East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-08-16

That the complaints frequently
made that the Hartman system is
not spending any money upon its
lines In Oregon are unjust is declared
by II. A Brandon, assistant engineer
in charge of the Umatilla Central
construction and of other work in
the inland empire. According to Mr..
Brandon the railroad people arc
spending hundreds of thousands of
dollars In the betterment of the lines
In this section and but little is
of the same.
Much work is now being done to
improve the roadbed and to make
travelling safer" said he today. THE
roadbed is being made more perma-
nent, and wherever possible, trestles
are being eliminated. Fills are made
to replace them and underground
tunnels constructed to carry off the
water passing through. Much work
of this nature is being done between
Kamela and La Grande, while be-
tween La Grande and Huntington sew
eral steel bridges are being built to
replace the older structures. In
some places Burnt river has been di-
verted from its course in order to
eliminate crossing 1t with trestles."
According to Mr.. Brandon similar
work Is also being carried on in east
ern Washington, for the direct bene-
fit of Oregon, and under the circum-
stances he objects to the recent criti-
cisms made by Portland papers upon
the subject.
Brandon Has Record.
BY a recent order from the general
management of the Hartman lines
ell engineers in the service of the
system are required to furnish the
Headquarters with their past records,
the same to be filed for future refer
ence.
In compliance with this order Mr..
Brandon but recently sent in brief
summary of his career. and 1t is an
Interesting one. Engaged actively in
engineering work for 10 years, he has
been all over the world and has had
more experience than would fall to
theayerage man in several lifetimes.
As an officer of engineers he has
served under two flags, the British
Jack in India, and the stars and
stripes in the Philippines As a
civil engineer, he has reclaimed land
IN Egypt, built railways in Jamaica,
Nicaragua and conducted engineering
work In other central and South
American countries, as well as In the
United States. In the course of his
work he has crossed the Atlantic
ocean II times. ~ "a
An EventfuI Life.
A native of England, Mr.. Brandon
has been Of the aggressive type of
his conference.-the class that has
given the British banner dominion
over palm and pine" excepting In
that portion Of the earth covered by
the Monroe doctrine. He was edu-
Gated at the University or Scotland In
Edinburgh, and at the Cooper's Hill
military engineering college. When
2l years of age he entered the Royal
Engineers as a lieutenant and served
the queen in the survey of the Ia
nous Khyber Pass on the Himalaya
military road.
On leaving the army he was next
engaged in the reclamation of land
in the Nile district and assisted In the
survey of the immense Assouan dam
From Egypt he went to Jamaica
where he served as civil engineer ir
the construction of the jamaican gov
ernment railway. From that little
island he went to Nicaragua In the
service of the Nicaragua railway.
From 1887 until 1897 he worked
upon various private enterprises ir
Central, South America and In thu
United States. At one time he wen
to Rio Janeiro for tho purpose Of in
stalling sewer system for that Bra
lillian city. but his party was not al
lowed to land owing to the preva
lence of wellow fever in the town.
During the early part of the wa
with Spain. Mr.. Brandon served u
Cuba as war correspondent for
London paper. and from 1898 unit
1900 he seved the United States gov
eminent as an engineer officer in tn
Philippines. Since 1900 he has bee
with the Hartman system. Unit
two years ago he was engaged on tn
reconstruction OF the Central Pacifi
in California, Nevada and Utaf
When the celebrated Lucin cutof
was made he was in charge Of tn
work at one end Of the task Durin