30 THE DELAMATER IRON WORKS— 



which they were respectively great. Without Ericsson the DeLamater Iron Works 

 might not have reached the distinction they achieved. Without the DeLamater Iron 

 Works and the opportunity offered to experiment in them freely which Mr. De- 

 Lamater extended, Captain Ericsson's genius might never have developed to its full 

 expression. Each supported the other in the drama which they played together for 

 fifty years, and the world appreciated their accomplishment and realized their loss 

 and at the end acknowledged its obligation to both. 



We who remain of those that worked on that stage will cherish our connection 

 with it and as long as we live will endeavor to keep alive the associations which we 

 enjoyed there during a very important portion of our lives. 



After several years had passed some of the men who had worked in the DeLa- 

 mater Iron Works, desirous not only of perpetuating the memory of the great in- 

 stitution in which they had spent their best days but of keeping up the friendships 

 which they had formed during that time, decided in 1905 to form an organization 

 which they termed "The Associated Veterans of the DeLamater Iron Works." The 

 appropriate insignia of the Association is a propeller wheel and the color of the sus- 

 taining ribbon red, and at every meeting a souvenir bearing them is presented to the 

 guests. The meetings have been held annually with a banquet in February, the anni- 

 versary of Mr. DeLamater's death, and those invited to attend it had associations 

 with the works or with some of the other works intimately related to it. 



These gatherings have been large and notable. At the first dinner, which was 

 held at the New York Athletic Club, Mr. Alexander Miller was elected president, Mr. 

 James V. Ireland, secretary, and Mr. Walter M. Parker, who was the originator of 

 the idea and has been its inspiration ever since, its treasurer. 



A magnum of champagne was purchased, and on the metal covering of its neck 

 each original member scratched his name and it was arranged that this bottle 

 be held in sequence annually by the president of the Association until the last origi- 

 nal member alone remains, when he shall open it at the annual dinner and its contents 

 shall be drunk to the memory of those who have preceded him. 



Whether the draft of its contents will hasten their departure is a question, for on 

 January 9, 19 12, the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway burned down and the box 

 holding the bottle, which was in the custody of the then president of the Associa- 

 tion and was kept in the safety vault in the basement, passed through the fire and 

 was both scorched by it and afterwards frozen in the ice formed by the water from 

 the fire engines. How extreme heat and extreme cold affect champagne in a closed 

 bottle remains to be determined, but at all events the bottle is now an interesting 

 souvenir and at every annual dinner it stands on the table before the president. In 

 the course of the dinner just before the coffee comes on, the lights are lowered and 

 the president asks all to rise and drink a silent toast to the memory of Mr. DeLa- 

 mater and the men of the works who have joined him in the "Great Beyond" and 

 then the quartette sings softly one of the hymns he loved so well and which he 

 requested should be sung at his funeral, "Nearer, My God, to Thee" or "Abide 



