Show WHO'S iJ NEWS THIS WEEK By LEMUEL F. F PARTON N NEW EW YORK John John F. F Stevens L was self-educated self as an engi engI- neer Therefore he was an eclectic and readily made use of a retired murderer to ac ac- Famed Engineer a des des- Used Murderer To Attain End tant tant end Jf regardless re- re of the lack of engineering precedent HeIs HeIs He HeIs Is now 86 one of the greatest of ol American engineers the first engineer engineer engineer engi 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 Indian In In- dian Jim Hills Hill's new railroad westbound westbound west west- bound hound from St St. Paul was v rather impulsively started It ran slap slap- bang into the impenetrable wall o of at 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 a young engineer for the railroad talked to the about it There was such a pass They knew all about it But not all of Jim Hills Hill's wampum could bribe them even to point in that tion This Marias pass was the dwelling place of ot evil spirits of sorcerers of dreadful demons and andall andall andall all who went that way lost either their lives or their reason Mr Stevens mashed over the mountains with the thermometer ter at 50 degrees below zero and found no pass But by chance he found a wanderer In the wilderness wilderness wil wit a Blackfoot driven drien out by his tribe because he had killed a man The Indian had been having a difficult time A Afew Afew Afew few devils and monsters more or less meant little to him They made a deal The story of their on end scramble to the roof of the continent through five feet Ceet of snow and bitter cold with Mr 1 Stevens sleepless as he kept an eye on his homicidal guide is one of the classics of ot the conquest of the wilderness They found the pass and their return was another desperate adventure But soon the scream of ot locomotives was crying down the demons who presumably moved moed on When the Panama canal was projected projected pro pro- John F. F Stevens fought through against weighty opposition the lock principle against the sealevel sealevel sealevel sea- sea level plan The engineer In charge I from 1905 until he was succeeded by General Goethals he flattened all the demons of disease and disorder disorder dis dis- disorder dis- dis order which had licked licke DC De Lesseps General Goethals rated his work as among the greatest of ot engineering achievements He was minister plenipotentiary to the Soviets in 1917 remaining six years and reorganizing reorganizing reorganizing re re- re- re organizing and rebuilding their rail rail- roads D DR R. R V VANNEVAR AR BUSH testifying testifying testify testify- ing on the patent system before the national economy committee at Washington is the inventor ofa of a a mechanical Scientists Scientist's Brain b bra brain r a I in n o 0 or r Machine Downs thinking ma- ma Human Thinker chine as bigas big biS bigas as a sawmill that solves pr problems too difficult for tor the human brain I It If works nicely nice nice- ly Iy and Franklin institute awarded him a medal for it One can think offhand of a lot of vexing problems problems' that might be tossed into its hopper these days Set up In congress dealing the answers answers an an- answers on war and peace national defense relief and nd a balanced budget et et it ought to save a lot of money Dr Bush former Cormer vice president president dent of ot Massachusetts l Institute of ot Technology became president president president dent of the Carnegie institution on January 1 of ot this year He Be isone is isone isone one of the most distinguished mathematical physicists in Lu America A tall taU genial bespectacled bespectacled bespectacled scientist with a slightly stooped and somewhat stringy figure with untamed hair he he leads reporters quite out of their depth His metallic cerebration was just one of man many of ot his interesting In Interesting in- in devices and discoveries discover discover- ies Including particularly research research research re re- re- re search In the transmission of ot power to which he has made notable contributions The son of a distinguished Boston clergyman he romped through Tufts Tufts Harvard and M. M I. I T. T picking up three degrees in in three and ond one- one half halt years thereafter teaching at atM M M. M I. I T. T On February 19 19 1936 addressing the New York Patent Lawyers' Lawyers association association as as- he was severely critical of the American ican patent system for tor its appalling fixity and lack lock of adaptability At the current committee committee com corn hearing he commends It It but bUl both meager news reports are out of their context and Dr Bush doubtless doubtless doubtless doubt doubt- less could defend himself against charge of or Inconsistency o 0 Consolidated News Features Service |