The Sunday Oregonian., November 16, 1919, Magazine Section, Page 5, Image 95

TTTE SUNDAY' OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, ' NOVEMBER 1C, 1919.
5
1 By Admiral William Sowden Sims
FIRST CONVOY SUCCESSFUL
The
Victory At Sea
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L at! f A ' - ' i what made so very important the par- miralty. he added, had not yet defi-
p'TwWf&i,, - y Jf s, , ' ' ticipation of the United States in the i nitely decided that the convoy sys-
I "tJ'tv AA 4. i 'J naval war. We had the additional tem should be adopted, but there was
. ' J AA 13 J J vessels that would"make possible the every Intention of giving- it a fair,
I ( ,d - A f i iL I 1 - " A I Immediate adoption of the convoy and thorough trial. That same eve-
i - A A A " I? I system. I do not wish to say that ning- at dinner I met Mr. Lloyd
I It J Jr 4 & t i -'II I tne convoy would not have been es-
Copyright, World's Work. Published by
Arrangement.)
THE advantages ot the convoy were
thus so apparent that, despite
the pessimistic attitude of. the
merchant captains, there were a num
ber of officers in the British navy who
kept insisting that it should be tried.
In this discussion I took my stand
emphatically on the side of this
school. From the beginnini I had be
lieved in this method of combating
the U-boat warfare. Certain early
experiences had led me to believe that
the merchant captains were wrong in
underestimating1 the quality of their
own seamanship. It was my convic
tion that these intelligent and hardy
men did not really know what splen
did ship handlers they were. In my
discussions with them they disclosed
an exaggerated idea of thp seamanly
ability of naval officers in maneuver
ing their large fleets. They attributed
this to the superior training of the
men and to the special maneuvering
qualities of the ships. "Warships are
built so that they can keep station,
and turn at any angle at a moment's
notice," they would say, "but we
haven't any men on our ships who can
do these things." As a matter of fact,
these men were entirely wrong, and
I knew it. Their practical experience 1
in handling ships of all sizes, shapes
and speeds under a great variety of
conditions is, . therefore, much more '
extensive than naval officers can pos
sibly enjoy. I learned this more than
30 years ago, when stationed on the
Pennsylvania school ship, teaching the .
noys navigation. This was one of the
most valuable experiences of my life,
for it brought me in everyday con
tact with merchant seamen, and it
was then that I made the discovery
which proved so valuable to me now.
Work of the Convoy Commander.
It is true that they had much to
learn about steaming and maneuvering
in formation, but I was sure they
could pick it up quickly and carry it
out successfully under the direction
of naval officers the convoy com
mander being always a naval officer.
The naval officer not only has- a
group of vessels that are practically
uniform in speed and ability to turn
around quickly, but also he is pro
vided with various instruments which
enable him to keep the revolutions of
his engines constant, to measure dis
tances and the like. Moreover, as a
junior officer, he is schooled in man
euvering these very ships for some
years before he is trusted with the
command of one of them, and he,
therefore, not only knows their pe
culiarities, but also those of their cap
tains the latter very useful infor
mation, by the way.
Though it was necessary for the
merchantmen, on the other hand, to
bring their much clumsier ships into
formation with perhaps 30 entirely
strange vessels of different sizes,
shapes, speeds, nationalities, and ma
neuvering qualities, yet I was confi
dent that they were competent to
handle them successfully under these
difficult conditions. ' Indeed, after
ward one of my most experienced de
stroyer commanders reported that
while he was escorting a convoy of
28 ships they kept their stations quite
as well as battleships while they
were executing two maneuvers to
avoid ' a submarine.
Such influence as I possessed at
immediate adoption of the convoy
system. I do not wish to say that
the convoy would not have been es
tablished had we not sent the de
stroyers for that purpose, yet I do 1
not see how it could have been es-
tablished in any complete and syste- 1
matic way at such an early date.
