Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-16
TAKES HoX[L'S PLACE
CAPT. SPENCER COSBY IN CHARGE
OF AQuEDUcT.
Will Also Have Direction of River and
Esrhor Improvements of Potomac
to Its Mouth.

Capt Spencer Cosby. corps of engineers.
has teen placed in charge Of the water
supply system of the District, Including
tie filtration plant, and in charge also of
he fertilization wcrls and river and har
TOR improvements at Washington and in
he Potomac river TO its mouth. etc. He
relieves OF those duties Lieut. Col. Richard
l.. Eoxie. CORPS of engineers, who has per-
formed them. In addition to his regular
duties in charge Of the defenses of Balu-
more and Of RIVER and harhor works in
that vicinity. since last July, when Lieut.
Col Smith S. Leach. eerps of engineers.
the officer in charge, was detailed TO the
general staff OF the army and assigned
to other duties in this city. Now that he
has been relieved of his extra duties IN
this city Col. ffoxie viii be able to de-
vote his entire attention to the ahairs OF
The Baltimore district.
Cant Cosby is one of the brightest and
nest popular young officers in the corps;
y native of Maryland he was graduated
from the Military Academy No. | in the
class of June. 1891. and assigned to the
corps of engineers.
He was stationed with the Engineer Bat
TALON at Wllets Point. y. Y. until July,
lSci when he was assigned to duty as as
sistant to Mai Raymond, Corps OF EnSll-
GERS. in charge of important engineering
works in the vicinity of Phiadeiphia, any
remained on that duty until the outpfedh
of the Spanish war, when he was appointed
a major OF engineers in the volunteer es-
tablfshrnent. IN July. 1898, he was assigned
temporarily to d.uty as division engineer OIL
the 1st Army Corps. and during the opera
lions in Porto Rico served continuously Oh
the staff of Mai. Gen. Brooke. During the
period of service he co-operated with. Lieut.
Col. G. w. Cocktails, chief engineer, ISL
Army Corps in the building Of landing
pier for troops and supplies at Arroyo, road
"Reminiscences In the vicinity of GuayaIna
and repairing bridges destroyed by the
Spaniards in the military road beyond
Guayama. On August 13, 1898, Gen. Brooke
ordered general advance of his forces in
two columns from Guayama toward the In
terror. Capt. COSBY acted as engineer ofh-
Ger of the column commanded by Gen
Hams, which was to turn the tntrenched po-
sition of the Spaniards on the heights north
of Guayamas, while the main column at
tackled them in front While being executed
this movement was stopped by the receipt
of the news of the suspension of hostities,
due to the signing of the protocol of peace.
Shortly before the Spaniards turned the
city of Guayama over to the Americans
Capt. Cosby made careful inspection of
the fortified tons. and made a detailed re-
port in regard to the same to the chief of
engineers. together with description of the
fortiications of San Juan. After the war
he returned to Philadelphia, and remained
on duty under Col Raymond, with short
interruptions, until September 1901. During
that period he was on duty for short time
in Detroit and also in the office of the chief
of engineers in this city. From September,
1901 until April, 1903, he was in charge of
river and harbor works and fortifications
in the vicinity of Mobile, Ala. In April,
1903. he was placed in command of Com
pany |, Sd Battalion of Engineers, at WASH
ington barracks, and accompanied that
company to Manila, P. L., arriving May 81.
AT -er short service with the company
he was appointed engineer officer of the
Department of Luzon and was a member of
the board of officers which reported the
project for the establishment of the large
/ military post of Fort William Mckinley
near Manila. He was subsequently charged
with the responsible duty. of constructing
lighthouses and other aids to navIga-
ton In the Philippines and remained
that dutyuntily ordered to the United States
in July last.
When Secretary Taft and his party Wis
tied Manila last summer, Capt. Cosby was
invited to become a member of the party
in the tour of the archipelago BY special
invitation he afterward accompanied Miss
Alice Roosevelt and party to Picking where
they were received by the dowager en-
press and remained with the party until its
arrival in this city. Since then he has been
on leave of absence and was one of Sec
rotary Taft's guests at the West Point
Annapolis foot ball game at Princeton.
Capt. Cosby's Duties.
The new duties assigned to Capt. Cosby
are officially stated as follows:
In charge of the Washington aquedust
increasing the water supply of the city of
Washington and Washington aqueduct fl
tration plant.
In charge of the Washington aqueduct.
ington. d. c.: of the improvement OF the
Potomac RIVER at and below Washington;
Anacostia river D. c.; Breton bay Md.
Milford Haven harbor, Va: of James riv-
er and protecting jamestown Island from
the encroachments OF James river; of the
rivers Rappahannock, Mattaponi, York
and Pamunkey, and of Nomni, UrDana,
Occoquan and Carriers creeks Va; exami-
nation of Coan river, Warwick Upper
Machodoc, Occoquan and Quantico creeks
Va; the construction of highway bridge
across Potomac river and of repairs to the
Aqueduct bridge. D. c. In charge of 900 lin
ear feet of shore line including levee 100
feet wide in the flushing reservoir at the
foot of Seventeenth street west; of all mat
ters arising in connection with the tempo
rary occupation by the Department of Ag-
rlculture of certain areas In Potomac Park
and of the determination of harbor lines in
the District of Columbia. To prepare a
project for memorial bridge across Poto-
mac, river. To supervise the reconstruction
of the Washington shore end Vt the Long
bridge; the construction of bridges
across Pamunkey river at Newcastle Fer
~. and across James r.ver at Richmond
across Neabsco, Powells, Quantieo- and
Aqua creeks. Va.