Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1939-02-10
WHO'S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
By LEMUEL F. PARTON

~ S6NO6b Ts TANlON
NJ EW YORK.-John F. Stevens
was self-educated as an engi-
neer. Therefore, he was an eclectic
and readily made use of retired
Famed Engineer compiish . des.
Used Murderer perately irnpor-
To Attain End tant end, re
CARELESS Of the
lack Of engineering precedent. He
is now So. one of the greatest Of
American engineers, the first engi-
neer in charge of planning and
building the Panama canal, recently
awarded the Hoover medal by the
American Society of Civil Engineers
at its eighty-sixth annual meeting in
New York.
The murderer who came in
handy was a Montana Blackfoot In
dian. Jim Hills new railroad, west.
bound from st. Paul, was rather
impulsively started. It ran slap
bang into the impenetrable wall Of
the Rocky mountains. There was
an Indian legend that there was a
pass over the divide, along the
course of the Marias river. Mr..
Stevens, q young engineer for the
railroad, talked to the Blackfeet
about it. There was such a pass.
They knew all about it. But not all
Of Jim Hills wampum could bride
them even to point in that direc-
ton. This Marias pass was the
dwelling place of evil spirits, Of
sorcerers, Of dreadful demons.
Mr.. Stevens mushed over the
mountains with the thermome-
ter at 50 degrees below zero and
found no pass. But, by chance,
he found q wanderer in the will
derness, Blackfoot driven out
by his tribe because he had
killed . man. The Indian had
been having a difficult time. A
few devils and monsters, more
or less, meant little to him.
They made deal. The story Of
their days-0n-end' scramble to
the roof Of the continent through
five feet Of snow and bitter cold,
with Mr.. Stevens sleepless as he
kept an eye on his homicidal
guide, Is one Of the classics Of
the conquest Of the wilderness.
They found the pass, and their
return was another desperate
adventure.
When the Panama canal was pro-
jected, John F. Stevens fought
through, against weighty opposition,
the lock principle against the sea.
level plan. The engineer in charge,
from 1905 until he was succeeded
by General Cocktails, he flattened
all the demons of disease and dis.
order which had licked De Lesseps.
General Goethals rated his work as
among the greatest of engineering
achievements. He was minister
plenipotentiary to the Soviets in
1917, remaining six years and re-
organizing and rebuilding their rail-
roads.
nR. VANNEVAR BUSH, testify.
~ ing on the patent system before
the national economy committee at
Washington, is the inventor of
Scientisfs Brain Brain" or
Machine DoUns thinking ma.
Human Thinker chine" 1t is as
big as sawmill
that solves problems too difficult
for the human BRAIN" 1t works nice
ly, and Franklin institute awarded
him a medal for it.
One can think offhand of a lot of
sexing problems that might be
.ossed into its hopper these days
let up in congress, dealing the an.
;wers on war. and peace, national
License, relief and balanced budg.
It, it ought to save a lot of money.
DR.. Bush. former vice presi-
dent of Massachusetts Institute
Of Technology, became presi-
dent of the Carnegie Institution
on January l Of this year. He is
one Of the most distinguished
mathematical physicists in
:. America. A tall, genial, bespec-
tacled scientist, with slightly
stopped and somewhat stringy
figure, with untamed hair, he
leads reporters quite out of their
depth. His metallic cerebration
was just one Of many Of his in.
teresting devices and discover
les. including. particularly, re-
search In the transmission of
electric power, to which he has
made notable contributions.
The son of distinguished Boston
clergyman, he romped through
tufts, Harvard and M. /. T., picking
Up three degrees in three and one.
,alf years. thereafter teaching at
v. l. T.
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