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STEEL SHIPBUILDING HERE PROMISES TO BE VAST INDUSTRY
Each Part Shaped at Northwest Company Plant by Huge Machines That Work With Amazing Accuracy Project May Grow to Involve $30,000,000 Annually.
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STEEL, shipbuilding- is a new Indus
try for Portland that will, when
In full swing-, contribute vessels
with a valuation that will surpass the
sum represented by the entire grain
crop of the territory draining into
Portland.
The titanic magnitude of the scheme
that Portland has Just entered can be
best grasped by a visit to the yards of
the Northwest Steel Company, at the
foot of Sherman street. The indus
trial side of shipbuilding, with its sub
stantial share in boosting Portland's
payroll and employing thousands of
workmen who otherwise might be idle,
la immense and will reward scrutiny.
The actual construction of the steel
ships, three of which are now under
way, with others contemplated, has in
terested hundreds of spectators and
merits explanation.
All of the steel used in the construc
tion of the ships is received at the
yards of the Northwest Steel Company
rolled.- None of the pieces are shaped
or punched. This work is done in the
company shops that cover some four
acres of ground.
4000 Tons Received Monthly.
The steel comes from all over the
United States, from those steel mills
that offer the best price for the partic
ular pieces needed. The steel comes ln
all sizes and lengths and thicknesses,
according to what is needed for the
ship's construction. It comes at the
late of 4000 tons a month. It is loaded
onto cars at the steel mills and un
loaded from those cars at the ship
building yards of the Northwest Steel
Company.
The steel racked according to size
and length. Each piece bears a mark
that acquaints the workman what part
of the ship the finished piece of steel
will occupy. While the steel is being
racked the workmen have an oppor
tunity to check the pieecs to discover
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT INVADES WORKING GIRLS' HOMES
CHRISTMAS is coming and you
ought to see the bright young
faces about the Maude B. Booth
Home for AVorking Girls, at 12 East
Seventh street. They aren't Just think
ing of themselves and about whether
or not they will have a merry time
during the holidays. They sit about
and read evenings and sew and each
lassie keeps her own little secret about
what she's making for Christmas.
But what is an open secret about the
house is the little tots' Christmas tree
at the Larrabee Day Nursery, next
door, which is every year decorated by
the girls of Booth Home, of whom
there are usually 40.
Maude B. Booth Home is a cozy,
homelike place. Its matron, Mrs.
Jennie White, reminds one of the old
fashioned mother, with good advice
always ready and kindness and sym
pathy beaming in her face. She is the
girls' confidante in all their undertak
ings. They go to her and from her
they get Just the sort of comfort that
they need.
Rooms Are Cheerful.
The rooms are cheerful and pennants
and pictures, odds and ends and nov
elties transform the sleeping rooms
into as cheery a place as any college
girl enjoys. There's a piano in the
big living-room and comfortable big
chairs and tables and books. There th
girls entertain their guests until 10
o'clock. The dining-room downstairs
is clean and bright. Everything about
the place, from the tubs and ironing
boards downstairs for the girls' con
venience to the big living-room, with
its many books, bespeaks the preserva
tion of the ideal home atmosphere. Tho
girls receive room and board at the
home for $3 a week and many are kept
without charge until they can find em
ployment. Many of the girls have been there
for a long time and some have gone
out of the home working for tho Vol
unteers of America. No girls is al
lowed to stay at the home unless she
Is good and refined enough to obey tho
rules. They are not obliged to come,
but aro welcome to services each morn
ing and at other times.
Only good foods find their way to
the table at Booth Home. Good, nu
tritious, home-cooked stuff, and all of
ttio best sort.
Inside the Larrabee Day Nursery are
the rosiest of little cheeks, bright eyes
and smiling, red-lipped babies little
ones whose mothers must work and
cannot be home to care for them. Soma
of tho children are kept free of charge,
others who are able pay a few cents a
day for tho care of tho little ones. Miss
May Mifcheil is the guardian angel of
tho baby homo. She cares for tho little
ones, smooths the snowy cribs, tells
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possible errors in making up. the order.
From the" racks the steel is taken to
the shops, where It is bent Into the
proper shape and punched in prepara
tion to be placed in the ship.
The steel is handled by cranes oper
ating with steam locomotives upon
fixed tracks.
