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: OCTANE nc . HE United States is. sharing with Russia, France and Italy the use of the repaired Ger- man vessels, which were taken over in April. The United States shipping board announces that two of the for- mer German vessels have been leased | out to each of these three. foreign. governments, under what is known ae “ttip: time charters’. (he: first of the merchantmen was ready for serv- ice on June 10. ‘ The shipping board has issued the fol- lowing formal statement in regard to the repair and outfitting of the vessels, which have been taken over or pur- chased since the outbreak of the war. “The work of repairing and making ready for sea the interned German and Austrian vessels is progressing in an en- tirely satisfactory way.. “The Mata. and ‘ARMENIA. have made ready for sea and have been allotted to the French government; the PorTtonIA and the NaAssovia to the Rus- sions; the CLARA MENNING and PIsA to the Italians. The OCKENFELS is ready, practically, but has not yet been defi- nitely allotted. These vessels are assigned to the governments mentioned on what is known as ‘trip time charters.’ “The following sailing vessels which were on the Pacific coast have been given all necessary repairs, and have been chartered and are in useful service: ARNOLDUS VINNEN, 1859 gross tons} Kurt, 3109 tons; SrTEInBEK, 2164 tons; Datpek, 2723. tons; Otrawa, 2659 tons. “The STAATSEKRETAR KRAETKE, of 2009 tons, steamer, and the GovERNOR JAESCHKE, of 1738 tons, steamer, will be repaired sufficiently at Honolulu to come to the west coast under their own steam. The Etvsass, which was interned at Pago Pago, was towed to Honolulu. by a navy tug, and will receive repairs there. Several others have been brought to the Pacific coast, and are now being repaired. * : “Progress on made, and the present month will see considerable tonnage placed in commis- sion. According to our estimates, the following vessels will be ready on the dates mentioned: The Pisa, 4964 tons, is ready, and has been assigned. The OcKENFELS is practically ready. She is a vessel of 5621 gross tone. The follow- ing are due for commission June 10: Dora (Austrian), 7037 tons gross, Ipa been - the vessels is being “state Interesting Sidelights on the World War Gathered During the Past Month and Condensed for the Busy Reader ial ASS all? (Austrian) 4730 tons, Harpurc 4472 complaint. The resolution’ applies tons, Macpesurc~ 4497 tons, Prinz to German merchant cratt oi all Osxar, 6026 tons, RHaeEtia 6600 tons. . The ApamsturM, 5000 gross tons, is ex- pected to be ready June 15, and the ArcapiA, 5454 tons, on June 20. “The work will go along steadily, and in July there will be another consider- able addition to usable tonnage, esti- mated as follows: ALLEMANNIA, 4630 gross tons, and the Erny (Austrian), 6515 tons, July 1, as well as the large PENNSYLVANIA, 13,333 tons,-and also the WiLtEHAD, 4761 tons, and the SERAPIS, 4756 tons. The Lucta, 6744 tons, is due July 10; Crara,. 3932 tons, July 12; the Anna, 1576 tons, and Prinz JOACHIM, 4760 tons, July 22, and the Bouemia, of 8414 tons, July 30. “In the case of the vessels already re- ferred to as having been assigned to the various governments, the repairs were in the main completed ahead of estimated time, and it is fair to suppose that the above estimated schedule will be com- plied with, and in some instances gotten ahead of.” Ge tie eee About 12 of the largest American passenger ships have been requisitioned by the army and navy for specific war duties. These vessels have, been con- tributed by the Southern Pacific, the New York & Cuba Mail, the Clyde Line, the Mallory line and the United Fruit Co. Over and above these boats an agreement has been arrived at between the government and the coastwise lines for chartering several of their larger steamers for transatlantic service. Ten or twelve steamers are about to be utilized in this way for the carrying of supplies to allied countries. which are contributing these freight ves- sels are the Southern Pacific, the Porto Rico line, the Clyde line, the Munson Steamship line and the Bull line. ee Big The joint resolution adopted by congress, authorizing the President to put into service vessels of the enemy in American ports gave legal sanction to the plan of utilizing the 96 war-bound German boats for .gov- ernment service. After the war, Ger- many is expected to claim that the United States violated the treaty. of 1828 in taking over the vessels, but department officials. believe there is no valid ground for such 248 -chant Submarine Co., The lines ° American waters except the harbors of the newly acquired Danish West Indies or Virgin islands, excepted in accordance with a provision of the purchase treaty. ce se Simon Lake, inventor of the even keel type submarine, reports that he has perfected plans for building mer- chant submarines which would meas- ure between 5000 and 10,000 tons. _ He asserted that the designs had been under consideration for several years, but that until the present war situa- tion there had been no demand for such submarines. More than 100 of the proposed submarines, according to Mr. Lake,’ will be constructed the first year. During the second year he estimates that 500 could be launched with the co-operation of the govern- ment. He has organized the Mer- capitalized at $10,000,000, and chartered in ‘Maine. The vessels would be more than 10 times larger than the DeruTscHLANp, the German merchant submarine which crossed the Atlantic. ee ee One-of the foremost authorities on shipbuilding in the world, a man who helped build many of the German liners now under the American flag, does not look with favor upon the proposal of the United States to build wooden ships to make up for the losses through the sub- marine warfare. He is Alexander -Car- lisle, late general manager of the ship- building firm of Harland & Wolff, Be!- fast, Ireland. The reason he advances is that wooden shipbuilding is a lost art “The American oak,” said Mr. Carlis'‘e, “which is available for shipbuilding at the present time is better adapted for coffins than ships. The oak used in the wooden ships of the past came from France, and can no longer be obtained. It was light and lent itself to the fram- ing of the bilges and the fore and aft bodies. “Also, there is required a_ greater manual effort to bui!d wooden ships than ships of steel or iron, and there are no men in Great Britain now skilled in building ships of wood; it is a lost art.” From his close knowledge of the ev- German liners, taken over by the United