Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 213

conveyed it to the Institute. "Had it not been for the generous action of these individuals," said Mr. Washburn in his report, "it would probably never have been acquired by us." The house was razed the following year, the barn was later moved to Chaffins for a hydraulics storehouse, and the land was regraded.

During the 1904-06 period there were few major changes in the teaching staff. Arthur W. Ewell was promoted to assistant professor in 1904. Dr. Frederic Bonnet, Jr., a graduate of Washington University and Harvard, came from Iowa State as instructor in General Chemistry. Ernest T. Chase became instructor in English and German, Joseph D. Williams in Civil Engineering. Henry C. Walter, '00, Carl D. Knight, '03, and Francis J. Adams, '04, were added to the Electrical Engineering staff. Wilbur R. Tilden replaced Clifford R. Harris as instructor in the woodshop, and the practice work was changed to include only pattern making.

In 1905 the Electrical Engineering department was further strengthened by the appointment of Albert S. Richey as assistant professor of Electric Railway Engineering. He was particularly well fitted for this new chair, for he had specialized in electric railways since his graduation from Purdue in 1894, and came directly from the position of chief engineer of an Indiana traction company. He was promoted to professor in 1907. Austin M. Works, a graduate of Tufts, became instructor in languages, and Charles G. Brown, a graduate of Wesleyan, an instructor in Mathematics.

Prof. Sidney A. Reeve, ardent Socialist, resigned his professorship of Steam Engineering in 1906. He had just published a book, "The Cost of Competition," which advocated the abolishment of profit. It would have been a best-seller thirty years later. Professor Reeve established a consulting practice in New York, later was a lecturer at Harvard and at the U. S. Naval Academy - on thermodynamics. To succeed him at the Institute the trustees appointed George I. Rockwood, '88, consulting engineer, who was

213

webmaster@wpi.edu

Last Modified: Fri Jul 30 11:15:25 EDT 1999