Show jt c j 1 ii eJ V a 1 ci o S m I th iI h sc ABoU Who Equipped 6 hi r I A I 1 tJ I I 1 I i 1 1 11 4 1 f 4 r If t th h Jf ii frio BY Q GITY UY T IVE YEARS EAns ago uso J Waldo ahIo Smith FIVE merely one of oC n a number 9 f J tant In the I of oC II N Jeroy ater company ani I Ione one une of the or of t J I T b he is I known IUS is th the thenan nn nan who has ot or the biggest and most piece of hydraulic in Am he i r en engineer ineer at a or of of th the aqueduct elon of New York whose cho e duty It Is IN to furnish the oils With its water Th secret of Mr Smiths rise is Ig re ret t aled b by the manner In which lie he heN N Tol to hIs former employers their bi big station on the river Jit it Little FRIIs N J mid a famine lit III the citi s of oC Jr Jersey k city X Newark ark Pat rs n and PAlMI the floods of last October when all HII that tion of the s wa more moret Or 11 and cut ut off of from out t communication for Cor nearly a week eek On UM the that the ne news reached I the officers orthe or the water that No H flood a the intelligence nee vm ut alS also coUe e to them tha t l Little LitHe FaUe Falli l contrary td th the general belief was as not above the aver yer averI I ege ge hood flood line but was something like four feet b below IO t tHere there I Here was a pretty how The tation n which has a dall daily pu I k is ie oft to rg 30 i on aud Pa le with their wate atoP tUh this station flooded nod out of the thO knew only too well that peo people le leml ml M be cut off from their accustomed water and not a drop would bp be I by the I he be got t In r again Then too once onee the water got t in thou thouy y fand or of doHan worth or of damage J E would be domic q With this Tn the ne that eral r ro w an n t Vido Smith chief n nf r to Jean em employ ploy plo itt hI a be become om f en I oCUJe of Ul Rn or of tw Y rk City had bad proved jUgh valuabLe in enu So he WaS i the situation be belore f lore forE I Mr r was a quiet I tiou m of forty od ju t the who would not attract attention on the street and moreover he has R a hesi tant speEch that the stranger an that he it is not sure of sele seIf Mr r Smith said Quietly Ill go AO up there and what can be done and the officials let Jet hIm go goV When V hen he re reached the Little Falls Fall station Mr Ir Smith found the es greatly They knew that th the flood as traveling fast down upon them and the they were by no means Ig Ignorant ignorant of the fact that the was In the path paCh of the rushing waters They were or cutting out to safet safety and let letting th ting g the people in Tersey City and else elsewhere elsewhere where get along as best they could without water i Mr 11 Smith to Ignore their anxiety He inspected the station for fora a few minutia s formulated his plans and then turned to the men memi I Wo c will first barricade the win do he said sald Th The mn men looked astonished I Were re not to stay here with t the he flOOd down U upon pon us s the they cried Ii I Mr Ir Smith was not i tasked ked ry Ive or 01 ordered dered 8 i supply of r tood will m be here hae soon and the and the closed and reinforced there will he be no dAnger But the tho men Could not hot se tt that I I Iway way i Knowledge of the wall or of water thou then towar t th theta m tam ig aWA away g in it its brIdge hous t t debris ot ol aU l theta them their thoughts thought were an all entered centered on losing n no tinie In getting to higher i ground here was a ont man or of medium stature combating the or of a score of oC men to flee Ee He argued with them pointIng out how thousands of oC P woud r greatly if they he tan a wy R The but they he were rc thinking of their own skins He showed them wh why the they would be I of the y deserted theIr em m when they were mo most t needed I They replied that theIr jobs coUld go I hang they going to be drowned He trIed to reassure them stating that hl his plan would keep the water out of the station The They ad admitted admitted that the scheme heme soun sounded ed all ull right but what tho they wanted was ocular proof of its pr Then n Mr 11 Smith told them that tha t they would have Ithe commanded them to stay with him In the station said that he would remain be but that he Intend to that they were go goIng lug Ing to stick b by him nd help him fight th the tU od Th t wa nU there was to it so please get to work and help to barn code cade the place placeMan Man Ian like sheep loves to be led The employees saw In their chief en engineer engineer a leader they fell teU In behind behin 1 him and soon Were busil busily engaged In inclosing closing the windows with planking I i I I I I and further strengthening the cover coverIngs coverIngs Ings by means of braces reaching to the floor ot of the station statton Next the doors and aU all other weak spots were wert similarly barricaded Mr Smith in inspected Inspected th the work once more more to see that everything was satisfactory and then the little tIe bIl band lId knocked off to eat and to wait wal t I They did not have haye to walt wait long To I the men there soon came the ar of the flood as it swept wet down thc Louder and louder oud r rit it grew as it rolled the rushing and swirling noises arose on both sides of the crest Clest ot of the I flood had pAssed them hem and was plunging ing 0 the ilver J Th They wait 4 Pretty soon there I dun sounds from the outside 10 low ne r the baSe bae of a wall No Noone Noone one lid had Jo o Wn them that the water witter I IniS was niS ln around the the noises wire ere the result of j with th of some seine tre o other lebris In the waters I As the poundings on the walls crept eer er higher and station not infrequently trembling when the blows wre were delivered b by heavy oh ob jE insist mule mude its waY Into the buildinG through every crack and crevice that