THE SHIPPING PROBLEM.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5501, 18 June 1917, Page 3

THE SHIPPING PROBLEM.

ALLIES' UP-TO-DATE METHODS.

DEVISED TO CIRCUMVENT SUBMARINES.

WOODEN MOTOR SHIPS OF 1000 TONS.

How to beat the submarine? Thai ays a New York paper, is the question which now confronts tho shipping world. The destruction of U-boats h a naval problem, to be dealt with so fat .s possible by naval forces, bu-t nava measures are either unable to copevvi. lie situation or iuadquate to meet tli emergency, and it is necessary for ship - ting men ty consider bow eommercnay be continued in spite of tli

uenaee. The answer was conceived by I; flunlingtuii Clark, mining engineer, is that (lie only way to overcome the Uhuat is to defeat its object. A plan, worked out by Mr Clark for the salvation of shipping-—if submarine warfare is to proceed indefinitely—was announced b.v Henry A. Wise Wood, president ol d lie Amo Club of America, before a joint meeting with the Automobile and .Motor lloafc Clubs. New Type of Ship. I lie Clark plan is to build a new type of ship—one which can evade the submarine. “The American .Motor Ship' is the name suggested. Jt would he a vessel ol innil tons burden, extra-, ordinarily Meet and agile—ior the answer lo the submarine, says Mi Clark .“is iu a ipiiek helm." The ora it would be eoiisl fueled ol wood, lir from 1 In* Paeitie Nol'lh-wesl and Texas hard pine. When construction on a large

scale once got under way the pieces "ould he sawed at tho mills and sent to the shipyards to lie put ingot hr “liki a I'kird ear." While it might take six mouths to build ihe first vessel, in the way they could lie tunid out in tom months thereafter. “The Kurd of the seas 1 ’ is Clark's phrase to convey some idea of hh scheme. .Modern shipyards capable of turning out these “jitneys" exist already on the Paeitie coast ami in the llaumout district in Texas, am their present capacity is 2nd,0(10 tons a y.ar, easily enlarged. The cost would he relatively small—--1,1.11 Id,Olid tolls, it is estimated, could lie he built lor 1 1 It I, tlt it i.l It Id dollars, which 's equal to one-hall of one day's ox- ; enditure for the war. Crews would In small am! marine insurance cheap. The one diiliculty in const ruction would be in duplicating the marine Diesel engine. which has made lhi Centum submarine a possibility, but h is believed that this could lie surmounted Py American skill. The principle of these small freight carriers would be to divide up cargoes into lddd-ton units. At the present ti lll a l'-hoat may hag a 2d, (Kill oi :i(i,(lllll-i on cargo at one stroke. 1 inlet the cmitrinplati'd plan the suhmersihh would destroy only llldll tons with eael shot. If the average l -boat leaves port with fifteen torepdoes ami makes the high average of -*>d per cent, ol hits—an especially high average against a swerving, dodging mark—a total o. I j-eight il could send lo I lie bottom would be between “dim and Sdllll tons. In comparison a l -boat which has Mink one :!•>.'Min imi ship may non have tolll lceu turpdoes let t vv it h " hiel in pile up a tola! conceivably of 1 dll,(id! I Oils.

Hut this is not the only point at which He- liveness ol the l -boat would he reduced. The motor shi| would he essentially one of low visihility. A steamship with ii> column ol smoke can at pre-cut he sighted at a distance ol about I liirty-live miles.

Invisible Ten Mile?. i lie mill ol vessel oil 1 lie ol Imr hand. Hot 111 ) 1 \ because il is small, hill hr cause il lias no pillar el smoke, could not lie sight'd beyond the curvature u| tin nil, or, to make a liberal estimate, tell mil's. \'ow. I lie submarine, lying iu "ait at am given si-it inti for a steamship and Man i ing her i liirty - tie o miles aw ay . Would he able to mm e pel haps t w einy Il V e mil's lovvatd tile i fss.Ts course fe place ilsell im medial dy in trout "I hei ; ~f0;...he came up. <hi I In- ot her side "I its station il would have the same margin. This gives one submarine l Imi etorr, a patrolling radius ol til t y miles. I hit with a iia 11 that the I -boa I eoul l sight only ten miles away it is piubabl" that it ei in Id not move more than seven mi les, or the alt it tide ot a light tingled triangle, bclore crossing her path. This would give tile Mile ma l ine a pat roll ing lad ins ol only hint teen miles, or a net loss "! thirty , six. As a result it would take more i luiu l hive times as many submai iites to establish a i igln blockade, (f rant id that t lie wa r may he einh d wii bin i In- pre-ein or coming y i nr. inhie of i he motor ships, .'it Imr on !In sea or on the ways Heed be wasted. They would he ill tremendous demand tor coastwise, island and South American t rude. '! Imre are a great number of small ports in the world accessible lo Midi carriers, hut vv liieh have never been burn collimcl'cially because they are oil' tlie main sea highways. furthermore, not one of these crait would l.e supi'i'llmuis il the I'nitcd Slates were at war, it is pointed out, ior the reason that the chief weakness ol our navy to-day, next to the I atl le-eru i-ers, is tin* entile lark of cargo supply Heels. The-m vessels would he admirably suited to this purpose.. Also, they would hi promptly adaptable to mine sweeping, net laying, and general patrol work.