Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-07
Kept in Good Order.

But there at the cornfelds edge lies
the royal blooded Kronpri-zesSin Cecilie
beside her slower, more pnosaic brother
ship. A small crew is aboard each craft,
keeping them in good order They
could put to sea, as good as ever, to-
morrow morning. The great reciprocal
ing engines are in perfect order.
No Steel-devour!ng rust has been al
lowed TO accumulate. But they have
remained already for nearly four years
village of Solomons Island at the
mouth of the PatuXent River, and there
is no indication that their rest will be
broken. Both are casualties of the war
and of the economic changes and enor-
nous mechanical progress that followed
the world struggle. They are the prop
erty of the United State Reserve Fleet
Corporation. whose job it is to prevent
their deterioration, save them for ma
tional emergency. or dispose of them in
the unlikely event that desirable terms
can be obtained.
The story of the Mount Vernon is one
of the most thrilling episodes of the
World War. Built in 1907 as the Kron-
prinzessin Cecilic. she Incorporated all
the genius of Germany's ShipbuilderS
and marine engineers.
The finest ship of the North German
Lloyd Line, she easily captured and
held the speed record of the North At
lantic. She was floating palace.
There was the individuality of famous
woodcarvers. leather workers and oil
painters. The drab Standardization of
postwar days still was far away from
the shipbuilding industry The intent
was to give her personality of her
own. Love and pride went into her
All the vicissitudes of war did not take
them entirely out of her.
Represents Luxury.
Life aboard the Kronprinzessin repre-
sented the calm luXuriouSneSS of wealth
in the early century. Champagne and
Mosel wine f1owed. Ladies in the quaint
| silks of the last generation danced slow
waltzeS to the music of a~Viennese or
| chestra in her ball room. Wealth and
royalty of two continents patronized
| the queen of the Atlantic.
Then the war came. She was in New
York, with cargo of gold for Germany
| She tried to get hcme, but within a
few hundred miles of her goal her Off
GERS realized the hopeleSSness of getting
through the British line in the North
Sea and turned back. With conSummate
skill. aided by a friendly fog and her
great cruising speed, she eluded her
British rursuers and put into safe
port at Bar Harbcr, Me. There she was
! informed and few weeks later moved
to Boston Harbor.
Here she remained, her German
crew still on board, until the United
States entered the war in the Spring
| of 1917. Then she was seized, her crew
taken off, and size was turned over to
the Navy The crew. realizing that this
step was inevitable. for weeks had been
wrecking her machinery so that the
Americans would not be able to repair
her, at least for months A few weeks
later, early in July, they came out OF
their quarters and watched sullenly as
she put to sea- The American me-
chanics had accomplished what they
thought would be impossible. Not only
was she repaired and made Sea-worthy
again, but most of her elaborate cabins
/ with their beveled mirrors, their Span
ish leather panels and their maple and
satin-wood walls inlaid with mother-of-
pearl had been torn out. In their
place were stanchions for hammocks,
! three to a stanchion. She was re-
chriStened the Mount Vernon and was
ready to carry vast hordes of men in
olive drab from the Eastern seaports
of America to turn the tide Of war
on the Western Front.
Still the German sailors, watching as