Milford chronicle., 1932-04-01
NOT PRESIDENT by ACCIDENT

tinctiOn is so exalted it is apt to din
in the minds of the people the mem
ory of other hOnOrs that may have
come to him.
Probably everybody in the United
States knows that Herbert Hoover
was Chairman of the Commission
for Relief in Belgium which begar
its work soon after the outbreak OIL
the war in 1914 that he was Food
Administrator after we got into the
war; that he was Chairman of the
Allied Administration of Relief aftel
the war, carrying food and Othel
supplies to the people of twenty Eu-
ropean countries; and that he was
Secretary of Commerce under the
administrations of Harding and Coo
lidge
But how about the years preceding
| 1914? What was he doing from the
time he graduated from Leland
Stanford University in 1895 down to
the outbreak of the war when he
sprang suddenly into world promi-
nence?
Certain sinister publications have
tried to make it appear that here
was a great gap in his career, per-
iod when he was obscure and un-
known, even among men of his own
profession, engaged in enterprises
that had to do with nothing but
making money for himself, the con-
duct of which was not marked by
any professional skill or brought
him any professional recognition.
How about these silent years.
That question is answered with
complete authority in a recent issue
of "The Utah Engineer" by Edgar
Rickard, an eminent consulting en-
gineer in New York City, who has
known Mr.. Hoover during all his
professional life. And here are some
of the honors Mr.. Rickard catalOgu-
es as having come to Mr.. Hoover in
the course of his professional ca
reer:
In 1897 he became member of
the American Institute OF Mining
and Metallurgical Engineers, of
which he became vice president in
1914 and president in 1920.
In 1928 he was given the William
Lawrence Saunders Gold MeGai, 'fo:
his achievements as a mining engi-
neer and the distinction he has
brought to the mining profession
through his great accomplishments
in national and international al
fairs"
In the early years of 1900 Mr.. /
Hoover found time to lecture at
Stanford and Columbia Universities,
and these lectures, developed for .
were published in 1909 .
in his first book, Principles of Min
ing"
"De Re Metallica," translated from
Latin by Mr.. and Mrs. Hoo
yer, was published in 1912, and i'm
1914, in recognition of this work, the
Mining and Metallurgical Society of
America awarded a gold medal to
both Herbert Hoover and Lou Henry
Hoover "for contributions to the lit
erature of mining"
In 1910 Mr. Hoover became
of the American Society OF
Civil Engineers of which he was
later made an honorary member.
In 1920 the American Society of
Engineers awarded Mr..
Hoover a medal to commemorate
lis "civic and humanitation achiev-
The John Fritz Medal, sponsored
ly four National engineering socie-
les, was awarded 10 him as "Engi-
leer, Scholar, Organizer of Relief to
Peoples, Public Ser
yant." 4
Mr.. Hoover was the first president
If the American Engineering Coun-
Ill established in 1920 under the
lame of Federated American Engi-
leering Societies"
The Civic Forum awarded him its
medal of honor in 1920 for "distin-
,uished achievements"
The French Academy in 1918
warded him a prize of $4,000 francs
or Finest and Greatest Devotion of
ny kind whatsoever"
In 1920 the National Academy of ,
ocial Sciences awarded Mr.. Hoover
medal "for eminence in the appli- :
alton of science to the public well :
are in the conservation, selection
nd distribution of food" ,
More than a score of European
tiles set up permanent reminders
the American engineer who was a
rOtectOr of women and children, !
egardless of race or creed, either in
he form of monuments or by nam
lg streets and public places after :
i'm. :,
Thirty American institutions of
igher education have conferred ;,
pom Mr.. Hoover honorary degrees, =
lie majority of them prior to his :
Omination as President. Honorary =
egrees have similarly been bestow- =
upon him by universities in Eng a
nd, Poland, Belgium, Czechoslo-
lkia, Austria and Germany.
In 1928 the legislature of the State
Mississippi, by concurrent resOlu-
on, rendered a unanimous vote of
anks to Mr.. Hoover, describing his
'rvices during the great flood of the 10
'eceding year in a striking eulogy in
hich' includes this statement: in
Hon. Herbert Hoover, Secre-
tary of the Department of Com Js
merce and Special Representa- bi
tive of the President of the Uni liz
ted States, by his untiring effort tn
and unexcelled generalship and sa
his relentless activity through su
out the area and constant ex-
DOSure bV daV and night rend- W.