The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1921-09-02
FOUR MONTHS WORK ON HAND FOR
THE EELIzABETH CITY SHIP YARDCO.
Means Steady Employment For Ship Carpenters
and Good Weekly Pay Roll For
Local Circulation

lCo. with more than 100 men on
its pay rolls at its two yards IN
this city, has enough work on
hand at the present time to keep
its present force employed for
four months. Any concern that.
has four months work booked
ahead at the present moment
needn't worry overrnuch about
the outlook for 1922. The fact
that the Elizabeth City Ship
Yard Company has four months
work on its yards means much
for the shipbuilding industry at
Elizabeth City and should be
welcome news indeed to- mer-
chants and others dependent up
on the continued operation Of ev-
cry Elizabeth City industry.
There are at this time % pieces Of
floating equipment on the ways and at
the docks of the Elizabeth City Ship
Yard Co. for repairs of every sort, from
the scraping and repainting of a hull to
the installation of boilers and engines.
Twenty pieces of this equipment are the
property of James Stewart & Co., of
New York City. ~
James Stewart &. Co. are one of the
biggest construction firms in the United
States, and have maintained a great
feet of barges, pile drivers. dredges and
hoisting machines in Hampton Roads,
where this company has handled mil
lions of dollars of government contracts.
This company, in seeking fresh water
harbor for idle equipment found at Eliz-
abeth City both an ideal harbor and
ship yards capable of handling their re-
pair work efficiently and at attractive
prices. Guy Pinner, a former Elizabeth
City boy, holds an executive position
with the Stewart organization. and was
instrumental in bringing Elizabeth City
to the attention of his firm.
Some Interesting Craft
The waterfront of the Elizabeth City
Ship Yard Co. presents an interesting
sight to visitors to-day. One beholds
there very forest of masts, smoke
stacks and pile-driver legs. There are
several pile. drivers, one of them tower
ing ninety feet shove the water. There
are pile drivers that drive piles straight
down, and pile drivers that drive piles
aslant. There are ponderous hosting
machines, concrete mixers and other odd
craft. Among other equipment sent
here by Stewart & Co. for repairs is
one of its floating hotels or boarding
houses. This two story craft has 80
bed rooms, kitchen, dining room, lobby,
Office and shower baths. It is steam
heated, electric lighted and has hot and
cold running water.
Besides the work for the Stewart
company, the Elizabeth City Ship Yard
Co. is doing extensive repairs on eight
other craft. Among these is the board
ing boat Murray from the U. D. Quar-
antine Station in Hampton Roads the
tug Juniper, owned by Norfolk interests;
the steamer Guide from Edenton; and
the schooner Jessie Irving from New
Berne All of this is out of town work,
bringing thousands of dollars to Eliza
beth City Nevery week for material and
labor. And that isn't all of it. Every
schooner, barge or what not
that comes to Elizabeth City for re
pairs usually brings crew with it that
adds so much to Elizabeth City's float
ing population weekly and makes busi-
ness, for Elizabeth City stores. Boat
crews eat heartily and sometimes buy
clothes.
r. B. Cotter, president of the Eliza
beth City Ship Yard Co., is in New York
this week looking for more work for his
yards and he looks for revival Of bus
mess something like that enjoyed in war
times when the payroll of his yards here
ran from 5000 to $4,000 a week.
Hampered BY Shallow Water.
The Elizabeth City Ship Yard Co.
was founded by MFR. Cotter in 1917. His
SON Robert NJ. Cotter is Associated with
him as secretary treasurer of the COM
pany and he has another son coming
on, W. a. Cotter, who will shortly at
tain his majority and take an executive
position with the company. The Cot
ters have done much for Elizabeth City
since they came here and would do even
bigger things were they not handicapped
BY the shall6wness of our inland water
routes. Under favorable conditions they
can get no vessel of more than twelve
foot draught via the Government Inland
Waterway. Vessels of not more than
:oot draught can be brought to this
,ity via the Lake Drummond Canal.
Ship building at Elizabeth City is thus
confined to craft of light draught With
1eeper waterways the Cotters might
bring millions here instead Of thous-
ands.