The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-05-04
Manufacturers Forgot Profits
and Labor Its Rules in "Nat-
uralizing' Big Vessel.

New York-The American liner Levi
aihan, once the neutrality-suspicious.
Vaterland, will sail from New York
for Southampton on her maiden voy-
age In cur transatlantic passenger
trade within the next four months. And
when she clears Sandy Hook on thar
first eastward journey she will be In
every sense an American ship, ship
In the reconstruction and recondltlon-
Ing of which every state in the UNION
has had share.
The work of reconditloning the
greatest ship that has ever sailed un-
der the Stars and Stripes cost the
government between $S500,OOO and 3d.
100000. Two years age the Leviathan,
which had transported more than no.
600 American soldiers to the war zone,
was slowly setting into the Hoboken
mud
Then the government decided that 1t
might be good business as well as
fine sentiment to save this ship for the
American overseas passenger trade. SO
the Leviathan was towed to the yards
Of the Newport News Shipbuilding q
Drydock company, and the transforma-
ton was under way. There will be
nothing on the seas more completely
American than this 62,OO0-ton pas
senger ship, and there will be no ship
under any flag in which the appoint
ments are more luxurious or the com
forts and safeguards more numerous.
Outwardly the Leviathan is the Va
terland of 1914, but that Is about all
the resemblance. Under the German
Hag, and as the backbone of the A. f..
y. transport fleet. she was coal
burner. In the American merchant
service she will be the greatest oil
burner on the seas.
The interior decorations have been
entirely changed. Under the Germans
she typified to the last word the Ger
nan idea Of the decorative art. The
smoking room was as gaudy ccm-
partment as could be found on the
seven seas. The stained glass windows
recalled the glories, on land and sea,
or the old German empire. In the
new Levlathan these artistic reminders
Of the Fatherland have been replaced
by stained glass panels, 48 of them,
one for each state In the union, and
In the center Of them all the great
1 seal of the nation itself.
Luxury Everywhere.
Three great public gathering places
on the promenade deck are the out
standing features In the architectural
arrangement of the new I.eviathan.
These are the social hall, the palm
court and restaurant and the main
dining saloon.
The social hall has an area Of 1850
square feet, Its great dome OF glass
an area Of 2,4OO square-feet. Through
out this apartment, as fine as any ever
built on ship, is finished In oak
panel work. from floor to ceiling. The
| lighting effects are concealed In the
ceiling, and on the walls will be four
oil paintings by an italian artist Of an
earlier century. These four paintings
are among the few decorative features
retained from the time when she vas
under German control.
J when the navy TOOK tne LeViatnhh
In 1917 these pictures were not han
died tenderly. They were ripped out.
rolled up and in some unexplained
way became soaked with water. 1t
was believed at first that they had
been ruined beyond repair, but In their
refinished state only an expert will be
able to recognize that like the ship
herself they have been made over.
A stage with all the necessary seen
ic equipment is another feature Of the
social hall.
The palm court or garden. resem-
bling the patio Of Spanish countries,
Is another Of the luxurious apartments
which Is a revelation. When the Ger.
mans owned the ship. II was in many
respects not unlike a high-class beer
garden. But 1t is different now. Ionic
columns with lattice work In light
green and gold give to the whole what
may be described as q porch effect