davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1942-03-01

supervised the building Of 3s ships COST
ing almost $118,0oo.o00.
Among them were such combat ships
as the aircraft carrier Wasp, the light
cruiser San Diego and several destroyers
that now rate among TIE fastest In the
Navy's service.
you build 'ern, and well fight EN-
said Admiral Ernest J. King visiting
Tubby's yards last August.
And Tubby builds them
Soon to be added to the 10000 work
men under his charge will be 10000 more
at Bethlehem's proposed new yard at
bingham, Mass.
In his building Tubby has a personal
goal-to make made in Quincy" as irri-
tating and destructive to the Nippons as
made in Japan" is to Americans.
The seed for this aim is that In 1905
the Fore River Yard built fve sub
marines for the japanese.
Tubby was only a kid In grammar
school in Washington at the time. But
he has made the memory into personal
grudge.
"Of course he says, "those 37-year-
old subs are out of the running now, but
if the japanese ever got any service from
vessels built in Quincy, we want to make
up for 1t. We intend to build warships
so fast and so well that the Japs and our
other enemies are going to hate the ex-
preston made in Quincy"
At least six days q week, in his greasy
overalls and old cap. from $3.50 in the
morning until at night, Tubby works
at making made in Quincy" q threat.
Tubby looks out the windows OF his
ONCE at the life that was for him-the
13o-acre yard with its skeletons of great
ships abuilding in the slips down by the
water.
There's no ideal Ship" he says. Each
Is . tailor-made job to fit specific pr-
pose. You 60 along with new develop
Evening star., 1942-03-01

counts, the detailed statements Of which
note numerous gratuities and gifts to the
deserving and destitute. The distress Of
the wives and children of the soldiers
from Marblehead to Cape Ann may have
been result of the precipitated enthu-
siasm for en1isting at the beginning Of
the war, which often resulted in leaving
their families lily provided for, when the
soldiers had to remain away longer than
had been expected.
Many entries in this notebook are
indicative OF Washingtons devotion to
the cause of independence They show
why he was elected as first President of
the United States, why he was made to
serve second term and why he was
the first man in America whose opinions
quickly became laws without question.
Perhaps, too, they explain why this man
was able to hold his army together dur
ing the terrible winter at Valley Forge
In 1777 and 1778.
washington and his army Of 10000
men hutted In those cold and snowswept
Evening star., 1942-03-01

nents as one chap thinks up some new
way to sink 'em. and another Things up
q new way to protect 'em."
Since 1917, at Bethlehems Whining
ton. Del, plant, Tubby had gone along
with new developments.
In 1927 he transferred to Fore River al
hull superintendent.
Two years later he left to 60 with the
Goodyear Zeppelin Corp. at Akron.
There. as superintendent In charge Of
the building Of the Macon and Akron,
he frequently took hand In the dan
gerous repair Jobs as the big blimps
hurtled along at 1000 to 10000 feet In
test fights.
Red" Coffelt, a husky Fore River
foreman who worked under Collins IN
the Zeppelin works, tells hair-ratser
about the time the Macon was under-
going trials with Collins and repair
crew aboard to watch for bugs"
I'VE were cruising along at rs miles an
hour at 5000 feet" said Coffelt, when
a blast from a forward propeller blade
blew hole in the metal streamlining Of
the strut. If the jagged metal tore of.
it would have ripped hole in the bag
and perhaps wrecked the Yep.
80 climbed out on the catwalk to fix
it. had rope lashed around me ard
Tubby Collins lashed the other end
around his waist, braced his feet against
the paSSageway and held on.
"A slip would have meant curtains for
both of us, but as I finished the job, I
heard some one ask Tubby If he'd like
some help, and Tubby yelled above the
bowling Of the wind, 'Aw hell You're not
half big enough"
Tubby, himself was big enough for that
job and the one that followed it. In
1888 he returned to Bethlehem's Fore
River plant as assistant general man
ager. -Four years later he was general
manager.
Evening star., 1942-03-01

