Evening star., 1922-02-05
u. S. Warships Nav Warn of Arctic Blasts

Various advantageous ways. in
which to dispose of the warships tnat
Uncle Sam must scrap as the result
of the Washington conference have
been given publicity. They range
from the strictly practical, such as
selling the lot to Henry Ford, to the
strictly sentimental. such as sinking
on the high seas. with all flags n.y.
ing. such a procedure as was pro-
posed by Oliver Wendell Holmes lot
the old frigate Constitution.
The latest suggestion, a comolna
t;on of the two, is to use some OF
them for weather observation statlons
in the far north, region where Hl0se
of the cold waves that aff1ict ootn Tue
United states and Europe ,,n or,enad naaded
and where stations are badly needeu,
according to officials of the weather
bureau. An old battleship or cruiser,
II ia pointed out, in that way. IKE
hale and hearty retired veteran couio
still serve it's country ana the asso
Citations Of her g1 glorious us ratnd viii
euerv storm warning from her terri
tory.
ADVANTAGES Of Novel Scheme.
As in every scheme there are ad-
yantaEes and objections|both OBVIOUS s
and both weighty. To take up the
For Years the meteorological serv-
ices of this country and Europe nave
been urging the os sssaGisnI stations along e the
General line of the arctic circle:
EETrone has threat Spitbergen, at
Iceland and on the Island. or Jan
Maven. It is well known tnat ths
United States weather. bureau Wouat
5e glad to have s,askas sea'e1n or in Ber,ns
strait: another in Hudson pay, an
othar in Hudson strait. and stu an.
other near the southern point OF
Greenland. ,nnsua1
storms Of wind. snow a enc s,ated ten with
a,thoritv. originate In the far nortn
aoraaWhere between Hudson bay anu
tpa pac;fc. A weather observatlon
nns+ eouipped with wireless coulo
1--WE w three days notice o. s1et;aps me
proaeh Of such snuStah,i.ned = s.e5"; at = the four
ro;nts named there would be no ex,
p',se II is said, to for ever missing
cold wave.
vyould Run ships Aground.
,.has heen proposed, therefore, tnat
this government take TOUR oDs1,ere .ners
.n1o ,so,ascent warships, which otner-
,v;se would be scrapped or useo ~.
taroets. and convert them 10 Sn.e
scientific and humanitarian use: Iney
conid be stripped of all equipmsnt
coa ,an+ Wireless and other utilities
saeded eaedd by d small crew Of six or
n;sht men: could be towed to some
s,,;tohIe small land-locked harDors
s,.av;ously picked out in the desired
iocalities: run aground permanently,
50 mat they could be considered rs
"scrapped," there to remain . say;nnad aS GU
and Svarm meteorological stations
;n,neryious to storms, and, practically
~ Fnnd. fuel and salaries Of personnel
wonid be practically all the required
exnenses. 1t Is estimated that two
meteorological observers, o radio OPEL Inar
and ona or two laborers could live
and work with comfort, comparative
Inxury and certain amount of diver
sion II, q very small part of the ship:
Arctic sojourners are usually cramped
FOR space; this group could have in
dividual staterooms, plenty OF room
in which to do. their work, excellent
sanitary arranEementss even extend
ed recreation space. and yet would
be occupying but a small portion OF
the whole.
Objections to Plan.
Now for some of the objections, and
they are good, strong ones, too. Leav-
ing out the sentimental factor In the
always an extreme variable
where Americans are concerned, such
weather stations, it is claimed, would
Sam could install. OF the good sized
ships to be scrapped as the result of
the Washington conference, the
smallest, such as the Maine and Mis-
souri,. could probably be sold as junk
for $so.Goo. Next comes the expense