could not b I rally sealed h by barricades But Mr lr Smith was not caught napping g He had looked for this very thinK thing had I prepared for foi it and he set f two cen centrifugal I pumps to work to carr carry off I Ith th the leakage All the while the other pumps were sending the customary I supply of water to the various dUes cities that were dependent on their running and Mr 11 SmIth and those men who I WEre not needed at the pumps kept I watch wath on the barrIcades i r j f i 1 I 7 I re I I I I k 1 I II II ABED FRS I I i s do dashed shed td ta the brook I Up mount mounted d the sea or of water three r fc t I 1 eight ni nine feet Before the n me no ola oa had expected the tha water fo o go higher and now the thC list coed for sounds and he re ices for igns at least of oC no furth rise But their hope was s live Up went tn tor fairly ally laMing four feet S et p to the t l 1 S over Oer their he d ds h Then there was aSplint a i r ing round followed by a rush of water inward A plank in one of the thc barn barri eades had broken away a Mr Ir Smith rushed forward Om cent following The They grabbed fresh measured their strength against or of the growing stream m tor forced ed the plank I log Ing over oyer the hole held beld and secured cured It back the flood which had succeeded in only wetting vetting not drown dron dronIn In m like rats In a trap the water rose It touched seven f feet et went on to eight thence more gradually to nine and then crept so o upward that the men could n t I lI whether the flood was still I or receding They watched I Ithe the barricades worked t te e pumps r while the mark vhs gained tour four feet above aboe the tal man of the little ban band Pretty soon while the they were watch for evidences of a further rise th y y had given up guessing where the water would became aware I that the had done its best beet It was as at a hl half f the Ule bet bat battle bettIe tIe tle was over The rhe other half was Lq like Uke Ute the with ith the conditions d outside the pounding sounds fell feU steadily lower and lower and one after an another another other the quit leaking from the roof downward donward But inside Mr lr I Smith and his lils men still watched the kept the centrifugal pumps carrying off the leakage and the gre great t pumps throwing the supplY or water inte the leading ding to Paterson then at the mercy of the theater water ater and to the other towns Finally after hours of waltin waiting a and watching aU all leakage topped stopped there was no pounding on the walls and the mr i knew that they vent venture re out outA outA A barricade was a door aftEr t hours theY breathed fresi re air once more and by the rk on the walls veried their calculations of the hel height ht that the flood had reached d dA A fe few hours later Mn Ir Smith quieU reported that the Immling station WaS safe and amI the had not mi missed R I stroke during durin the time that the sta station station tion was was endangered red He had again 1 proved hims lf the man for the emergency Previous to this thi time Mr lr Smiths record for Cor the better part of his life liCe had bad bet been n that or of taking care or of em emer emergencies r as 08 a ho boy one of his big friends said recent Smith was at ways ready read nhen caned called upon He seemed to himself especially for that purpose He entered the service or of the water ater company one of the biggest in the east cast in 1891 as an assistant engineer I For r a t time he tact n i at aL att t to himself 1 yh wO by y lila hie nut But aft several yeara rf began te ten n netlee that whenever arose arOM some OW unexpected ft thinS thIng to he be done dOM ta in the dally daily routine ot cC pipe la Ial l t Or what n not t Smith either ith had a p plait n tot Zor accomplishing It or did it aoS a a matter of cou and a part rt ot or his k Next thing they found out b by putting Mat Matin in charge of a small jon job thet be knew hew to command a as well as as to run Milt R a pipe line Still later Mr r Smith baYing born M abilitY ill hi figuring out the water ater under u g was as given n the job or of a certaIn Important main He did It pU and at a minimum cost COEt costIn In 1 18 the water ater Y was Q t fronted with wit the problem 0 oC a Waste of water ater In Pt n Smith one of our as assistant rs maybe he be can straighten matters out some one ted Mr Smith was as iR In c charge ige or of orthe the Paterson pumping lie He metered thE town made other lane and before h he had been in t the new neT position yer very lon long the wa te b been re reduced by several million gal Ions dally daily and there w wa no from the consumers i It was a o this piet piece or of work that first attracted outSIde hJ by engin engineers rs anti and experts to Mr Smith and thereafter they followed him bim in his progress to the 0 of chief engineer of the water company and In his acts while serving in that So that when hen the members I of the New York aqueduct comm Mon sion wOre were looking about for R a chief engineer to tackle a job that r i executive ate as well 01 as engineering null nullity it ity they picked out Smith He did not want the plaCE and told the eom rs so Tiey kept itt Ht him birn 0 of feting hint liberal inducements and then tilen practically asking him to naMe his terms term Finally he agreed to take the position if no rt restrictions what whatsoever vel were ere placed upon him The I commissioners AgreEd Mr Smith handed in hl his to h old employers and during the last week e k or of service with them this man who as a aboy aboy boy had entered the Institute of Technology with the ex express pre press purpose of preparing to te become becomeR R a leading engineer later ou pe performed f med medas as as dramatic a piece of work as well be imagined Copyright 1904 1901 b by Guy T ki |