ABSTRACT

CHESBROUGH 06.07. 1813 Baltimore MD/USA 19.08. 1886 Chicago IL/USA Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough was taken from school at age 13 only to become chainman to an engineering party engaged in the preliminary survey of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Later he was engaged on the Alleghany and Portage Railroad to become in 1831 associated with a partner in the construction of the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad. In 1837 he was appointed senior assistant on the building of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad. He became chief engineer of the Boston waterworks in 1846, planning important structures including the Brookline Reservoir. He was appointed in 1850 sole commissioner in the Boston water department, and during the following year city engineer, having charge of all the waterworks besides being surveyor of the streets and harbour improvements. Chesbrough became engineer for the Chicago Board of Sewerage commissioners in 1855, and in that capacity planned the sewage system for the city. In 1879 he resigned the office of commissioners of public works. The river tunnels were planned by him and have proven successful despite much criticism. He achieved a high reputation as an authority in the water supply and sewerage of cities, and in this capacity was consulted by the authorities of New York, Boston, Cambridge, Toronto and Detroit. Chesbrough was a Corresponding Member of the American Institute of Architects, and in the term 1877 president of the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE. Anonymous (1887). Chesbrough, E.S. Appletons’ cyclopaedia of American biography 1: 599. Cain, L.P. (1985). Raising and watering a city: Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough and Chicago’s first sanitation system. Sickness and health in America: Readings in the History of medicine and public health: 531-541, J.W. Leavitt, R.L. Numbers, eds. University of Wisconsin: Madison. Chesbrough, E.S., Durant, C.F. (1849). Letters on hydraulics: On the physical laws that govern running water. Narine: New York. Chesbrough, E.S. (1851). Tabular representation of the present condition of Boston. Eastburn: Boston. Chesbrough, E.S. (1858). Chicago sewerage. Board of Sewerage Commissioners: Chicago. Chesbrough, E.S. (1874). Sketch of the plans and progress of the Detroit River tunnel. Trans. ASCE 2: 85-91. https://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/300017.html P

CHICK 26.10. 1896 Limerick ME/USA 16.04. 1973 Warwick RI/USA Alton Charles Chick received in 1919 his BS degree in mechanical engineering and in 1926 his MS degree in civil engineering from Brown University, Providence RI. In 1922, Chick became principal assistant to John R. Freeman (1855-1932), with whom he remained until 1932. During this ten-year period, he had the opportunity to work on many and varied engineering problems. Chick accepted then the position as an engineer with the Manufacturers Group of six fire insurance companies, who later merged to the Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He was from 1938 until retirement its assistant vice-president and engineer. This work involved application of engineering principles to the prevention of fire and the protection of industrial plants. Chick was also the president of the Providence Engineering Society in 1937. During his stay with Freeman, Chick compiled the 886 pages book Hydraulic Laboratory Practice and another book on earthquake damage and insurance. The first book gives an overview on hydraulic experimentation at the end of the 1920s, including the main actors. An appendix accounts for the then recent additions in the USA. Both Freeman and Chick finally presented an outstanding volume which has still high value for historical studies. The laboratories, their facilities and instrumentation are highlighted, and recent research is presented. The laboratory directors are also introduced with a biography and their pertinent publications. It appears that such a volume has never been prepared again. Prior to Freeman’s death, Chick recomputed a series of experiments on pipe flow and pipe fittings that were made by Freeman in 1892. The results were published in 1941 in a large volume adding to the understanding of these flows. Anonymous (1943). Alton C. Chick. Mechanical Engineering 65(8): 611-612. P Anonymous (1959). Chick, Alton Charles. Who’s who in engineering 8: 415. Lewis: New York. Chick, A.C. (1929). Dimensional analysis and the principle of similitude as applied to hydraulic experiments with models. Hydraulic laboratory practice: 775-827, J.R. Freeman, ed. ASME: New York. Chick, A.C. (1929). Notes on theory of hydraulic experiments with models. ASME: New York. Chick, A.C. (1933). The Long Beach Earthquake of March 10, 1933, and its effect on industrial structures. Manufacturer’s Mutual Fire Insurance Company: Rhode Island. Freeman, C., Chick, A.C. (1941). Experiments upon the flow of water in pipes and pipe fittings. ASME: New York.