Men of affairs in New York

(New York :  L.R. Hamersley,  1906.)

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102
 

MEN OF AFFAIRS IN NEW YORK
 

reducing the labor, avoiding noise and securing cleanli¬
ness. This invention has been further improved by the
introduction of an air vessel near the jet. The success
attending this new feature led him to extend the appli¬
cation of an air vessel to a fire hydrant, where the air
surrounds the pipe leading to the nozzle to form pro¬
tection ag*ainst freezing, act as a cushion to prevent
y^ater-hammer and to secure a steadier flow of water.
Many improvements have also been introduced by him
in the construction of the hull of a vessel, that of the
patented folding hatch cover being one that has not
only expedited the handling of large covers, but made
the operation safer and the hatch tighter. He was also
the first in this country to employ the lap-butts in the
outside plating, the bilge-keel, the water-tight air port
in the pilot-house, etc.

Mr. See came to New York in 1889, where his field
of operations w^as enlarged, acting as consulting engi¬
neer of the Newport News Steamship and Dry Dock
Company, superintending engineer of the Southern
Pacific Company, superintendent of the Cromwell
Steamship Company, and superintending engineer of
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, as well as con¬
sulting engineer for different parties. There have been
built or altered from his design and under his superin¬
tendence since his location in New York very nearly
thirty vessels in the construction of which he has intro¬
duced many improvements both in the hull and ma¬
chinery, improvements the use of which is not confined
to this country, but has also extended to others. His
designs have not been of the sensational order or made
to cater to a fashion, but simple and direct in order to
obtain the best results. Lie has just completed designs
for a steel barge and tug for the New York State Canal
 

Commission to ascertain whether two boats loaded to
ten feet draft could be built to carry 1000 tons of wheat
each and of such dimensions that two could be readily
passed through the locks at one time. He has also been
called upon by the Panama Railroad Company to de¬
sign vessels for this company. He is a member of the
British Institute of Naval Architects, American Society
Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, North-East
Coast Institute Engineers and Shipbuilders, England;
associate member American Society of Naval Engi¬
neers, United States Naval Institute; past president
American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Fellow
American Association for the Advancement of Science,
member American Geographical Society, Chamber of
Commerce of New York, New York Yacht Club, Cen¬
tury Association, Colonial Society of Pennsylvania,
Sons of the Revolution, Pennsylvania Society of New
York City, of which he is one of the founders, etc., etc.
He has been a member of the National Guard of Penn¬
sylvania, holding the position of adjutant in the Twen¬
tieth Regiment during the July riots of 1877 and later
that of captain of the First Regiment.

The See family is of French extraction, in common
with the Naudains, Bayards and others who settled in
Delaware after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
The Sees located in St. George's Hundred, Delaware.
Mr. See's mother was Margaret Eber, daughter of Hil-
yard Eber, who built Fort Jay and the original fort in
the Pea Patch in the Delaware River. At the latter
point he sank the first artesian well in this country.
Hilyard Eber's ancestors were members of the Societ}^
of Friends, who came from England with William
Penn in 1682, and was one of that eminent pioneer's
most valued friends and advisers.
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