Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-06-08


In his Grafton at the opening OF the Brook
lyn bridge, the Hon. Abram $. Hewitt, after
mentioning some of the men 10 whose capa-
city AMI fidelity that great work testiiles,
said:
One name however, which will find no
place in the official records can not be passed
over here in silence. In the Middle Ages
the blessing of some saint was invoked to
protect from the rude attack of the barGar-
ians, and the destructive hand of time, the
building erected by mans devotion to the
worship of God. So with this bridge will
ever be coupled the thought of one through
the subtle alembic of whose brain and by
whose facilc fingers communication was
maintained between the directing power of
its construction and the obedient agencies of
its execution. 1t is thus an everlasting
monument TO the sclf-sacridcing devotion OF
woman.
This allusion is 10 Mrs. Rocbling, the wife
of the engineer of the bridge, and the sister
Of the late Gen. Warren of war fame. 1t is
to the aid that Mrs. Roebllng, who is wo-
man of remarkable capacity and acquire
ments, as well as of beauty and fine culture,
has been able to render her husband that he
was i'Seiy inueoteu ioi LIS "oii'y W euiiy
on his great work alter having been pros
tratcd by disease which, while it left his
MIND IN full activity, compelled him to ex-
clude himself from the outer world, and
make use Of his devoted and sympathetic
wife as his medium of communication with
his subordinates. When Mr.. Roebling was
stricken down with the peculiar fever, known
as "the caisson disease" contracted in the
close compressed air OF the caissons on which
rest the great towers, his noble wife stepped
in to be as it were his chief of staff. She
studied engineering that she might under
stand and capably transmit his instructions
to the other engineers. She became his
mouthpiece, and amanuensis, as well as his
nurse. When bids for the steel work for the
superstructure were to be contracted for,
three or four years ago. and it was found
that entirely new shapes would be required
such as no mill was then making, represent
atives of the mills desiring to bid went TO
Brooklyn to consult with Mr.. Roebling.
Their surprise was great when instead of the
engineer in chief Mrs. Roebling sat down
with them, showed them what was required,
helped them out with their patterns and
cleared away difficulties that had for weeks
been puzzling their brains. Sitting by the
side of her husband, as with telescope he
watched the construction of the bridge from
his sick room, she noted and transmitted his
directions and became as familiar with its
construction as any ofthe engineers who work
cd upon II ; through her his genius and skill
guided and pushed forward the work and she
was the first person who drove over the bridge.
Some of these things though unknown
to the public, have been well known among
engineers, und at the last annual meeting and
reunion of the American Society of Civil En-
gneers, toast to Mrs. Roebng, was rcceiv-
ed with extraordinary demonstrations Of re-
spect. She not only thus aided him in the
direct administration OF his most responsible
ONCE nut she sustained him socially. Her