And we furnished other ships than
destroyers, for besides providing
what I have called the modern con
voy protecting the compact mass of
vessels from submarines it was
necessary also to furnish escorts
after the old Napoleonic plan. " It
was the business of the destroyers
to conduct the merchantmen only
through the submarine zone. They
did not take them the whole distance
across the ocean for there was little
danger of submarine attack until the
ships reached the infested waters.
This would have been impossible in
any case with Ae limited number of
destroyers. But, from the time the
convoys left the home port, s. New
York or Hampton Roads, there was
the possibility of the same kind of
attack as that to which convoys were
subjected In Nelsonian days that Is
from raiders or cruisers. We always
feared that German cruisers or
raiders of the Mocwe type mtr it es
cape into the ocean and attack these
merchant ships, and we therefore had
to escort them across the ocean with
battleships and cruisers, just as they
did a century ago. The British did
not have ships enough available for
this purpose, and here again the
American navy was able to supply
the lack; for we had a number of pre-
dreadnoughts and cruisers that were
this time, therefore, I threw with
the group of British officers which I ideally adapted to this kind of work.
was advocating the convoy.
Yet there was still one really ser
ious impediment to adopting this con
voy system and that was the lack of
destroyers. 4Tbe British, for reasons
which have been sufficiently explained,-
did not have the necessary
destroyers for this work. This was
On April 30 I received a message
from Admiral Jellicoe asking me to
come to the admiralty. When I ar
rived he said that the projected study
of the convoy system had been made,
and he handed me a copy of it- It
had been decided to send one experi-
George, Sir Edward Carson and Lord
Milner, and once more discussed with
them the whole convoy idea. I found
the prime minister .especially favor
able to the plan. In general civilians
were more favorably disposed toward
the convoy than seamen, because they
were less familiar with the. nautical
and shipping difficulties involved.
Naval officers were immediately
sent to Gibraltar to instruct the mer
chant masters in the details of as
sembling and conducting vessels.
Eight-knot ships were selected for
the experiment and a number of de
stroyers were assigned for their pro
tection. The merchant captains, as
was to be expected, regarded the
whole enterprise suspiciously, but en
tered into it with the proper spirit,
first Convoy a Great Success.
On May 20 that first convoy ar
rived at Its English destination in
perfect condition. The success with
which it made the voyage disapproved
all the pessimistic opinions which the
merchant sailors had entertained
about themselves.
They suddenly discovered, as I had
intimated, that they could do practi
cally everything which, in their con
ferences with the admiralty, they had
declared that they were unable to do.
In those meetings they had asserted
that no more than two ships could
keep station; now they discovered
that the whole convoy could sail with
stipulated distances between the ves
sels and keep this formation with
little difficulty. They were drilled
in maneuvering on the way a prac
tice carried out subsequently with all
convoys and by the time they
reached the danger sone they found
that. In obedience to a pre-arranged
signal, all the ships could turn as a
single one and perform all the zigzag
evolutions which the occasion de-
manded. They had asserted that they
could not sail at night without lights
and that an attempt to do so would
result in many collisions, but this ex
perimental convoy proved that this
was another ca&e of self-delusion.
Naturally the arrival of this, convoy
caused the greatest satisfaction in the
admiralty, but the most delighted
men were the merchant captains
themselves. The whole thing was to
them a complete revelation of the!
seamanly ability and naturally in flat
tered their pride. The news of thi;
arrival, whispered about in shipping
circles, completely changed the atti
tude of the merchant sailors and the
chief opponents of the convoy became
its most enthusiastic advocates.
A Great Date of the War.
Outside of shipping circles, how
ever, nothing about this convoy wa
known. Yet May 20, Ihe date of its
arrival, marked one of the great turn
lng points of the war. For that criti
cal voyage meant that the allies had
found the way of defeating the Ger
man submarine. The world might
clamor for a specific "invention" that
would destroy all the submarines
overnight, or demand that the allies
should block them In their bases, or
suggest that they should do any nuro
ber of impossible things, but the naval
chiefs of the allies discovered, on May
20, 1917, that they could defeat th
German campaign even without these
rather uncertain aids. The submarin
danger was by no means ended when
this first convoy arrived: there were
still many anxious months ahead of
us; there were other means to be de
vised of supplementing the convoy;
yet the all-important fact was that
the killed chiefs now realized, for the
first time, that the problem was not
an insoluble one; that, with hard work
and infinite patience, they could keep
open the communications that were
essential to victory. The arrival of
these weather-beaten ships thus
meant that the armies and the civil
ian populations could be supplied with
food and materials, and that the seas
J could be kept open for the transpor
tation of American troops to France.
