THAYER SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

The. year 1913-14 brought no particular incidents, either as to . personnel or events. The. attendance, in total, was. about the same as for some years past, at first eleven in the second year class, — graduated ten, April 24; and 26 in the first year, class, — seniors of the class of. 1914, .college. The figures for the year 1914-15 . promise to be more even, as ,17 constitute, the first year class which began the; session, year on July 16;. and 21 have stated intention. to return in September . for the graduate year, to earn the degree of . Civil Engineer.

Quite a number of old Thayer School men. reyisited the School and. gave, us the: benefit of their, experience, and put the students in touch, so to speak, with a ,great variety of engineering practice ; some, of it among the largest.and most noteworthy enterprises.

Mr. C. L. Carpenter .(1889), who served four years under the Isthmian Canal Commission on the early surveys, and as resident engineer at Gatun dam; later as resident manager of the Cuba Eastern railway; and now as manager of the Central Aguirre Company in Porto Rico, in September gave an instructive lecture on conditions which the engineer has to face in the tropics, and showed what engineering and efficient management have done to help, — indeed to save the sugar industry under adverse influences.

This was well supplemented in October by Mr. Harold Parker (1908), engineer of construction for the United Fruit Company, who described in detail experiences and methods in building a very large hospital of reinforced concrete at Quirigua, Guatemala. (He has since built a hospital at Santa Marta, Colombia, and is now building one at Almirante, Panama.

Mr. H. N. Savage (1890), Supervising Engineer of the Northern District, U. S. Reclamation Service, again visited the. School in March, and described the present status of some of the greater projects in. Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota; by aid of beautiful colored views he showed especially how that rational and manto-man treatment, of the Blackfeet Indians has. redeemed them from mistreatment and debt-bondage to traders, and made them contented, industrious and prosperous ' employees of "your uncle Samuel," serving as laborers and teamsters (using their own horses) on some of the projects, and in the building of . the new roads which are rapidly making the. country accessible,

.Mr.O. E. Hovey (1889) made a trip to the School in March and described in detail the features of the great emergency. dams of the Panama Canal locks. This before a. large „ audience — the School, Dartmouth Scientific Association and their friends, in Wilder lecture room. The constructive details, practical and theoretical, were illustrated by more than 100 lantern slides; and some interesting side-issues, — such as problems in metallurgy and mechanical engineering, — developed in the execution of the contract (of which he had charge as Assistant Chief Engineer of the American Bridge Company) were clearly stated and explained, to the classes in particular.

Mr. C. A. French, Dartmouth College, 1893, City Engineer of Laconia, N. H., described the organization and conduct of the work of a city engineer of a small city.

Col. F. V. Abbot, U. S. Engineering Corps, gave an instructive illustrated lecture on the dam, locks and Taintor gates of the great Winnebigoshish reservoir in Minnesota; also the difficulties in building the coffer-dams in the Mississippi river at St. Paul.

An interesting and instructive inspection trip was made to New York as partly described by the following extracts from a report to President Nichols:

At the earnest request of the majority of the first year class, Prof. Fletcher consented to accompany them to New York to inspect engineering works during the three days immediately preceding the Dartmouth-Princeton football game. Through the generous interest and cooperation of graduates in New York, a very attractive program was arranged by them, the fulfillment of which was accomplished without a break and with much instruction and profit to all.

The party, numbering 19, went to New York on Tuesday, October 21. On the following morning the rendezvous was at the Grand Union hotel, where Mr. O. E. Hovey ('89), Asst. Ch. Engr. Am. Bridge Co.; Mr. F. E. Cudworth ('02), Engr. for Holbrook, Cabot & Rollins, and Mr. A. C. Tozzer ('03), Gen. Supt. of the Turner Construction Co., greeted them. The first objective was the large ten-story concrete building of the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, in Long Island City. Mr. Tozzer conducted the party over the structure from the basement to the monitors on the roof, where pouring of concrete was in progress. The Various stages in the construction of such a building, including erection of the forms, placing of reinforcement, handling the materials, etc., were seen to the best advantage.

The party was then invited by their hosts to a generous lunch at the cafe of the Murray Hill hotel; after which all went by elevated railway to foot of 100th Street, where a tug boat was in waiting to take it to Ward's Island. Here was shown in different stages of progress some deep and difficult foundation work for the west abutment of the designed 975 foot steel arch to span Hell Gate channel with a clearance of 165 feet above tide level. The towering rows of lofty piers for the northern approach of the New York Connecticut Railway, were viewed along its entire extent across Ward's Island, each pier diminishing from about 150 feet in height, and showing beautiful examples of magnificent concrete construction. Crossing East River, the east abutment was viewed, partly erected and faced with massive smooth-cut granite.

On Thursday morning the rendezvous was at Cedar Street and Broadway, where Mr. Cudworth and Mr. L. B. Farr ('03), President of Harlem Contracting Company, met the party which proceeded to inspect the works for the foundation of the new Equitable Life Assurance Company's building, by courtesy of the contractor, Mr. John F. O'Rourke. Here were viewed operations by process of pneumatic caissons, and the joined rectangular caissons sunk 80 feet through quicksand to rock. By arrangement made by Mr. Farr with the F. L. Cranford Company, contractors, the party was conducted by Superintendent Means to inspect the tunnelling operations for the new rapid transit subway under. Church Street and St. Paul churchyard.

