WHO'S f 7 NEWS THIS IS WEEK By LEMUEL F PARTON I. I NEW YORK John YORK John F. F Stevens Steven was was self educated ted as an engi engl engineer neer Therefore he was an eclectic and readily made use of at a retired murderer to ac ac- Famed Engineer a n des des- Used Murderer Tc To T o Attain Att cun End E n d tent tant end re- re reo of at the lack of engineering precedent He Heis HeIs Heis is now 88 6 one of ot the tho greatest o ot of I American engineers the first arst engi- engi engineer engineer neer In charge of planning anc and building the Panama canal can a recently awarded warded a the Hoover medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers at Its sixth eighty annual meeting In I New York The murderer who came In handy was a Montana Blackfoot In I dlan dian Jim Hills Hill's new railroad west west- westbound westbound bound from St St. Paul was rather Impulsively started It ran slap slap- bang into the impenetrable wall of ol the Rocky mountains There was an Indian legend that there was a pass over the Ule divide along the course of ot the Marias Manias river Mr Stevens a young engineer for the railroad talked to the about it There was such a pass They knew all aU about it But Dut not all of Jim Hills Hill's wampum could bribe them even to point in that tion This Manias Marias pass was the Ule dwelling place of ot evil spirits of sorcerers of at dreadful demons and andall andaU andall all aU who went that way lost either their lives or their reason Mr lr Stevens mashed over the mountains with the thermometer ter at 50 degrees below sero lero and found no pass pau But by chance he found found a wanderer In the wil wil- wilderness wilderness a Blackfoot driven out by his tribe because he had killed a man maD The Indian had bad been having a difficult time A Afew Afew Afew few devils and monsters more or less meant little HUla to him They TIley made a deal The story of their days on days end on-end scramble to the roof of the continent through I five feet of snow and aM bitter bUter cold With Mr Stevens sleepless as he be kept an eye on his homicidal guide g Is one of the classics of the conquest of ot the wilderness They found the pass and aDd their return was another desperate adventure But soon the scream of locomotives was crying down the demons who presumably moved on on When the Ole th Panama canal was pro pro- projected jetted John F. F F Stevens fought through a against weighty opposition the lock principle against the sea sea- sealevel level plan The engineer In charge from 1905 1903 until he was succeeded by General Goethals he flattened all aU the demons of disease and dis dis- disorder disorder order which had licked De Lesseps General Genera Goethals rated his work as among the greatest of at engineering achievements He was minister plenipotentiary to the Ule Soviets In 1917 remaining six years and re- re reorganizing reorganizing reorganizing organizing and rebuilding their rail rail- roads TR DR D R. R VANNEVAR VANNE AR BUSH testify J- J Ing on the patent system before the national economy committee at Washington Is the tho inventor of ofa a mechanical Scientist Scientists Scientist's s Brain b bra r a I 1 n n or o 0 r I Machine Downs thinking ma ma- Human Thinker chine as bl blas big bigas as a sawmill that hat solves problems too difficult for tor or the human brain It works nice nice- nicey ly y and Franklin Institute awarded him ilm a medal for it One can can think offhand of a lot of ot vexing problems that might be tossed ossed into its hopper these days Set up in congress dealing the an an- answers answers steers on war and peace national defense relief and a balanced budget et It ought to save a lot of ot money Dr Ur Bush former vice president dent of ot Massachusetts Institute of Technology became president dent of the Carnegie Institution on January 1 of this year ear He is isone Isone isone one of the most distinguished mathematical physicists In America A tall genial bespectacled scientist with a slightly stooped and somewhat stringy figure with untamed hair he be leads reporters re quite out of their depth His Ills metallic cerebration was Just one of many of his in interesting In In- Interesting devices and discover discover- discoveries ies les Including particularly re tt- research re- re research search In the transmission of ot electric power Ower to which he has made notable Double contributions The son of a distinguished Boston clergyman he romped through Tufts Putts Harvard and M. M I. I I T. T picking up jp three degrees in three and one one- halt half years thereafter teaching at M. M I. I I T. T On February 19 19 1936 addressing the he New York Patent Lawyers' Lawyers as- as association association he was severely se critical of f the American patent system for forts its ts appalling fixity and lack of adaptability At the current com- com committee committee hearing he commends it but both oth meager news reports are out of if their context and Dr Bush doubt doubt- doubtless less ess could cowd defend himself against charge barge of Inconsistency O Ii C Consolidated News Feature Features Service