User:Mdd/James P. Kirkwood quotes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


James P. Kirkwood

James Pugh Kirkwood (27 March 1807 – 22 April 1877) was a 19th-century American civil engineer, and general superintendent of the Erie Railroad in the year 1849-1850. He left the Erie to go to the southwest to construct railroads, and he made the first survey for the Pacific Railroad west from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. Late 1860s he served as President of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Quotes about Kirkwood[edit]

Between the Ocean and the Lakes: The Story of Erie. (1899)[edit]

Source: Edward Harold Mott Between the Ocean and the Lakes: The Story of Erie. Collins, 1899

About his 1836 job[edit]

  • The historic survey through Sullivan County was made by Allen A. Goodliffe, in the fall of 1839 and winter of 1840, as First Assistant under A. C. Morton. He is still living, aged eighty-seven years, the last survivor of the pioneer civil engineers of this country. He began at the age of nineteen, on the Newcastle and Frenchtown Railroad, in Delaware. In 1831 he helped survey the Ithaca and Owego Railroad route, and in 1S34 was an engineer on the Chenango Canal. In 1836 he went to the Long Island Rail Road, under James P. Kirkwood, Engineer of that work and some years later Superintendent of the Erie. In 1837 he became Chief Engineer of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad, and a year later helped locate a route for the proposed New York and Albany Railroad. Then he made the Sullivan County survey of the Erie route. December, 1.S40, he completed the survey of the New York and Harlem Railroad, and ran the line for the desired eight-mile extension of that railroad to the Hudson River, to connect with the Erie, which great opportunity the Erie rejected. It is to Mr. Goodliffe that the author is indebted for the records on which that chapter of Erie is written...
    • p. 321

About the Starucca Viaduct, 1848[edit]

  • The valley of the Starrucca Creek, about two miles beyond Cascade Gulf, was the next difficulty in the way of the railroad—a sudden, deep, and wide depression in the hills, a hundred feet or more below the lowest elevation the road bed could find. This valley was more than a quarter of a mile wide, and there was no way around it. At first it was proposed that this broad and deep stretch should be graded up to the level of the road-bed by constructing an embankment across it, but the plan was abandoned on the score of cost and the great length of time that would be required to raise that enormous mound of earth. The crossing of the valley by a viaduct was then decided upon. The great work was begun about the time the Cascade Bridge was begun, but it was dragging, and threatened to defeat the efforts of the Company to get the road through to Binghamton by the end of 1848. Three different contractors had failed and thrown up the work.
James P. Kirkwood was a Scotsman, and learned civil engineering on the Boston and Albany Railroad, an early work from which a number of engineers and contractors came to the Erie when it was building. He was a brother-in-law of Julien W. Adams, who was a leading contractor and bridge builder on the Erie, his great work being the above described wooden bridge over Cascade Gulf. In the spring of 1848, Contractor Adams was appealed to by the Company's representatives.
"Who can build that viaduct?" he was asked.
"I know of no one who can do it," he replied, "unless it is Kirkwood."
The matter was presented to Kirkwood. He visited the spot, investigated the facilities for getting stone and material, and reported.
"I can build that viaduct in time," he said, "provided you don't care how much it may cost."
He was told to go to work at it regardless of cost. He did so. The quarries from which the stone for the work was obtained were three miles up the Starrucca Creek. Kirkwood put down a railroad track on each side of the creek, from the quarries to the work, and brought the stone in on cars. The labor was all done by the day, and every available man in that vicinity was employed. In May, 1848, at the viaduct and quarries, 800 men were employed. The false work was in thirteen tiers, and extended across the Starrucca Valley. Operations on this remarkable structure were pushed night and day, and with such system and method that the viaduct was ready for use long before its use was required. This engineering feat gave Kirkwood great prestige with the Company, and resulted in his being selected as General Superintendent to succeed H. C. Seymour in 1849.
James P. Kirkwood was a native of Edinburgh, and came to America in 1834. He was a graduate of Edinburgh College, and a civil engineer. In 1835 he became Assistant Engineer of the Stonington Railroad, and in that year surveyed the route for the Long Island Rail Road, and had charge of the construction of that road until operations were stopped by the panic of 1837. Kirkwood later was engaged on the Boston and Albany Railroad. He left the Erie to go to the southwest to construct railroads, and he made the first survey for the Pacific Railroad west from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains.
The Starrucca Viaduct was at the time it was built the greatest work of railroad bridge masonry in the United States, and is to-day a conspicuous example of that branch of engineering science, even among the stupendous feats of modern bridge construction. The viaduct is 1,200 feet long, 110 feet high, and has eighteen arches with spans of fifty feet each. It was wisely constructed for a double track, and was made thirty feet wide on top. The cost of the structure was $320,000, the most expensive railroad bridge in the world at that time.
  • p. 350-351

