The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-05-02
500 idle SHIPS
IN JAMES River

VIVUlCiti VI OlSpUcdi VIVUdUiy
win Reach Congress Early
in the Session.
t4 a.ss'-- n : a \. s5
HAVE VALUABLE MACHINERY
Marine Men say Engines Could Be
Taken Out and Installed In Other
Vessels Skeleton, Crews
Have Little to Do.
Norfolk, ya.-What to do with
about 500 wooden. and steel ships ly-
ing Idle In, James river Is a question
that will probably reach the floor of
congress within q short time.
The wooden ships are mostly an
chored In the vicinity Of Claremont.
There are as many as six moored to-
gether, side by side, 30 close that it
Is possible to step from the deck of
one ship to another without any dan
ger of falling overheard. Skeleton
crews are employed and the only work
they are required to do Is to keep the
decks and fixtures clean and stand
watches. They are called upon some
times to daub a little paint on the
sides Of the ships, but Ave hours out
Of the day they have nothing to do
but play checkers, cards or indulge
in any other pastime they see fit.
There is valuable machinery In the
ships that marine men say could be
taken gu. and put to use in other YES
sells. Most Of the ships are equipped
With the best of engines, and the. gov
eminent, 1t is claimed, could realize
considerable money out Of their sale
Shipbuilders say the engines could be
installed in barges that could be used
to transport freight between Balti-
more and Philadelphia and Norfolk
via the inland waterway, or in freight
carriers operating between New York,
Providence, Boston and Norfolk.
Constructive Plan offered.
One shipbuilder makes this sugges-
ion:
"Strip the machinery from the
wooden ships, then organize a cor
poration, or several corporations to
build steel bulls or barges on com
paratively inexpensive plan and in
stall the engines In them. These
barges would be invaluable for coast
wise trade or even for trade with Cuba
and could be operated at a cost much
'ess than the present steamships.
"Of course it will take money to pu,
such a plan in operation, but It does
not require a large financial outlay
The steel hulls can be built in any
one Of a half dozen shipyards on
Hampton Roads and with the pros
pective reduction in the cost. of labor
and the decrease in the cost of ma
terial, competition would be keen for
the building Of these craft
There is little chance Of any Of the
wooden ships ever being of any ma
terial service again, because only
few Of them would be worth the ex-
pense Of repairing Of sea trade. /, A
good many of the ships are already
beginning to show decay and 1t would
not be surprising If several Of them
were abandoned altogether within a
year or so. It Is the opinion of
marine men that when the govern
ment begins to discard the wooden
ships completely they will be blown
up with dynamite, as IL they were a
menace to navigation.
The people of Claremont are divided
on the benefit the town has derived
by the location. of the fleet near that
town. The anchorage occupied by the
ships is referred to as the "boneyard."
j. MANY go in but none come OUT is
the way Robert Minter, a veteran river
man who has resided near Claremont
since few days after the Civil war,
refers to the 'boneyard"
Last Days Of the Monitors.
Minter's opinion is shared by 9TH
ers, because all the old inhabitants
of ClaremOnt, City Point and other
James river landings remember the
fate of seven monitors that the govern
ment decided to discard 25 years ago.
Among these monitors were the Cat
skill, Mahopac, Ajax and Caconicus.
In their day they were looked upon
with the same respect as the present
day dreadnaught. They were the back
bone Of the American navy.
There came a day, however, when
the government found it a burden to
keep these ships in active service, 80
they were sent up to the James river.
For seven years they lay at anchor
off City Point. Then they were sent
further up the James river to a point
about five miles below Richmond.
There they almost rottel to pieces, and
when they began to leak the govern
ment ordered them to Norfolk to be
thrown Oh the junk pile.
The newest place for laying up"
idle ships is the York river. This his
toric stream, like the James, empties
info H0mpton Roads. and during the