62 



THE WORLD'S ADVANCE 



yard and the natural curiosity to see 

 what was going on impelled the inves- 

 tigator to turn toward that portion of 

 the Navy Yard where Uncle Sam's big 

 fighters come forth. 



After dint of much fruitless inquiry, 

 the writer found himself in the hands 

 of a kindly-spirited individual who bore 

 the official title of the "planner" and to 

 whose kindness and generosity the read- 

 er is indebted for the insight into the 

 mysteries of battleship building the 

 writer is enabled to give. The guide 

 escorted his visitor to an enormous 

 building which instantly gave the im- 

 pression that it was a gigantic ball room 

 the moment we entered the door. A 

 closer inspection of the polished floor, 

 however, disclosed a bewildering array 

 of curves and lines, each of which bore 

 a number or letter. Entering the modest 

 office, the guide explained that he would 

 introduce the man who laid the moulds 

 for the splendid dreadnought Arizona, 

 at the time resting on the ways and al- 

 most ready for the launching. Incident- 

 ally, the same man bears the responsi- 

 bility for the pattern from which each 

 and every plate and iron in the Califor- 



nia is to be made. The man who shoul- 

 ders this burden proved to be young, 

 quiet and unassuming, but with an air of 

 confidence born of knowledge in his 

 work and the men under him. 



Every plate and iron, so my new guide 

 explained, must first be reproduced in 

 either wood or paper. Entering again 

 the "ball room'* of my imagination, the 

 guide pointed out how the floor of the 

 building represented a gigantic drawing 

 board upon which the plans of the entire 

 vessel are engraved in the full size of 

 the finished ship. Upon the lines in the 

 floor the paper patterns are laid for the 

 plates as are also the wooden moulds for 

 the sections of the ship. 



The importance of this system can 

 readily be appreciated when it is stated 

 that a saving of some $50,000 has been 

 realized in the building of a single battle- 

 ship through the elimination of errors in 

 the ordering of materials. Furthermore, 

 the plan enables the work of the drafts- 

 men to be positively checked and many 

 expensive errors are avoided in conse- 

 quence. 



From the main planning room the 

 visitor was conducted to a smaller one 



Below: After having been 

 marked from the patterns, 

 the plates are cut to their 

 required shape by means of 

 an oxy-acetylene blow-pipe. 



Above: "The raw materials 

 are marked from the pat- 

 terns in one big room and 

 passed through to the shops, 

 from which they issue, 

 bearing identifying num- 

 bers, to the storage yard." 