About the great tunnel through Bergen Hill, 1856-61[edit]

  • The contract for boring the great tunnel through Bergen Hill, so that the completing and perfecting of the scheme for the Erie terminals at Jersey City might be accomplished, was let to Stanton, Mallory & Co., of Newburgh, X. Y., and the work was begun June 1, 1856. The locomotive " Eleazar Lord," Henry Shimer, engineer, hauled away the first load of stones and earth, on the track built for that purpose, and dumped them in the Hudson River, where all the excavated debris from the Bergen Hill was to be dumped, to aid in making the water-front now owned by the Erie at Jersey City, particularly at Pavonia Ferry.
The financial troubles of the Erie hindered the progress of the work on the tunnel seriously, and in October, 1857, the contractors were forced to abandon the work for lack of funds. Operations were not resumed for a year and a half. Work was rushed, and August 2, 1859, the workmen met in the two ends of the drift, and let daylight through the hill.
The contractors were again in financial straits, and the two semi-monthly pay days having been passed in September, 1859, without the men receiving their wages, they quit work September 16th, to the number of 500, and began rioting. They blockaded the Erie west of the tunnel by turning gravel cars upside down upon the tracks, and piling the road high with rocks and other obstructions. The barricades were guarded by scores of the rioters, and all efforts of the Company to clear the tracks prevented. After traffic on the road had been suspended for a day, the Company was compelled to charter a steamboat and carry passengers to Piermont, which place for the time became once more the eastern terminus of the railroad for all through trains. On the third day of the insurrection, the workmen refusing to come to terms, the Company appealed to the authorities of Jersey City. They were unable to quell the riot or clear the tracks, and the Xew Jersey militia was called out. Sunday morning September 19th, a large military force, under Brigadier-General Hatfield, accompanied by hundreds of citizens, man hed to the scene of the disturbance. Two large field pieces, mounted on a Hat car, were carried to the spot, but the rioters welcomed the soldiers and the cannon with fierce derision. They hooted the efforts of a priest to quiet them. A strong force of police first man hed upon them. They beat the police back with many broken heads. General Hatfield then ordered his men to charge the crowd with fixed bayonets. The mob gave- way before the soldiers, and was soon flying in all directions. A large number of them were captured, many of them ring-leaders. They were taken to Hudson City and lodged in jail. The tracks were cleared, but toward evening the rioters began gathering again. General Hatfield again marched against them, and captured thirty more of the mob. After that, quiet was restored. Work in the tunnel was not resumed, however, for a long time. Then A. B. Seymour assumed the contract, and operations once more began.
The tunnel was completed early in 1861, and was formally opened to traffic February 6, 1861. From March, 1859, until June, 1860, the work was in charge of John P. Cumming, contractor, and J. P. Kirkwood, chief engineer. It was completed by A. B. Seymour, contractor, under the supervision of John Houston, engineer. Eight shafts were sunk eighty feet in depth. The tunnel was cut through solid rock 4,300 feet of the distance, or more than half way: Its height was twenty-three feet, width twenty-eight feet. The average number of men employed daily on the work was 700.
Fifty-seven persons were killed during the tunnel construction. The opening of the tunnel was made the occasion of a great celebration, the first train through being an excursion train.
Another source conforms Kirkwood's role in the completion of the Bergen Tunnel
  • James P. Kirkwood was also an assistant engineer on this road. In 1832 he came from Scotland, where he was born, with letters to McNeill; he commenced work on the Norwich Worcester R. R., and then served on the Boston & Providence and Stonington R. R.'s. On the last named road he became Resident Engineer and served in the same capacity on the Long Island R. R., which was opened from the foot of Atlantic street to Hicksville in 1837. In 1840 Kirkwood was Resident Engineer on the Mountain Division of the Western R. R., where he remained until its completion in 1843. He located and constructed the Springfield & Northampton R. R. In 1848 he completed the Starrucca Viaduct as Superintendent in one season; this led to his appointment as Superintendent of the Erie R. R. He became Chief Engineer of the Missouri Pacific R. R. in 1850, and was consulted on and completed the Bergen Tunnel in 1858-9. At this time he was Engineer of the Brooklyn Water Supply, whose successful completion was largely due to his efforts.
    • Source: Proceedings ... Constitution and By-laws, Vol. 11 Brooklyn Engineers' Club, 1908. p. 57

