SHIPS IN MAKING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 1016, 19 November 1917, Page 6

SHIPS IN MAKING.

THE MASTER BUILDER. LEAGUES OF DOCKYARDS. Ho nw; an old man with that indefinable courtliness of bearing that is of a past penoration; tail and spare he was, Lis white head bowed a little by weight of years, but almost with my fii>t glance I seemed to recognise him instinctively for that, “worthy Master Builder of goodly vessels staunch and strong'!” »So the Master Builder I will call him. He stood beside me at the window with one in the* uniform of a naval captain, and wo looked, all three of us, at that which few might behold unmoved. “She’s ■. u beauty!” said the captain; “she’s all speed and grace from cutwater to sternpoft.” “I’vo been building ships for six tv odd years, and we never launched a better!” said the Master Builder. As for mo I was dumb. She- lay within a. stone’s throw, a mighty vessel, huge of beam and length, her superstructure towering proudly_ aloft, her massive armoured sides sweeping up in noble curves, a. ouper-Dreadnought complete from truck to keelson. \ acht like, she sat the water all buoyant grace from lofty prow to tapering counter, and to mo there was .something sublime in tin,' prim and latent power, the strength and beauty of her. , . “But she’s not, so very —big, is she S’ enquired a a oice behind me. “Fairly!”, he added. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I. usually reckon Ihe si«> of a skip from the number of her funnels', ill)!.! —■ . . “U;i exclaimed (ho captain, explosively. “Humph!” said the Master Dinkier, gently. “After luncheon you shall measure her if you like, but now- I think wo will go and ear.” . . During a most excellent luncheon tin talk ranged from ships and books and gum. to submarines and seaplanes, with --tones of batt-lo and sudden death, tales of n.-.k ;md hardship. of noble courage and heroin deeds, so that I almost, forgot to eat and \v;is sorry when w<* at last ro&* )r<nn table. (hico outside 1 had tho good fortune lo line! mvsolf between the captain and tin* venerable lignin of themlnsUiv Builder,, m whoso company 1 spent a never-to-be-to: ■ gotten afternoon. WUh -them I m-;-'! alongside this noble which, seen tin,--near, seemed mightier than ever “Will she, be fa-:t I enquired. “Very fast—for a- Dreadnought • said tin! captain. , , . “And at top speed shell show no bow wave lo speak 01. addeii thu veteran. “See how line her lines are (ore ami ah. “And her gun-power vnll In- enormous, said tile can fa in.

Blood, chiii in hand, lost in contemplation of tint! large vessel. _ ® “Funnels or not, .shes bigger than you thought?” 1 enquired of him. lie "'glanced at me. shook ids head, sigh'd, aiid took hiiusell by liio chin again. “Holy smoke!” said ho “And vou ha.ii been building ships' for sixty years?” I asked of the venerable figure bi-ido me. “And more!" ho answered, und my father built chips hereabouts -o long ago as 1820, and his grandfather before linn. “Hack to the times of Nelson and Rodney and Anson,” said I, “great seamen who fought great ship' l ! V. hut would they think of this one 1 , I wonder •' “That she was a worthy successor, replied the. Master Rudder, letting In so old and wise iu ships. wander uj’.mm over Iho mighty fsibi ic Indore it . »“N ho nodded, decisively, “she’s wos'diy like ihe men «ho will tight her one ot these days. ■ f • 1 “But our enemies and some ot our menu., rathcr thought wo had degenerated these later days,” I suggested. _ “Ah, well!” said he very quietly, they know better now, don’t you 11.ink- “ Yes,” Niid I, and again, “l os. “Slow starters always,” continued no. musingly, “but the nation that can match us in staying power has yet to be bom ;

So, walking between these two, I listened and looked iuid asked que.-Moms: and 0 what I heard, and of what I saw. (could write much; but for the censor 1 might tel , of armour-belts oi enoroinus thickness, o ; {juns of stupendous calibre, but of these may neither write nor speak, because of tlKtt aforesaid censor. SuQice.it that as the sun, sank we came, all three, to a jetty whereto, a steam-boat lay moored, on whose hunted deck were numerous figures, divers of whom beckoned me. on. , So, with hearty farewells. 1 stepped aboard the steamboat, whereupon site stunted and fell suddenly a-quiver as she nosed out into the broad stream, while i stood to wave mv fiat in farewell.. Side by side they stood, the captain, tall and broad and sailor-like, in his brae and gold.—a. man ol action, bold of eye. Jioattv of voice, free <>t gesture; file othei. Ins

silver hair agleam in the setting situ, a man wise with rears, gentle and calm-eyed, my Master builder. Thus., as the, distance lengthened, I stood watching until presently they turned, side by side, and so they were gone.

Slowly we .-teamed down the fitter, a drab, unlovely waterway, but a. wonderful river, none the less, whose banks teem s'hti workers, where ships' are building—.ships'* by the mile, by the league; ships of all shayecs and of all sizes, .ships of all' sorts, and few many different purposes. Here are great cargo boats growing- hour by hour, with liners great and small; here [ saw mile on mile of battleship.-;, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines of strange design, with torpedo boats of uncanny shape, tramp steamers, wind-jammers, squat colliers ami squatter tugs, these last surely the ugliest craft that ever wallowed in water. Mine-layers were here, with mine-sweepers, and hospital ships—a heterogeneous collection of well-nigh-every kind of ship that floats. Some lay,finished and ready for launching, others, just begun, were only a. sketch —a bint of what soon would be a ship. On our right were ships, on our left, were ships, and more ships, a long perspective; ships by the million lons, until mv eyes grew aweary of ships, and I went- below. Truly a. wonderful river, this, surely in its way the most wonderful river eyes maysee, a .sight I shall never forget, a sight. I shall always associate with tin- stalwart figure of the captain, and the white hair and venerable form of the Master builder as they stood side by side to wave adieu, — Jeffrey Farnol in the Daily Chronicle,