Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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ALBERT SUTTON RICHEY Professor of Electric Railrvay Engineering B. M. E., Purdue, 1894, and E. E., 1908; Assistant Professor of Electric Railway Engineering, W. P. I., 1905-07; Profes¬ sor, 1907- . Professor Richey graduated from Purdue in 1894 while Prof. Smith was head of the Electrical Depart¬ ment there. He at once went into railway work and has been in it ever since. And now the greater part of his time is taken up with his consulting engineering practice. However, he faithfully reserves a few hours each week to pass on a portion of his accumulated knowl¬ edge. His enigmatic facial expression has us all guess¬ ing, and the day after an exam we were never able to decide. whether he was pleased with our written appre¬ ciation of his efforts or not. Prof. Richey has recently compiled an “Electric Rail¬ way Handbook,” which has received commendable re¬ views from the highest authorities in Railway Engineering. CHARLES METCALF ALLEN Professor of Hydraulic Engineering B. S., W. P. I., 1894, and M. S., 1899; Instructor in Mechan¬ ical Engineering, 1894-1902; Assistant Professor of Experi¬ mental Engineering, 1902-06; Professor, 1906-09; Professor of Hydraulic Engineering, 1909- At four and a half minutes past ten, the sturdy figure of a middle-aged man, with iron-gray hair and a “Gib¬ son” jaw, strode lazily down the line to the tune of “On the Old Fall River Line” bursting lustily from the throats of forty hilarious Mechanics, hilarious because they knew this would be an hour of rest and that “Charlie” would do all the talking. The hero of our story turned at the end of the aisle, and after placing his volume of Merriman, with its bright red binding, upon the desk, he proceeded to make himself comfortable in the low-backed chair, tilted back against the wall. “Any questions?” A short period of silence, then— “If you haven’t any questions, then I’ll ask some.” This was the signal for the end of the opening ritual and the meeting was then thrown open for discussion. 22

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A F, PI M tX , ARTHUR DEXTER BUTTERFIELD Professor of Mathematics and Geodesy B. S„ W. P. I., 1893, and M. S., 1898; A. M„ Columbia, 1904; Assistant in Civil Engineering, W. P. I., 1894-98; Instructor in Mathematics, University of Vermont, 1898-1900; Assistant Professor, 1900-04; Professor of Mechanics and Mathematics, 1904-08; Assistant Professor of Mathematics, W. P. I., 1908- JO; Professor, 1910-14; Professor of Mathematics and Geodesy, 1914- . Some Tech men complete their four years without meeting certain members of the faculty in any way. This should never apply to the subject of this sketch. In our “Fresh” year there were rumors afloat on the air that we were to have a gym and that Butterfield was going to get it for us. Because a gym had for years been only a dream we were skeptical, and immediately made it a point to see the man in question. We did, and found that here was a man after our own heart, a Tech grad, an athlete of much renown, a man who could and did and was glad to meet the students on their own level. ARTHUR WOOLSEY EWELL Professor of Physics A. B., Yale, 1897, and Ph. D., 1899; Assistant in Physics, Yale, 1897-99; Instructor, W. P. I., 1900-04; Assistant Professor, 1904-10; Professor, 1910- In our Sophomore year Dr. Duff decided that he needed a rest from his arduous duties in the Physics De¬ partment, and went abroad. His absence gave all of us an opportunity to make the acquaintance of “Punk,” since it was he who now had to bear the burden of de¬ livering the Physics Lectures, a task which required almost superhuman skill to perform successfully, owing to the eccentricities of the apparatus, as well as those of his as¬ sistant. But what cared we if all the experiments were not very illuminating in the results obtained; it certainly was not due to “Punk’s” energies. We always accepted his statement that he was sorry, “but it worked all right be¬ fore the lecture,” as a necessary part of the game. VV.v 21

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HOWARD CHAPIN IVES Professor of Railroad Engineering Ph. B., Yale, 1898, and C. E., 1900; Instructor in Civil En¬ gineering, W. P. I., 1900-03; Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania, 1903-06; Assistant Professor of Railroad En¬ gineering, W. P. I., 1906-12; Professor, 1912- Cedar 2376?—Yes, please.—Hello, may I speak with Mr. M-?—Hello, is that you, George?— What’s the lesson in water supply?—You didn’t bother to take it down. Well, I thought that I might look it over, but I guess that I will not bother with it.—Oh, Reddy’ll probably tell us how he put a bridge across the Gulf of Mexico for the Acheson.—I don’t know but I have always suspected that it was rear chainman, or something like that.—There is no use in asking him that, he will just “look the matter up before the next recitation.” —He does seem to get away with a great deal when it comes to writing books.—Oh, you must have been read¬ ing the write-up in the Tech News. You ought to have seen what the Engineering Record said about that book. —Yes, it’s too bad we can’t run that department.—All right, good bye. JOSEPH OLIVER PHELON Professor of Electrical Engineering B. S., W. P. I., 1887, and B. S., (Electrical Engineering), 1890; M. M. E., Cornell, 1901 ; Instructor in Physics, W. P. I., 1887- 96; Electrical Engineering, 1896-1900; Fellow, Cornell Univer¬ sity, 1900-01; Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, W. P. I., 1901-07; Professor, 1907- . Just plain “Joe” Phelon, Country Gentleman. Now that we know Prof. Phelon we are wondering how he ever happened to take up Electrical Engineering when he would have been so happy as a farmer. Eo any ob¬ server it is easily seen that “Joe” would fit into a rural picture without a make-up—and even without the Ford. How natural he would look leaning up against a divid¬ ing line fence with a straw between his teeth, swapping stories, by Heck! with old Ebenezer Drawback, his neighbor. Then he would never be bothered with that one rubber stamp of his which has been the Waterloo of coun tless Tech men. Yellow exam papers, “finals” and all such trash would be forgotten and, we think, “Joe” would be happy.