1849 timetable and code of regulation[edit]

Time table, Erie Railroad 1849.
  • The facsimile official time-table, as above, is the first one issued in that form under the superintendency of James I. Kirkwood. This one was for the Delaware Division. It is peculiarly interesting as a memento of those ante-telegraph days of railroading, owing to the instructions" that were printed upon it for the guidance of the engineers, conductors, and trainmen, which will be something to amaze the railroader of this day and generation. The code of regulations for trains thus promulgated was the beginning of a system that was but little improved until the coming of the telegraph.
    • p. 384-385
    • The time table gives an instruction for passengers stating: "Train will be allowed under any circumstances to leave a station before the time specified in this Table, as regulated by the Clock at the Piermont office."
Text of the instructions[edit]
First code of Erie Train Regulations, 1849.

1st. -- No train must under any circumstances leave a station before its-time, as specified in the Time Table.
2d -- Passenger trains shall not wait for freight trains, but all Binghamton passenger trains going in a direction from Piermont, will keep out of the way of those going towards Piermont ; and passenger trains will in no case proceed, where another passenger train Having the right to the road is due, until a message has been received from the conductor of that passenger train.
3d. -- A Binghamton passenger train going towards Piermont, will wait ten minutes at a station where another passenger train should pass, if the expected train has not arrived ; it may then proceed, using all necessary precautions. It will also proceed cautiously when running in the time of a delayed freight train, until that train has been met.
4th. -- A passenger train not entitled to the road, will not proceed towards a station where a passenger train having the precedence is expected to be, unless it shall be able to arrive five minutes before the time of leaving of the latter train.
5th. -- Freight trains will to all cases wait for passenger trains, and for milk trains, and be kept entirely out of their way, never leaving a station on the time of a passenger or milk train, unless on positive information received from it. The rate of speed is twelve miles per hour for freight trains, and enginemen of freight train are not at liberty to make up for delays by increasing the speed beyond this rate. A freight train which is up to time, will wait twenty minutes at the proper passing place for another freight train which may be delayed. It will then proceed at a walk keeping a man ahead with a proper signal, and using every precaution until it meets the other train or other freight train which is behind time, will move at a walk, and keep a man ahead with a red flag, or red lantern, as the case may be, until it passes the coming weight train. This does not apply to passenger trains, a freight never being on the road in the time of a passenger train, unless a message has been received. Milk trains will in all cases wait for passenger trains -- but will take precedence of freight trains. The rules for freight trains will apply to milk trains -- unless when otherwise specified.
6th -- In case of accident to a passenger train, or a freight train, the conductor shall immediately send messengers to the stations on either side of him, to notify the way agents, and he shall forward a written message with the least practicable delay to the approaching passenger train, -- he shall also station men with red flags, or red lanterns, at some distance on either side of the spot -- he shall also communicate with the freight train detained by the accident, and every way agent or other officer on the road will promptly assist the conductor in forwarding the necessary information. The way agents at the stations on either side of the accident, shall make in their business to notify all approaching trains.
7th -- A red flag by day. and a red lantern by night, when shown or swung on the track, are signals of danger, on seeing which the engineman will stop the train. All signals violently given are also to be considered signals of danger, and in cases of uncertainty, a man must always be sent forwards.
8th -- Every engineman in approaching a road or switch, should move at a moderate speed, and see that the way is clear before he reaches it. If the switch be not seem to be right, he should stop till he is sure.
9th -- Enginemen will not start the train till they shall be directed by the conductor, nor until the bell is rung, and they will run the train as nearly to time as possible, neither arriving at the stations too soon, nor too late lor the business usually done there.
10th. -- The enginemen are held responsible that their engines are neat and in good working order before they start, that their spark arresters and wire-nettings are in good condition, that they have a sufficiency of wood and water in the tender, and that are otherwise thoroughly provided for the work which they have to preform. Every engineman will not only attend to every sign and to his instructions, but he will be vigilant, and cautious while on the road, not trusting entirely to signals for safety.
11th -- lf it shall be found impracticable from any unforeseen pause of a freight train in passing from one station to another, to reach the station to which it proceeding in season, and another train Is expected, then the conductor of the coming tram is a passenger train, will cause his train to be backed, keeping a man ahead, to the nearest turn out, and there wait the passing of the train ... to the road. If this cannot be done, or if the expected train is a freight train, he will be careful to send a man very far ahead with a flag by day, or a lantern by night, to give notice of his approach, and the engineman of the train - shall not proceed if these precautions are not strictly observed.
