Arizona republican., 1922-06-16
By Frederic j. Haskin

WASEtlNGIo4N, JUNE
Americas real work in the naval dis
armament program is being started
in earnest. The conference itself is
history and the men who reduced TO
writing the agreements are engaged
in other affairs. The actual scrap
ping of the ships of war is just be-
ginning. 1t is a Job which is making
the United States the seat of the
biggest junk industry the world ever
has known.
Dismantling battleship is task
second only to building one. A bat
tleship Is designed to Withstand de-
struction. In war II IS l.s ~ luitoa,on laao
to endure the pounding OF the heaV-
lest shells which the ingenuity OF
man. has invented, to say nothing OF
the pounding of the seas. And noW'
under the disarmament treaties,
whole fleet is to be destroyed.
Practically all of the work is TO
be done in private yards OF JUNK men
or shipbuilders. A Philadelphia Ilrhi
made the government proposal 10
take over the entire fleet scrapped
by the treaty, but as matter OF
public policy it was decided not 70
give the entire job to one company.
However. this company has obtained
the Job of scrapping several pattie-
ships and a number of smaller YES
sells Among the important warships
to be scrapped at Philadelphia are
the battleships Missouri, Wisconsin
and Maine, the cruiser Columbia. tne
cruiser Raleigh, which was with Aa-
nairaI Dewey at Manila bay, and the
monitor Monterey. The junk COM
pany's ward is on the waterfront ana
it now is dredging channel deep
enough to receive these great ships.
The most useful implement In the
destruction of an armorclad battle-
ship is the oxy -acetylene torch. lEis
is device which shoots flame OF
extremely high temperature INTO
mass of steel and cuts Il as a ShliS
cuts bread These torches are useo
in cutting the huge armor plates .mlo a
commercial shapes and sizes. Inc
pneumatic drill and the chisel are
used in the dismembering of Lighter
parts. and a ponderoas hammer
something between a trip hammer
and a pile drivers used 10 crush
and break up large blocks OF metai
into smaller, more workable chunks.
Material for Automobiles
Battleships are made OF the pest
quality of material and, thersfote,
have large value as ju1k. Armof,
plate is made of the finest nickei
steel. This is cut into pillets ana
who remake the naterial into en-
gines, springs and other parts re-
quiring great strength. The heavy
machinery used in operating gun
turrets is sold to manufacturers g
farming implements or to iron fonh-
dries. There is much copper. brass,
gun metal, bronze. lead. zinc anu
manganese on a pattleship. Inese
are all used in shippuiiding rs Wen
as in other lines of manufacturing.
When taken from the battlesi.la lley
are sorted and sod to dealers or
direct to manufacturers.
All the material is as carefuily
sorted and graded as new metal !.
is stacked in neat piles and classlileu
by shapes and sizes. Experience mas
taught the junkmen the best forms
into which to convert their materlais
to attract buyers and the big moo
ern junkyard looks more like ee-
partment store than the ordinary
backyard junk-piles of small deal-
ers. To make the required sizes,
crocodile shears are used. Ihese
have jaws which cut with a ten-toii
pressure Also, tangled fragments OF
lighter material are pressed lnlo
blocks in a sort of mould on which
an enormous pressure is exerted.
While great fighting ships OF the
navy will be reduced absolutely ~
scrap, some of the lesser craft VIII
be dismantled only so far as fightlng
equipment is concerned. The nuns
will be used for merchant ships, new
interior arrangements being effected
to make them suitable for the carry
ing of cargo. Three old destroyers,
the Truxton, the Worden and the
Whipple, which were retired some
time ago, have been rebuilt as mer
chant ships and now ply in the frull
trade between the United States anu
tropical America. Many OF the de-
stroyers are fast oil-burning SHIPS
and are easily susceptible or con-
version into passenger or cargo ships.
A modern battleship costs $50 Ooo,
600 or more; as junk. it brings not
more than one one hundredth part
of that sum- The battleship Name
was bid in as junk for $4S,000. Thefe
are not many persons or companies
who are in the market for seconu-
hand battleships, and the buyer must
regard as part of the price he pays
the enormous cost of the wrecklng
While the seller of the secondhand
fighting ships gets little in pfopor-
tion to original cost, the ultimate
cost to the junkman is many times
what he pays for the complete ves-
sci. Almost as many men are re-
quired to take a ship apart as to put
one together.
More than half million tons OF