Show the boyhood ta of famous vr J V americans swid sw id 21 ralph few of us are fortunate enough to make our early dreams come true t rt le rot but ralph moll mod joslin fins done so the worlds foremost bridge builder holder of tile the john brity gold 0 reedal tile highest honor that the engineers ta of tile tho united states cun can confer on inn a eilf her of their profession dreamed its as a in lad 0 of fifteen of becoming a great engineer ue he sacrificed one career that held high fi promise romise anti anil oNer overcame earne an initial failure to nc lilee ills his ambition this genitis lo in the construct construction lon field as mas horn born in cracow chacow poland in ile he was wag the son of mine helena modjeska famous tragedienne ills his father was a director of theatrical companies As a ili and lie trel ed with his hig parents uzl the country sections often lite I 1 lie troupe made its journey in afons it was nas hard but an enjoyable and instructive life young ralph like so many children of theatrical folks folk a was a jin enile actor of ability ile he played roles in either german or polch in its his fathers companies ile he was taught by tutors while traveling about the country tie lie enter until he be was oner oer olne nine then lie he took up his studies in cra cow there he became a piano pupil of cazimir hofmann otmann II father of josef hofmann young possessed such high musical talent that friends of the family were certain he would become as famous a pianist as his mother was on the dramatic stage singe cut but when madame modjeska came to tills this country in 1876 and brought her son in with her ralph was thinking of other things thau than music while lie he did not neglect ills his piano practice lie ile was beginning to think in terms of construct construction lon and to dream ills his dreams of becoming an engineer tile artist in music was nas making way aay for the lie artist in steel the newcomers to america ched ed in hoboken llo boken tor for a time because bebau se expenses were less there then t they ley went nent to california and bought a farm they knew nothing of agriculture their Theirs sai aings ings dwindled fast their first income from froin the venture was nas obtained when ralph lassoed a neighbors calf that hall had gone astray ilia his reward amounted to three dollars madame modjeska learned english she made tier her american Amei Anic ican ilean debut in san francisco to which she and ralph moved there he be too quickly learned the language of ills adopted land all lie while ills ainther insisted that he continue with his music lie he pr practiced much while he vas a as acting as advance agent for madeline madame modjeska on her first tour four of the united states in the year 1877 but ills his dreams were vere becoming move more insistent while lie he liked the life of grael the atmosphere of the theater the company of artists there was as something lacking ills own career wi as a mu seemed promising enough yet he finally cast it aside to take up the profession of engineering ile he sailed for france in 1878 to study tor for the entrance examinations to tile the famous ecole lies des ponts et chaus sees school of bridges and roads lie worked hard on his books still lie he failed in tile the examinations und and qualify for entrance it was vias a bitter disappointment to the youngster out of that failure grew a determination min mi to conquer the task lie he hail had set for himself he stuck to ills his books definitely deciding to pass up a musical career for that of engineering one of the hardest and most exacting of the professions his perse derence was rewarded when next he tried the examinations he stood fourth on the list before the end of the dear lie reached the top of his class in scholarship he maintained that standing throughout his course graduating with honors from the ecole des ponts et Chaus sees lie he wag as a marked young man in tile the engineering profession from tile the outset of his bra careey as a bridge builder ile he has lived up to his early promise and today Is rated as one of the greatest engineers in the world it Is estimated that ralph had been the directing genius back of almost worth of bridges the structures lie he has designed span mighty rivers in many parts of the world tile the ambassador bridge connecting michigan and ontario canada the greatest suspension bridge in tile the world Is a monument to his ability tie he built the dalavare Dalu Hare river bridge supervised supervise part of th the construction of the manhattan bridge and tile the quebec bridge over the st lawrence with these and other great structures to his credit ralph mod je jesika sk has accomplished what hat so many of us its tail fall to do ile he has indeed made tits his dreams come true to the greet great benefit of tile the traveling public to ay by the abe north american newspaper alliance |