THE WORLD'S ADVANCE 



63 



In the Oval: "Where up- 

 wards of a million dollars' 

 worth of finished parts and 

 materials is stored, waiting 

 to be called for in the as- 

 sembly of the ship." 



Above: "The immense 

 shops where the steel in 

 bars, angles and plates 

 is punched, sheared or 

 forged into shape." 



in which the California's keel was being 

 laid. For the keel moulds, long wooden 

 strips were used and in each piece the 

 holes for the rivets as well as depres- 

 sions for the several straps which cross 

 the keel were clearly indicated. An in- 

 teresting point in connection with the 

 making of the patterns and moulds was 

 brought out by an inquiry as to the effect 

 of moisture on the accuracy of the mould. 

 The planner explained that the difficulties 

 were many; in the case of a keel piece 

 twenty-eight feet long, the length in very 

 damp weather would increase by an inch 

 and a half. In such a case it is necessary 

 to dry the strip until it measures the cor- 

 rect length by steel tape prior to its ap- 

 plication to the steel to be laid out. 



From the plan rooms the writer was 

 conducted through the immense shops 

 where the steel in bars, angles and plates 

 is punched, sheared or forged to shape. 

 The raw materials are marked from the 

 patterns in one big room and passed 

 through to the shops from which they 

 issue, bearing identifying numbers, to 

 the storage yards. As a fitting close to 

 a most interesting tour, my guide pointed 

 out of the window to the yard where, in 

 his words, "is stored at times upward of 



a million dollars' worth of finished parts 

 and materials, each piece bearing its 

 number, and waiting to be called for by 

 the section foremen as it is required." 

 Truly, the building of a battleship is 

 more than a matter of drawing the plans 

 and riveting the plates and irons to- 

 gether. My hat comes off to the man 

 who shapes each piece the interpreter 

 who shows the ironmonger the meaning 

 of each line and curve, and whose little 

 office alone contains the pedigree of each 

 and every part, down to the smallest rivet, 

 of some of our mightiest dreadnaughts. 



STEEL TOWERS FOR GOVERN- 

 MENT RADIO STATIONS 



Twelve steel wireless towers have re- 

 cently been completed for the United 

 States Government. Eleven out of the 

 twelve are 300 feet high. The shortest 

 one, which is 200 feet high, has been 

 sent to Beaufort, N. C. Two of the 

 towers were shipped to Washington, 

 D. C., two to Boston, four to the Canal 

 Zone and three to a point in the West. 



These steel towers will be employed in 

 the wireless stations that are to form the 

 links of a powerful chain of Govern- 

 ment stations, now being arranged. 



