Aldus C. Higgins, Moses B. Kaven, John W. Burke, Everett J. Lake, and
Clifton H. Dwinnell, to seek this right man. The search took them to
far places and involved the consideration of numerous candidates. just
a year later, September, 1924, the committee reported that their
choice had fallen to Captain Ralph Earle, United States Navy, then
stationed at Newport, R. 1. Because of the committee's enthusiastic
presentation of their candidate, the Board immediately invited him to
become President of the Institute. He accepted on condition that his
appointment be delayed until the following June.
From the viewpoint of Worcester County tradition the selection of
Ralph Earle was a particularly satisfying one. His forbears had been
residents of Leicester or Worcester for generations, and he was born
in Worcester fifty years before his election to the presidency. His
father, frequently mentioned in the early part of this chronicle, was
Stephen Earle, the architect of Boynton Hall and of several other
college buildings. Moreover, Ralph Earle had been a student at the
Institute as a member of the class of 1895 during the apprenticeship
half-year. He had then won an appointment to the United States Naval
Academy, graduating with the class of 1896.
For twenty years he fulfilled the various assignments that naval
service provided, advancing to the rank of commander. He saw service
in the Spanish-American war, at the Naval Academy, in the Philippines
and on various ships. His efficient conduct of these assignments
brought him a coveted appointment in December, 1916. He became chief
of the Bureau of Ordnance, with the rank of rear admiral, the youngest
officer ever to hold that position. Four months later the United
States was in the war, and Admiral Earle was facing one of the most
difficult engineering and administrative problems in the military
service.
In addition to providing armament and ammunition for naval vessels and
merchant ships, the Bureau of Ordnance played a major part in two of
the great achievements of the war. One was the laying of the Northern
Barrage, the mine
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