Died February 6th, 1910.
John Fiske Barnard was born in Worcester, Mass., on April 23d.
1829. He was graduated from the Bridgewater Normal School, and
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
In November, 1850, Mr. Barnard entered the railway service. He
held various engineering and operating positions with the Grand Trunk
Railway and its subsidiary lines in Lower Canada, and served as Chief
Engineer of the Grand Trunk South of the St. Lawrence River for the
last three years of his connection with that road.
In May, 1869, he went to the Missouri Valley Railroad as Superintendent
and Chief Engineer. During the same year he was appointed
Chief Engineer of the Kansas City-St. Joseph and Council Bluffs
Railroad, and remained with this road and the Hannibal and St.
Joseph Railroad (both now a part of the Burlington Missouri Lines),
as Chief Engineer, General Superintendent, and General Manager,
until 1886. During this time Mr. Barnard was also President of the
Atchison Union Depot Company and the St. Joseph Union Stock
Yards Company, Secretary and Treasurer of the St. Joseph Depot
Company, and Director in various railroad companies.
In 1886, Mr. Barnard was appointed President and General Manager
of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway, which position he occupied
until 1892. From that time until 1893, he was engaged on several
reports of projected railroads and appraisals of industrial and railroad
properties.
From 1893 to 1898, Mr. Barnard was Receiver of the Omaha and
St. Louis (now Wabash) Railway, during part of which time he was
also President of the Alton Bridge Company, and Receiver of the St.
Clair-Madison and St. Louis Belt Line.
In the spring of 1905 he moved to Los Angeles, Cal., where he lived
until February 6th, 1910, when, after an illness of several months, he
died at his home at the age of 81 years.
Mr. Barnard was elected a Member of the American Society of
Civil Engineers on September 1st, 1880. He was also a Member of the
American Geographical Society.
Died October 16th, 1909.
Robert L. Engle was born on December 5th, 1846. He was a
product of the time when opportunities for technical training were
few, so that his engineering education was gained largely by contact
with actual work. He began his professional career after the Civil
War, in which he served for two years in the One Hundred and
Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
The first construction work of any note on which Mr. Engle was
engaged was the building of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, now a
part of the Baltimore and Ohio System, extending from Cincinnati to
St. Louis. Later, and up to 1878, he was connected with the construction
of the Cincinnati Southern Railway, Cincinnati's municipally
owned railway, as Division Engineer, at Ray Springs, Tenn. This
work included several tunnels and other heavy work in the mountain
territory.
After the completion of the Cincinnati Southern, Mr. Engle went
West, and was engaged in the construction of the Santa Fé Railroad
at Trinidad, Colo., in the capacity of Assistant Chief Engineer. Under
his direction the Royal Gorge Hanging Bridge was built, and much
other interesting work was carried out. Mr. Engle's forte was location,
and in the mountainous regions of the West he found ample exercise
for this faculty. From Trinidad he moved to Santa Fé, N. Mex. His
name is borne by Engle, N. Mex., now a thriving Western town.
While still in the West, Mr. Engle was connected with the Mexican
Central Railroad, at Chihuahua, Mexico, on construction work, and
with the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. It is thus seen that he
played a part in much of the important pioneer railroad development
of the mountain region of the West.
In 1885, Mr. Engle began work on the location and construction of
the Chicago, Burlington, and Northern Railroad, now part of the
Burlington System, being located at St. Paul, Minn., as Assistant
Chief Engineer of that portion of the line north of La Crosse, Wis.
Later, his jurisdiction included the whole line. During 1887 and a
part of 1888, he had charge of the construction of the Illinois Valley
and Northern Railroad, as Chief Engineer, at La Salle, Ill. In the
latter part of 1888 he conducted surveys for coal branch lines connecting
with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, in the mountains of West
Virginia.
Beginning in September, 1889, Mr. Engle was Resident Engineer on
the construction of the Louisville and Jeffersonville Bridge over the
Ohio River. During his term of service the substructure, involving
several deep pneumatic foundations, was built, and parts of the
approaches were erected. During his stay at Louisville Mr. Engle was
selected as Arbitrator in a matter of disputed classification between
the company and the contractor for the Pike's Peak Rack Railroad,
and effected a satisfactory settlement. Among other things his later
service included location work on the Tennessee Central Railroad,
in 1892; location and construction work for the Missouri, Kansas and
Texas Railroad, in Arkansas; and construction work on the Tidewater
Railroad, now the Virginian Railway, at Princeton, W. Va. At the
time of his death he was employed as Engineer for the contracting
firm of Carpenter and Boxley, at Johnson City, Tenn.
