Strata undisturbed since time of deposit: WAR,
Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer,
p. 22. LER.
A time of “intense anxiety”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR. RPI.
First spur of bedrock described: WAR,
Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer,
p. 23. LER.
Death of Reardon: Smith,
The Effects of High Atmospheric Pressure,
p. 40. LER.
Differences of level at the extreme corners: Collingwood,
Further Notes on the Caissons of the East River Bridge.
LER.
“The labor below is always attended with a certain amount of risk”: WAR,
Third Annual Report of the Chief Engineer,
p. 29. LER.
“Relief from the excruciating pain”: WAR,
Pneumatic Tower Foundations of the East River Suspension Bridge,
p. 88,
fn.
LER.
Cholera epidemic at Niagara Falls: JAR to Charles Swan, July 29, 1854, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 95.
“He determined not to have it”:
Beecher’s Magazine,
January, 1871; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 96.
Business carried on by WAR in the fall of 1872:
New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, 1867-1884,
pp. 579-583.
WAR’s efforts the winter of 1872-73; EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR, RPI; also WAR notes, letters, specifications, etc., RPI.
Requests leave of absence: Meeting of the Board of Directors, April 21, 1873,
New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings,
p. 339.
“My plan would be as follows”: Smith,
The Effects of High Atmospheric Pressure,
p. 34. LER.
PART THREE
15 At the Halfway Mark
“Everything has been built to endure”: Francis Collingwood in a speech before the First Annual Meeting of the Alumni of RPI, New York, February 18, 1881.
“The love of praise is, I believe,”: Dorsey,
Road to the Sea,
p. 163
Tweed escapes: Werner,
Tammany Hall,
p. 244.
Beecher on trial: Shaplen, “The Beecher-Tilton Case,” Part II.
“…probably no great work was ever conducted”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR. RPI.
Granite and gravity: WAR,
Report of the Chief Engineer of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, January 1, 1877,
p. 6. LER.
Limestone in anchorages: Collingwood,
Notes on the Masonry of the East River Bridge.
LER.
Arrangement of the anchor plates and anchor bars: WAR,
Report of the Chief Engineer, January 1, 1877,
pp. 6-8, LER;
Specifications for Anchor Plates, New York Anchorage, East River Bridge, 1875,
LER;
Specifications for Iron Anchor Bars, New York Anchorage, East River Bridge, April, 1875,
LER; “Up Among the Spiders; or How the Great Bridge Is Built,”
Appleton’s Journal,
January 1878; Conant, “The Brooklyn Bridge.”
Work on the approaches: WAR,
Report of the Chief Engineer, January 1, 1877,
pp. 23-32. LER.
Model of the bridge: Brooklyn
Union,
May 25, 1878.
Tower work: WAR,
Report of the Chief Engineer, January 1, 1877,
pp. 4-5, LER;
Scientific American,
August 10, 1872; Collingwood,
Notes on the Masonry of the East River Bridge,
LER.
“There are times when standing alone on this spot”: Farrington,
Concise Description of the East River Bridge,
pp. 57—59.
Deaths from tower and freak accidents:
Eagle,
May 18, 1876; interview with C. C. Martin,
Eagle,
May 24, 1883.
The bridge as an obstruction to navigation:
Iron Age,
April 27, 1876;
Scientific American,
May 6, 1876. The hearings were reported in detail in the
Eagle,
April 24 and May 21, 1876.
Charter amended:
An Act to amend an act
…Chapter 601. Passed June 5, 1874. LER.
New York Bridge Company dissolved:
An Act providing that the bridge in the course of construction over the East River
…Chapter 300: Passed May 14, 1875. LER.
“Before winter shall drive the workmen”:
Eagle,
July 11, 1876.
“One thing is certain”:
Ibid.
16 Spirits of ‘76
Specifications:
Specifications for Granite Face-stone and Archstone, Required for the New York Tower, East River Bridge, April, 1875,
LER; original copy, RPI.
Correspondence with Brooklyn: WAR and EWR, letter books. RPI.
“It is one thing to sit in your office”: WAR to JAR II, August 20, 1907. RUL.
“I would further add,
now
is the time”: WAR to HCM, February 25, 1875. LER.
Physical discomforts: WAR to JAR II, May 5, 1894.
“There is a popular impression”: EWR, unpublished biographical sketch of WAR. RPI.
Could neither read nor write: WAR to James Rusling, February 18, 1916. RUL.
“Regarding your health”: WAR to Francis Collingwood, undated. RPI.