After the asterisk below this entry
Washington made the following note
explaining the years expense: "This
business during the abope internal Dds
in such a udriety of hands for Uunt
OF proper stetDord (tDhich I In patn
by myself and others endeapored to
obtain and the accounts tDere not only
irreguldrly kept, but many OF them Dere
lost or n,isldid, and some OF them so
detaced as not to be legible, that 1t is
impossible for me to make out state
ment OF them: But as It comprehended
that space OF time in Which the French
and American Armies formed one camp
at Phtlipsburgh and our expenses tDere
at the highest; and as this sum corri-
spends as nearly as can be expected Ufth
the Average expenditures per month as
ptll appear by 1t. Collars accounts since
the abore sum Is charged under these
circumstances, upon the principle totich
seems most equitable to do Justice to the
public end no injustice to myself"
Evening star., 1942-03-01

"a on the same day reads: "To Moses
Fessendon--5 pounds 4 slllltngs" This
was money he paid these men who were
employed by Washington as express
riders. It was no uncommon thing for
bearers of dispatches from headquarters
to keep the saddle, day and night, with
changes of mounts, until the dispatches
were delivered. This account of Moses
Fessendon was for carrying dispatches
and orders for the armed privateerS then
being fitted out at Salem, Derry and
Plymouth.
Elijah Bennett, who was perhaps the
most trusted Of all the official express
riders, was paid 10 shillings by Washing
ton on November 80, ITS, for carrying
dispatches to Maj. Gen. Schuyler. then
at Ticonderoga.
On January 8, 1776, Washington en-
tered In his notebook: "To the relief OF
the distressed tDipes and children of the
soldiers from Mnrbleheud-f5 pounds"
Nowhere Is Washington's open handed
charity 50 well shown as In these ac-
Evening star., 1942-03-01


OF four about George Wnshington's
account book during the Revolution
1ry War.
IN last weeks article about George
Washingtons account book, which only
recently was found behind an old safe
In the United States Treasury Building,
We reproduced in facsimile the page OF
these accounts which Washington wrote
after arriving at Cambridge, Mass,
where he established his headquarters
and took command of the Continental
Army July 8, ITS.
One of the items Of expense Wash
ington entered in his account book for
July was as follows: "To cash paid for
cleaning the house Ul1ich Wds provided
for my quarters and Which had been
occupied by the Marblehead Regiment
pounds 10 shaltngs 9 pence" About
$3.50 in value today.
The Marblehead Regiment was the
21st Massachusetts, commanded by Col.
John Glover, and it took eight days to
make the house hatitable for Gen.
Washington.
On September of the same year he
made this entry, ITO cash for recover
ing my pistols Uhich had been stolen
and for repairing sthem atterDard-1
pound 10 shillings." Equal to $3.50.
The same day this entry appears: ITO
paper, sealing war, etc. tor generals
pounds 10 shnlings" He even had
to buy things for the generals attached
to his headquarters from his meager
funds.
There was no main source of supply
and Washington often had to depend on
civilians from whom to buy essential
articles. His entry of October /, TITS,
read: ITO field bedstead and curtains,
mattress and blankets, etc., etc.-20
pounds" And on December he writes:
ITO Mr.. John Dunl1p-1f pounds II
shillings pence" This was for sta
tionary supplies. Dunlap was appointed
printer to the Congress and he printed
the first copies of the Declaration of
Independence. He later became an
officer IN Philadelphia troop of cavalry
and in 1880 advanced 1000 pounds to
Washington with which to buy provi-
sions for the Army.
AS Washington was required to spend
money he would forward a voucher to
Congress and by post. or messenger, they
would reimburse him when they had
funds, but oftentimes they didn't. A
great deal of the money he was forced
to spend he advanced himself, as he
states: From my private purse"
Voucher No. SO under date of October
30, ITS. Washington wrote: "To Joseph
Tessendon-S pounds And voucher No.
Evening star., 1942-03-01
He'sRushingW WarshipstotheNavy
BY Frank Carey,
Wide world News.

