The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1904-04-16


and tensile strength of metals and NJ,
the other parapllernalia of an engineer.
lie was born in New York city a
years ago, and from the windows of
his fathers dwelling, east of st. PAT.
rick's cathedral, he could see that fa.
nous edificc in course Of erection, and
turning the other way could look over
'he tracks of the railroad and the area
between Park and Lexington avenues,
from Forty-fifth to Fifty-seventh
s'reets, where now an army of work.
men in his pay are leveling buildings
and walls and preparing to sn,, tho
tracks and change the face of the city's
map.
III those days, when he went to the
school in ST. Patrick's parish and was
the favoritc of the Rev. Father (now
NNi"nsignor) Lavcllc, he may haya
dreamed of some day becoming y
trustee of st. Patricls, but he never
told anyone of it. Another dream Of
llis however, he made 10 secret Of.
Ilc wanted to become an engineer
His parents planned to make q law
yer of him, but John O'Rourke's strong
Will brushed aside all difficulties in the
way OF his search for an engineering
degree. He entered the night class at
Cooper Union while he was studying
other subjects by day, ana even after
he went to work for living he con-
tnucd in the engineering course lie had
begun ut the institute founded by Peter
Cooper. When he was graduated with
the coveted engineers degree it was a
very short time before he was installed
ut Pougllkecpsie as resident engineer of
the great bridge across the Hudson,
which is one Of the earliest examples
or cantilcver construction
1t required years to build the Pough-
kecpsic bridge, and young O'Rourke,
who was then in the employ of the
Union Bridge company had charge Of
the steel work and of the very difficult
foundations, which went to depth in
the water unprecedented at that time,
The bridge, which is $50 feet long and
one Of the highest in the world, with its
| foundations lower than any other built
| twenty years ago, gave the young en-
glncer time and opportunity to obtain
that grasp on certain phases of his sci
cnce which he has since used with such
wonderful success.
In few of the big works he has put
through in recent years has Mr..
O'Kourke failed to open the eyes of
other engineers by some novel applica-
ton of the caissOn or Golfer dam or
diving bell principle which showed his
mastery of construction work under
water or in quicksand.
When he finished with his first big
undertaking, an achievement which
gained him admission into the Ameri-
can Society of Civil Engineers in 1884.
Mr.. ORourke turned to an entirely diff
fcrcnt sort of work and became chief
engineer Of the Chignecto Ship Rail-
way, in the maritime provinces of Ca.
NADIA. Then he came back to this city
and took partners and for some years
engaged in contracting work, principal
~ the construction of bridge piers and
foundations. He took the whole con-
| tract for the construction of the CITY
Island bridge among other work at this
time.
His first real prominence before nj
limited portion of the New York public
came when the audacious plans of the
first skyscraping architects had to be
carried out. To others went the lofty
skeletons of steel and stone. O'Rourke
built the solid foundations on which
stand the great Office buildings of the
financial district.
His name, then, for the first time
became generally known to the plain
citizen whose business carried him To
the lower end of Manhattan Island
colossal wooden cylinders giant tuns
they looked like, only they had no bot.
toms and no heads were carried
through the streets, and for 4 while the
sight was as novel IA Nov M, ,,,.....