The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1917-06-22

IL RAD Been Fdrt OF HIS Lie.
these big compression members. When
l first studied your fathers drawings,
I wondered if he had made the lacing
strong enough to hold the webs"
''That matter was very thoroughly
gone into" said Meade quickly. "It
was the very point which l myself ad
questioned, but father is absolutely
confident that we provided latticing
enough to take up all the stresses. l
looked into that matter myself" he
went on with much emphasis.
II guess it's all right" said Curtiss
lightly. II examined the webs and lac
ings carefully this afternoon. They
seem to be as right as possible"
"Those trusses," said Abbott emphat-
ically, twill stand forever. You need
not worry about that"
"Are you going to finish this job on
timer" asked Severance. the vice presi-
dent. "You know the financial end of
1t is mine, and much depends upon the
date Of completion"
''That depends upon you people at
the shop, doctor. If you get the stuff
here to me I'll get it in place in short
order" answered Abbott.
ave aren't worrying about anything
with you and Meade on the job, Alb
bott," said the colonel genially.
Eyes, you are, father" said the girl.
'Ever since the International has been
started you have scarcely been able to
give thought even to me. I'm tired
Of it. I hope the old thing will soon
be finished, so that we can all go back
to normal life again."
81 hope so, too" assented the colonel,
"and 1 guess you are right. The fact
is the bridge is an obsession with us
all. 1t is the biggest job the Martlet
has ever handled. Indeed, it is the
biggest thing in the world. It's the
longest cantilever, the greatest span,
the heaviest trusses, the"
"Pve heard all about it," interrupted
the girl, waving him into silence, lever
since you began it. Sometimes think
it's beginning to obsess me, too"
"You don't look like it," whispered
Meade, under cover of the general
laugh that greeted her remark.
"What do 1 look like?" she whis-
pered back quickly, in return.
But Meade had no opportunity to
tell her. q
ut is not exactly subject for din
ner conversation" said the colonel with
sudden gravity, "but all of us here,
even you, my dear, must realize how
much that bridge means to us. I won't
go so far as to say that it's failure
would ruin us, but it would be hard for
us to survive"
"Have you ever known anything that
my father designed to fail?" asked
Meade somewhat hotly.
mo, and that is why we took his
plans in spite Of"
''In spite Of what, STRIP
Gin spite Of Curtiss here and some
Others"
"Mr. Curtiss," said Meade, turning
to the chief engineer, 'if it will add
anything to your peace of mind, I will
assume my full sh are of responsibility
for the matter. You know the books
by Schmidt Chemnitz, the great Ger
man bridge engineerT"
Curtiss nodded.
"At first THAT is, we-thought that
there might possibly be weakness in
those compression members, but 1
checked them with the methods he ad-
vocates and then submitted the figures
to my father, and then he went through
the whole calculation and applied CO.
efficients he felt to be safe"
"1'm willing to take your fathers
judgment in the matter rather than
Schmidt Chemnitz', or anybodys," said
Curtiss, $50 successful has been his ca
reer."
snow that I have seen the members
in place | have no doubt that they will
stand" said the colonel.
"Sure they WILL" added Abbott with
supreme and contagious confidence, an
assurance which helped even Meade to
believe.
"Of course we all know" said Doc
tor Severance, who had been long
enough in touch with engineering to
learn much about 1t, shat there is al.
ways more or less of experimenting in
the design Of a new thing like this"