The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-11-12
THE FIRST DAYS SESSION.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MEcHAN'
,CAl ENGINEERS.


Oberiin smith Hssponded-Annuai Re
pors of the President Read-Thc Kecep-
tion at the Governors.
In hall decorated with flags bearing the
shields Of every state In the Union, WIN
bunting crossed and recrossed upon Inc
ceiling. with the Union States hags grace
fully hung above an elevated PLATFORM
with the shield Of the society back OF the
sneakers. the American Society Of Ameri-
can Engineers met in the Exchange ho'el
Yesterday afternoon at O'Clock. ADou'
one hundred and fifty members were
present, and when the engineers became
seated the appearance was very I'M
,os;ng one. MANY of the ladies Of the party
aat,andad and mi additional brightness 10
the scene. -.
The Society, as a body, look TO be a very
representative one, and bear studlous'
scholarly faces. showing that fhey are men
who have for the past twenty-five year.
considered some Of the leading problems o'
the world.
MAYOR nLLYsoN's ADDRESS.
A few moments after O'Clock Presldenl
Oyerton smith, Of Bridgeton. n. j., called
the body 10 order, and introduced Mayor -
TAYLOR Eilyson. The latter SAID;
II IA both n duty and pleasure for me 20
Ia here this afternoon. and do not come "a
Give Won the formal words OF greetings; pu'
10 tell YOU that we are glad 70 see you. MOI {
than century ago George washington w
dressed me hope that Richmond would solne
ffay an populatlon. In wealth and in CONNER
Sial Importance. gain front rank WIN sn w,
largest cities OF the Union. mat aspila'ion
OF our FIRST President may NOT haNS ueeu
4 he
could have won srch place. bu
then environments were cOnducMe 4"
the study OF the great questions Oh Potis sn,,,
questions OF finance, OF taxation when sV' il
have 10 do. They made a mistake, ptoDaDD
hui n they had not there would nave new
neen n jefferson, Madison, "a fatIlck henis
and John Marshall 80 through .t .S oS ou,
Amerlcon Republic was estaDlsheu-a sVN
Eminent Tor the people. by the people, ana o.
the people. lApplausel
DEAD HOPES BURIED.
Twenty-five years ago at Appomattox we
nnrled our dead hopes Of ever establishing al
.nasoendent republic OF pre-eminence. Jhi'
city then lay in the very ashes OF her uesD
iation. Banking capital we had noe, put , ~
n quarter of century we nave alnasseu ~ aii oa
fhan a. OOO. 600; from a population OF 43,OS'
20 double that number; from mXaDle value
of sIgOOO.OOO 20 S55,OcO,O0O. From almOs
M manufactures to 100, employing Zo,VU
when a cify can give more than one-fouril
OF her population employment, IN per liruu
sactnries m can be said without bOastinl
thaf she lays some claims toa manuiacturin'
city. ,, m.
Wa have entered upon new era, and yol
coine 10 us lust as we begin 70 nave IehiI
zaiion Of our hopes We neeo 70 p snereSf i,
.,nr nublie school system ideas Oi lnechanlch
branches. your presence will not be only al
bonor but n benefit. Teach our people aloni
your lines what you nave gwen en Your and nd W.
are hound together by that indlssOluDle te
citizens Of the Union. ,,,oar
THE night OF our adversely is over. we arr
living In the beauty OF rising sun. Ih'
.iovaseved goddess OF peace and prosperity
smiles upon us, and 70 sucn u lahn' 70 suoli
city we invite you. United, we can 90 man
things that will elevate and promote on
civilization. and we WelcOihe SOu MUS
heartily to our city. .,..,,
frorn welcoming them and feeling that thei
stay In our midst is ali tOp snort nope WI"
YOU may come again, ard eyes that look 81,
when Won depart will look brighter when yOl
come again. loud applause
MIR. SMITHS RESPONSE.
