Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-10-14
NEW WIZARD OF WIRELESS
John j. Carly Has Not Received
Publicity until Now.
Grcnt Engineers Work Hidden by
Formal Statements Given Ont by
Corporation for Which lie Has
Worked Mnny Years.

including the concern Of which he IS
chief engineer, OF announcing to the pub
lie great results as having been accom-
plished under the superintendent Of
So-and-So" on "by Such-and- Such a de-
partment." writes Charles T. Kingsley
in the Philadelphia Public Ledger. Mr..
carly has read many papers before
engineering societies and has lectured at
the Sorbanne, describing experiments
winch had been carried on IN tho on
cheering department Of the american
telephone and Telegraph company but
giving no fntimation OF the fact that
they had been his Immediately personal
work. And now that the feveloprcnt Of
wireless telephony has reached a new
hlshwater mark Carly Is Tho last man
who would minimize the achievements
Of Boil, Marconl. Pup.n and the many
other scientists and engineers who con-
trIbuted this or that to tho great quo
cess that has crowned the efforts OF
them all.
Carly was born in Cambridge, Mass,
Il "a years ago As n boy nc showed u
u great liking Cor mechanical cxperirnentn-
ton. After graduation from the Cam.
bridge Latin school he would have enter-
ed Harvard but for serious troubl, w,th
his eyes. He found himself attracted 70
the telephone business. which was then
In the stage of difficult experimental
ton. carried on without textbooks by a
small band OF constructive pioneers.
He was first employed In tho old Tele-
phone Dispatch company Of Boston in
1879 night operator, and then and
there he began long series Of contri-
buttons to the technical knowledge Of
telephony
Last Juno tho stevens Institute OF
Technology conferred on him the degree
of doctor Of engineering. and on that
occasion President Humphreys Of the IN
stitute said Of Mr.. Carly: He has
probably done more than any other one
man to make the telephone as Il IL to-
day. the ready and efficient servant Of
mankind" Carly has received most IF
the professional distinctions which can
come to practicing engineer, including
the Edward Longstreet medal Of merit
of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia.
Twice he has received the formal thanks
of the japanese government for services
in connection with the establishment and
development Of the telephone system OF
the Mitados country. and by the Emperor
he has been decorated with the Order of
the Rising sun and the Imperial Order
of the Sacred Treasure of the Ne T.
GOING TO COLLEGE AT 2S
, In 1889 the young Boston engineer was
invited to reorganize the entire techn!c-
al equipment Of the system Of what Is
now the New York Telephone company
While engaged In this tremendous task.
in order to make UP deficiencies in his
engineering training. he carried several
in Columbia ITriyarSttv
| inGs he might he found in his little apart
ment doing calculus or quaternons. This
little story out Of successful career
we'll illustrates the thoroughness with
which he has always tackled the Job of
making good.
a few incidents will serve to reveal
some of his other leading characteristics.
He discovered that he would have to do
many unpleasant things when he was Sc
lected in 1901 as engtneerin-ch!ef of the
Bell system Last night" one recalls
Mr. Carly saying with a wry face as he
smoked Of an August evening on tho
piazza Of his North Shore cottage, IT Wis
tied with one of my oldest and dearest
, friends, an engineer connected with the
Boston office; this morning 7 wrote him
letter firing him" It was only for
the good of the service-that was all. He
had 10 do 1t.
And his method of gathering hts staff
IS interesting. He adopted 1t years ago.
At first at Columbia. and later at New
Haven "Shef" and Boston Tech" he
began to lie In wait for TIL, most prom
Using men of each graduating class. His
method of recruiting was aracterstic-
ally original Instead of having the
boys sent TO him, he would go to them.
II such and such n senior had been re-
commended as n likely candidate the
engineer would quite UNEXPECTEDLY knock
at his door, spend a few minutes in con-
versation and quiet observation. and
then invite the lad to take n little walk.
In an hours stroll and talk it was gem
orally possible to get the candidate 70
drop all constraint and to reveal his nat
ural apttudes and limitations
ONE DAY FOR WORRY.
There is another story quite az illu-
minat!ng. Il come of Il worrying race"
he once said we worried a great deal
at homo. and | was to grow up into
worse worrier than my father. n dear.
good man and very competent in his
calling, an expert AT handling church
bells YOU may believe ne Then once
as youth I suddenly saw the light of
reason and one day l proposed 70 my
father that We each select single day
a week to do our worrying, In that way
we would keep six DAYS clear for work
and have only one brief time In the week
for being no use to anybody. NV father
saw the point, in a measure; and de-
nherately set Sunday aside for my vor-
rying day, hut when sunday camc had
generally forgotten all about my trou-