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About The morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1899-1930 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1905)
THE LOANING ASTORIA?. ASTORIA, OHEGofl 3 J. F. Stevens, New Chief Engineer For Panama I FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER J, 1903, M Capable and Cnrtl Expert Who WU1 Dl th Cr.it Cmal-" Whr trcr H I, Thar Ii th Army Ha4quartr"-Hta Pluck t tni Prvtrinc. ASIIOIIT time io Secretary Tift wii looking for ao ei perlenced engineer to advise tit Philippine commliilou In regard to the construction of railways lit tlx Philippine Islanda under the plan of government aid adopted by congr. Jamea J. Hill aald tie knew the rlfbt man for tlie place. He named John F, Btevena. From 181)0 to 1003 Mr. Stevena waa chief engineer of Mr, nill'a road, the Great Northern, and la the former year he laid out tho ei tenalon of Uie road through the Itockle to the raclflo Of.net. lu doing thla he etarted from Alulboln wlili two In dian guldea aud a pack mule. The Indiana diverted him, and the mule uled, but Stevena perwvercd In the work and after much hardship com pleted the taak, loeatlng tlie Hue aa It now run. Stevens pnaa, In the Caa- cade mountains, waa named In hi tionor. Mr. Stevena accepted the offer to he the government expert In railway matter to the Hilllpplnea aud waa to bare gone to the lalanda with Secre tary Tift and bla party of tourlita. But while be waa preparing to leave John F. Wallace threw up the pout of chief engineer of the Panama canal In order to make more money working for private corporation, and hi pine waa offered to Mr. Btevena, The latter waa not long In deciding to accept It and ao packed hi grip for the latbmua lnted of the orient It waa virtu ally a tranafer from one branch of tlie government' service to another. It wa more than that, however, fur It waa an Important promotion. The man wbo dig the Panama canal will be known aa one of the greatest en gineer of bla time. No taak of tlie magultude of thla baa been undertaken and carried out by any engineer of the preeent generation. Mr. Bterena will 7,7' M r v .'A johh f. aravnta. draw 130,000 a year, which la $3,000 more than Mr. Wallace waa to have re ceived. Ho will uot be a member of the canal commbwion, but will devote all hi energlva to the actual work of canal construction. Speaking of what Mr. Btevena will do, Chairman Bbonta of the canaj commission baa aald: "What we need on the Isthmus la a leader of men. a man wbo kuowe how to drive, what to expect from hi aubordlnntea and bow to enlist their entburtlaara and eupKrt; a man wbo will nut woste hi time figuring out technical details, but who will dele gate that work to tho board of export tng;iuera selected for that purposo, while he keep hi attention riveted on the larger cud to be accomplished. That la the kind of iiihu I believe John Bte vena to be." Mr. Slovens I old enough to be In the "comparatively uartea" class, ac cording to, Oiler, but bun, uot reached the chloroforming age. . II la a native of Maine and waa born at Went Gardi ner In 18."3. A brief resume of bla en gineering record triiowa that he bus bad cxteiinlvo experience lu all ktuda of construction work. From 1879 to 1H81 he was In the cm- ploy of tho Denver ind Itlo Grnnde railway. Ho took charge of tho loca tion of the main Hue of the Chicago, Milwaukee and 8t Taul rallwfty acroas Iowa In 1882 aud subsequently was the engineer for tho contractors who built r00 miles of tho Canadian Pacltlc railway between Winnipeg and the Kocky mountain. This lod to bis be coming the principal anslstant engineer of the Canadian rnclllc, during which time be was engaged In the location and construction of heavy mountain work In Brltltib Columbia. In 1800 he went to the Great Northern Railway company. Aa chief engineer of thla road be not only constructed new line to the went, but practically rebuilt the main line of tho system. Ho became chief engineer and vice president of the Rock Island In 1003. Before Mr. Btevena aent hi accept a nee of bl present post to Washington fie consulted hi "better half." Mr. Stevens waa Miss Harriet O'Biifli, a Boston girl, and there are now three eons In tho family, the oldest of whom Is just taking up his father's profes sion of cnitlneerinsr. A. fHnd of Eiurl rwu jroij) .poynopi b Jill K I m I II te1 :w zz -I 111 him: "''He'a one "of those fellows who don't like ml tape. Wherever he Is, there Is the army headquarters, as they usod to say of Oraat" 111 Mrltlnh Guinea. It Is among the things generally known that tho guinea obtained It name from the gold from which It was made having been brought from the Guinea coast by the African company of traders. The flrst notice of this gold was lu 1040, during the common wealth of Euglund, when on the Htu of April of that year the parliament re ferred to the council of state a paper presented to the house concerning the coinage of gold brought In ship lately come from "Gulny" for the better ad vancing of trade. But It waa In the reign of Charles II. that the name was first given to this coin. It Is among things not generally known that when the guinea was originally coined the Intention was tojnake It current as a fweiily ' uut fr0IU an efr ror. or rather a senM of wror. n cal diluting the exact protfort!o" of the value of gold und silver nev" cir culated for that value. Sir Isaac New ton in his time fixed the true value of the guinea In relation to silver at 20s, 8d., and by his advice the crown pro claimed that for the future It should be current at 21 uhlllltms. "There's no place like home," and no soap like Pears. Pears' Soap Is found in millions of homes the world over. old rvtrywher. K LIC San Francisco's leading con venience and family hotel centrally located. Con venient to all car lines, and places of amusement and in terest. Cafe and Grill at tached. Rates $1.00 per day and up. Street cars direct to hotel from and to all depots. HOUSE San Francisco, CaL The Astorian, 75 cents a month. SOUVENIRS Of all kinds can be found here in choice assortment. REGATTA VISITORS And others are welcome to inspect our stock at any time. I I Yokohama Bazar I 1 6J6ComrarclaI Street, Astorl S The Astorian, 75 cents a month. OUR SUBSCRIPTION LIST. THE "HOW OF IT WILL INTEREST EVERYBODY, WHETHER THEY NOW READ THE PAPER OR NOT. WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THE MORNING. ASTORIAN THE BEST NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN ANY CITY OF ITS SIZE- WILL YOU HELP USt TELEPHONE MAIN 661 and I WILL CLL AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT. Emll Held Advertising and Circula tion Mansgar,; THE MORNING ASTORIAN. P. S. If you live out of town writ or our plan. 4