194 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Committee on Public Information 



A MARINE) CONDENSER WITH 4,000 SMALL, BRONZE TUBES 

 THROUGH WHICH COLD WATER IS PUMPED 



The 7,500-ton fabricated steel ship is expected to make a speed of 

 n T /2 knots an hour, while the 3,500-ton wooden ship of the Ferris 

 type has engines which send it through the seas at a speed of 10 

 knots. The shaft horsepower of the engines in the steel vessel is 

 2,500, while the indicated horsepower of the latter is 1,400. 



return to America with two-thirds of her 

 cargo of steel rails (urgently needed for 

 the construction of communication lines 

 to the American base camp) still in her 

 hold. But even so, no one will attempt 

 to deny that "confusion worse con- 

 founded" was a mild term to describe 

 terminal conditions in the summer and 

 fall of 1917. 



Through the indefatigable efforts of 

 various branches of the army, the con- 



gested condition in the 

 French ports of de- 

 barkation were ef- 

 fectually remedied, 

 but there still remain 

 many things to be 

 done before our ships 

 can be utilized to their 

 maximum efficiency. 



To expedite the cor- 

 rection of existing 

 shortcomings, and to 

 make ready for that 

 new merchant fleet of 

 millions of tons ca- 

 pacity, President Wil- 

 son suggested a con- 

 ference among offi- 

 cials of the Shipping 

 Board, the War De- 

 partment, and the 

 Railroad Administra- 

 tion. As the outcome 

 of that conference, the 

 Shipping Board, on 

 May 23 of this year, 

 created a Port and 

 Harbor Facilities 

 Commission. 



A NOTEWORTHY 

 COMMISSION 



The reading public, 

 through many chan- 

 nels of publicity, is 

 fairly familiar with 

 the work of the Ship- 

 ping Board under the 

 chairmanship of Ed- 

 ward N. Hurley ; it 

 knows of the achieve- 

 ments of Charles M. 

 Schwab, Director Gen- 

 eral, and of Charles 

 Piez, Vice-President and General Man- 

 ager of the Emergency Fleet Corpora- 

 tion ; it is conversant with the activities 

 of Henry Howard, who directs the Mer- 

 chant Marine Recruiting Service, but 

 thus far the opportunities, difficulties, 

 and lasting importance of the Port and 

 Harbor Facilities Commission have been 

 strangely overlooked by the American 

 press. 



The personnel of the Commission itself 



