HOG ISLAND, THE GREATEST SHIPYARD IN THE WORLD. 251 



The various electric systems require about 3,000,000 feet of cable, all of which has 

 been placed underground. There are 900 motors in the yard, ranging from 1/30 

 horse-power to 1,000 horse-power in size. The yard, especially around the ships, 

 is well lighted with flood lights and otherwise. Eighty thousand lamps of all kinds 

 are in use here. 



There are two fuel oil tanks, each holding 100,000 gallons, from which pipes 

 are run to the principal shops where the fuel is used in the furnaces. The present 

 consumption is about 1,200 gallons per day. 



To get to Hog Island during the construction period was difficult, as there was 

 no regular transportation to the yard. The nearest lines were a mile away, while 

 others were a mile and a half off. At the present time these difficulties have been 

 removed, as a physical connection has been made with the steam lines and a large 

 loop established within the yard, having three stations, each about half a mile apart. 

 Service is furnished by ten trains, carrying from ten to fourteen cars each. An 

 extension of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company now furnishes excellent 

 trolley service direct to the island, and connection is thus furnished with all the 

 lines of this company throughout Philadelphia. The Philadelphia and Southwestern 

 Company, an independent line, also cares for a few thousand men who live in the 

 southern section of Philadelphia. Two large steamboats also run from the wharf 

 at way No. 10 direct to the foot of Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and one runs 

 across the river to Billingsport, New Jersey. 



The force at the island at the present time is about 30,000, one-half of whom 

 are at work on the ships, some 9,000 are on operation or' maintenance of the plant, 

 and 6,000 are still on yard construction. The yard, however, is practically finished, 

 and when the manufacturing of ships is at its height the total force will run between 

 30,000 and 35,000. The weekly pay-roll is now about $1,000,000. Standard union 

 wages are paid on construction work, and the ship workers are paid on the basis 

 established by the so-called "Macy Wage Adjustment Board." There is some piece 

 work and this will be extended as the work progresses. 



On September 13, 191 7, the date on which the contract was signed. Hog Island 

 was a desolate waste. One week later construction began and went on continu- 

 ously throughout the winter, so that on February 12, 1918, the first keel was laid 

 and on August 5th the first ship was launched and at this date, October 5th, there are 

 40 other ships under construction and three at the outfitting piers. 



As one looks at the shipyard, practically completed in eleven months, it is hard 

 to realize the difficulties encountered in making it a possibility. Last winter was 

 the coldest on record in Philadelphia, and the frost got into the ground to a depth 

 of 42 inches as compared with 24 inches in an ordinary winter, so that it had to 

 be blasted out with dynamite or thawed out with live steam before the piles could 

 be driven. The thermometer for two months was below freezing point most of 

 the time, and on several nights it went below zero and there was no shelter from 

 the wind which swept across the island. The trenches were continually full of 

 water and ice and, as a matter of fact, hundreds of men had their feet, hands and 