With the death of Robert L. Engle, the Profession loses one of those
sturdy, self-made engineers, to whom the country is largely indebted for
pushing railroad construction overland and through the West. In
character, rugged like the mountains with which he was associated,
he was still the gentlest of souls to those associated with him in subordinate
capacities. The writer knew him as Chief and friend for
many years, and cannot recall any departures from the lines of the
highest dignity, rectitude, good habits, and good nature.
Mr. Engle was a Member of the Engineers' Club of Cincinnati from
the time of its organization. He maintained his home in Cincinnati
for twenty-one years, while his engagements kept him at various
other places.
On February 20th, 1879, Mr. Engle married Miss Sallie McQueety,
of Cincinnati, and is survived by her and their son and two daughters.
His family and social relations were most happy, although his enforced
absences from home kept him from much of the social contact which
his qualities deserved.
Mr. Engle was elected a Member of the American Society of Civil
Engineers on September 7th, 1881.
Died March 7th, 1909.
Charles Herbert Deans was born in Chester, Delaware County, Pa.,
on November 30th, 1863, and died at his home in Phœnixville,
Pa., on March 7th, 1909.
His father, Charles Woodbury Deans, was prominent in educational
work, and was active in the early organization and in the
popularization of the Common School System of the State of
Pennsylvania.
On his father's side Mr. Deans was descended from the Deans and
Sterling families, who, immediately following the War of the
Revolution, emigrated from Connecticut to Susquehanna and Wyoming
Counties, Pennsylvania. His mother was Priscilla Lyons Williams,
of Chester, Delaware County, Pa., who was descended from the Lyons
family of New Jersey and the Williams and Pennell families of
Pennsylvania.
From both his father and his mother Mr. Deans inherited a taste
and aptitude for study. His youthful environment was among books
and in an atmosphere which naturally encouraged the desire he
early formed to fit himself for a professional life.
His education was begun in private schools, but later he attended
the public schools, and was graduated from the High School at
Phœnixville, Pa., in 1881. He spent the next four years in
practical work, learning business methods, becoming an excellent
and accurate accountant, and familiarizing himself, in the works
of the Phœnix Iron Company, with mill and shop methods and
practice, and the metallurgy of iron and steel.
In 1885, Mr. Deans entered Lehigh University, well prepared in his
studies, with a mind ripe for the absorption of further knowledge,
and a temperament for enjoying to the utmost the four years of
University life before him. He was a good student, standing well
up in the first quarter of his class. He was elected a member of
Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, was one of the Editors and Assistant
Business Manager of the college Annual in his Junior year, and
Business Manager of the Engineering Journal in his Senior year. He
was graduated in 1889 with the degree of C. E.
As a boy Mr. Deans was fond of games and all healthy outdoor
sports. He was a lover of Nature and of animals, fond of fishing
and hunting, and was never happier than when roaming the beautiful
woods and mountains of his native State. With such tastes it was
natural to find him, in his college days, a participator in, and
an enthusiastic supporter of, athletic games.
Not only in athletics, but in all things pertaining to Lehigh
University, Mr. Deans was a most loyal and enthusiastic son of
his Alma Mater, both at college and after he had gone out into
the world. He thoroughly appreciated the benefits derived from
his technical training, and was so eager that others should share
them, that early in his business career he advanced sufficient
funds to two ambitious young men to carry them through Lehigh.
Immediately after graduation Mr. Deans entered the employ of
Sooysmith and Company, the well-known foundation engineers and
contractors. He rapidly advanced to positions of responsibility with
this company, and, in 1895, became its Vice-President and Chief
Executive Officer. When, a year or two later, Charles Sooysmith,
M. Am. Soc. C. E., retired from active business, Mr. Deans organized,
from the Sooysmith and Company staff, the Engineering Contract
Company, of which he became President. Pressure of business seriously
undermining his health, he was forced to give up temporarily all
work in 1900, and to spend the next two years in the mountains of
Northern Pennsylvania. On regaining his health, he associated himself
with the firm of John Monks and Son, of New York City, and, at
the time of his death, he was Second Vice-President of that company.