12th. -- The engines of gravel trains when leaving an engine house or principal station for the work. or when returning to the same, shall always take the time of one of the regular' trains, unless the said train .... using the greatest precaution. The engines of wood trains shall follow the same rule wherever practicable - they shall never be on the road within twenty minutes the time ol any of the regular trains.
13th. -- Red flags or red lanterns shall always be placed at a safe distance on either side of the ground where gravel trains are at work, and a man shall remain with, them whenever it is advisable for safety. The engineman of the gravel train shall, as well as the conductor, and the foreman in charge of the repairs, be held responsible for the strict observance of this rule, and of every additional precaution which particular circumstances may make necessary to the safety of the road.
14th. -- Trains in arriving at a turn-out, where a meeting with another tram is intended, will enter upon the nearest end of the turn-out, under all circumstances never passing ahead with the view of backing in upon it. Freight trains when meeting passenger trams will take the turn-out if practicable. In other cases trains will keep to the right.
15th. -- If freight trains are at any time obliged to keep the main track in passing passenger trains, a man with a flag by day or lantern by night, will be always sent in the direction of the approaching train, to give suitable warning for it to approach carefully, and the conductor of the freight train will see that the switches are right for the passage of the passenger train.
16th. -- A freight train must not leave a station immediately preceding a station where a passenger tram is expected to pass, unless it shall be able to arrive at the latter station by its prescribed rale of running, (which is twelve miles per hour) ten minutes before the time for the passenger train to leave.
17th. -- When a regular train is divided into two or more distinct trains, a red red flag by day and a red lantern by night, will be exhibited in front of the engines of all the trains except the last.
18th, -- Red lanterns must be exhibited at night in the rear of all night trains and of all the day trams that may occupy the road after sunset. No excuse will be admitted for any neglect in exhibiting this signal.
19th -- In running one train behind another, each engineman must so run as to keep the train ahead of him out of sight - and in approaching a station, particular caution will be used so to slacken the speed as to avoid the possibility of running into the leading train. No excuse as to being deceived about the distance will be received for a neglect of this rule. In case of obstruction, to the leading train, a man shall immediately be sent behind to stop the following train.
20th. -- Every engineman is authorized to require the conductor and brakemen of his train to be at their posts, and every engineman will be held responsible who proceeds with his train, while any of the instructions detailed here, are neglected or violated. No brakeman will be allowed to leave his post, or to be in a car when the train is running, upon any consideration whatever.
21st. -- Each conductor or assistant conductor of a freight train will be held responsible for the correct performance of duly of the brakemen of his train. He will require the doors of freight cars always to be closed and locked ; and keep the brakemen at their posts. Whenever delay occurs at a station from freight being improperly stowed, he is required to report the circumstances on the same day.
22d. -- All engines on approaching a station, will pass the switch cautiously; and in all cases slop at the station - unless otherwise instructed. Way agents are expressly required to report all violations of this rule.
23d. -- All persons in any way in charge of repairs on the road, are required to procure copies of the Time Table, and of the "Instructions."
24th. -- Enginemen will allow no person to. ride upon the engine without express authority from a superintendent of the road.
25th. -- Conductors of freight trams will, when passing over the maximum grades, station themselves on the rear car of the train, and see that all the brake-men arc at their post
26th -- All persons when at work upon.the track, are required to give notice of any obstruction caused by their work, by exhibiting red flags, or red lanterns, conspicuously and at a sufficient distance from the obstruction, taking care always to place them beyond a curve, so that they shall be seen upon a straight line in both directions of the road, - and all conductors, enginemen, &c, are particularly enjoined to proceed with extreme caution, when such signal is exhibited, until the obstruction shall be passed - and in all cases where the obstruction is such as to prevent the passing of the train, a man shall be sent ahead by the person attending to the repairs, with a red flag, or a red lantern, half an hour at least before the train shall be due, and remain with it until he has stopped the train.
27th. -- Enginemen will be careful to see that the bell is rung at eighty rods before crossing a highway, and kept ringing until the road is, crossed.
28th. -- The clock at the Piermont office shall be the standard time, and all conductors and enginemen before leaving Piermont, are required to compare and regulate their time by that clock, and the conductors of freight trams are required to see that the clocks at all the way stations conform to the standard time.
29th. -- The conductors of the passenger trains are required to examine the clocks in the ticket offices at Port Jervis and Binghamton daily, and report there, whatever difference may exist in the times.
30th. -- The conductors and enginemen are required to keep themselves informed, by frequent enquiry at the terminal stations, of any changes in the Time Table or Instructions, and ignorance of any such change shall not be received as a reason for delays as accidents.
April 23 1849. J. P KIRKWOOD, Sup't.
FIRST CODE OF ERIE TRAIN REGULATIONS, (PRINTED ON BACK OF TIME-TABLE SHOWN ON PAGE 383.)

