San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-03-18
Americans Rebuild LeUiathan
DESPITE Lack of German Plans

Aut NOHItISillluS were lOuuu. kDLlt-
where. \ shiDyard employs every sort
of trade. In this shipyard, where the
men worked together in peace-there
was no thought of. strike and . the
wages paid were not hight happened
that many of the men were called on
to go back to trades they had quit
years ago.
I'VE had men working here at
night" said Horace Ferguson, who
quit work with their hands fifteen
years ago"
Union men,
"Sure. Union men. And their
unions did not nike trouble. either.
These men were on the job to make
good"
EngliShmen had somewhat irritated
all hands at Newport by persistently
proclaiming that the United States had
not the brains or the hands to do the
work of reconditioning the old Levi.
That is one reason why the work is so
good. 4 mistake was made-every
one admits it now-in trying to per-
serve certain features of the German
decorations and furnishings. Hence
wall hangingS and wooden walls and
ceilings and what not were made by
/ Americans in exact copy of the Teu-
ton models. Where this was not in
sisted on-and it was not in many
places-American style ruled. The
I pale bluffs and grays of an American
home found favor. The bathroom fix
lures are better than those originally
in the Kaiser's eight-room suite.
Getting Materials q Problem.
The work was handicapped. in spite
Of the devotion Of the 5000 men who
worked on her, by the difficulty of
getting materials. The door hardware
isn't in even yet. 1t was made TO spe-
cial order. to match the German hard
ware which is still on the Levi. Spe-
cial mirrors were made to fit special
size fittings-3000 Of them. There
were 200 sub-contracts. Seventy odd
thousand electric lamps. and BIZ cleo
tric motors give an idea of what was
needed. The galleys and equipment
for the four passenger classes and the
crew are all new.
That really. is but the superficials
OF the new Levi. All great steamships
nowadays have RITZ restaurants and
flowcr-shops and gyms and tanks and
/ Turkish and Russian baths. But the
Levi is To be at once the most comfort
able and the safest boat of them all.
When the British took over the Ma
icStic, a part of the contract was that
tbp Germans should reconditiOn her,
No doubt that clause has since been
regretted. for the Majestic is cold
shin in the winter. time. The Lewis
heating plant will not emily keep every
inch warm. but it is under such con-
troll that each passenger may have just
what heat he wishes in his quarters,
no matter what gale may rage outside.
Another change from the German
plan was in the pantry elevators. They
are 80 arranged that the luxury loving
traveller may be sure of hot meals
piping hot meals-in his room, II he
wishes to eat there. The steward need
hardly walk forty feet with the COW
cred trays to the most distant room.
At intervals there are fire bulk
heads Of wire glass, so that 1t a flre
were to break out it would be isolated
and dealt with promptly. IN the holds
flames would be smothered by steam.
There were 50-odd water-tight doors
i'm the bulkheads far below. That
was not only too many. but they were
not we'll built. Now there are fewer
than %; but they can, every. one, be
closed from the bridge in half a MIN
ute. and telltale informs II one
props obstinately open.
One marvels sometimes at the reck-
less destruction of wartime. There
were four seventeenth century paint
ings i'm the social hall, valued at Soo,-
900. They were torn out by an ar
dent patriot and stored by another IN
n water filled cellar. They were bad
ly damaged when the shipping board
found them-but they have been re
conditioned. The Italian who paint
ed them in 1920 would hardly know
that ANYTHING had happened. In the
first class smoking room are two 9th
or scascapes by Schnars-Alguist. Ger
many's foremost marine artist. stand
ing between them one can look
through the vista of four great halls
the smoking room, the social hall,
the grand salon. and the restaurant
which sweep half the length OF the
shin. and almost its width. To make
this possible the three tunnels have
beer split at the foot. 1t is as though
three great inverted Us clamp
through Lewis body.
Value as Troop Carrying Ship.
The potential value Of the Levi 10
this country is hardly to be over
stated. Without great transports we
would be helpless in time of war. Ex-
cept for the ex-German vessels we
could not have got two million men
France in 1917 and 1918, even
with all the well paid aid of our Al
lies. Today if we were to be drawn
into another war and Great Britain
were again our Ally, We might be
fairly safe. for she has 112 passenger
vessels that can make twenty knots
or more. But IL Great Britain were
not our ally, we would be in hole
again. The Leviathan is the third
vessel we own that can make more
than twenty knots. Perhaps the last
we will own for years to come.
1t is the most biddable of the big
vessels. When the Leviathan was
brought down to Newport News. after
two years rusty idleness. she handled
like yacht. Her greatest draught at
that time was 36 feet six inches.
The channel at its shallowest was
81 feet. At one point in that chan
mel incoming vessels are required 10
make n right-angled turn. The Levi
athan did it as though she were a cat
boat. Her average voyage speed will
probably be 23 knots. But Horace
Ferguson, the man who recondition-
Ell her. holds that Americans will be
IL -. a l.,