Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-06-23
THE ENGINEERS.
THEY ENJOY 4 D4Y'S PLEASURE 1T
AINNEAPOLIS.
An Eloquent Address of Welcome by Ex-
Mayor "A. c. Rand-A Paper by Col. Shinn
The Secretary's Report and the Banquet
The Excursion to Saltwater To-Day.

The last day of the convention of the
American Society of Civil Engineers pass
ed yesterday, according to programme.
After breakfast at the Hotel Lafayette,
the members of the society and their wives
crossed the lake and took a special train
over the motor line to Minneapolis. where
at ten o'clock they assembled, together
with delegation of prominent citizens,
at the Grand Opera house which had been
specially provided for their. reception.
The stage was occupied by G. F. Hatch,
chairman of the local reception committee,
Hon. W. D. Washburn, Hon. H. B. Lang
don, Hon. R. G. Rand, Hon. j. S. Pills
bury, and o. A. Pray, of Minneapolis. and
Secretary ]. Bogart, Mr.. Metcalf and WE
Shinn, of the society.
The convention was called to order by
the chairman who then introduced A. G.
Rand who, in the absence of the mayor,
addressed those present in formal words
of welcome. He said:
''Ladies and Gentlemen: In the absence
of the mayor of this city, the pleasant
duty of bidding you welcome falls upon me
and never have 1 been under an obligation
which l could more heartily discharge.
extend to you the inequalities
of the city, not only in the
conventional form, but in the welcome to
cur hearts. The latch-strings of our doors
and hearts alike hang out to any honorable
strangers. Minneapolis cannot forget how
much of her prosperity is due to a member
of your association. To good and kind
government which provided the means and
to the genius of Major Farquhar, who di-
rected their expenditure, Minneapolis must
always be grateful when she regards with
pardonable pride her magnificent water
power. l bid you welcome again and thrice
and again"
Mr.. Rand was loudly applauded
and the chairman then introduced to the
convention, Mr.. Metcalf who, in the alb
sence OF the president, Mr.. Charles Paine,
read the presidents address, a long and
ably written paper, of which the following
is a synopsis: He spoke of the engineer
ing progress of the Mississippi valley, a
valley so vast, stretching from the noun
tains of Pennsylvania to the snow capped
peaks of Montana and from the northern
limits of the nation to the shores of the
Gulf, and so filed with evidences of the
greatest engineering skill, that
the mind could not grasp
the whole subject, but was
forced to limit its field to the river itself
and the works which crowded its banks.
Eastern people call this young country
and point to it with pride as an evidence of
American energy and industry. The ear
~, pre- historical inhabitants of this coun-
try, however, were, in their own way, no
less energetic and skillful than are the
present. They were engineers, men of
thought and of might, as we may see in
the relics of their work. In some mighty
CONFUSION of nature, however. they were
swept away and their place was filled by
the Indians and the no less wild animals
of the forest and plains. After them came
the Spaniard with his lust for gold but
left few traces of his occupancy. Then
came the French, who left their record
only IN a few pretty names for pretty
scenes. Then came the English with their
schemes for colonization and they would
have undoubtedly fixed themselves in this
country had not Brother Jonathan come to
think he needed it too and wrested it from
his cousins for his own uses. The engin-
eering progress now to be con-
sidered is within less than a
once the land famous through the world
for its wild, natural beauties. 1t was the
land of boundless, primeval forests and
beautiful Towering prairies, great expanses
of green loneliness, so Custer tells US, where
his men rode miles upon miles through
beds of wild flowers up to their horses
girths. This beauty we find everywhere
now, in the forest, the stream, the prairie,
and, above all. in the ladies, God bless 'em,
but the wildness is gone. This is land
of great civilization. Where are the prairies
and the wilds we came to see? Here, but
tanned. The war whoop of the savage has
given up to the shriller scream of the
steam whistle, the beds of wild flowers are
fields of waving grain, and the trail of the
buffalo is now the path of the iron horse.
Where are we, hear you ask? And from
down East comes the answer, "out VEST"
and from the West we hear, down East"
and from the South ''up North Truth
says we are in the heart of the civilization
of the continent. The manufacturer of
the East looks to the setting sun and sees
the market for his goods among those
hero who call for homes and
clothes and tools. The Southern
darkey works among his shining
cotton cheerily, for he sees 'hog and hom-
my in exchange from this region. Miner
of the Sierras sends his shining gold here
and takes home the flour and grains with
which he delves for his gracious metal,
Down east the question is rs it good
crop in the west?'' Wall street is IN SYM
pathy and responsive to the answer, the
engineer and broker either lays out some
new scheme to meet hard times or hunts
up his old coat and fishing tackle as the
anwer comes flying back to him..
Look at the wonderful engineering
works that line this river. At its
mouth. see the grand ietty system, made
by one of our members, the wonder of the
present day and to be the study of en-
gineers for generation to come. Farther
up the river see the long levees which
guard that fertile region from the disas-
trous entertainments of the Father of
Waters. Then comes the st. Louis steel
arch bridge, a monument of engineering
:. progress, skill, and daring. Then other
vast bridges too numerous to mention and
then the great arsenal at Rock Island a
thousand miles from the reach of any
foreign enemy and the sure supply of the
nation in her hour of iced and great peril.
Then at last we come to the great works at
tho EoIJc of St Anthonv Ona of the praat-