In fine, it meant that the allies could
win the war.
On May 21 the British admiralty.
now entirely convinced, voted to
dopt the convoy system for all mer
chant shipping. Not long afterward
the second convoy arrived safely from
Hampton Roads. Then other convoys
began, to put in from Scandinavian
ports. On July 21 I was able definitely
to report to Washington that "the
success of the convoys eo far brought
in shows that the system will defeat
the submarine campaign if applied
generally and in time."
Yet, while we recognize the fact
that the convoy preserved our com
munications and so made possible the
continuation of the war, we must not
overlook a vitally important element
In its success. In describing the work
of the destroyer, the protecting arm
of the convoy, I have said nothing
about the forces that really laid the
whole foundation of its campaign. All
the time that these destroyers were
fighting off submarines, the power
that made possible all their operations
was cruising quietly in the North sea,
the world hardly aware of its ex
istence. For back of all these op
erations lay the mighty force of the
grand fleet. Admiral Beatty's dread
noughts and battle cruisers after
ward supplemented by a fine squad
dron of American ships kept the
German surface vessels penned in
their harbors and in this way left
the ocean free for the operations of
allied surface craft. I have already
said that in April. 1917. the allied
navies, while they controlled the sur
face of the water, did not control
the subsurface, which at that time
was practically at the disposition of
the Germans.
Surface Control Bleant Sea Control.
Yet the determining fact, as we were
now to learn, was that this control
of the surface was to give us the
control of the subsurface also. Only
the fact that the battleships kept the
German fleet at bay made it possible
for the destroyers and other aurface
craft to do their beneficent work.
As we look back now it becomes
apparent that only a convulsion of
nature could have defeated the allied
forces. In an open sea battle their
surface navies would have disposed
of the German fleet, but let us sup
pose for a moment that an earth
quake, or some other great natural
disturbance, had engulfed the British
fleet at Scapa Flow. The world would
then have been at Germany's mercy
and all the destroyers the allies could
have put upon the sea would have
availed them nothing, for the German
battleships and battle cruisers could
have sunk them or driven them into
their ports. Then allied commerce
would have been the prey, not only
of the submarines, which could have
operated with the utmost freedom,
but of the German surface craft as
well. In a few weeks the British food
supplies would have been exhausted.
Thee would have been an early end
to the soldiers and ammunition which
Br'tain was constantly sending to
France. The United States could have
sent no force to the western front
and the result would have been the
surrender which the allies themselves,
in the spring of 1917, regarded as
not a remote possibility. America
would then have been compelled to
face the German power alone and
to face it long before we had had
an opportunity to assemble our re
sources and equip our armies. The
world was preserved from all these
calamities because the destroyer and
the convoy eolved the problem of the
submarine and because back of these
agencies of victory lay Admiral Beat
ty's squadrons, holding at arm's
length the German surface ships while
these comparatively fragile craft T7er
saving the liberties of the world.
(Another article by Admiral Sims will
appear next Sunday.)
CIVIC UNITS BUILD TO
SOLVE HOUSING PROBLEM
Unique Scheme Being Tried Out in Worcester, Mass., by Chamber of
Commerce and Other Organizations.
BY MARGARET C. GETCHELL. I
A UNIQUE scheme for solving the
housing problem is being tried
in Worcester, Mass., where the
chamber ot commerce, banks and
manufacturers have formed a civic
organization known as the Worcester
Housing corporation. Sixty-five
houses, each containing three flats of
five and six rooms, ar already being
erected, and these are to be followed
by many more. The houses will be
sold to the workingmen at their cost
to the corporation. The local savings
banks are co-operating with the cor
poration and have agreed'1 to take
first mortgages for about 60 per cent
of the value of the property. Stock
Issued to the manufacturers bears 6
per cent, and the corporation will
carry second mortgages bearing 6 per
cent Interest.
