July 7, 192 1] 



NATURE 



595 



Ilngineers and chief engineer of the Western Elec- 

 tric Co., of Chicag-o), Mr. I. R. Freeman (Ameri- 

 can Society of Mechanical Engineers), and other 

 distinguished engineers. 



Advantage was taken of the opening of con- 

 ferences at the Institution of Civil Engineers on 

 June 29 to receive the delegates. Mr. John A. 

 Brodie, president, welcomed the American en- 

 gineers, and suggested the formation of an en- 

 gineering committee to investigate the question 

 of stoppages in production and methods for the 

 judicial treatment of matters in dispute. 



Dr. Ira N. HoUis then in an eloquent address 

 conveyed the friendly wishes of American en- 

 gineers. Those present, he said, belonged to a 

 profession which had, through its inventions and 

 its work, laid the foundations on which civilisa- 

 tion had been built. Engineers stood side by side 

 on the battlefield, and American engineers took 

 pride in the share of their British colleagues 

 towards the victory for truth and justice when 

 much that had been gained by centuries of 

 struggle seemed likely to be lost and the 

 freedom of the world was in danger. The 

 great issue of the twentieth century was the 

 right of every man to earn a living and 

 develop his possibilities without being con- 

 trolled by powerful combinations of any kind. 

 No family and no line of families should find the 

 door of opportunity shut. He looked forward to 

 the day when not only American engineers, 

 but all engineers would be banded together for 

 the welfare of the world. He was sure that 

 Darwin would turn in his grave if he could but 

 know how evolution had been twisted by the 

 Teutonic mind into glorifying war as a developer 

 of the race. Dr. *Hollis then read the address 

 from the American societies. It expressed the 

 feeling of brotherhood and a sense of the loss in 

 the death of so many British colleagues on the 

 battlefield. The American engineers rejoice to 

 have been permitted to share with other en- 

 gineers the victory over a war spirit dangerous 

 to the rights and happiness of men. 



The president of the Institution of Civil En- 

 gineers accepted the address, and Dr. W. C. 

 Unwin, in reply to Dr. HoUis, said that the 

 delegation which had come with so gracious a 

 message were missionaries of kindness. British 

 engineers recognised the great advances in en- 

 gineering science in America, and admired im- 

 mensely the great works of construction there 

 carried out. In the war the United States had 

 come to our assistance with its great manufac- 

 turing resources. The supplies of steel it sent 

 were of immense value, and not less valuable 

 were the remarkable machine-tools for which the 

 United States was famous. We had been linked 

 in war, and would not fail in trying to stabilise 

 peace ; so far as one generation could, we must 

 endeavour to make such a war impossible in the 

 future. 



Lord Brvce laid stress on the international 

 character of the engineering profession. Men of 



NO. 2697. VOL. 107] 



science belonged to the world and worked for the 

 world, and were welcomed by their colleagues 

 wherev:er they went. 



Mr. Ambrose Swasey then presented the John 

 Fritz medal to Sir Robert Hadfield. Mr. Swasey 

 said that the delegation represented the four 

 American national societies of civil, mining and 

 metallurgical, mechanical, and electrical engineers. 

 The John Fritz gold medal was instituted by the 

 friends of the great American engineer, John 

 Fritz, for his achievements in industrial science, 

 and was awarded annually. Lord Kelvin and 

 Sir William White had both received the medal 

 previously in honour of their achievements. The 

 award this year had been made to another dis- 

 tinguished engineer in Great Britain, Sir Robert 

 Hadfield, in recognition of his scientific attain- 

 ments and his eminence in metallurgical research, 

 and for the distinguished service he had rendered 

 in the invention and perfection of manganese 

 steel. 



In his' reply Sir Robert Hadfield said that he 

 was deeply moved by the demonstration of good- 

 will shown by the great honour conferred upon 

 him by the American engineering profession. 

 In the oflRcial announcement of the award 

 he had been told that the distinction should be 

 accepted bv him not only for himself personally, 

 but also, through him, as an expression to the 

 British nation, on the part of American engineers, 

 of their hitrh regard and appreciation of the work 

 of the British engineer in the war for the pre- 

 servation of civilisation. That message was 

 indeed cheering, and was a harbinger of good for 

 the future of the race. Sir Robert thanked the 

 delegation "for its courtesy in coming to this 

 country, when he ought to have gone to America,, 

 but considered that his inability to do so was a 

 blessing in disguise, as evidenced by the great 

 gathering that dav. It was a great pleasure to 

 have present their American friends, because it was 

 in America that manganese steel first received 

 encouragement on a large scale. It was also 

 appropriate that the award should be made in the 

 hall of the Institution of Civil Enp-lneers, since 

 his first papers in 1888, giving account of the 

 invention of manganese steel, had been presented 

 in the hall of the old building of the institution. 



Our readers will be interested to know that 

 Sir Robert Hadfield has had printed an address 

 of thanks. This address contains much interest- 

 ing information respecting eminent engineers, with 

 portraits, on both sides of the Atlantic, together 

 with illustrated notes on the founding and work 

 of the Roval Societv. 



The work of the conference was carried out In 

 seven sections : — (1) Railways, roads, bridges, and 

 tunnels. (2) Harbours, docks, rivers, and canals. 

 (3) Machinery. (4) Mining and metallurgical pro- 

 cesses. (5) Shipbuilding. (6) Waterworks, sewerage, 

 and gasworks. (7) Electricity works and power trans- 

 mission. Some fiftv-five pajsers o^ notes were Intro- 

 duced and discussed. Reference to a few of these 

 onlv can be made here. 