A group Of weil-tailored celebrities
gathered at the great Fore River. ship
yards.
The occasion was the launching. last
September, Of the 35,000-ton battleship
Massachusetts,.
As the last snoring aft and the last
bilge-block amidship were removed. .
tubby little man in greasy overalls sepa-
rated himself from the crew Of men on
under hull" duty and hot-footed 1t for
the speakers rostrum to Join Navy Sec
retary Frank Knox.
AZ the great ship moved down the
ways. the tubby fellow crossed his nm
gers and mumbled . saying Of Msins
ships carpenters: "She's as safe a.
though she was in Gods pocket"
She was. But william n. "Tubby" Col
Inns, general manager of the famous
Quincy shipyard never has lost his
launching day jitters+"I'm always leery
that ship is going to wham across to
the other side Of the river and pillow into
the bank"
Collins was not born to the ship build
ing trade. In 1911, when he was grad
uated from old Central High School, 1t
seemed more likely he would head for a
dry-land military career. He had been
captain Of the crack Cadet Company I
at his school.
His grades were 50 high, however, that
he was granted . scholarship to LafaY-
cite College, Pennsylvania, where hs
studied to be mining engineer.
After one look at q coal mine. 7 de-
cided that was not the life for me-" he
grins. He became . laborer for 50 .
week at Newport News.
Born in Georgetown, 'Tubby" was the
son of q real estate man who died when
the boy was 2. His mother. now also
ernment. In 1915 he married former
Western High School student, Miss
Thelma Dawson, whose mother, Mrs.
Clarence Edward Dawson, ST., lives at
1903 woodbine street, Chevy Chase, Md.
The shipbuilder returns here fire.
quently to confer with Navy onicials,
and to see old friends His one son, Will
liam, jr.. has taken to the sea-now serv-
Ing as naval ensign with Boston as his
home port.
"Tubby," boss Of a $500, 900 900 Job, has
never lost his fellowship with the men
who work for him.
When he walks through the yard, in
specting various jobs. It's q common
sight to see welder offer his flaming
blow-torch to Collins-as a cigarette
lighter.
The Fore River workme2 who launched
the Massachusetts, seve;t months ahead
Of schedule decided to try for a tanker
record.
The rallying cry went up: Lets make
It new years present for Tubby!" They
did even better-they made it Christ
mas present.
They had inaugurated their own speed
program and set theS 76-day tanker rec
ord because they liked their grey-haired,
blue-eyed, lantern-j jawed boss.
1t was Just one instance, at Just one
yard OF the human element which ex-
erts large control over the assembly -line-
dollar-sigr picture of defense, which is
customarily seen only in terms Of nm
lshed output.
Forty-nine-year-old General Manager
Collins-youngest such executive at any
major shipyard In the country-must
think In terms Of output.
Since Tubby, who Is not as rotlnd as
his name implies, became general man
ager at Fore River i've years ago, he has
Evening star., 1942-03-01
Naval Air Chief Plans
Two>Ocean Flying Fleet
By Ben H. Pearse.

the control tower had reached its ulti-
mate practicable height, the only answer
seemed to be the airplane.
Aviation was beginning to engage the
attention of the Navy. The Wright plane
had met official tests and been accepted
by the Army the year before In No
vember, 1910, Glenn H. Curtiss staged a
demonstration at Hampton Roads, Va,
in which one of his pilots, Eugene Fly.
took of from wooden platform erected
on the bow OF the U. s. s. Birmingham
and flew to the shore. The Navy &C
cepted his offer to train one officer free
of charge, and 1t. T. G. Ellyson got the
first assignment.
Early the next year, Ely made another
demonstration at San Francisco, taking
of from the Presidio and with the aid
of crude arresting gear landing on an
improvised platform on the stern of the
U. S. S. Pennsylvania in the harbor.
He took off few minutes later and few
back to the Presidio safely The Navy
was definitely impressed, but to meet
criticism from some quarters that the
landing platform would interfere with
the turning of the turrets and thus the
firing of the big guns, specifications were
drawn up calling for plane that could
land in the water beside battleship and
be hoisted aboard without using a land
ing deck. Curtiss met this test in Feb
ruary, 1911, and won a contract for two
planes.
1t. Towers application was busted of
and he was ordered to Hammondsport,
N. Y, where Curtiss had his factory"
to learn to fly. At the same time, 1t.
John Rogers, commander of the Nays
seaplane flight from San Francisco to
Hawaii in 1925, was sent to Dayton, Ohio
to receive instruction on plane ordered
from the Wright brothers.
Worked With Curtiss.
At Hammondsport, 1t. Towers began
long and fruitful association with Cur
tiss. He qualified as pilot in August,
1911, under the regulations of the Fed
Grafton Aeronautique International,
since the Navy had none of It's own.
The following month he was ordered to
Annapolis, where the first naval aviation
unit began functioning at Greenbury
Point.
During the winter, he went out to the
Curtiss flying school at North Island in
San Diego Bay, where he served as a
test pilot. but in May. 1912. he returned
to Greenbury Point to take charge of
the camp and train the six officers as
signed for instruction. One of these was
Capt. H. c. Richardson. designer of the
first successful catapult for launching
planes, who was then a civilian naval
constructor. Another was Ensign W. D.
Billingsley, who was killed that summer
on flight on which the then 1t. Towers,
too, almost lost his life.
They were flying over Chesapeake Bay
at about 1,700 feet when downward air
current struck the plane. Ensign Bill
ingsley was catapulted out of the pilots
seat and was killed in the fall to the
water below. 1t. Towers managed to
grab onto one Of the struts and q con-
troll lever in front of him and fell with
the plane into the bay. The craft
turned over on the way down and landed
on top of him as it struck the water, but
he held on until he was rescued. During
the three months he was in the hospital
he was visited by Curtiss, who was eager
Evening star., 1942-03-01
Biggest Airplane Job.

