Description
HE PROMOTED THE PUBLIC WELFARE AND HAD THE RARE COMBINATION OF VISION, TECHNICAL SKILLS, ADMINISTRATIVE ABILTIY, AND COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP IN ENGINEERING: AS A YOUTH OF 15 HE WORKED ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WATER-SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR HIS NATIVE TOWN. YEARS LATER HE WOULD BE CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY TO DEVELOP PLANS AND CONSTRUCT WORKS FOR DELIVERING 500 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER DAILY FROM THE CATSKILL MOUNTAINS TO NEW YORK CITY AND WOULD LATER CONTINUE AS CONSULTING ENGINEER FOR MANY OTHER CITIES IN THE U.S., CANADA, AND CUBA. HERE HE SUMMARIZES THE GOAL OF HIS LIFE’S WORK: “…BE IT SO ENOUGH, IF SOMETHING FROM OUR HANDS HAVE POWER TO LIVE, AND ACT, AND SERVE THE FUTURE HOUR.”
J. WALDO SMITH (1861-1933) SIGNED QUOTE, “J. Waldo Smith”, on a card 4.25 x 3.5, by the American civil engineer and chief engineer on the Board of Water Supply of New York from 1905-22. He designed the dams of the Pequannock watershed in the Pequannock River, the construction of the New Croton Dam, and the Boonton Dam, a twenty-two-mile aqueduct. In 1903 he was engaged as the chief engineer on the Aqueduct Commission of New York City and completed the construction of the Croton Dam, at that time the largest masonry dam in the world. He also directed the design and construction of a mechanical filtration plant at Little Falls, the largest and most modern plant of its kind in the United States at its completion. After his retirement in 1922 he continued as consulting engineer for many other cities in the United States, Canada, Cuba, and on the Moffat Tunnel in Colorado. The typed quote, in full: “We men, who, in our morn of youth defied the elements, must vanish: - be it so enough, if something from our hands have power to live, and act, and serve the future hour.” The card is in fine condition, with minor age toning.
$200 #12769
