AMERICAN FORESTRY 



I VOL. XXIII 



MAY 1917 



NO. 281 



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WAR. LUMBER AND SHIPS 



WITHIN the three weeks that followed the decree 

 by Congress that a state of war exists with Ger- 

 many, no industry has moved more quietly, sanely 

 and orderly than the great lumber industry of the United 

 States in its efforts to bring ultimate victory to America, 

 her allies and democracy. 



Hardly had the United States entered the war when 

 Lloyd George delivered his famous address in which he 

 declared: "The road to victory, the guaranty of vic- 

 tory, the absolute assurance of victory, has to be found 

 in one word, ships, and a second word, ships, and a 

 third word, ships." 



Both the commissions to America, that of England 

 headed by the Right Honorable Arthur James Balfour, 

 and the French headed by Marshall Joffre and M. Viviani 

 since their arrival in America, have stressed the need of 

 ships even more than has Lloyd George. 



This imperative need, President Wilson decided, must 

 be met by the construction of wooden ships of about 3,000 

 tons each, with a speed of about 10 knots an hour in the 

 peaceful lanes of the oceans and 12 knots in the areas 

 where submarines ply. 



Here is a big order to fill. Obviously big men had to be 

 obtained for the task and big men have been obtained. 

 These men are William Denman, of San Francisco, chair- 

 man of the United States Shipping Board; Raymond 

 Stevens, of New Hampshire; John A. Donald, of 

 New York; Captain James M. White, of Kansas City, Mis- 

 souri; and Theodore Brent, of New Orleans. General 

 George W. Goethals, builder of the Panama Canal, is to 

 supervise the construction of the wooden merchant 

 marine, and the big lumbermen of the country are 

 aiding him in his gigantic task. 



One of the first things Mr. Denman did when he got 

 down to the business of executing plans for the fleet was 

 to call in the lumbermen of America. He got immediately 

 into touch with every man of consequence in the industry, 

 and these men laid aside their private business and came 

 forthwith to Washington to give the Government the 

 advantage of their experience. 



From the forests of the Pacific Coast and the North- 

 west will go to shipbuilding yards the best of the hardy 

 Douglas fir, the South will supply its yellow pine, and 

 Maine will contribute its hard pine, for conversion into 

 bottoms to carry food, and, if necessary, men, to America's 

 allies over the seas. 



One of the big men whose advice is proving of inestim- 

 able value to the Government is Frederick A. Eustis of 

 Boston. Mr. Eustis has volunteered his services to the 

 Government during the duration of the war, and is re- 



ceiving a salary of $1 a year. He is an expert on the 

 country's lumber supply, its transportation to the ship- 

 building yards, and is supplying this vast technical knowl- 

 edge for the benefit of the Government. 



Captain John B. White, of Kansas City, Missouri, 

 noted lumber conservationist, also gave up vast interests 

 to let the Government have his time in this critical moment, 

 and every member of the Shipping Board and the big 

 lumbermen of the country have done likewise. 



Mr. Eustis beheves that wooden ships can be built 

 at the rate of 200,000 tons a month, beginning October 1, 

 without interfering with the construction of steel vessels. 

 His idea is to build them of green wood as fast as it can 

 be cut. Only the best wood will go to the shipbuilding 

 yards and the cut-back will be used for the regular con- 

 struction in which it has heretofore been appUed. 



Mr. Eustis also believes that within from fourteen to 

 sixteen months America can have between 800 and 1,000 

 of these vessels. He has figured upon the highest degree 

 of destruction by the submarine and is confident that the 

 steel vessel supply of the Allies makes them safe for 10 

 months longer, after which time he is confident our output 

 of wooden vessels can keep far ahead of the highest ship 

 mortality rate the U-boats can inflict. 



To give an idea of the supreme task ahead of Chairman 

 Denman, Colonel Goethals and their associates, it is only 

 necessary to remember that wooden shipbuilding is an 

 art. The work must be done in shipbuilding yards at 

 ports on either the east or west coasts or at Great Lake 

 ports. The ships carmot be riveted together as steel 

 ships are. There are known to be only 12,000 expert 

 wooden shipbuilders in the United States and 150,000 are 

 needed. Hence 130,000 men have to be mobilized and 

 educated to do the work. 



From one million to one-and-a-half million feet of 

 lumber will be required for each vessel, yet surveys by 

 the Government have shown that the amount of timber 

 required for the ships will hardly make a dent in our 

 great forests, only about 2 per cent of the total lumber 

 supply being used. 



The fixing of prices by agreement on the lumber to be 

 sold to the Government has been one of the problems, 

 among the first steps being an exchange of messages 

 between the Southern Pine Association, and the com- 

 mittee on raw material of the National Defense Board. 

 The lumbermen have agreed to throw all their efforts 

 to the assistance of the Government, and to establish 

 maximum and minimum prices for lumber to be used in 

 such directions as barracks, shipbuilding, and other 

 war necessities. 



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