It is not strange that in the circumstances the average new reserve officer more or less lin the air
 The service. starting in New York and Nor folk, was extended to Philadelphia. It now=is expected that 30 additional offices will soon be opened, including those on the other side of the Atlantic. The navy overseas transportation serX- ice must not only operate its ships. but it must that they operated at their maximum efficiency. They must be loaded in record tiine They must carry record cargoes They must 20 in record time. They must arrive the other side in safety. The sinking of one ship would mean not only the loss of the cargo she carrying at the time. but of all other cargoes that she might have been called upon to carry other trips.
 Officers of the service figure that if by im- proved efficiency in the engine room they can run ten ships the at knot better speed than that at which inferior engine-room crews would put them over ship has been created. In like manner if they put ad- dltl0nal lO per cent or cargo on each Of the ten ships additional ship has been created.
 The transportation officers figure also that night and day ship costs about $100 an hour. In other words, every hour saved to q ship is S100 gained A battle may be lost to the allies through the sinking of cargo ship.
 In the matter of defense of cargo ships at sea the service places particular stress lpon these four elements: sharp lookout, ability to maneuver. speed and guns. Expectation of life" is increased 300 per cent by guns merchant men. They force the submarine to operate under the surface of the water where its speed is slower and its deck guns useless
 The situation today in New York and the other ports of authorization in regard to the operation of ships is more or less complicated. Not the navy alone Is operating ships but the shipping board the quartermasters department and the navy supply department. Besides this. the ship ping board assigns ships to private owners to operate, and certain ships manned by the navy are assigned to private owners. The general opin- ion with regard to these ships seems to be that under current labor conditions, navy recruiting offers the best means and the only real guaran- tee for manning most of the great fleet of cargo ships under construction.
 There has been disposition in certain quar- ters to bettle the cargo-ship service. The no- tion prevails that there is in some of the old tramp ships being used in this service In answer it Is shown by the men in the service that it is not only the most useful but the most interesting service in the war.
 Outside of the destroyers, the memo war carry ing freight probably will be the only warships that will active service in this combat As a cnching argument. this service is about the only that constructive and not destructive I; Is laying the foundation for great American merchant marine after the
 That America did not have immense mer- chant marine at the outbreak of the war was due to several causes Confederate raiders dealt ii a severe blow Metal ships and the development of railroads followed. Then came the bIocknp in congress of all legislation for such merchant marine. The La Toilette act was the blow thar killed the project.
 The transportation pressure due to Americas entry into the war brought the realization of the inadequacy of the number of American officers in the merchant marine. As the first step toward supplying the deficiency, great school es- tablished Pelham Bay for the training of deck officers. In addition to the valuable nucleus of young officers already given to the naval reserve from this school, accommodations have been pro vded on greatly enlarged scale for thousands more. Here the take two months intensive practical and theoretical training followed by two months of real experience at The cadets