Newspapers / The Waynesville Mountaineer (Waynesville, … / Nov. 19, 1946, edition 1 / Page 13
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v Ay, NOVEMBER 19, 1946 THE WAYNESVILLE MOUNTAINEER PAGE FIVE '(Second Section' h 1 ipyard Started personal niure talist Begins Firm firing Depression s of 1S84 ih Little Help ,lillUl,l fn.ni I'asc I''ollr) n- DlllMMMK me iuu- th Mr. Orcutt is ' ,. i nlfi nrisi" at t Si.-." p. . f : j die c!c-ii'(l rareiui t-uiibiu- Iht siiprrvisorv ioice nuu tFT RIO HT HP iVo two individuals are when it comes to life prance requirements. 's why your Jefferson dard representative talizes in "Planned Pro- Son" the service that Irs the plan to fit your cular situation. Under plan, your needs are an- id first and a program is designed that will take of them. At no cost to your Jefferson Standard fsentative will be glad k with you and help you out your "Planned Pro- Ion program. Call or him today. E. Connatser hi Representative Route 2 W'aynesville been expanded in July beyond that needed for ship-repair work. Henry Konitzky, of wide experience in hull construction, had been em ployed as superin endent. James Younger, experienced in this coun try and abroad in pi,.nt equipment as well as propelling machinery, was employed as supervising engi neer, with James Rowbottom as an able assistant. John G. Livezey. formerly accountant for Old Do inion Land Company and who for several years had given part-time attention to shipyard business of this kind, became chief clerk and accountant with Frank Lee as as sistant for payroll work. As orders for supplies and ma terial for new construction multi plied, DeWitt Crane was employ ed in October to give special atten tion to stores operations and ma terial accounts. About this time W. A. Post, who since 1830 had been resident civil engineer for construction contract work in the vicinity and with the land com pany, became identified in similar capacity with the plant construc tion work for the Yard. Shipbuilding Added With plant extension work con sisting of excavating and filling to final grade from 37th Street to 44th Street (1,820 feet), dredging, pier and shipway construction, and large new shops in various stages of completion, the first work com parable to shipbuilding was the rebuilding of the former British steamer Kimberloy, which was dry docked in wrecked condition in January, 1890. This $300,000 job for Pacific trade required work in practically all shipbuilding trades, and for it the organization and training of a shipbuilding force had its beginning. . To reflect this new phase of ship yard business the name of the company was changed in February, 1890, to Newport News Shipbuild ing and Dry Dock Company. This was done by legislative amendment to the original act of incorporation affecting the name only and mak ing no change in organization or compay securities. In the new name the word "Newport News" and "shipbuilding" became for the first time closely, and significantly, associated. While preparing the Yard for building larger vessels, a contract was made in April, 1890, for build ing a tug for service in Hell Gate Rapids, East River, New York. In May work was begun on a similar tug for one of Mr. Huntington's companies, making use of the threefold advantage of duplicating material orders placed for the first tug and close sequence of construe- The Newport News Yard Early In The 20th Century fx " ! , V '.'--'iV-" - twiii' 'w 1 '""f yBynwfWfM Sg s4s V" ' - '.S i ' "' ' '"iniimn - 1 -rt -51 tfliii cJTTi ' 1; . 11 ' 1 : f: "sfes !:: 5s , . .... ,; ., The repair shops and dry dock pictured here show the Newport News plant at the beginning of the cui."?nt century and at the time when Homer L. Ferguson came first to thai yard as a United States Navy constructor. Some of these sheds and shops art ill in use, while many have been enlarged or removed to make way for newer and more building need in gearing the Newport News company to U10 productiou demands for two world wars. ities during expansion of the plant, and training of workmen for larg er vessels in addition to supplying needed tug service at the Morgan Line terminal in New York. In July contracts were under taken for building two large, fast freight steamers for Morgan Line service between New Orleans and New York to be ready for the fall cotton trade of the following year. But here was optimism rampant, and an early lesson to beginners in the intricate business of ship building, and particularly in prob lems of shop equipment. Tugs could be built with the repair shop tools but not large freight ships with their boilers and propelling machinery. Immense new shops with such standard machine tools as the mar ket then afforded could make lit tle progress without many items of special made-to-ordcr shop and shipbuilding equipment ordered tion. utilization of the Yard's facil- the previous year but still in pro- Attention Tobacco Growers Place to Sell Your 1946 Burley Crop. Two of the Fin- stNew