10 



able results of a kind that are in groat demand by those interested in structural work -where timber lo used. Doubt- 

 less every ci-^1 engineer wUl rejoice that these scientific investigations are being made on so extensive a scale and 

 under Government auspices, as it should be. 



Charles M. Heald, manager Chicago and Western Mich. Eailway, etc., Grand Eapids, Mich. : 

 As a manager of railway properties, I consider such information of almost incalculable beueiit in aiding our 

 engineering dep'artment to obtain a more accurate knowledge of the relative strength of material entering into the con- 

 strliction of bridges, and for this reason, if for nothing else, I should favor an appropriation by the Government to 

 assist you in carrying out to the fullest extent the tests you are now engaged in making, and hope you will be suc- 

 cessfui in securing sufficient aid to enable yon to proceed with the work and carry it to a satisfactory conclusion. I 

 shall be glad to assist in this matter by carrying, upon application from you, free of expense, upon the lines under 

 my charge, any timber which you may desire to secure in om- territory for test purposes. 



Arthur Beardsley, C. E., professor of eTigiiieering, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.: 

 The value of the information to be obtained from these tests is so inestimably great to all engaged in the work 

 of construction, whether as architects, engineers, or builders, in any of the many arts and trades employing timber, 

 that one wonders that they have not been undert.aken on so comprehensive a scale long before this ; and it is to be 

 hoped that you may meet witli every encouragement in the work, until we shall have, through this means, such a 

 thorouo-h knowledge of all of these properties of our American woods as will enable those who use them in the va- 

 rious arts and trades to do so with the greatest economy and certainty as to the results. 



S. Whinery, C. E., Cincinnati, Ohio. : 



I desire to call your attention to the great importance of a proper series of tests of American timber, such as 

 have been inaugurated in the Forestry division of your Department. While some investigations have been made in 

 this line, they have not been conducted in a thorough and systematic manner and under the same conditions, and con- 

 sequently are neither complete nor comparable. I do not think your Department could render a greater service 

 to the engineers, architects, builders, and all others interested in the use of timber, than to carry out the scheme 

 proposed lor a complete series of tests of all American timber used in industrial .and engineering work, and I hope 

 that Congress may make the necessary appropriations to enable you to proceed with the same. 



Joseph Wood, general manager Pennsylvania Company; E. B. Taylor, general sixperintendent 

 of Tranisportation Pennsylvania Lines, West Pittsburg; A. B. Starr, superintendent Pennsylvania 

 Company; J. Becker, chief engineer Illinois and St. Louis Eailway Company, Pittsburg, Pa.: 



We, the undersigned, members of the American Society of Civil Engineers, beg leave to urge upon you the 

 necessity and importance of continuing the investigation of the physical properties of American timbers as related 

 to their conditions of growth and the uses to which they are put. Such investigations would be of the greatest 

 v.alue, not only to engineers, architects, and builders, but to Jill users of timber and to the public generally. We 

 understand that the work has been started with but limited appropriations, but we trust that you will see your w.iy 

 clear to arrange for its prosecution with greater energy, to the end that some final results may be reached at as 

 early a date as possible. From the character of the work a certain time must elapse before getting such results, 

 but unless carried on without interruption a great deal of what is already achieved will be lost, besides putting off 

 the day wlien this v.aluable information will be disseminated. 



Engineers' Club, of Philadelphia, Howard Murphy, secretary, Philadelphia, Pa. : 



At the last meeting of the Engineers' Club, of Philadelphia, it was ordered that the secretary be requested to 

 express to you its appreciation of the great importance of the extensive tests of timber recently undertaken bj' your 

 Department, and the hope that such appropriations may be granted as will enable the work to be carried out upon 

 the grand scale projected, and thus insure for it the desired degree of usefulness. 



E. C. Morris, chief eug'r Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Eailway Co., Nashville, Tenn.: 

 These examinations will prove of inestimable value to engineers, architects, builders, railroads, lumber manu- 

 facturers and dealers, and to the public generally. There is certainly a great demand for such scientific investiga- 

 tions. During the practice of my profession, I have often felt the necessity and importance of the information these 

 examinations and tests will supply. Hence I beg to urge upon you the necessity and importance of this work. 



L. L. Eandolph, engineer of tests, Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad Company, Baltimore, Md. : 

 This information would be extremely valuable to the engineers of the country, and would in the end save the 

 people at large much money. As you are aware, investigations of this characterhave to be paid for, and it frequently 

 happens that engineers in different parts of the country simply duplicate each other's tests, with the result that the 

 infornnition gained costs four or live times as much as it should. Of course this increases the cost of the building 

 or whatever work is being done, and this again comes out of the pockets of the people at large. 



D. C. Humphreys, prof, apphed mathematics, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va. : 



I am glad to see that your Department has commenced \Yhat I hope will bo a complete, elaborate, and exhaustive 

 test of tlie ]iliysic.al properties of American timbers. Such an investigation is very much needed and the resulting 

 knowledge will be of incalculable value to engineers in designing structures in wood. 



