The New York herald., 1922-01-29
Krupp's Gun Works in Peace

destined to come without investment on
the part of employees, and so is assuring
itself both capital and better feeling on
the part of its workers.
The Germania shipyards at Kiel, which
belong to the Krupp family, have not as
yet completely recovered from the blow
dealt by the disappearance OF Germany's
fighting fleet Unlike their rival, the How
aldswerft they have suffered great losses
through the process of transformation from
war to peace production. While the
Howaldswerft has orders aplenty and is
building now nine big steamships totaling
100000 tons, more than half of the Ger,
mania's slips are empty.
A visit to the Germania wharf recalls
events once in the focus of public interest
and now reduced to faint memories Not
far from the waterside entrance to the
wharf is anchored the gunboat Panther
of Agadir fame, once a bomb thrown into
the structure OF world politics, now resi-.
dence for sailors. few hundred yards
away lies the two masted yacht Meteor, so
christened by Alice Roosevelt.
On entering the wharf the first impress
sion is the absence of ships in construc.
tion. In fact practically all steamships
upon which work is being done are ordered
by the Krupp firm itself. A few of these
among them two steamships almost fin
ished of 5000 tons each, are to carry
from Spain the ore destined for the works
at Essen. Most of the ships in construc-
tion, however. have been built for eventual
sale to shipping lines and to keep the work.
men-about 1000 in all-off the streets.
High Prices Keep Down
Amount of New Orders
The high prices charged by the Ger
mania account for the lack of orders from
shipping lines These prices. again, are
warranted by the great losses incurred
by the Transformation of the yards for the
building OF commercial craft. The Howalds-
werft, on the other hand. is in a position
to quote more reasonable prices because
it was a commercial shipyard before the
war.
The work Of transportation, however. is
now complete I'm all yards Of Kiel. and the
last units OF the war feet to be dismantled
under the peace treaty will soon be pieces
of scrap iron. The superdreadnought
Sachsen, completed in 1918, is already dis
mantled while the same fate awaits a
the Germania wharf. Two tank steam
ships belonging TO Hugo Shines marked
II. St." however owe their existence "a
a clever utilization OF submarine huls.
Characteristic for the Kiel yards in gen.
eral is the presence OF a great number OF
Danish, Swedish and Norwegian merchant.
men in repair. IL was only natural that
tho Scandinavian shipowners should avail
themselves of the low rate Of the mark TO
have their ships repaired at about half
the home price and the Germania too IA
serving a number OF Scandinavian patrons
The Germania foundry, forge and machine
shop are overworked but here too the prln
ciple Of providing employment leads TO a
considerable production OF cast iron. white
metal and bronze. The steel is supplied by
the Essen workshops.
The executives OF the Kiel yards are
rather pessimistic about the future. They
think that with the present high prices Of
shjpbulding which have already led to
serious slump. some of the yards may be
idle most OF this year.