The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-10-30
HURLEY CANCELS
 S6O,OOO,OOO JOB
Shipping Board Chief With draws Contract From
 California Yard.

Washington, Oct. SO.---A sixty mil lion dollar contract awarded to the Bethlehem-Un shipyards of the Bethlehem Steel Company at Ala meda, Cal, has been cancelled by Chairman Hurley of the Shipping Board.
 l Work on the new shipways at this yard for the building of a number of F, 900 ton troop transports has been stopped, and the extension propect will be abandoned so far as the Ship ping Board is concerned.
 Action was taken by Chairman Hur- ley as part of the program of concen- trating shipbuilding efforts in exist 1 ing yards. There will be no further extension of shipbutlling facilities, with the possible exception of the construction of additional concrete yards or ways On the other hand a general program of concentration and
 elimination is being worked out under
 which Shipping Board support for 15
 or more of the least efficient wood Iyards and several of the steel yards is to be withdrawn.
 Expansion of the Bethlehem Union
 yard was decided upon last spring
 when an increase in the number of
 transports was deemed necessary.
 Since then double deck cargo carriers
 and other larger ships have been con-
 verted into transports and production
 has been brought to such a point that
 expansion of facilities was deemed by Chairman. Hurley and his advisers as not necessary. The Shipping Board, jc in and nearing completion sufficient to
 meet all demands for troop movement
 on the 80 division plan, which con- templates the placing of over 100000 7 men in France by June of next year. l As a result it was determined to 5 cancel the enlargement of the yard l at Alameda in the face of the general
 cutting down. of ship facilities s Launchings from the new ways there = would not commence for many r months, it was stated yesterday, and = the force at the yard would have tc r be divided. which would hurt the higf y efficiency that has obtained.
 e Though the Alameda yard is owned s by the Bethlehem company it can be e positively stated that Charles NJ
 Schwab, who came to the Emergenc! V Fleet Corporation from the Bethlehem n company, was in accord with Chair e man Hurley's action in this particula Il and with the general program of re t striction on the building of new ia
 cilities. ia
 There are now 104 shipways in tn
 United States capable of building Di
 steel ships of the transport type, an
 successive studies and inventorie q show, it Is stated, that existing ship s building facilities are if anything
 more than ample. Despite these fact
 strong pressure was brought to 1bea :, on Chairman Hurley against the can u cellation of the Alameda contract
 Action was held up for days, but tn : chairman insisted upon his course a Il necessary to the conservation of pub u lie funds.
 !. No official statemerst has been mad 'A with respect to the contract or it
 cancellation. There are apparent 'I well-founded reports, however, tha u certain shipbuilding interests, thos U adversely affected by the concentra l. tion program, are with the assistanc = of certain members of Congress plan 5t ming to build fire'' under Chairma y, Hurley.