The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-19
AS CONSULTING ENGINEER.
Capt. Carter Has Accepted That Posi-.
ton to the Commissioners.

slider Mr.. Burnett's Report-A Word
About Professional Ethics Among
Engineers-What Their Ofhcial Or
gan Has to Say About the Cues
tion-The Rules Laid Down Explain
the Sit 1ation.
Capt. o. M Carter has consented to
act as consulting engineer to the county
commissioners and wrote letter to that
effect to Maj r. A. Blandford, county
engineer, yesterday.
Capt. Carter's duties were too pressing
! at the time for him to undertake the work
| of making the measurements of the Casey
canal, and he was asked to appoint another
engineer, which he did.
Major Blandford was determined, how
ever, that the other work, namely, the
| Meridian road, the Dundee canal and
other engineering work in the county,
about which complaints have been made
by some of the commissioners, should not
| go unnoticed. He wanted reports upon
| them, as well as upon the Casey canal,
| and, in accordance with his desires, the
| commissioners passed a resolution, and
| Major Blandford wrote a personal letter
| to Captain Carter asking him
| to make the inspections and report upon
| the other works at his earliest opportu-
nifty.
CAPT. CARRIERS LETTER.
To this request of the commissioners
and the county engineer, Capt Carter re-
| piled yesterday as follows
| Savannah, Ga, Aug. 10, 1893.-Maj. r. A.
| Blandford, Engineer Chatham County,
| Savannah Ca: Dear Sir-I have the
honor to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter requesting me to accept
| the nO9itiOn of consulting eOUiOPnT tn
| the commissioners of Chatham county, my
work to be done at such time as may suit my
| convenience.
In reply thereto, have to state that shall
be glad to be of service to you on to the
commissioners. Very respectfully, your obe-
Capt, Corps Engineer, u, S. A
The matter of the Ca sey canal will be
taken up this afternoon at special meet
ing of the commissioners which has been
called for the purpose. The reports of
MIR. Burnett and of Maj, Blandford win
be read, and the commissioners will take
whatever action they deem proper.
ETHICS OF ENGINEERS.
Mai Blandford has been asked so often
about. the professional ethics of engineers,
which has been touched upon so often of.
late during the controversy, that he thinks
the public should know just what rela-
| tions engineers bear to one another in
such matters.
The Engineering News, leading jour
nal of the profession, in its issues of Nov
| 10 and Dec. /, 1892, publishes what he
says is accepted by all engineers of stand
| ing as the ethics of the profession. We
| give below some extracts from these ar
| ticles:
| /. 1t should be considered unprofession-
| al and dishonorable for any engineer to
| accept call in consultation for any work
/ which is already in charge of an engineer,
| except the call come from or through such
| engineer in charge. Engagements ten
| dered from principals should be con-
| sidered or accepted only when there is no
engineer already in charge of the work.
| We should lay this rule down with all
| possible generality and emphasis. We
consider that it admits of no exceptions
| whatever Justice. courtesy and ex-
! pediency alike demand that the letter as
well as the spirit of the rule should be
most rigidly respected.
IT IMPLIES DOUBT.
'First, as to justice: The very act of
calling in an another engineer in consul
| whether the engineer in charge has
| done or will do the best pos
sible on his unaided Judgment How
can the consulting engineer make sure of
| this unless he knows at first hands what
the engineers plans and motives were and
| are. and how can he know this unless the
| engineer in charge resigns or formally re-
| quests his engagement and thereby binds
! himself to tell all he knows in mis- own
behalfl But unless he does so the con-
| sui ling engineer cannot be sure of doing
| Justice either to himself or to his employer
| or to his fellow-engineer, and certainly
| not to all three. 1t by no means follows that
| the engineer in charge need be really de-
| sirous of his engagement; he may well be
/ foa hi
| ployer has q perfect right to put pres
| sure upon him and say: Either consent
i or resign But the pressure should come
| from the employer, not from his fellow
engineer. And neither has right to act
behind his back or on the sly without Civ
| ing him time for preparation.
| COURTESY BETWEEN ENGINEERS.
''Then as to courtesy Why should any
| man needlessly wound another's feelings
| or be rude to himl Grant (Which is not
| true( that it is only form to require the
| call to come through and from the en-
! gineers and not from his principals; it is
| a courteous form, it at least does no
harm, for it is not to be supposed that
| the honorable engineer will make any diff
| ference in his report, whether he is called
/ by the one or the other Nothing extenu-
ate, and naught set down to malice" will
| be his infeXible rule in any case. The en-
| gineer who knows himself in the right
| will welcome the appointment of con
| sulting engineer if his mode of appoint
| ment does not in itself imply distrust of
| him. If he knows or fears he is in the
wrong, why add the perfectly needl ess
| affront Of ignoring his existence to one
who is already suffering the pangs of
| anxiety or modification.
'"Then as to expediency: If engineers
| do not respect each other, who shall re-
| spect them} Even if a man be indifer-
ent to both justice and courtesy, and
| there are. alas, too many such in all call
| ings, does he not lose much and gain moth
| ing by setting the example of treating
| the position of engineer in charge with no
| respectl
THE SECOND RULE MORE IMPORTANT.
"But if the first rule quoted be reason
! able and proper, ten times more is the fol-
| lowing, which we earnestly hope =
! will mean professional ruin and disgrace
for any engineer to violate it knowingly
| even once, in a case where another en-
! gineer's reputation or standing is liable
/ TO be iniuriously affected, for to do so
implies moral obliquity which should
exclude man from an honorable pro-
| fession.
SO. It should be considered unprofes
sional and dishonorable for any engineer TO
| report upon any work which is already in
/ charge Of an engineer, except to such en-