But if the idea of giving important line
posts to flyers gained headway slowly in
the Navy, as It did in the Army, he stuck
to his conviction that aircraft would
some day be one Of the Navys most i'm
portant weapons. 1t probably has mill
tated against his selection to the higher
echelons of command in some degree;
he was passed over once before his pro-
motion to rear admiral in 1889. But II
he has any regrets, he has never even
voiced them to his closest friends, who
strongly suspect he is too busy with the
Navy's biggest airplane procurement and
pilot training job to think much about it.
Now the Navy's No. pilot In point of
service as well as in official capacity as
head Of the Bureau Of Aeronautics, Ad-
miral Towers Is In for q period more
strenuous perhaps than all of his preH-
Gus IS years service put together.
Evening star., 1942-03-01

This item Of expense and explanatory
note written by Washington Is shown
here in Photographic facsimile.
Now. as his 21oth birthday has Just
passed and our country Is In 4 great
war to preserve that democracy which
was born because Washington was will
ing to tight . physical enemy and o
financial enemy while making neat en-
Evening star., 1942-03-01

Walking down the corridor to a con-
gressional hearing on a naval appropria-
tions bill not long ago. Admiral John H.
Towers smiled quietly to himself. In his
brief case were estimates for expenditures
Of more than $4,000, ,o0o,o 900 to bring the
Nays air strength to some $1,000
planes The smile was occasioned by
sudden recollection Of the reply he re-
eeived to an application he had made
through of1icial channels back in 1910
for assignment to aviation duty to de-
termine whether or not airplanes could
be of any use to the Navy.
In effect, the reply advised him that
his application had been received and
filed; the Navy did not expect ever to
have any use for such thing as an air
plane, but If it did he would be notified
Admiral Towers was not smiling at
the congressional committee or the Navy
over the recollection. At the time he
made the request he certainly never
dreamed that some day he would be ask
ing for $1,000 airplanes for two-ocean
feet. And only few years before that,
he had never given much more than
passing thought to the Navy.
Jack Towers was a tall, gangling
youngster weighing all of lis pounds
when he finished high school in his home
town Of Rome, Georgia, in 1901. To pur-
sue his ambition to become civil engi-
neer and build railroads in the Andes,
he entered Georgia Tech. Shortly be-
fore the midyear examinations the fol-
lowing January, he received query from
his father asking If he wanted to go to
the Naval Academy. His Congressman,
1t seemed had had bad luck with his
appointments to Annapolis. None of his
appointees had been able to survive the
curriculum.
Hearing that young Jack Towers was
leading his class at Tech, he broached
the matter to his father, hoping to get
at least one constituent into the naval
&OICCc' 1 vi AAAo pal yo0iiS 4oWSAo AilCACAy
understood that the Naval Academy was
good school, too; he packed up and
left for home the next day. He became
Midshipman John Henry Towers in the
class entering in the summer of 1902
and graduating four years later, finish
ing we'll up in his class.
When the U. S. S. Michigan our Arst
dreadnought, was being fitted out in the
summer of 1909, he was assigned to her
and, after she was commissioned, was
designated fire-control officer and spot
ter. II was this assignment that led
him into aviation.
Begins Aviation Career.
The romance of flying and the chal-
lenge of new element had nothing to do
with the application 1t. q. g. Towers
made in the fall of 1910 for assignment
to flying training. It was merely ques-
tion of arithmetic. From his fire. control
post in the foremast the limit OF viSi-
bility under ideal conditions was about
10000 yards. The Michigan's 12-inch
guns had an effective range of approxi-
imately 21,000 yards and bigger guns
were in the making. The only way this
increased range could be utilized was by
getting up high enough to spot" the
hits so the aim could be corrected. Since
Evening star., 1942-03-01