Such, in brief, is the system which
is already being worked out and is
attracting nation-wide interest, as
evidenced by the letters of inquiry
which are coming to the headquar
ters of the corporation from every
Bection of the United States where
there is difficulty in housing the peo
ple. First Step Is Takrn. '
The first step was taken on May 13.
when the chamber of commerce di
rectors had their attention called to
an analysis of the housing conditions
by a prominent real estate man of the
city, who pointed out to them that
Worcester's population in 1917 and
1918 had increased by about the equiv
alent of 2800 families. ' and that
building permits for family accom
modation had not reached more than
800. This, with the absorption of the
normal vacancy list, at the end of
1916 meant that Worcester had fallen
behind in family accommodation by
2400 families. The chamber of com
merce immediately appointed a com
mittee of manufacturers to make
further investigations and report a
plan for alleviating renting condi
Although the situation is not nearly
so bad in Worcester as in many other
places, the leading manufacturers of
the city at a general meeting deter
mined that they would not allow mat
ters to reach a point that would seri
ously affect living conditions. These
men were the same that had been
working together during the war, and
the,ir organization in this civic move
ment is attributed partly to the habit
of co-operation formed during the
war in Worcester, where public -spirit
was developed to a remarkable de
gree and the city made an enviable
reputation for Its record in all
branches of war work.
On June 5 the corporation was or
ganized, and it was planned to erect
100 houses having accommodations
for three families each, at a cost of.
about $1,000,000. Work has progressed
to the point where all the land has
been purchased and the general con
tract has been let. Joseph X. Leland
of Boston was selected as architect.
Mr. Leland was vice-president of the
United States Housing corporation.
and it was largely under his direction
that the government operations were
carried on throughout the country
during the war.
Design to Be Attractive.
Although the houses are to have
three tenements, they are to be at
tractive in design and are in no wise
to resemble the hideous "three-
decker" type so common in New Eng
land. The plans Bhow that a truly
charming effect can be procured in
the three-family house, that which
has been so severely and justly crit
icised in the past. . Close to the best
residential section of the city a plot
of land has been pursued, and the
first group of houses are being built
thera They are similar to each other
in design, but variety is given by
having one house face the street,
while the next one has the long side
running parallel to it. Many beauti
ful trees on the tract have been pre
served, shrubs and garden plots will
be developed for each individual own
er and ivy will be planted to train up
the outside walls. Roofs and shutters
are of green, blending with the shrub
bery in giving the effect of green
against the white walls.
In locating the houses, the corpora
tion has been influenced by the desire
to place them at convenient proximity
to the large manufacturing plants, at
the same time being in desirable
neighborhoods. For economic reasons
it is proposed to build only in groups
and no plot containing less than
even lots averaging 6000 feet to a
lot is considered. In one location
three and one-half acres have been
bought. Each group will have a
character of its own; that is, exterior
designs and texture will harmonize.
All plans work toward the develop
ment of a settlement of model tene
ments. The first contract calls for the im
mediate erection of 65 houses, which
will provide 195 flats of five and six
rooms each. As an evidence of the
local interest and the confidence felt
by the people of Worcester in the new
corporation, the manager reports that
he has already received about 150
applications lor the purchase of the
houses.
Preliminary estimates show that
the finished cost will approximate
$600 per room. Rents will vary from
2 to 33.
The board of directors of the cor
poration is composed of men connect
ed with the leading manufacturing
plants of the city.
CANTIGNY TO GET CHURCH
t
N -w Edifice Will Bear Inscription,
'Gift of the American People."
CANTIGNT, france. hls village
where the American troops first
"went over the top" in earnest after
the Germans, the first of the. many
towns and villages the American army
liberated for France, will soon have
a new church on the front of which
will appear the inscription "Gift of
the American People."