General Superintendency, more quotes[edit]

  • The first general superintendent, Hezekiah C. Seymour, came from Oneida County, and got the name on the road of the "Oneida Chief." In 1849 a successor to Superintendent Seymour was to be appointed, as he intended to quit the service. S. S. Post was superintendent of transportation. He was in the line of promotion to the general superintendency, and as he was very popular with the employees, they were delighted with the prospect of having him as their superintendent. James P. Kirkwood was also mentioned in connection with the place. W. H. Stewart ran what was called the night line, and, in expectation of hearing the news somewhere along the line that Post had been elected superintendent, he had a big transparency, inscribed "S. S. Post, General Superintendent," all ready to light and display on his train. The news came, however, that Kirkwood was the choice of the Directors, and there was great disappointment among the "boys." This was in April, 1849. It is highly probable, though, that S.S. Post's long connection with the Railroad Company, and his popularity, would have secured him the place; if he had not shown an inclination to answer, in a non-committal way, queries put to him by the Directors, and a disposition to respond to them by asking questions himself. Superintendent Kirkwood became known among the railroad men as the "Silent Man," from a peculiarity of his disposition. His office was at 56 Wall Street, New York. Audience with him was easily obtained, and as the caller entered, the superintendent would look up at him a moment. If the caller did not at once go on to mention the business that had brought him there, Kirkwood would turn his eyes back to his work without a word. Then the visitor might stand or sit there all the rest of the day without the Superintendent paying any more attention to him, or until the visitor broke the silence himself by speaking and making known his errand.
    • p. 405
  • Charles Minot had succeeded James P. Kirkwood as general superintendent May 1, 1850...
    • p. 430
  • GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS.
Hezekiah C. Seymour... Sept. 23, 1841 to April 1, 1849.
James P. Kirkwood... . April 1, 1849 " May 1, 1850.
Charles Minot... ... . May 1, 1850 " May 1, 1854.
Daniel Craig McCallum. May I, 1854 " Mar. I, 1857.
  • p. 480
  • (KIRKWOOD, small station named for former Superintendent James P. Kirkwood.)
    • p. 504
  • Kirkwood, James I., appointment of, as superintendent, 405>,br> --- building of Starucca viaduct by, 350
    • p. 522

1877 Biography by the American Society of Civil Engineers[edit]

Source: "JAMES P. KIRKWOOD, Member and Past President A. S. C. E." in: Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Vol. 2-5. American Society of Civil Engineers., 1877. p. 60-65: Committee to prepare Memoir. A. W. Craven, J. W. Adama, Wm. £. Worthen, Jas. B. Francis.