Warehouses In the Entire South For Your Use. Iloor Space Capacity For 10,000 Baskets pre Is No Ceiling Price This Year. It Is Therefore Im plant to Select a Warehouseman Who Knows BUR f Y TOBACCO and THE TOBACCO BUSINESS. ERNARD-WALKER Is the Oldest Operating Firm On eASHEVILLE MARKET and Has Seen ASHE- ILLE Become the Fastest Growing Burley Market In The Belt. Sell With Us This Year And Be Assured Of A QUICK SALE A HIGH SALE rade Your Tobacco In Large Piles Bernard Walker Warehouses lames E. Walker. Jr. Manager OPERATING RARD WALKER No. I BERNARD WALKER No. II WALKER WAREHOUSE Ppen To Receive Tobacco Nov. 22 cess of manufacture. The cost of new machines was expended in im provised efforts to do without them while delays mounted for months on end. As the situation grew critical Mr. Huntington in sisted, "1 want the Newport News Yard to be an exception to all oth ers in promptness of delivery and fulfillment of promises." EITorts to break the machine-tool impasse be ing without avail (manufacturers were working day and night), de lay in progress of work on the new steamers continued to lengthen. In this connection Mr. Orcotl's defense, affording a summarized view of the boldness of scope of the project as mutually understood between him and the owner, may be not without interest. Said he, "You have given us a contract the like of which has never before been assigned, either in this country or any other, namely, to put a first class shipbuilding establishment ... on virgin soil ... in a very short space of time." Continuing, he said that all other shipyards had been the growth of years from simple beginnings, whereas here, it had been necessary to handle at one time the layout and prepara tion of grounds; location, design, and installation of machinery, all looking to economical operation in competition with other shipyards. To this end, he said, "We have in troduced numerous labor - saving appliances which have never been made use of in American yards, and I doubt if they have been em ployed in foreign yards . . . many anxious months have been spent in trying to get this plant in shape." With prospects of improvement in superintendence with the com ing of Sommcrs N. Smith in Janu ary, 1891, for that duty, Mr. Hunt ington, in writing a business con nection in Washington, said that he had taken great pride in the shipyard, that upward of three mil lion dollars had been put in it, and that he expected to go on to at least five million. Here was a fore cast of additional freighters for improved Morgan Line service as j well as proposed new vessels for service in Pacific trade. By midyear the plant comprised twenty buildings, seven of 300 feet and upward in length, eight in the 200- and 100-foot ranges, and five of smaller sizes mostly of brick and some of two or three stories in height. "There is an air of perm anence about everything," wrote an engineering news reporter. There were two small shipways suitable j for building tugs and two for ves I sels up to 400 feet in length and served by an overhead traveling crane, an innovation in shipbuild ing practice which was soon there after adopted by other yards. I As these improvements nearcd completion, preparations were ; made for further expansion which resulted some months later in building two additional and larger shipways with an overhead tra veling crane to serve them, a large frame shed 344 by 270 feet, and lesser buildings including neces sary additions to the central pow er plant. And in October, 1891, ad ditional land was purchased ex tending the Washington Avenue frontage northward to 46th Street and a waterfront block on the south side to Beth Street, giving a total frontage on the James River of ten city blocks (2,540 feet) and aggregating upward of seventy five acres of land. Later filling on the north side increased this to eighty-seven acres. The outline of premises describ ed above, with the exception of the purchase in 1902 of the foundry property on the spur track leading to the plant, remained unchanged for more than twenty years. But sinec a shipyard plant, in order to keep pace with advances in design j and technique, can never be con sidered complete, further circum stantial references to that phase of the business may be recommend ed as an interesting pastime for some future writer in favor of a synoptic review of some of the Yard's early struggles for a place in a highly competitive industry. Contrary to general belief that Mr. Huntington, through large holdings and influence with steam ship operating companies, kept the Yard supplies with desirable con tracts at advantageous prices, he never ceased to insist on better work at lower prices than obtain able elsewhere. And from wide ex perience in having ships built, he knew to a nicety what vessels of every type should cost per ton. In fact, it was his belief that with a new plant such as provided at Newport News, foreign prices could be met. But "whatever the price, let there be no mistake