Evening star., 1925-03-08


OF the fates.
With frame which the seas would
have been proud to support. 1t was
sentenced to five years of idleness and
despondency by the Government
Then, anxious to be rid OF this futile
burden, Uncle Sam exchanged it for
q paltry $4,000 on condition that it
bo destroyed.
fso for more than two years 1T
awaited a doom of ashes. submitting
its proud interior to the hungry mag
net and the prowling crane in search
of valuable prey.
This Is the story of Uncle Sans
wooden fleet, erected during the war
under such pressure that, at Its un-
expected termination, the 235 forest
made steamers could not bring a
buyer. Constructed by ordinary car
penters, drafted into the business of
boat-making because of the emer-
gency, they were found by after-the-
war bargain-h hunters to be lacking in
cargo space and to be uneconomlcal.
Steamship company officials turned
up their noses at them, and Uncle
Sam. surveying his steel array of po-
tential Methuselahs, scratched his
whiskered chin despairingly.
Along came the Western Marine and
Salvage Co, with so acres of shipyard
at Alexandria. and, depositing $3.50 900,
departed with 235 of these giants,
each of whose naked hulls had left a
100000 dent in the Treasury
This was in October, 1922, and from
that time until a few days ago 125
men directed the greatest destruc-
tive siege the world has ever seen.
Hammers crashed, chains clanked and
fires cracked, just as they did five
years before when the ships were be-
Ing built. But the dismantling proc
ess had been so systematized that
each vessels contents-2OO tons of
material, which had required nearly
Six months for installation-could
now be yanked out in 16 working
hours.
In 16 hours these proud, majestic
steamers. each of which was destined
for cruise of laurels. was dismem-
bered and disemboweled by avaricious
salvage instruments In l6 hours
these models of magnificence were
transformed into wretched hulks. as
hollow and sunken as lions skin.
x = X *
a LII sorts of eviscerat ting tortures
were applied to the undesira bles.
some of which had never felt the
plash of wave or the weight of
pound of freight
One of these was the acetylene
torch. the most destructive metal
"lecher known. Spraying its potent
sparks in all directions, it cut through
IRON decks, huge steel columns, planes
ana supports. like a pair of scissors
through a yard of cloth. So powerful
was It's flame that in six to seven min
utes 1t sizzled through 10 inches of
solid steel pillar.
by means of this instrument all the
metals and machinery of the shin
were loosened. They were lifted out
Dy travelling cranes, which plunged
their revolving arms into the sbin,s
lnsldes ard rose with Is tons of bait
at the end OF each hook Tbus
1o-ton boiler was extracted bv two
traFellng cranes and snugly set nm
the sand for inspection.
main engine, with a 7s-ton avoir-
oupols. was bound by a rope sus-
Penoed from a 1o0-ton stiff-legged
uerrick and gaily swung to a place
ur sure, TO await the glance of ap-
pToVal from contractor, steamship
operator, or other prospective custo.
mer.
Fart of the deck had to be sawed Off
IN oFuer TO gain access to some of the
Dollers' engines and smaller machin-
cry. Ihe work was done by gasoline
drag saws, which ripped awav Ali tba
Iumper and wooden work. This lumber
viii eventually wend its wav to tbe
lumper mills-some of 1t is there all
-eady-Where 1t will be resawed. DOS
sloly for the kennel of Milady's net
poodle.
1t was not only necessary to tear
the metal from its resting place and
store 1t in the yard. These enormous
masses had to be broken up so that
they could be more readily handled
For this purpose a skull cracker.
SOLD steel ball, over feet in dia-
meter, and tipping the scales at three
tons, was employed
RMS unheavenly sphere was elevated
TO height of 80 or 40 feet and ruth
Iessly allowed to crash down on the
.Sunk pile of metal below. The ball is
ntted into crane with a cup-shaped
magnet. When the crane has risen TO
the necessary height, the electric cur
rent which governs the magnetiza-
t1on of the ball is cut-and with a
numerous crash the ball descends
on the innocent pile. The process is
repeated until the desired amount of
destruction is obtained.
rms magnet is so powerful that
when the electricity is turned on and
II Is lowered to duplicate the act. it
attracts the ball at distance of 10
feet. enveloping it hungrily as it rolls
into its mouth. In 80 seconds tons Of
metal were reduced to scrapheap.
TEN vessels were dismantled stimuli
taneously. They were towed up
from Claremont, Va, where for five
years they had been brooding over
their fates. Towing a steamer up the
river, even from Claremont to Alex
andria, is expensive. 1t cost this COM
pany $500 for each steamer that was
drawn up
In fact, there are still 10 vessels
down in Orange, Tex upon which no
destructive finger has been laid, be-
cause of the expense that towing
them to Alexandria would entail. 1t
is said that for each ship the amount
would be $4,000
There was also an expenditure to
maintain the vessels at Claremont
for the lineage of Capt. Kidd has not
yet entirely disappeared During the
night, while each ship wondered
whether the morrow would bring its
doom, hands of modern pirates groped
Into its interior in search of portable
material. In this manner more than
100000 of equipment was stolen
Vigil was of little avail. No patrol
officers legs were long enough to
safe guard eight miles of water front.
The result was the immediate dis
mantling- of all portable material and
its removal to Alexandria. A patrol
fleet was also maintained to protect
the vessels from trespassers.
The quantity of material unrigged
in junking the fleet was so extensive
that, despite the almost ridiculously
low prices on each tag, the Western
Marine & Salvage Co. has already dis
posed of a million and a half dollars
worth of stuff, equal to about five
sixths of its stock
The diversity and complexity Of
ships interior may be seen by the
amount of material these 235 vessels
yielded. A glance at the list is con-