THAYER SCHOOL LECTURES

Col. Harry C. Boyden, representing the Portland Cement Association, lectured Wednesday evening, February 9, before the Thayer School upon the subject, "Recent Developments in Concrete." Colonel Boyden brought to the lecture not only the latest results of scientific research in concrete, but also a large experience in engineering work throughout the United States.

One of the vital factors in securing economical concrete is the amount of water which is used but until recently little scientific research had been given to the effect of this ingredient and entirely inadequate attention was given to the proper porportion of water to use in the field manufacture of concrete. The lecturer showed the large effect which this factor has on both the strength and wearing qualities. The latter quality is of particular importance because of the increasing use of cement concrete for highways.

The necessity for suitable clean aggregate, adequate mixing and effective placing also were outlined by Colonel Boyden.

Lectures were given recently before the Thayer School by Mr. C. W. Mayers, Chief Estimator for the Aberthaw Construction Company, and Mr. O. R. Rietschlin, Employment Manager for the same company.

Mr, Mayers described the estimating procedure from the start to the finish of a job and illustrated it with data obtained from work performed recently by the Aberthaw Construction Company. He exhibited an instructive series of diagrams showing the relation between the prices for materials and the present cost of living and indicated also the percentage of change necessary to make them equal.

He showed a report of an exhaustive study which it was necessary to make before it was possible to prepare the plans for a contemplated building. It demonstrated the necessity for laying outbuildings with a view to their subsequent operation and furnished an exposition of the growing field of industrial engineering.

Many other phases of the subject were discussed. Emphasis was placed upon the value of an engineering training to an estimator with a Construction Company.

Mr. Rietschlin dealt with the plans necessary in preparing for the lodging, commissary and welfare requirements at the beginning of constructive enterprises; the sources of labor; the wage and turnover problems, and the arrangements necessary in order to keep the work adequately manned. By reason of his extensive experience he was able to present with force and clearness the labor problems encountered and to indicate the method of solving many of them.

Mr. W. H. Ham, Thayer School '98, Manager of the Bridgeport (Conn.) Housing Company and a recognized authority on the housing problem, lectured to the Thayer School students on Monday, February 14.

Mr. Ham traced the effects of housing conditions in a community upon the quality of its citizenship and gave illustrations of the retarding influences on adequate development imposed by the existing conditions in those cities and towns where the growth has been made without adequate plans. The problems connected with the possible improvements were outlined and the students were told that the solutions of the problems were to be made in large part by Civil Engineers.

The Annual School Meeting

The seventeenth annual meeting of the Thayer Society of Engineers was held Tuesday evening, January 18, at the Hotel Pennsylvania, in New York.

Thayer School was represented by Professors Fletcher, Holden and Marsden, and the overseers of the Thayer School by Mr. Otis E. Hovey, Assistant Chief Engineer of the American Bridge Company.

About sixty members of the Society were present at one of the most enthusiastic meetings ever held. Addresses by several of those in attendance stressed the opportunities for engineers not only in technical work, but also in executive positions and in civic service.

Graduates Meet in Boston

Twenty-one graduates of the Thayer School were present at a meeting held at the Boston City Club, Friday evening, January 14th. A. C. Tozzer '03 presided and remarks were made by Professor Fletcher, Director Emeritus of the Thayer School, Professor Holden, Director, J. P. Snow '75, overseer, and Prof. A. W. French '92, head of Civil Engineering Department at Worcester Polytechnical Institute.