MIR. Oberin Smith. president OF the so
ciety, responded 10 Mr.. Ellyson's remarks
He said:
thank = you for this hearty wei
come from this. the most hospitabie
states. your Slutt IL anu MhN 'hN
sleeping giantess that only offered us mel
dreams Now she has woke up, she - up
ON a new threshold, and the south as an
engineering and civilization Held nave III
in vi ih have the benefits Of
Your mines yet unopened; your IeI'
tile farms your vast forests. George
Washington was also an engineer ana We Il,
not k,low how much of his success is not due
10 that fact. ...., $50.
your DISQUALIFICATION your mansions your
homes, your clubs. over TWO hundred years
ago an Englishman was received in Nirglnf
with club. IL was John smith. Laughter.
We represent over thousah9 ehsl MIN IN
The society is Twelve years old, ana we
heartily thank vow for your hospitality ano
kindness. Applause
ANNUAL REPORT.
President Smith then made his annual
report, of which the following is liberal
extract:
Far back among the ages. in times beyond
the ken Of hist0ry's written page, the young
world invented the engineer as the creator
OF it's coming civilization. He II was VINO es
tablished synthetic methods, and sewed TO-
gether fig-leaves into a mantle which was q
prototype of our textile fabrics, and, in sna'
iagous metal patchwork, our steam-boilers
and ship-hulls OF a later age-one large piece
A.. made from many small ones. lie II was VINO
with sticks and puddied clay, estaDllshed inc
first order Of observation-disclosures OF
whatever name IL bore. lie II was VINO
before me happened to think of a Pullman
car on steel rail, built the roads and rude
wagons which made the dawn of commercial
and social life possible. lie built the bridges
which brought tribes and nations into com
nunion. and helped them 10 reduce their UNI
comfortable excess of population by making
machines Win Which they cOulu XIII taVh
other.
gineer has wregted from nature her we'll
kent secrets and has made his nOn-engi-
them how TO deal with the material world
around them. But for him, as we now know
him, practising his art In It's present stage Of
development we should be set back CEN
tury without railways or teegraphs, or steam
power manufactures. There would be nc
eiectric-lignts, nor telephones. nor electric
bells: no sewing machines, nor gas-hXtures
nor modern plumbing. Our farmers would
work with the sickle and the fail; oui
sailors, as OF old, would keep ms tossing
months. instead OF days, upon the sea. FOL
lowing time logically backward. and robbine
each age of its ministering angel, with his
acquired knowledge reinforcing the ac-
cumulated experience OF his predecessOrs.we
would soon arrive at the blackhess OF social
darkness. We can therefore say that were II
not for the engineer In history, our fashion,
able society would probably all be modelled
upon that of Terra Del Fuego,w where an entire
wardrobe consists OF a piece OF fur held upon
the windward side of its wearer. Our roofs
would be the caves and trees; our food, she'll
fish aud fruits and nuts-good enough dinner
washed down with Pommery SEC; our roads
would be but foot trodden paths; our bridges
fallen logs; our weapons stones and CLUBS.
PROFESSIONAL STANDARD.
Does this aggregate mass Of engineers at
tain TO as high professional standard rs,
All things considered, our modern civillza-
ton would lead us To expect? Does this body
OF men. who. without question, are of vastly
more importance TO the world than those OF
any other one profession or trade, stand as
high in the estimation Of lhelr fellow.I1en a.
their important position would seem 10 de-
Inand. And stheir craft zone which. II prop
eriy practiced, requires as much learning as
40 the crafts of law or medicine) thoroughly
recognized as one OF the learned professions?
10 these queries we engineers cannot, nm
aulifiedIy. give an Affirmative reply. In the
hrst place, we do not IN all cases make high
enough and absolute enough our standard OF
qualifications for admission 10 our ranks. In
the second place. we do mob have our forces
automatically organized into mighty army.
with unbroken front. which would compel TO
n proper degree, the admiration and respect
OF the non-engineerins world for the profess
sion as whole We have, on the contrary,
been nghting too much upon The guerilla
principle. and have too often shown the world
brilliant dashes by Individuals, unsupported