Note with check for minerals: RPI.
WAR to HCM concerning Keystone Bridge rumor: December 6, 1875. RPI.
Eads lawsuit: Papers on file at RPI; exchange of letters between Eads and WAR,
Engineering
(London), May 16, June 27, September 5, 1873.
“Its perusal has left only the one prominent impression”; “My actual experience in the St. Louis caisson”; “You might as well patent contrivances in a ship’s rigging”; “In conclusion I beg to assure Captain Eads”:
Engineering
(London), June 27, 1873.
G. K. Warren and the St. Louis Bridge: Gilbert and Billington, “The Eads Bridge and Nineteenth-Century River Politics.”
“I am willing to accede to the proposition”: WAR to William Paine, May 10, 1876. RPI.
“My health has become of late so precarious”: WAR to HCM, December 1875. RPI.
WAR on his brother Charles: WAR, “Memorial to Charles Roebling,” October 1918, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
pp. 324-326.
“He lost no opportunity”: WAR, notes for what was apparently to be an autobiographical sketch, written July 1898. RUL.
Feelings of indignation:
Ibid.
Personal expenses: WAR, notebooks. RPI.
“Their grounds cover fourteen acres”:
Eagle,
August 8, 1876.
Roebling Centennial display:
Ibid.;
photograph, RPI. The section of cable made up for the Centennial Exhibition is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution, in the Museum of History and Technology.
Wire:
Specifications for Steel Cable Wire, for the East River Suspension Bridge
—1876, original copy, RPI; also LER.
Machinery Hall: Brown,
The Year of the Century:
1876, pp. 112-137.
Starting of the Corliss engine:
Scientific American,
May 20, 1876.
“It was a scene to be remembered”:
Ibid.
“The engineer sits reading his newspaper”:
The Atlantic Monthly,
July 1876.
WAR to return to Brooklyn: WAR to William Paine, undated. RPI.
“He is a man of great resource”: WAR to HCM, May 6, 1876. RPI.
Telegrams: Originals in scrapbook kept by EWR. RPI.
17 A Perfect Pandemonium
The description of hanging the first rope is drawn from the following:
Eagle,
August 14 and 15, 1876; New York
Herald,
August 15, 1876; New York
Tribune,
August 15, 1876;
Scientific American,
September 2, 1876;
Van Nostrand’s Eclectic Engineering Magazine,
October 1876; Farrington to WAR, December 30, 1876, LER; Farrington,
Concise Description of the East River Bridge,
pp. 28—30.
“In a few seconds the rope began to move”: Farrington,
Concise Description of the East River Bridge,
p. 30.
“When it is considered that one has to climb”: New York
Herald,
August 15, 1876.
Farrington’s ride:
Eagle,
August 25, 1876; New York
Herald,
New York
Tribune,
New York
Times,
Brooklyn
Argus,
August 26, 1876; Farrington to WAR, December 30, 1876, LER; Conant, “The Brooklyn Bridge.”
Ten thousand spectators: New York
Tribune,
August 26, 1876.
“The ride gave me a magnificent view”: Farrington,
Concise Description of the East River Bridge,
p. 36.
Farrington complains of notoriety: Farrington to WAR, December 30, 1876. LER.
“He does most of the brain work”: Unidentified clipping in a scrapbook kept by EWR. RPI.
High-wire acrobatics on Saturday, August 26:
Eagle,
same day; New York
Herald, Tribune, Sun,
and
World
for August 28.
“Mr. Harry Supple was all that could be desired”: William Paine to WAR, December 31, 1876. LER.
Second day of acrobatics, Monday, August 28:
Eagle,
same day; New York
Herald, Tribune, Sun,
and
World
for August 29.
“I have carried out your instructions”: Farrington to WAR, December 30, 1876. LER.
18 Number 8, Birmingham Gauge
Hewitt and Tilden: Nevins,
Abram S. Hewitt,
pp. 305-310.
“Hewitt was as true a patriot”:
Ibid.,
p. 317.
“who played the game for ambition”: Adams,
The Education of Henry Adams,
p. 373.
“the best-equipped, the most active-minded”:
Ibid.,
pp. 295.
Hewitt resolution: Meeting of the Trustees, New York and Brooklyn Bridge, September 7, 1876,
New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, 1867-1884,
pp. 383-384;
Eagle,
September 7 and 8; New York
Tribune,
September 8, 1876.
“I am very strongly opposed”:
Tribune,
September 8, 1876.