While under his executive charge, both Sooysmith and Company
and the Engineering Contract Company, constructed a number of the
most important bridge foundations in the United States, and the
former firm first successfully introduced pneumatic work in the foundations
of the modern high office buildings of New York City, notably
the Manhattan Life, Washington Life, Standard Oil, and Empire
Buildings on Lower Broadway. At the time of his death, Mr. Deans
was in full charge of the building of the piers of the reconstructed
Baltimore and Ohio bridge over the Susquehanna River, at Havre de
Grace, Md.
In the early years of his connection with Sooysmith and Company,
Mr. Deans was employed on work in the field, rising from subordinate
positions to that of Superintendent in responsible charge of work.
During this period he acquired an intimate and practical knowledge
of foundation construction, and his subsequent career gave evidence of
the value of this training. Being thus well-equipped, Mr. Deans soon
became notable as a business engineer. His judgment on all substructure
engineering problems was quick and keen, his thorough technical
knowledge being supplemented by his penetrating practical sense. His
business ability was of a high order, and his efficiency was largely
increased by his industry and methodical habits. As a negotiator,
he was in the first rank. His quick appreciation of the essentials in
business transactions, his fertile resource in the most complicated
financial dealings, his patience and persistence in the face of discouragement
or delay, and his inflexible determination when once his
decisions were reached, were qualities which placed him in the highest
rank as a contracting engineer. To those with whom he came in close
contact, Mr. Deans will always be remembered as exemplifying the
ideal combination of technical training with business efficiency.
He lightened the seriousness of his business transactions with a
quick sense of fun, a fondness for a good story, and an infectious
good humor. His genuine interest in the work of his associates and
his unfeigned delight in their success won him many friendships which
lasted throughout his life and which now keep his memory warm in the
hearts of those who were fortunate enough to know him intimately.
Strong of will, keen and clear-sighted in business transactions, loyal
to his friends and to the interests entrusted to him, he was, above all, a
genial, honorable, many-sided man, who loved his fellow men.
Mr. Deans leaves a mother, Mrs. Charles W. Deans, of Phœnixville,
Pa., a brother, John Sterling Deans, M. Am. Soc. C. E., Chief Engineer
of the Phœnix Bridge Company, and two sisters, Mrs. R. Barclay
Calley, of Seattle, Wash., and Mrs. Elmer E. Keiser, of Tacony, Pa.
In 1893, Mr. Deans married Miss Helen Arnold of West Chester,
Pa., who, with two sons, Charles Woodbury, aged 15, and Malcolm
Arnold, aged 13, survives him.
Mr. Deans was elected a Junior of the American Society of Civil
Engineers, on December 3d, 1890, and an Associate Member on
May 6th, 1896.
Died February 14th, 1910.
William Meier, the son of the Reverend Jacob L. and Mary Meier,
was born in Muscatine, Iowa, on April 10th, 1878, the family moving
to Chicago, Ill., in the same year.
Mr. Meier received his education in the public schools of Chicago
and at the University of Illinois, from which he was graduated in
1901, with the degree of B. S. in Civil Engineering.
After his graduation, Mr. Meier was engaged with various firms,
principally in bridge and structural work. For a time he was with
William M. Hughes, M. Am. Soc. C. E., and in January, 1905, he entered
the service of the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company, as Assistant
in the Chicago office; and later was appointed Assistant Engineer and
Eastern Representative, with headquarters in New York City. At the
time of his death, Mr. Meier was employed in the Bridge Department
of the Chicago and North Western Railway.
On February 14th, 1910, in diving from a spring-board, in the
natatorium of the Young Men's Christian Association, he struck
his head against the side or bottom of the tank. When his body was
taken from the water, life was extinct, and all efforts at resuscitation
were futile.
Mr. Meier took great interest in all that pertained to his profession.
He was elected an Associate Member of the American Society of
Civil Engineers, on June 1st, 1909. He was also a Member of the
Western Society of Engineers.