Obituary 
ARTHUR WHITTIER AYER 
MEMBER 
Mr. Ayer was born near Boston, Mass., October 16, 1867. He was a graduate of the 
public schools and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Class of 1890. After graduating 
he was employed by the Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Company of New York in 1890 and 1891 
and also served for a short time as assistant at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
In 1891, he established the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University 
of Vermont, and in recognition of his work there the university later conferred on him the 
honorary decree of M. E. When Professor Ayer, in 1902, left the University to engage 
in commercial operations, he bequeathed to his successor a well-equipped department and a 
well-rounded curriculum. Futhermore, his interest in the institution did not wane after his 
withdrawal, but was repeatedly manifested. The many students who profited by his thor- 
ough knowledge and by his effective method of presenting his specialty will not cease to 
remember him. 
From 1902 to 1922 Professor Ayer had been engaged in commercial work, first as su- 
perintendent of the vast Philadelphia plant of Harrison Brothers, and later as founder and 
proprietor of the Midland Chemical Company of Chicago, which manufactured certain paint 
specialties. 
Professor Ayer’s outstanding traits, which won him a host of friends, were his simple 
directness of character, his large capacity for genuine friendship, and his quiet forcefulness. 
He became a member of this Society in 1899, and his death occurred at La Grange, Ill., on 
December 4, 1921. 
WILMON HARLAN BENSON 
MEMBER 
Mr. Benson was born at Wilmington, Del., August 23, 1881. He came from a line 
of shipbuilding men, his father, Nathaniel R. Benson, having been. superintendent of the ship- 
yard of Harlan & Hollingsworth for a number of years and Mr. N. R. Benson was preceded 
by his father. His grandfather on his mother’s side was senior member of the firm of 
Harlan & Hollingsworth. Mr. Benson entered Cornell University in 1899, but was compelled 
to leave in the middle of his freshman year because of the death of his father. He then went 
into the drawing room of Harlan & Hollingsworth Company, where he remained until 1905. 
On August 5 of that year he entered the hull drawing room of the Newport News Ship- 
building & Dry Dock Company. He held various responsible positions with that company 
