Show historic Y to st or ic sketch of james jame s M dodge mr james mapes dodge chairman of the board of tile the link belt company of chicago died at his home in philadelphia on december he was born june 1852 at waverly new jers jersey ey his grandfather was prof james J maples a noted chemist and scientist and his mother mary mapes dodge a well known author for many years editor of st nicholas magazine mr dodge spent three years at cornell university and a year at rutgers at the latter institution lie he took a special course in chemistry under the late professor george georga H cook state geologist of new jersey after spending a short time at tile the morgan iron works in new york city lie he entered the shops of john roach the shipbuilder at chester pennsylvania where his marked mechanical ability and ingenuity brought him rapid advancement during the three years at the chester establishment he was successively journeyman foreman and su perin of erection shortly after the centennial at philadelphia in 1876 lie he left the shipyard and after several years of experience in the east went to chicago it was here that he formed the acquaintance of Willi william Arn D ewart the inventor of the ewart link belting and soon afterward he joined hands with mr ewart and his associates in the development of the chain business at that time about thirty five years ago the application of chains to power transmission was exceedingly limited and their use in elevating and conveying machinery was practically unknown the ewart chain blazed the way for a new industry and mr dodge and his associates were quick to seize the opportunity mr dodges early work was confined principally to development and manufacture and here his genius had full play new chains new methods of manufacture and new conveying and elevating appliances were brought out in rapid succession after this period of development mr dodge went east and entered into partnership with edward H burr under the firm name of burr dodge who represented in philadelphia the ewart manufacturing company of indianapolis the original manufacturers of ewart detachable link belt for the exploitation of the ewart chain and its allied interests out of this partnership grew the link belt engineering company organized in 1888 and after the formation of this company mr dodge carried out his idea of development along strictly engineering lines A highly specialized engineering staff was developed a scientific study was made of the characteristics of the materials to be handled and special aepli ances were invented to meet varying conditions machines grew from capacities of thirty tons tolls per hour to capacities of 1000 to tons per hour and from simple problems solved by detached machines the company expand ed its field to tile the planning and arranging of works to secure tile the most economical and efficient ha handling adling of both raw and finished product under guarantees of accomplish ment in all this development mr dodge was the creative and guiding spirit it was in 1889 after having become thoroughly acquainted with the needs of the anthracite coal industry that mr dodge developed the boldest and perhaps the most original of his inventions this was his system of storing anthracite coal in large conical piles and reloading it by machinery accomplishing this result with little labor and practically no breakage the invention was so complete and yet withal so simple that it is still without a rival in t the h e field of anthracite coal storage for this meritorious invention he was presented with the elliott cresson gold medal in 1907 by the franklin institute of philadelphia it may be interesting to note that another recipient of this much coveted honor was thomas A edison when it is considered that the dodt bodga 0 3 system of coal storage reduced the cost of handling coal in and out of storage from 30 and often 40 cents per ton per round trip to less than 5 cents it is evident that the saving effected on the tons handled by this system annually has been a large item fertility of invention and mechanical ingenuity are rarely coupled with a high order of executive ability yet such is the COL combination of qualities that brought success to mr dodge who as an inventor had the distinction of being mentioned in patent office reports among the few who had been granted over one hundred letters patent and as an executive had won success as the president and active managing spirit of such highly successful industrial engineering corporations po rations as the link belt engineering company and the dodge coal storage company later called the J M dodge company he was elected president of these companies in 1892 and chairman of the board of directors of the link belt company when it was organized in 1906 through the merger of the allied companies the link belt engineering company philadelphia the link belt machinery company chicago and tile the ewart manufacturing company indianapolis at which time mr charles became president of the link belt company mr dodge was responsible for tile the design of the links and attachments in all of the various sizes of link belting used today throughout the world and owing to the excellence cel lence of his original designs they have not as yet been improved upon J among mr dodges important inventions f and improvements were those relating to the construction and manufacture of silent hain his invention of the bushed joint as f applied to this type of power transmit transmitting tint medium aa again ain marked his mechanical ingenuity for he put on the market a long j sought for product which is receiving constantly scantly increasing recognition for the transmission of power though tor for many years a large employer of men mr dodge never met with 1 any ally strikes or other labor difficulties he was deeply interested in the personal weli cifare fare and advancement of his associates and a conspicuous leader in the general introduction of the best elements in scientific management having the double purpose of producing greater efficiency in the mechanical and human equipment and I 1 greater pay with shorter hours and improved conditions for tile the men he was for many years closely associated with the late I 1 frederick W taylor in the accomplishment of remarkable results for the benefit of both employers and employees in a wide circle of industries his influence was always towards the development of self help initiative ambition and responsibility in the men and of a spirit of fair play and humanitarianism as real business assets in the many employers who recognized mr dodges leadership in modern progressive methods of shop management always affirmative in his views he was fertile in suggestions and quicker to point out the better way or the way to improve than to condemn or discountenance he was encouraging optimistic a constant inspiration to those with whom he came in contact public spirited and always a leader in various societies and clubs of which lie he was a member such as the american society of mechanical engineers past president franklin institute vice president stevens institute of technology honorary degree sc D school of design philadelphia trustee union league club of philadelphia university club and fraternity |