Thayer School

WITH THE MAJOR topic of discussion and thought at this time the state of war between this country and Japan, it is quite possible that the most welcome treatment of the subject in this column would be to ignore it. But the School can hardly ignore the immediate objective of its existence, and to omit mention of it here would be, at best, bad reporting. With full recognition of the fact that the ultimate objective of engineering training is not military, it must be realized that the preparation of engineers for the existing emergency is now of great importance. A great many Thayer School graduates have been engaged in defense work both military and non-military for some time, and it is inevitable that many more will be enlisted for engineering work now that war has actually come to this country. As time goes on, we hope to obtain more complete information about the activities of the alumni. This month we shall be able to mention only a few of whom we have knowledge.

Speaker of the month at Thayer School in November was Commander Paul J. Halloran '20 who presented a fascinating description of the construction of the huge dry dock nearing completion at the Norfolk Navy Yard. The entire construction operation was recorded by motion pictures taken and edited by Commander Halloran himself. These showed admirably the detail methods of building a dry dock under seventy feet of water by the use of tremie concrete for structural members. The nov elty of the methods used necessitated extensive research which may well revolutionize under-water construction. Commander Halloran is Contract Superintendent for the Civil Engineer Corps of the Navy in the Norfolk district. Interesting coincidence: Lieutenant-Commander Holloran reached Hanover Friday morning, November 21, and Commander Halloran left Hanover Friday evening, his promotion having been voted actually during the time of his lecture to the Thayer School.

J. S. Macdonald '14 and F. E. Cudworth '02 are in charge of construction of drydocks at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Last year's graduates, in addition to those previously mentioned in this column as ensigns in the U. S. Navy (Aviation Volunteer Specialists), are located as follows: Bruce Espy at the Philadelphia Navy Yard; Jerry Estabrook at the Naval Air Base in Astoria, Oregon; Buford Hayden at the Naval Air Base in Seattle, Washington; Will Pitz at M. I. T. until January.

Lloyd Nash '40 is a flying instructor in the Army Air Corps at Cochran Field, Macon, Georgia.

Graduates who, according to our latest information, must have been in the thick of the early-December Pacific activities are H. L. Muchemore '06 and G. A. Updyke '30. Mr. Muchemore has been stationed at Honolulu during the past year in connection with construction of air bases by the Turner Construction Company. Gerry Updyke has been connected with the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company at Manila, P. I. We have heard nothing from Gerry for several years; so it is possible that he is no longer at Manila.

W. H. Ham '98 visited the School in November and described many of the housing projects with which he has been connected since his graduation from Thayer School. His lecture was illustrated with lantern slides.

Dave Mann '38 when last heard of was in the gold mining business with Porter Brothers, located at Helena, Montana. Dave's father used to be a regular visitor at Thayer School, but we haven't seen him for some time and are therefore not entirely up-to-date on Dave's activities.

Tom White '30 has returned from Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico, where he has been since graduation. He is at present staying at his home in Plymouth, New Hampshire, with Mrs. White and family.