  • JAMES P. KIRKWOOD, Member and Past President A. S. C. E.
Died April 22d, 1877.
James P. Kirkwood,* was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 27, 1807. He was put to school very early, in 1815 was sent to an academy at Galashiels, and in 1818 to Rotterdam, Holland, and returned home after the lapse of a little over a year, having acquired considerable fluency in the Dutch language, and some knowledge of French.
He now entered his father's store, where he remained till the fall of 1821, when he was apprenticed to Thomas Granger, land surveyor, who soon associated with himself a Mr. Miller, the firm acquiring a large practice as civil engineers. Mr. Kirkwood served the first term of his apprenticeship, and remained with the firm as an assistant till early in 1832, when he began business for himself in Glasgow, but thinking that the opening for a civil engineer was better in this country, he came hero in the summer of the same year.
Provided with letters to Wm. Gibbs McNeil (then and for a long time subsequently a railway engineer of the largest practice), he commenced under McNeil with the location of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad ; was thence transferred to the Boston & Providence Railroad, and subsequently to the Stonington & Providence Railroad as Resident Engineer. Still later he became the Resident Engineer on the Long Island Rail Road, which was opened to Hicksville in 1837.
In 1839 he was engaged on the preliminary works of Flynn's Knoll Light House, New York harbor, under the orders of the U. S. Engineers. This was a most laborious work, requiring his residence at the quarries in the State of Maine for a great part of the time, alternating with his personal supervision of the construction of the coffer dam and foundations in the harbor. The storms of the winter damaged the works very seriously, and the Government suspended operations, which have never been resumed.
In the spring of 1840 his services were called for on the mountain division of the Western Railroad of Massachusetts, on which he was engaged as Resident Engineer until its completion, in the fall of 1843. Between this date and his taking charge of the location and construction of the Springfield and Northampton Railroad, he was engaged in the preparation of plans and construction of the Delavau House, in Albany, at that time regarded as a work of. some magnitude. His health requiring a more genial climate, led to his acceptance from the U. S. Government of the position of Engineer for the Construction of Docks, Hospital, Workshops, and, in fact, all the appurtenances required in a great naval depot, then projected at Pensacola, Florida.
He continued on this work until the suspension of the appropriations by the Government for its continuance, in May, 1847. The New York and Erie Railroad having undertaken the construction of a stone arched viaduct (m the line of that road, of 16 arches, of 50 feet span each, and 100 feet high, and it being apparent that unless it was built in one season, the opening of the road for travel would be seriously delayed, he was solicited to take charge of that work as Superintendent, and carry it to completion by days' labor, which he accomplished in December, 1848 — an unprecedented piece of work to be accomplished in one working season.
This led to his appointment as General Superintendent of the Erie Railroad, and in this position he introduced many radical changes, resulting in great improvements in the running of the railroad, and which have been adopted on other roads in this country without acknowledgment- notably, the running of trains by telegraph, introduced by him. His determination to make this great road, so far as the operation of his department tended, what, from it leading position in connection with the West and the great metropolis, it was designed to be, led to opposition from men in office, who did not possess the breadth of view essential to the appreciation of the scope of his efforts ; and failing the proper support from them, he resigned the charge of the road to accept the position of Chief Engineer of the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1850.
Perfecting the surveys and construction of that road as far as the means of the company permitted, he returned to New York in 1855. Still retaining connection with that road as Consulting Engineer, he took charge under the Croton Department of the work of lowering and moving horizontally the great water main in Eighth avenue into a rock cut, without cutting off or interrupting the supply of the water to the city through the main — a work of great delicacy.
In June, 1856, he received the appointment of Chief Engineer of the Nassau Water Works, Brooklyn, and continued in the office until its completion in 1860. He visited Europe at this time on account of his health, and remained a winter in the south of France, but with little permanent benefit.
