The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-04
Captain Eads' Start IN Life.

Last December, on the steamship
Germanic, played chess with the great
civil engineer, Captain Eads, stimulated
by the thought that to beat him was to
defeat the man who had twice conquer
ed the Mississippi But didn't defeat
MIN.
James &, Eads was born in Indiana
| in 1920 He is slender in form, neat il
dress, genial, courteous, and nearly sixty
years of age In 1888 his father start
ed down the Ohio river with his family,
proposing to settle in Wisconsin. The
boat caught FIRE and his scanty furniture
and clothing We're burned. Young Eads
barely escaped ashore with his panta.
LOOMS shirt and cap Taking passage
on another boat, tlis boy Of thirteen
landed at st. Louis with his parents, his
little bare feet first touching the rocky
shore of the city on the very spot where
he afterward located and built tie lar
gest steel bridge in the world, oyec the
Mississippi-one Of the wost difficult
feats of engineering ever performed in
America.
AT the age Of nine Young Eajs made
short trip on tie Ohio, when the en-
gineer Of the steamboat explained to him
so clearly tie construction of tie steam
g.ne that before he was a year older
he built little working model Of it, SO
perfect in its parts and movements that
his schoolmates would frequent!y 90
home with him afte- school to see it
work. A locomotive engine, driven ly
concealed rat, was one Of his next u-
venile feats in mecl3nica. engineering
From eight to thirteen he attended
school; after which, from necessity, he
was placed as clerk in . dry goods store
Over the store in st Louis where hc
was engaged his employer li7ej He
was an old bachelor, AMI having obsery-
ed che tastes of his clerk, gave him his
FIRST bool, on engineering. The oil gen
tleman's library furnished evening com
panions for him dutin, the FIVE years he
was thus employed Finally, lis heath
failing at the age of nineteen, he went
on Mississippi river steamer; from
which time to the present day that great
river has been to Lim an a. absorbing
study.
Soon aftcrward he formed partner
ship with friend and built q small boat
to raise cargocs Of vessels sUuAea n the
Mississippi While this boat was build
ing he made his FIST venture in sub
marine engineering, or the lover rapids
of the river, bv the recovery Of several
hundred tons of lead He hired scow
or fat boat and anchored it over the
wreck. An experienced diver, clad il
armor, who had been hired at consiela-
be expense in Buffalo, was lowered into
the water but the rapids we're SO swift
that the diver, thougt encased il the
strong armor, feared to be sunk to tie
bottom, Young Eads, determines to
succeed, and finding It implscti cable to
use the armor, went ashore, purchased
whisky barrel knocked out the head,
attached the air-pump hose to it, fasten
ed several heavy weights to the open end
OF the barrel then, swinging il on der
rick, he had a practical diving -bell-the
best use | ever heard made CT q whisky
barrel.
Neither the diver nor any of the crew
would GO down into this contrivance, so
the dauntless young engineer, havingfuu
confidence in what be had read in books,
was lowered within the barrel down to
the bottom the lower END OF the barrel
being open. The water was sixteen feet
deep, and very swift Finding the
wreck he remained by it a full hour,
nitching ropes to pig lead til, ton or
more was safely hoisted into his own
boat. Then making sigma by sma
line attached to the barrel, he was lifted
on deck and in command again Tho
sunAen cargo was soon successful y rais-
ed and was sold, and net.ed handsome
profit, which, increased by othe, suc-
cesses, enabled energetic Eads to bulid
larger boats with powerful pumps AMI
machinery on them for lifting enti,e yes
sells Wide Awake
JUDGMENT DAY-The New York