By invitation of our hosts, the party, with Mr. Cudworth and Mr. Farr, again had a generous lunch all together at the Murray Hill hotel, being joined by Mr. E. J. Morrison ('93), President of the Hastings Pavement Company, and Mr. P. L. Thompson ('09), one of its superintendents. All then proceeded by train to Hastings-on-the-Hudson, where Mr. Morrison and his aids gave personal conduct through the works for the manufacture of compressed asphalt paving blocks. Each block is compressed under pressure of 240 tons, or 4 tons per square, inch, and has great density, combined with elasticity, while it is impervious to water under severest tests. Its wearing qualities are remarkable. Mr. Morrison then took the party in four motor cars over the Albany post-road, where different styles of pavement were seen, both brick and asphalt block.

The party met on Friday morning at Borough Hall, Brooklyn, being joined by Mr. F. B. Marsh ('02), Assistant Engineer of the Board of Water Supply. Thence Mr. Cudworth conducted all to the Flatbush Avenue shaft of the aqueduct tunnel for the new Catskill Supply. Here Mr. Hale, engineer for Holbrook, Cabot, and Rollins, explained very clearly some of the principal features of the work, after which the party descended to the tunnel 325 feet below sea-level. After traversing the part under the avenue already lined with concrete, the party traversed the branch under Lafayette Street, and emerged at Fort Greene Park. Again our friends served as hosts in treating the party to a lunch at Hotel Imperial, where appropriate sentiments of greeting and appreciation were exchanged. Mr. E. H. Whitaker (of '02) joined the party here.

The party then proceeded by elevated and surface railway to Fort Hamilton, — permission to inspect having been secured in advance from the acting commandant, Lt. Col. H. C. Schumm and his officers who personally conducted the party about the fortifications. Enough was shown of the casemates, magazines, etc., to give an idea of the great difficulties which the officers have to contend with in the mere upkeep of these extensive and important works with a force which is quite inadequate to man them properly. Especial interest centered in the 12-inch battery where the wonderful mechanism and smoothness of operation of the Buffington-Crozier gun-carriage were carefully explained and demonstrated by the officers, who described minutely the interior construction of this highest embodiment of applied mathematics and mechanics; which, without any disarrangement of its nicely adjusted scales, in absorbing the recoil of the gun, accomplishes a feat equivalent to stopping a 90-ton locomotive moving 50 miles per hour within a distance of 15 feet. The construction and operation of the "range finder" were shown and fully explained, — making evident how the exact position and course of a ship are determined and plotted every half minute. The great battery of mortars for long distance "vertical fire" was admired and its capacity for tremendous destruction made evident. The visitors were profoundly impressed by the scientific attainments and efficiency of these officers and the capability of the men responsible for the defense of the great metropolis.

It is impossible to give adequate expression of thanks and appreciation for the hospitality and personal attentions and assistance of so many Thayer School men, who had to take time from urgent responsibilities, and without whose cordial cooperation the great success of this tour would have been impossible.

The Thayer Society of Engineers had a very pleasant and successful annual meeting and dinner in January, in New York which the director attended. The generous contribution of the Society for the work of the School was continued as heretofore. When the director was in New York in June the Executive Committee called a meeting of members to confer upon the interests of the School. This was attended by twenty members; the conference followed a dinner and had its very pleasant social aspects as well as its deliberative function.

The Thayer Society of Engineers has thus taken an active and sympathetic interest and shown a desire to maintain a helpful touch with the administration. The members have taken pains to express their hearty approval of the general policy and work of the Thayer School, based upon their OWn experience and observation. They urge that the School must attend strictly to the fundamental and more elementary principles and methods which dominate the broad and inclusive practice of an all-around civil engineer; that the School must stop far short of specializing, since few can know in vance what specialty they may elect or be. forced by circumstances to follow; they urge especially the importance of drill in the dominating principles of of mechanics in their wide and various applications.

In preparing this article at the request of the editor of the MAGAZINE, the writer must bear testimony to the industry, zeal and devotion to duty manifested by all of the members of the teaching staff of the Thayer School, who are too well known to graduates to need individual mention here. They are all alive and alert to the educational demands of today, and in daily sympathetic touch with the students, not only in class relations, but individually.

The aim of all is to make the instruction intensive rather than extensive. The long and arduous course in surveying, the only subject engaging attention from July 16 to October (and continued two months more on part time), is intended as a discipline, so far as possible, and a real training in the science, method and art conjointly. Year after year the men just launching out into practice give testimony to the value of this course in the ability which it gives them to face emergencies where others fail.

The members of the graduating class and all of the first year class found professional employment within three weeks after April 26, excepting three or four who had other plans for the summer. The vicissitudes of the present industrial situation have made the tenure of some of these positions uncertain.

And the highest satisfactions of the engineer, whether teacher or practitioner, must come, — not from pecuniary returns, which too often are not proportionate to the value of the service, — but in the consciousness of work well and honestly done, and in the confidence and esteem of other engineers who alone are able to appreciate him.