about the quality of the work" is typical of many similar expressions to the same inflexible purpose. Early Shipbuilding: Operations While the first of the two Morgan steamers was under construction prior to launching, a third was con tracted for in January, 1892. As the second was being fitted out, a fourth steamer was begun in July (respectively El Sud, El Norte, El Rio, and El Cid). After delays and anxiety in getting started, here was gratifying headway. Profits from the last two contracts were expect ed to recoup some of the loss from the first two but, in the end, did not. Contracts tentatively arranged for building three large freight and passenger ships, nd for which new shipways and other plant Im provements had advanced too far for abandonment, were reduced to two, then to one, then none. Naval vessels then in bid pro posal stages were let to a lower bidder at prices for which "none but the hardy need apply." Two coastwise vessels for which bid proposals were made were let to another yard at distress prices. In litis way, after a brief run of shipbuilding work, the financial and industrial panic of 1893 struck the Yard. With the completion and sailing of El Cid in August, there remained in hand no other ship building work. Ship repair work, in commno with business everywhere, stagnated. Thousands of businesses failed including banks and brok ers handling Mr. Huntington's ac counts and 166 railroads including some of the largest. That the Hunt ington lines escaped receivership, and with them the Yard, was as cribed by financial writers to his astuteness in management of large affairs in highly critical position. An illustration of that kind of management can be found in the report of a marine reviewer in September, 1893. He wrote: "The ink on the report of one of the magnificent Morgan line ships breaking the record hardly gets dry when another of the craft does a little belter . . . The latest per formance is that of El Cid . . . caused no small amount of com ment at home and abroad. . . . The fleet is probably incomparable for speed and efficiency." It is of record that the sustain ing force through the panic year of 1893 was the Southern Pacific transcontinental system organized ten years before. The fleet of four freighters built at Newport News was part of the artery of that sys tem designed for competition with all rail routes in speed and vol ume of trade. And who shall say that the quality of work on these vessels did not make substantial contributions to the solvency of the system? -First Naval Contracts ; Outwardly at Newport News the award of contracts in January,'; 1894, for building three naval gun-t boats had the effect of consider-., able relief from the strain of; hard times. Authorization for these vessels, constituting the entire nav-" al program for the period, provid-: ed for possible distribution of the work among bidders and to that end included a percentage allow-, ance above low bids for bidders on thc Pacific Coast. That all three vessels were awarded to a new comer into the field of naval con-; structior. after two months of pro- test hearings shows the bid prices to have been low, and responsible," beyond successful contest from any. quarter. In the end the bid prices proved also to have been lower than cost despite bonus payments earned under the contracts, and. at that time of rare occurrence in naval construction for exceeding the requirements for speed. . During construction of the gun--boats in the years of slow recov ery from the depression of 1893, the building of commercial ves ( Continued on Page Six) to relieve stuffiness, Invite Sleep if nose fills up Tonight mr nsnpi Jf It's wonderful how a little Va-tro-nol up each nostril relieves stuffy transient congestion. If you need relief tonight, try It I Follow directions in package, vicks vA-Tno-noi WAYNESVILLE FLOOR SURFACING CO. L. E. IIENSIIAW B. II. HUNDLEY VVc Carry Power Unit for Jobs Where Electricity Is Not Available. CLEANING AND WAXING Phones . . . Day 23 - Night 349-W P. O. Box 549 LOO K, Just R LARGE SHIPMENT OF CORRUGATED AND 5-V CRIMP HEAVY GAUGE ALUMINUM o Through special arrangements, we arc ahlc to pass a large saving on to our customers. Take advantage of this opportunity and fix up the barn and other buildings before bad weather sets in. eceived SEE US FOR 12-INCH AND 24-INCH BELL TILE o 8by 12 8by8 FLUE LINING o 275 METAL eie LATHE Sargents Paints, Shellac, Colors in Oil, Kern-Tone, Texalitc, Transplastic Outside, Spred Lustre, White Inside Paint, Kayite O Waterproofing. LUMBER AND BUILDING MATERIALS Builders Supply Co, II. L. LINER, JR., Manager Phone 82-83 At The Depot ipyard Growth Influenced Virginia's History 1 r i : 1 1 Am -vi:!;; M I ' ' i It M If I f I I . "I I f i i it ft i) ' 1 i ft '- . I IP. .'ft?' i 'V v ..;
The Waynesville Mountaineer (Waynesville, N.C.)
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Nov. 19, 1946, edition 1
13
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