Girder Bent In Farmer,
Steel girders that need bending are
taken to a furnace, where an Intense
heat Is maintained. The long pieces
of steel, some of them 40 feet or more,
are put in the furnace and heated to
that temperature that allows workmen
with sledges to hammer them into the
proper shape.
If the steel needs to be rolled into
half or quarter circles It is taken to a
huge rolling machine. This machine
resembles the rollers on a wash ringer.
The upper roller weighs over 40 tons
and is capable of prodigious exercise.
It bends a huge steel plate into the
proper curve with remarkable celerity
and accuracy.
When the material is ready for use
in the ship it is placed at the head of
the ship and transported to its place In
the vessel.
Aerial cranes and other mechanical
devices are used in great numbers in
the transportation of material around
the yards and everywhere is electricity
and steam exerting its energy.
Hmvj Machines Shape Material.
Numerous kinds of heavy machines
are necessary for the fabricating of the
material from its plain shape to its
final size, shape and condition. One of
the heaviest of the machines is the
punching machine. It has the capac
ity for approximately 35 holes per
minute and those -'holes are punched
uironn piates or steel all the
way
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THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, P0RT1LAND, XOYEMBER 2C. 101G.
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from three-eighths of an inch to an Inch
In thickness. After the holes are
punched they are enlarged to receive
the rivets from a steel drill that bores
its way through the heavy metal.
When the plates, girders, angles and
bars are all fabricated the rest of the
work is a matter of assemblying and
riveting.
The keel of the ship is the first steel
that Is laid. Then comes the skeleton
of steel for the double bottom, or that
I rt of the ship where the oil is stored.
The oil tank extends the entire length
of the ship and has a capacity of 1100
tons of fuel oil. or enough to carry the
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vessel within a steaming radius of 10,
000 miles.
The lower and upper deck skeleton
and the floors are laid after the skele
ton for the double bottom and then the
plates are riveted to the skeleton.
Riveting; Is Interesting; Work.
One of the most interesting of the
details of the ship's construction is tho
part the rivets furnish. In one of the
steel ships now being built by the
Northwest Steel Company approximate
ly 1.000.000 rivets are used. The ship
is 424 feet long, with a beam of 54 feet
and has a gross tonnage of 9000 tons.
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The aggregate weight of those 1,00,000
rivets is approximately 200 tons.
All of the rivets are made In the
shops within the confines of the ship
yards. They are moulded with ons
machine that eats long redhot round
steel bars and spits forth a steady vol
ume of rivets. This machine works
6tolidly and with precision.
By no means a smull part of ship
construction is the erection of ways,
where hundreds of thousands of feet
of all sizes of timbers are used. When
the shipyard is running to the capacity
of its present orders there will be
seven of these ways and the shipyard
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will cover an area of more than 14
acres. The shops alone cover approxi
mately four acres and all of that area
is under substantial roof.
Pattern Room Vital I nit.
Where tho burden of responsibility
lies for the correct construction of the
ships is in the pattern 'room where
each part of the ship Is laid out on the
floor and a pattern in wood made of
it. The pattern loom is Just half the
length of the ship. It admits of the
laying out of practically half of the
ship's members at one time. Here skilled
engineers and designers are busy with
scale and pencil, laying out designs
from which the carpenters fashion the
patterns. The patterns in their turn
are sent to the machine shops and are
used by the machinists in bending the
angles to the right dimension and plac
ing the rivets in the proper place.
There is a remarkable co-ordination
of work characterizing the entire
plant. Kr.ch "gang" Is doing his own
particular duties and appears to be
working in a detached sort of way. yet
wholly interested in the fabrication of
tha entire ship.
At present, there are employed in the
Northwest SStrel Company's yards ap
proximately 650 men. The number Is
Increasing steadily as new ways will
soon be erected to receive the skele
tons of other ships. Most of the labor
is hired from local fields. A few skilled
mechanics are imported from other
states or countries, but the percentage
of such is small.
Steel Rolled in American Mills.
Practically all of the steel is rolled
in American mills, tnotigh now and
then an order Is placed with a Swedish
firm, because that firm is able to beat
the little folk stories and shows them
games.