Of the U. s. s. Langley, the Nays first
aircraft carrier, in 1927, but not until the
two officers Immediately. superior to him
went to bat with strong recommended
tions that he be given the post. He was
the first career aviator as distinguished
from a line officer who had received
aviation training. to command ship of
that size, although he had been execu-
tive officer for two years. His handling
of the Langley, the first electrically
propelled ship and not the easiest in the
Navy to handle pretty effectively dem
onstrated that flyer can be sailor as
we'll He subsequently commanded the
U. s. S. Saratoga, one of the two largest
aircraft carriers af1oat and at that time,
1888, the largest ship of any type in the
Navy.
Evening star., 1942-03-01

tries in his account book which lies In q
case in Treasury that deals In billions.
our Nation cannot help but share pro-
found admiration for this man who rose
to greatness through necessity.
The third article Of this series about
the long-lost treasured document Of the
United States Treasury will appear next
Sunday.
Evening star., 1942-03-01

to interview the survivor Of an airplane
accident. rarity in those days. Deduc-
ing that probably other accidents had
been caused by similar circumstances,
Curtiss designed the safety belt that is
standard equipment on all planes today.
Perhaps Admiral Towers principal
contribution to the Navy Air Service has
been his conception of aviation as an
integral part Of the feet. He was In
charge of the aviation unit that operated
with the fleet for the first time at Guam
tanaimo Bay in 1918. During the maneu-
vers one of the planes discovered the
enemy" force and reported 1t by wire
less He commanded the units estab-
lished on shore at Veracruz during the
Mexican incident" of 1914, and he was
working with Curtiss on a plane for
transatlantic flight when war broke out
in Europe later that same year. The
flight was abandoned temporarily, but
the plane they designed provided the
basis for many British and American
types used during the first World War.
and afterward for the NC type that was
first to cross the Atlantic in 1919.
On Aircraft Carriers.
But aviation units functioned from
shore bases and were out of touch with
the feet for the most part. AS career
1t was not considered as sure an avenue
to promotion as one of the line branches.
Long after the war, aviation officers sell
dom were assigned to command ships
larger than destroyers The introduction
of aircraft carriers did q great deal to
break down that feeling, but 1t still exists
to certain extent in some quarters to-
day.
Admiral Towers was given command
Evening star., 1942-03-01
Whngton Expense Book Recently Found Reveals War
INSTALLMENT II.

This article is the second OF a series
OF four about George Wushington's
account book during the Revolution
Gry War.
Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1942-06-11
JUNE

June, the sixth month in our
present calendar, has thirty days,
in the old Latin Calendar it was
the fourth month, and there was
time when it had only twenty
nine days.
Ovid says the month was named
for Juno, Roman goddess,
others connect the name with the
gentle name Junius, probably it
has an agricultural reference de-
noting the month the crop ripens.
The Anglo-Saxons called it "the
dry month" or midsummer
month";"
The flower of the month is the
rose, hardy flower that has been
crossed and recrossed until it is
hard to refer it back to the orig
inal wild rose. The pearl is the
jewel of the month"; symbol of
long life and good health. This
stone since the beginning of civili-
zation has been sought after for
its beauty and value.
June is under the sign of Can
Ger, her people are under the
direct influence of the moon,
which is said to explain their
tendency to marry young. Per-
sons born under Cancers in
fuence are usually sensitive
they enjoy to the limit-and suf-
az just as deeply.
Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1942-06-11
Mrs. Emma J. King

Following a long illness, Mrs.
Emma J. King, 70, widow of Louis
Bell King, died Saturday at the
home of her son-in-law and daugh-
ter, Mr.. and Mrs. Albert A. Scott,
at Damascus.
Funeral services were ineld Mon
day, June 8 at 2:30 P. M. at the
Methodist Church at Clarksburg
The Rev. J. Elmer Benson of the
Methodist Church at Damascus
conducted the services and burial
was in the Clarksburg Church
Cemetery.
Mrs. King is survived by the fol-
lowing children: Mrs. Elmer E.
Williams, Mrs. John H. Duvall,
Miss Grace King and Sherwood
King, all Of Washington, and Mrs.
Scott. She also leaves a sister
Miss Helen Hurley, Clarksburg
and a brother, William Hurley,
Washington.