In 1898 Mr. Thayer was appointed by the Government to appraise 

 the Canadian sealing fleet and upon his appraisal the international adjust- 

 ments were made. 



In the same year he designed and superintended the construction of 

 the first wooden vessel built to carry oil in bulk. This was the barge Santa 

 Paula, the first piece of shipping property owned by the Union Oil Co. In 

 its day this undertaking was considered rather daring, but was completely 

 successful in spite of the usual prophecies to the contrary. 



Mr. Thayer became Pacific coast inspector for the Bureau Veritas in 

 1880 and held that position for thirty-two years. He resigned in 1913. He 

 was a member of the Technical Committee of the Bureau Veritas and was 

 retained as a member of it until his death. He had, also, been a surveyor 

 for the Norwegian Veritas (Det Norske Veritas) for several years. 



Mr. Thayer died May 14, 1918, in his seventy-eighth year. 



JOHN D. VAN BUREN 



MEMBER 



Mr. Van Buren was bom in New York City, August 18, 1838. He was 

 a student in the I^wrence Scientific School at Harvard and graduated C. E. 

 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1860. He was assistant engineer 

 on the Croton Aqueduct under Alfred Craven, 1860'-61. He entered the 

 Engineers' Corps, U. S. N. (Regular), and served in the Gulf of Mexico 

 and also in the Bureau of Steam Engineering, Navy Department, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



Mr. Van Buren took part in the Peninsular and James River Campaigns, 

 1862, and was on duty at the Naval Academy at Aimapolis as assistant pro- 

 fessor for four years. Was commissioned first-assistant engineer (lieutenant) 

 on January 1, 1865. He resigned from the Navy in 1868 and was for several 

 years tuider Gen. George B. MoClellan, Dt^partment of Docks, New York 

 City. He was one of the commissioners appointed by Governor Tilden to 

 investigate the canals in 1865, and was State Engineer and Surveyor of 

 New York, 1866-77. 



Mr. Van Buren was the author of numerous technical papers and a mem- 

 ber of the New York Bar, American Society of Civil Engineers, American 

 Society of Naval Engineers, and a member of this Society since its organiza- 

 tion in 1893. 



Mr. Van Buren died on March 10, 1918. 