Quite another feature of the work of
the Volunteers of America is the pris
on A'ork. Major Jeesie P. Starks is In
charge of the prison relief worlt or
both Wanhlnjrton and Oregon. Port
land boasts one of the Hope Halls for
the reformation of the discharged pris
oners. There are only a few in th?
country. But through the Hope Halls
have passed thousands of men to new
er, brighter lives and clean moral hab
its. They stand as a bulwark afralnBt
the old associates who try to draw
down the returning exile.
The men paroled from both Walla
Walla and Salem come to or thronch.
Portland's Hope Hall. Five hundred
men belonjr to the Volunteer Prison
League of America from Walla Wall
and 200 from Palem. Major Starxs
visits Walla Walla about twice a
month. 8he Is assisted by Adjutant
Nellie Starks and Staff Captain Ida M.
Krujr.
Besides these thfnjrs. the Volunteers
of America have also a relief bureau,
from which they Work for the poor
and the unemployed.
Public Library Notes.
THE technical room of the Public Library
reports the following- Important new
books received:
American Civil Knr'ner'a Pocket Book."
eflltd bv Man field Merrlman and others,
third edition, lbltt.
In thla third edition la added the new
section la on river anl harbor works, which
contains 14$ pucea. many of the sections bj
Ing revised in ordr to supply Ut-f icu-ncl-s
ar.d ktep the volumt up to dau In all
1 Jo pagti liave bt-n added to this second
edit fun.
"Dictionary of Textiles. by Louis Har
muth. ""Thia vol time la the result of seven and
one half ea rs of co-U-ctlns; and compiling
In connec Hon -with the artuat work of ths
author on the Daily Trade Record and Wom
en's Wear. In all, er btiouo urmn are
defined. It contains many names of fabrics
now obsolete and all those in present use
In French, Engllfh and German tfXtlles; al
so for the first tlin the South and Central
American republics with thtir markets have
been cov-red. The more Important chem
icals used in manufacturing and finishing
textiles are Included. An extensive bibli
ography adds greatly to the vtiiue of the
book."
"Waterworks Handbook." compiled by
A. I. Fllnn. K. ti. Weston and C. L. Bo
gcrt. IVHi.
'The materials for this book have ben
accumulated by the compilers in the course
of thlr practice In various branches of
waterworks engineering. The uer is as
sumed to have uome familiarity with mathe
matics, hydraulics, t lie natural sciences and
waterworks construction, operation and
maintenance, and to possess ordinary mathe
matlcMl tab. The book is intended for
the waterworks engineer and superintendent
the dt-fcigi-er. constructor, operator and in
spector." Another Important and new handbook Is
"Mechanical KnKineers' Handbook." edited
by Lionel S. Murks. 1916.
This Is based upon the Hutte and is the
work of CO specialists. Their co-operation
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the price made by the American man
ufacturer. All of the handling apparatus to bo
used by the ships is local machinery,
he brass is furnished by the Oregon
Brass Works and Smith & Watson and
Hesse. Martin Company furnish most
of the handling machinery and cast
ings. Although nt present the Northwest
Steel Company is doing most of tha
steel shipbuilding, the Willamette Iron
& Steel Company, the Columbia ltlver
Shipbuilding Corporation and the Al
bina Engine & Machine Works will
soon be ready to receive their steel for
the construction of more ships.
According to J. It. Bowles, of the
Northwest Steel Company, one of the
biggest features of the shipbuilding
industry is the industrial beuefits tha
city derives therefrom.
Industry ev to Portland.
"Steel shipbuilding." said Mr.
Bowles rec'ntly, "is an entirely new
industry for Portland. Wolf & Zwicker
many years ego built steel ships but
they were very small.
"When all of the yards get under
way they will have a capacity of two
steel ships a month and will employ
"ouo to lu.floo men in nil the industries
allied to tho ship construction.
"Their capacity will mean a money
valuation of trom two to two and a
half million dollars a month, or ap
proximately $30,000,000 a year, a valua
tion greater than that of the trjtire
grain crop of this rcgiun."
Besides the Immense amount of cap
ital and labor involved in the con
struction 'f steel vessels, a number of
yards along the Columbia River aro
building wooden vessels.
has proved of great value In securing greater
accuracy and in ensuring thnt the subject
matter do-s not embody polrly the prartUe
of one ln.ii vldtinl but is truly representative.'
Editor In prvface.