Unwilling to lose the benefit of his advice in the first management of the work, the Commissioners of Nassau Water Works wished to retain his services as Consulting Engineer, which he accepted only on condition that it should be without salary. During this time he investigated and reported upon the subject of lead poison in water pipes, and held very positive views upon that subject. He was consulted by the Erie Railroad Company in reference to the Bergen Tunnel, at Jersey City, which he completed, as also on the arrangements of ferries and Long Dock. He served as Commissioner (1859) on the raising tlie High Bridge at Carmansville Croton Aqueduct ; also, in 1860, on a commission for location of terminal depot at Hunter's Point, Long Island Rail Road. He reported to the Long Dock Company, on a system of docks and ferries, embracing elevators and floating docks of iron for the reception and handling of grain.
Again his health, in 1863, required him to travel, and in 1864 he devoted some time to the Murray Hill distribution, Croton Water Works ; and with Messrs. G. R. Baldwin and J. W. Adams, made an examination and report on the entire line from Fishkill to Boston, of the Boston, Hartford and Fishkill Railroad. He was also consulted on the location of high service reservoirs and pumping engines at High Bridge, Croton Water Works.
In March, 1865, he made extensive examinations and exhaustive report on the subject of the Water Works of Cincinnati ; and also, in the same year, made similar examination and report on the Water Works of St. Louis, the Water Commissioners of the latter city authorizing him to visit Europe, and examine and report upon the various methods of filtering water for city use pursued in the cities of Great Britain and the Continent. He returned in September, 1866, and the result of his labors appears in an elaborate published report, with copious illustrations of the methods pursued in the principal cities of Europe for purifying city water. This work serves as a text-book for engineers in this branch of hydraulics. While in London, on this visit, he examined and reported to some interested citizens of New York, upon the underground railways of London, and their working. He also reported on the Bergen Tunnel, and returned to St. Louis to examine and report upon the location of pumping stations for that city, with settling basins and a high reservoir service, the basis of the present water work construction for that city. Being offered the position (April, 1867) of Chief Engineer, to carry out his plans, he declined, accepting the position of Consulting Engineer, with the privilege of making his own selection of Chief Engineer and Assistant, being responsible for the work, but retired from the immediate sui>ervision. All the important structures were built from his designs, or plans approved by him. This embraced the pumping engine and specification for the same. At this time he was consulted on the designs of the third Ridge wood engine, Brooklyn Water Works, and it was .designed under his direction.
In 1868, still in the employ of the Water Commission of St. Louis, he was consulted on various water works — Pittsburgh, Pa., Portland, Maine, and Salem, Mass.
In 1869 be reported on the extension of the Brooklyn Water Works by the construction of additional reservoirs. In the same year he was appointed Consulting Engineer of the Water Works of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. ; in 1870, of the Water Works at Lowell, Mass. ; in 1871, of the Water Works at Fall River, Mass. ; in 1873, of the Water Works of Lawrence, Mass. In 1872 he made a report on the additional supply of water for the city of Albany, N. Y., and afterwards had charge of the construction of the works. In the same year he drew up the specifications for the construction of the storage reservoir, Hempstead, L. I. In 1873 he made investigations and report on new water works for Hoboken and Weehawken. In 1874, in conjunction with Mr. James B. Francis, he made a report on the additional supply for the city of Boston, and in the same year an examination and report upon the drainage of the low lands in Hoboken, involving the use of pumping machinery to lift the contents of the sewers to the level of tide. In 1875 he made an extended examination and report to the Massachusetts State Board of Health on the pollution of rivers. In 1876 he made a report on the necessity and means of economizing the water supply ol Lynn, Mass. '
The above list of reports made acd works constructed is necessarily imperfect. In the earlier years of his practice, Mr. Kirkwood kept a diary, but latterly the memoranda were desultory and imperfect. The list is, therefore, made up from published reports, and from the recollection of your committee, who were all more or less associated with him in I business. He was often on commissions for the testing of pumping engines, for advice on constructions, and few of the water works for the large cities have been undertaken or carried out without consultation with him.
