OBITUARY. 269 
JOHN DE MORANT CRAWFORD 
ASSOCIATE 
Mr. Crawford was born October 6, 1876. After taking a special course in naval archi- 
tecture at Cornell University in 1902 he entered the employ of the Wm. Cramp & Sons 
Ship & Engine Builders Company, Philadelphia, where he remained several years, being em- 
ployed in various departments of that company. On August 5, 1910, he became inspector 
under the district engineer, Mississippi River Commission. He was later promoted to over- 
seer with local charge of the construction of the steamer Chalmette and of some barges. 
After the completion of the work he was assigned to the duty of levee construction. He 
became a member of this Society in 1917 and died May 9, 1921. 
JAMES DICKIE 
CHARTER MEMBER 
James Dickie was born at Arbroath, Scotland, on March 12, 1847. Coming from a 
family that had been shipbuilders in Scotland for generations, and inheriting the instinct of 
a shipbuilder, Mr. Dickie started work at a very young age and learned to make with his own 
hands everything pertaining to small craft, including wood hulls, small boats, blocks, spars, 
rigging, fittings, etc. Without the advantage of a college education, by constant self study 
and reading he acquired a breadth of knowledge in science, art, and literature which might 
well be envied by many more fortunate ones. 
In 1870, with his father, mother, and one brother, James Dickie moved to San Fran- 
cisco and soon became an important factor in Pacific Coast shipbuilding. The other brother. 
George W. Dickie, came to California two or three years previously. 
In partnership with his brother, John W. Dickie, under the name of Dickie Brothers, he 
built many successful wood, sail and steam vessels. 
One of the vessels, the Mexico, the largest wooden passenger ship built on the Pacific 
Coast, iron strapped and powered for 13 knots, was the pride of both owners and builders. 
In 1884 the Union Iron Works, which had conducted a general heavy and mining ma- 
chinery manufacturing business since 1849, added a steel shipbuilding plant and appointed 
James Dickie as superintendent, in which capacity he continued until 1904. Mr. Dickie’s 
most important work was accomplished in the construction of warships during this period 
when the Arago, Charleston, Olympia, Oregon, Ohio, Monterey and some of the American- 
Hawaiian ships were constructed. When the Oregon was built he was manager of the ship- 
yard of the company. 
James Dickie’s chief contributions to the subject of naval architecture were along the 
line of improved methods of handling material with cranes and in launching, and his papers, 
“Overhead Cranes, Staging and Riveter Carrying Appliances in the Shipyards,” Volume 7, 
and “Launch of a Cruiser and a Battleship,’”Volume 8 of the Transactions, are valuable 
contributions to those subjects. Soon after retiring from the Union Iron Works, he opened 
a consulting naval architect’s office. His health gradually failed, and for the last four or 
five years he was practically helpless. His mind and interest, however, remained keen and 
clear up to the last. 