The p.-riollcal department offers several
macajtlnev of interest to nurw-s. These are
primarily for the trained nurse, but often
Include articles of interest to motiuTi. to
s-ial workers and ull Int.-r. t.-d In public
h-alth. The "'Public Health Nurse Quarter
ly' of July. hn an interesting article on
health insurance, a subject now in debate
In the hiKh tie hoo's a'.I o r the statf. The
"Am rlran Jourral of Nursing" for Novem
ber prints an artl?l TraMnc th sources
and Hunting the spread of Infantile Paraly
sis." Tli" "Pacifii oast .lourr.al of Nn ra
ins. belnir h'al. 1 of special intTt. The,
'ModVrn Hospital" ha plans and equipment
for hospitals and ai;. srti'-ies on eif are
work, nursing, hospital 1 Herat ur-. etc.
The TrVd.-rul Is-rve Hoard has recently
Included the Public I.lhrarv In its mailing
list for the Federal Reserve Mullet in. To
a- this publication apply to the reference
department.
The September edition of the Bankers Kn
cloperil Is- received, and la also In tha
reterence department.
The first volt' me of And raa "Insurance
Guide and Handb.mk." covering life insur
ance, is another recent acquisition. It Is
an English work, and its object la to form
a. uslul manual, not too t eon n teal, for in
surant agents and a textbook for students
prepnrlng fpr the English examinations.
'Hooks to bur for Cnrlstmas gifts" Is a
suggestion off red by the Pubiic Library in
tr.e following llet. Copies of these books may
be seen In the circulation room in the case
near the door. They may be ordered from
the local book dealers or direct from the
publishers Addretft-s will be furnished at
the library.
These r suitable fnr adult readers:
For thoso who enjoy biography: "The Mn
Jesus" (Austin. I. "The American" L.ee
Bradford ), "I nion Portraits" Bradford
"Woodrow Wilson, the Man and His Work"
(Ford). "On the Trail of Stevenson" (Ham
I'ton), "Otntlemen Hovers' (I'owtlH, "Mu-si-i.ins
of TouaV f Holland. "I-ife and Let
tem of John Hay Tha vr).
For readers of history: "History of
Mexico i Bancroft ). "Kxpanslon and Con
flict" rvdd. "Amerlenn niplomaeV Fish
"Paris R. born" .:ibbons. "Historical M -terles"
(Lang), "Mediaeval and Modera
I imes' ( Uohtnson.
for pliilosiphers : There Anything;
N w t'nder the Sun" (HjorkmanV "Kssaya
In So.il Justice" f Carver i. 'Modern I'hll
osophers" tHoeffdlng), Bioogy and Social
Problems" Parker), "A Beginner's Psy
choloey" Tltchener.
For the student of politics: "The Kunorran
Anarchy' ttfkmon, "Ormary of Today'
Fullerton. "Thi Forks of the Road fOUi
den , "Arlstrtomry and Jutii e" f More
'frif t and Mastery" tL4ppmann ), Income'
(Na ring .
For church and social workers: "Safe
gimrds for city Youth at Work and at Play'
Bowen. "Street-land" 4 Davis), "Manual of
Play" tForbush) "Black Sheep' .Macken-xl-.
"In the Hollow of His Hand (Trlnel.
"House on Henry Ptreet" Wald), "American
Municipal Progress" 4 Zubllu .
For educators: "The College Student and
His problems' (Can field ). "'mp and Out -in
Activities" (Cheleyi, "What Is it to Ha
Kducated" i Henderson ).
For bu sine s men : "PusInes.F a Profes
sion" fj'randclsi. "Leadership" Hrent,
"Kxpnrtftic to I At In America" (Fllsingeri,
"How to Manage an Office." "The Efficient
Secretary" Spencer).
llsh Prose and Verse from B-owulf to
Stiver son" i Pancoast . "Pocket Mar. ual of
Rules of Order" (Roberts). "Who's Who la
America." "World Almanac.
For gardeners: "Backyard Farmer
(Holte). "Th Garden nine book" (Hol.nd).
Fng:sh PleRjfiire Gardens" Vlehols
"Beautiful Gardens In America" i She i ton
"Landscape Gardening Hook" Tabor.
For tra v eiers : Let ters from America"
fit rooks), "Heart of Europe"' (Cram), "Two
T-eira in the Forbidden City" (Princess Der
Ling) "In Vacation America (Rhodes).
"Through Glacier park" (Rinehaxt).
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