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a nation awoke to the fact that many of the German ships seized at the outbreak of the war had been systematically and methodically wrecked, the alarm was general and widespread. In April we were still under the spell of the Prussian efficiency bogey. "The eagle's wings have been clipped," sneered the propa- gandist. We believed him. We had been sold by the great German advertising campaign with its single slogan, "Invincibility". Visions of an army impotent spread through the country. The deathlike inertia of the shipbuilding program added to our uneasiness. It has always been so with the United States. We are unconscious of our | strength and unaware of : the vast machinery of production amid which we live. So while the nation worried over the vandal- ism practiced on the in-. terned steamers, vast con- structive forces were quiet- ly assembled and the work of bringing order out of chaos commenced. Every vessel was thoroughly sur- veyed and its mashed and broken bones critically ex- amined. Then the remedy was prescribed. It. was daring, original, American, suited to the situation. Under ordinary condi- tions, by methods dic- tated by the tradi- tions of the ship repairing fraternity, at least 18 months would have been re- quired to place the ~ looted vessels again in commission. Meanwhile, Ger- many might have breached the west- ern front. Fortu- nately, however, traditional methods were jettisoned. In their stead ideas new to the marine world were brought into play and as a result by Thanksgiving day all of the 109 German merchantmen that fell into cur hands in April, freshly painted, refitted, repaired, reconstructed and in many cases vastly improved, were operating on the Atlantic under the American flag. Under the direction of American naval crews they are now bearing no inconsiderable portion of the trafic burdens of the war. As a matter of fact, the actual work of repairing the damage wrought by German vandals required but little over four months' time; no vessel was delayed for a single day as a result of Prussian vindictiveness. In every case the THE MARINE REVIEW NEW CAST IROT Pieces were broken out of large cylinders and thrown overboard. It was necessary therefore to make a pattern to fit the break and then to cast a new piece, which was welded to the main body of the cylinder. This shows a cast iron patch ready for welding by the oxy-acetylene process. Special clamps are used to hold the patch securely in place for welding. This weld was not caulked and no anchor studs were used. February, 1918 time necessary to repair the wanton destruction per- petrated by the German crews was less than that required for the ordinary fitting-out operations and for the work of converting the larger liners into transports. : In brief, in a great contest between destructive and constructive forces, the constructive organization- won Lands down. Prussian efficiency was beaten at its own game. American genius for big undertakings again proved its capacity. And herein lies a story that should be familiar to every patriotic citizen, Before it can be told in any detail, the nature and extent of the damage to the German steamships must be thoroughly under- stood. * oO Ox LONG months of idle- ness on the interned vessel, with nothing more important to do than wind the chronometer, had brought about a relaxation of the strict discipline usually maintained on German merchant ships, so on the morning in ques- tion Captain . Wermer waived the prerogatives of rank and sought out Chief Engineer Richter in his log room, instead of sending for him. "That orders or you,' the captain an- nounced. "Sehr gut," Rich- ter rejoined, laying aside his carved meerschaum pipe. "Tt is time we got into the active sery- ice of the Father- land. For nearly three years we have done nothing but pump out der bilges, while our brothers and all our friends are serving in the armies of the Kaiser. Even though we sink on the way over, we shall be doing something. When do we get up steam?" "Never," said the captain. "We are not to run the' blockade and be helplessly sunk or captured by those dogs of English. Our orders are much more subtle. The high command has seen fit to loose the U-boats. In three months, six at the most, England will be starved. Meanwhile America, nominally at least, may enter the war. Our ships must not fall into the hands of the Yankees, so our orders are to put them out of action for the period of the war." "Let it be so,' muttered Richter, although his dis-