In Mr. Kirk wood's life may be traced the beginning and growth of our engineering profession. He commenced in 1821 by entering the office of a land surveyor, when the distinction of civil engineer was hardly known ; he began with dragging the chain and the usual office work of the land surveyor ; but in the call for further works the land surveyors became a firm of civil engineers, with large practice in railways and canals. By 11 years of industry with this firm Mr. Kirkwood had acquired a practical knowledge of the profession as it then was, and after a short trial by himself in Glasgow he started for this country, where he trusted his knowledge might be of value. In this he was not disappointed ; from the valued assistant of Major McNiel he passed to the charge of varied works— filling most important offices, especially in the department of railway engineering, in which he occupied, at times, different grades and duties, as assistant, chief and consulting engineer, once on the Missouri Pacific, as contractor, and lastly on the Erie railroad, acting as General Superintendent and taking charge of the running of the road. Up to 1855 Mr. Kirkwood's labors were almost entirely confined to railway engineering, and he was considered at the head of his profession.
Having been called, by Mr. A. W. Craven, to the charge of some work in the Croton Department, which was successfully executed, on the determination of the City of Brooklyn to construct water works he was made the Chief Engineer. With this appointment his attention was almost entirely diverted to water works for the supplies of cities and towns. This branch of the profession, at that time, was but little studied, and its demands very limited, but Mr. Kirkwood brought to it that wonderful perseverance and industry which had given him his position in the railway branch. His life had always been an eminently practical one ; there were no schools m his youth where even the rudiments of the profession could be studied ; public works which might serve for precedents where few and the knowledge of them but little diffused.
Soon the demands of the times and the needs of the profession increased beyond the precedents ; works were undertaken and constructed on the basis of the best common sense of the time, and the theory of construction followed after. When he entered upon the construction of water works for cities, as in his first commencement on railways, examples were few, and the literature connected with this branch very meagre. Mr. Kirkwood made thorough inspection of what had been done, both here and abroad, and secured all books pertinent to the subject ; he has left constructions which will long stand as precedents, and has enriched the literature by valuable memoirs and reports.
From his nature and education he was eminently conservative, and it required strong proofs of economy in construction and maintenance to make him give Up old and well tried modes or machines. He never adopted a theory merely because it was novel, or to obtain credit for its introduction ; nor made expensive experiments at the cost of parties employing him.
Safety was a large factor in his constructions, and he preferred the credit of doing better what had already been executed to striking out new and uncertain paths. Yet, with a full knowledge of precedents, it was not a blind following, and the improvements introduced by him have been many and gradual ; the growth was strong and natural. He early introduced the coating of water mains, and the improvements of pumping engines have been largely due to his approval. During the last 25 years of his life Mr. Kirkwood was an invalid, but the works undertaken during that time show no feebleness in design nor execution, and in number and importance they exceed those of any other engineer in his line in the country.
Called as an advisory engineer on the Lynn Water Works, near the close of his life, and confined to his hotel by severe cold weather, the President of the Board remarked, after an interview with him, "that it was a wonder to him that one so reduced in strength could command the great store of facts and principles his life time had gathered and so readily apply them to the matter in hand," and this we think to have been the universal sentiment with all those with whom he was brought into contact. He gave the conviction of a thorough knowledge of his subject, acquired by long practice and extended reading, and a sterling honesty, in the statement of his views and recommendations.
Mr. Kirkwood was the second President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and well known to most of its members, and especially to the members of this committee — life time friends who, from their intimate relations with him, both professionally and socially, could appreciate him; toth as an engineer and as a man with a professional knowledge based on strong common sense, and extended by close observation and unwearied industry ; he was extremely sensitive about placing himself under any financial obligations, and modestly underrated the value of his own services. The counsel of no one could be more safely trusted than that of Mr. Kirkwood, as he had the elements which go to make up a safe counsellor— modesty, rapacity and integrity.

See also[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Mdd/James_P._Kirkwood_quotes&oldid=718118854"