36 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 810 



Roman Campagna, in large part still stand- 

 ing, though gnawed for centuries by the 

 tooth of time. In the Forum in Rome is 

 an opening into which one may descend to 

 the uncovered Cloaca Maxima, or great 

 drain of the imperial city. It was built 

 long before the Christian era and was old 

 when Paul suffered imprisonment in Rome 

 and execution outside the gates. Huge 

 rectangular blocks of tufa lie in perfectly 

 level courses without cement, and through 

 this great drain to-day runs a stream, like 

 a small river, on its way to the yeUow 

 Tiber. This was honest work and the 

 twentieth century engineer might well imi- 

 tate it. 



Then the proper assimilation of one's in- 

 formation is no less essential than thor- 

 oughness. It is not uncommon to observe 

 a sort of aloofness of a man's mental at- 

 tainments with respect to his powers of 

 practical achievement. He appears to 

 have put his acquisitions in a safety vault 

 and lost the key. His intellectual equip- 

 ment is for adornment and not for use. 

 His collection resembles some collections of 

 physical and engineering apparatus I have 

 seen, well arranged from the point of view 

 of a museum, but never used. A certain 

 college janitor once complained in explana- 

 tion of his ill health that his food didn't 

 "suggest." This state of health is char- 

 acteristic of the mental dyspeptic, who does 

 not digest his intellectual pabulum, nor 

 does it "suggest" any way in which it may 

 be turned to good aecoimt. 



Another quality of the great engineer 

 is daring. The mythical Darius Green 

 had it, but his daring was not coupled with 

 the propelling power of an internal com- 

 bustion engine ; hence his story only adorns 

 a rhythmic tale. His flying machine was 

 not a forerunner of the aeroplane. With- 

 out this quality of daring developed to an 

 astonishing degree the Wrights would not 



have amazed the world by their sustained 

 flights, Bleriot would not have soared aloft 

 across the English Channel, Paulhan would 

 not have flitted from London to Man- 

 chester, nor would Curtiss have followed 

 the silver line of the noble Hudson from 

 Albany to New York. These men are rep- 

 resentative enthusiasts of the aeroplane, 

 whose intrepidity has made possible the 

 navigation of the air. 



The history of the first Hudson River 

 tunnel at New York is one of repeated 

 accidents, of many failures and of final 

 success. During one of the periods of in- 

 activity and when the enterprise halted 

 near complete failure. Sir Benjamin Baker 

 was brought over from England as a con- 

 sulting engineer to give advice to the com- 

 pany. The air caissons were in a danger- 

 pus leaky condition, but Sir Benjamin 

 must himself go down to make an exam- 

 ination. So he called for a volunteer to 

 accompany him. An Irish laborer stepped 

 forward and indicated his willingness to 

 go. Together the two descended into the 

 pneumatic caisson. The inspection com- 

 pleted, imagine their dilemma when Sir 

 Benjamin discovered that their return was 

 cut off by the leaky condition of the air 

 locks. The eminent engineer said to his 

 Irish companion that there was only one 

 thing to do ; they must bring mud in their 

 caps, plaster over the cracks, and stop the 

 leaks. The expedient was happily success- 

 ful and the two escaped into the upper air. 

 I heard Sir Benjamia tell the story to 

 illustrate the devotion of the Irish laborer. 

 After they were safely out Sir Benjamin 

 said to his companion in danger, "Pat, 

 why did you risk j^our life to go down into 

 the caisson with me?" Pat replied, "I'll 

 tell you, sir. Do you remember when you 

 were building the Forth bridge and the 

 foundation of one of the piers was going 

 in, and you were in the pit inspecting the 



