The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1883-06-16

in the discharge of their duties,
befell the two engineers the ia
ther, John A. Roebling, and his
son, Washington A. Roebling.
The former was standing on a
string-piece of the pier next to the
Fulton ferry slip, fixing a location
for the Brooklyn tower, when a
ferryboat entering the slip drove
the tenders against the rock 50 as
to crush the engineers foot. He
believed in treating the injured
foot in hydropathic fashion, and al
lowed it to remain under a faucet of
cold running water until it was over
chilled, and the result vas lock-iaw,
of which Mr.. Roebling diedin four
teen days. His son who succeeded
him, faithful to the work before
him, incurred by the overzeal i'll
his attention to duty, disorders in
the foul air of the caissons, where
many men lost their lives, that no
compensation in money a Gun
terbalance. w. A. Roebling was
born in Saxenburg, Butler County,
Pa, May Goth, 1887. lie gradua-
ted from the RENSSELAER, Polytec-
hnic Institute, at Troy, at the age
Of 20 years. In the meantime his
faculty for engineering was already
well defined, and as his father had
charge of the Allegheny Suspen-
sion Bridge, young Roebling went
upon that work as an assistant.
After the War, in which he served,
he assisted his father in completing
the suspension bridge at Cincinnati.
After his fathers death he became
responsible for the future work on
the East River bridge, and his
greatest anxiety was in regard to
the sinking of the caisSons for the
big towers. Long exposure to alb
normal conditions in superintend-
ing the construction Of these broke
his health, and he has since been a
confirmed invalid, though his brain
is active and clear as ever, and he
directed the work from a sick cham
Der with precision and energy for
the period Of ten years, with an in
terval of rest at Weisbaden, in Ger
many, of six months. In this long
absence from the actual scene Of
his work, through his assistants,
he attended to every detail and i'm
proved on the plans of his father.
He had to solve new and untried
problems that arose in the progress
of the building, yet always proved
equal to the occasion. The meth
DDS used to get the material out of
the caissons, the plan for Lighting
the caissons and furnishing them
with a supply shaft, the machinery
for raising the stone on the towers
so that the top course was laid at
the same price as the bottom
course, were all of his design.
The anchor plates were made much
larger than those designed by his
father. Steel cables were never
before used, and all previous ca
bles had been made of seven
strands. The cables for this bridge
were so large that they had to be
made of nineteen strands. The
unusual number Of strands made
necessary the construction of two
tiers of anchor chains. The use of
an elevated foot bridge over the
tops of the towers was a new fea-
ture, and the manufacture and pre-
paration Of the steel for the cables
were after methods he elaborated.
He cannot attend in person tho
celebration Of the oath, but he will
have a view of the procession from
the window of his sick chamber.
After the death of the elder Roe
bling and the disablement of the
son, Mr.. William G. Kingsley be-
came the architect, or, more prop
erly, the engineer of the bridge,
and under his direct supervision it
has been carried forward to com
pletion.
Ofcoursc, the Brooklyn bridge
is not the largest in existence; but
it is the largest constructed on the
suspension plan. But, it is in its
great height above high water,
even more than that of its span,
that this fine structure has won
pre- sminence. Its completion and
opening to the public signalizoS
one of the grand, engineering
triumphs Of the century. 1t isonly
to be regretted that it is to be used
only on payment of the following
toll charges: One horse or horse