Until it is possible to restore the
old stone edifice, the church will be
located in one of the American Red
Cross huts. The first ceremony to
be celebrated there will be the mar
riage of the daughter of the mayor
ot Canute,
PROHIBITION MEANS WEALTH
TO APPLE GROWERS OF MAINE
Millions of Bushels of Windfalls Will Find Their Way to the Cider
Barrel, Preventing Waste Formerly Tolerated by Orchardists.
BY SAM E. CONNER. j
NATIONAL prohibition has pro
vided Maine with a market for
more than 3,000,000 bushels of
apples, 90 per cent of which other
wise would have gone to waste. In
return the farmers of Maine will re
ceive nearly $1,500,000, which other
wise would never have reached their
pockets.
These 3,000,000 odd bushels of ap
ples will be additional to the mil
lions of bushels of apples annually
shipped from Maine to meet the de
mand, for cooking and eating fruit.
Those being shipped, as told, are
cider apples little ones, very sour
ones, unfit either for eating or cook
ing, windfalls; in short, anything
bearing the name apple which can
be used for no other purpose. Thou
sands of bushels of wild apples will
go out of Maine in these cars, while
the shriveled and supposedly worth
less fruit of many an abandoned
farm's orchard will be gathered for
the first time In many years. Every
pound of these apples so shipped will
bring 1 cent to the pocket of him
who gathers it.
These apples will be used to pro
duce unfermented cider and the vari
ous kinds of apple juice now upon
the market under a variety of trade
names. This is not the first time
Maine has shipped cider apples, but
never has it been ia such proportions
or to such markets as they are go
ing to this fall. Heretofore the ship
ments had been confined to a few
carloads sent vinegar manufacturers.
But a small proportion of the avail
able crop for this pVrpose has ever
been made use of, either in Maine
or elsewhere.
Maine has always pressed a consid
erable amount of cider each year. A
large portion of this has been dis
posed of in the unfermented state, as
sweet cider, while a great part of it
has been made into the cider vinegar
of commerce. The balance has been
permitted to age and become the
"hard cider" of which critics of pro
hibition are so fond of talking when
discussing Vaine and the alcoholic
traffic This same amount of apples
will be pressed this fall in Maine
cider mills. It would not be surpris
ing if twice as many were so used in
the state, but this will not materi
ally decrease the shipments to points
outside the state.
' It Is very probable that had not the
Maine legislature last winter refused
to legalize the manufacture of unfer
mented apple Juice there would now
be several plants for its production
in that state and the stock of cider
apples available for outside ship
ments materially lessened. Nearly
all of these apples now being shipped
go either to New York or Milwaukee
and to. llie formec breweries. Una
of the largest of the old Milwaukee
breweries is taking the entire ship
ment of cider apples from four dif
ferent stations in Maine.
At that plant the apples are sent
through the presses three times. The
first trip gives the sweet cider or
apple Juice, which is bottled in an
unfermented state, pasteurized and
otherwise treated so that It can be
sold as a beverage without violating
the prohibitory laws of states and
nation. Its next pressing gives Juice
for the manufacture of vinegar and
the third time through gives apple
Jam and the pulp which is left is used
in the production of apple butter.
Cider apples so shipped from Maine
this year will total 3,275.000 bushels,
which will necessitate 2S80 cars to
transport. These apples will produce
11,450,000 gallons of cider, many
thousand gallons of vinegar stock
and thousands of pounds of jam and
apple butter, while their sale will en
rich Maine to the sum of $1,440,000.
As a result of this unexpected and
unprecedented demand for cider ap
ples Maine has witnessed, at shipping
points in the apple belt, scenes such
as have never been known in the
past. Farmers, their wives and chil
dren have been bringing In apples,
using all sorts of rigs for the pur
pose. Some have come in buggies,
others in automobiles, farm wagons,
express wagons, ox teams and now
and then one has come in driving an
ox harnessed as a horse would be.
They bring anywhere from 5 to 40 or
50 bags to a load. Each bag contains
100 pounds and the average price is
a cent a pound, so that the smallest
load brings $5 and the larger ones
are worth as much as $50.
At Belfast, Me., two women in one
week earned $100 gathering windfalls
in the farm orcliaid.