Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

Page 29 text:

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.

Page 28 text:

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

Page 30 text:

FREDERIC BONNET, JR. Professor of Chemistry B. S., Washington University, 1899; M. S., Harvard, 1902, and Ph. D., 1903; Assistant in Chemistry, Harvard, 1899-1903; Instructor in Chemistry, State University of Iowa, 1903-04; W. P. I., 1904-09; Assistant Professor, 1909-12; Professor, 1913- . Frederic Bonnet, Jr., Professor of Chemistry, is the way his name appears in the catalogue, but to us he has been known as “Doc” Bonnet ever since we met him in Freshman Chemistry. “Doc” started right out in the beginning to get a string of letters after his name, the first ones being “Jr.” In 1899 he acquired a “B. S.” at Washington University; in 1902 an “M. S.” at Harvard, and in 1903 he received a “Ph. D.” (which accounts for the nickname). The only letters he uses, however, are the ones he received first. Although his specialty is Chemistry, he has by no means confined his energies to that field alone, but has become an authority on numerous other subjects, among these being pigs, politics and harmonicas. JOHN HARLAND NELSON Professor of Applied Mechanics B. S„ South Dakota State College, 1905; M. S., University of Illinois, 1909; Instructor in Mathematics, South Dakota State College, 1903-08; University Fellow, University of Illinois, 1908- 09; Assistant Professor of Applied Mechanics, Case, 1909- 12; Professor, W. P. I., 1912- . It “strains” and it “stresses” us to say our au revoir to this member of the Mechanical Dept., but in our au revoir there is not a single “impooity” and all we say is sincere. In our Junior year, Prof. Nelson, whose sobriquet has somehow come to be “Hungry John” (we know not how or even why), left us for a short stay at the Bureau of Standards in Washington. There he was busy on the calibration of their huge testing machines, on which he is an expert. After going to the Watertown Arsenal and testing their machine there he returned to Worcester and resumed his work in “Matscon,” or rather the “Ma¬ terials of Construction.” 24