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December, 1918 two, putting them through the canals, and joining them together at Mon- treal. : This plan was followed with such euccess that in 1917 a total of 22 available steamers on the lakes were cut in two, taken through the canals, and then placed together for service on the Atlantic. The navigation sea- _ son on the. lakes closed before the Atlantic seaboard. represented the work could be completed, although some interesting accounts are told of the heroic endeavors made to break through the ice. During the 1918 season, 12 more of these lake boats were cut in two and taken to the THE MARINE REVIEW carrying coal. The work put on these vessels was considerable. Use was made of the existing hulls, engines and boilers which, when overhauled and repaired, were practically as good as new, inasmuch as all damaged ma- terial was replaced. < In order not to interfere with new' construction on the lakes, the vessels were reconstructed in small repair yards. One of these existed only On paper when the work began and all of them had to be enormously increased in facilities to accomplish the task. - By AG eee has had charge of the acquisition, cutting and 533 lakes is in part due to the misfor- tune of the builders on the coasts, Labor troubles have played no small part in this situation. At one time during the year the labor turnover in the Delaware region, for instance, was extremely large. Another time, aS was recorded with much display in the daily press, it was reported that there was considerable loafing | in these yards. That condition gave rise to the assertion that many slackers had entered the Atlantic coast yards. The report gained .such momentum that the senate commerce committee was for a time prompted There isn't much to say, other way. The builders of Story of the Great Lakes | The Bridge---Nine Solid Miles of Ships It couldn't turn out any the district are neither By Henry Penton, District Manager Emergency Fleet Corporation, Great Lakes District istrict in their entire construction. So why, when this is . kind, financial or otherwise. amateurs, promoters nor profiteers--just 24-hour a day hustlers. Every one of them knows 'his business and from the beginning we just all said, "Here's our 400; let's: go to: +." The builders have never asked for any help of any They are all financially well entrenched and most of them were strong years ago. They have made my life a burden in one respect only--steel. They said, "Get us the steel and leave us alone and we will give you the ships'? And they did --even without the steel. The production of the dis- trict 1s far below where it would have been but for shortage of steel--20 to 25 ships at least. As for efficiency, it's old stuff--we invented it years ago. All these so-called records you are hearing about these days were in the discard here years before the Umited States ever thought about a shipping board. One concern here about a year ago decided to build itself a complete, new plant. Within a year from the time it reached this decision it built its plant and de- livered to us therefrom seven complete ships, and this entirely independent of its old plant. That is merely typical of the determination underlying the whole program. : The district leads any and all others from any point of view, number of ships, tonnage, rivet output, tonnage per man, speed of construction or anything else. : I know ships, fore and aft, athwartship and inside out, from the drawing table to the shops; to the fitting out berth, and to the long watch at sea. I have seen them come and go; behave and misbehave. We have grown together, worked together, fought each other and fought together. There is not an unfamiliar step joined to a life-long, intimate ance with a group of he-men, shouldn't the team pull together? It did and there's the result--nine solid miles of ships in a year. And but for that canal sys- tem--and steel--it might just as easily have been far more. No small share of the credit for maintenance .of cordial relations and for the satisfactory arrangement of details in accepting deliveries belongs to Assistant District Manager R. W. England whose wide acquain- tance, high reputation as a vessel master and operator and sterling wmtegrity extend over the entire district and beyond. Full recognition should be given to the fact that the district staff, including representatives at the various yards, 1s of a very high order. It includes a number of men who have achieved prominence as executives im their special and allied activities and who in many cases have given up highly remunerative duties to asso- clate themselves with the district manager. These fea- tures are the outgrowth of long previous intimacy and mutual respect and a'whole-hearted enthusiasm. I do not believe that anywhere in the United States is such a staff to be found. Office hours or work mean nothing whatever--results are the only consideration. Another feature that is worthy of note I think is the extent of the district, which now includes Montreal on the east and west to the head of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan as to ship construction, and far beyond, both west and south, in production of material. The included area is by far the greatest of any district and involves a constant intimacy with plants separated by distances unknown to other district offices and un- realized by all except a few. and agreeable acquaint- removal of These 12 ships total remaining on vessels Great Lakes to the sea. the from the shipbuilding problem, to resume its investigation into the the lakes which were deemed suitable for conditions on the Atlantic. While much ingenuity was dis- played last year in 'breaking the ice to get one more ship through, even &reater ingenuity is being displayed this year in floating through the largest boat taken over by the gov- _ ernment, the Van Hiss, which is not only too long but also too wide to 80 through the locks of the canals. In this instance the halves of the boat were turned __ sidewise, after large tanks were built to give the halves stability in this position. Of the 12 lake boats cut in two In 1918 and taken to the Atlantic, 11 are Service, and one large lake ship for intended for the transatlantic This task has been entirely separate from the building of new ocean freighters on the lakes, but the ac- count of the one would be incom- plete without some mention of the other. The removal of these boats required not 'only materials and yard space but also required the services of practical shipbuilders. It was no job for the novice, but a skilled work for experienced men. To that extent the work has detracted from the building of new ships despite the ef- forts expended to accomplish the other effect. However, the services of yards not suitable for large con- struction work have been utilized. It is only fair to acknowledge that the coco: of shipbuilding on the On both the Atlantic and the Pa- cific coasts much attention has been given to the building of new yards, inasmuch as practically all of the old experienced yards were filled with contracts to build navy vessels. The building of new yards required a different type of labor from. that required to build ships. In building these new yards on the coast the pay-rolls have been filled with men experienced in ground construction work. When the yards were ready to build ships, it was necessary to let much of this labor go and enter the market and employ a different kind of labor. At that time practical ship- builders were very scarce. Many of (Concluded on page 550)