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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
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SIGMA TAl SOCIETY
ORGANIZED AT NEBRA8KA ONLY
SIX YEARS AGO.
ANNUAL LETTER AND MESSAGE
Alumni Members of the Fraternity
Tell What They Have Done
Since Leaving 8chool and
How They Work.
(By Prof. L. W. ChaHc.)
8lgma Tau.
The Slgmn Tim frnlornlty waH or
ganized In 1003 by Homo of tho on
glnoorlng studonts of tho clnBBOB of
1003-01. Although tho fraternity origi
nated at Nebraska, it la not nocos
Warily local. Hh constitution providoB
for the admlHBlon or othor chnpterH.
At present, besides tho Alpha chapter
at NobraHka, thoro Ih one at Iowa
City.
Objects.
The objects br tho organization aro
manifold; tho genoral promotion of
onglncerlng oducatlon, the encourage
ment of young men to become lively
and practical onglneerB, to Insplro the
young engineering student to greator
offort both in tho cIbhs room and tho
field, to bring tho varloiiB onglnoorlng
departments cloBcr together, and to
Inclto nn attitude which will bo com
mon to all.
Selection of Members.
There Ib no special number of Btu-
dontH takon from each claBB. A
standard of requirement 1b made for
ndmlttanco and UiIb 1b adhered to re
gardless of the numbor of mon pllgl
bio. Tho honor of bolng eloctod to
membership dopondB moro upon a stu
dent's ability to become an onglnoor
than upon any othor one qualification.
Howovor, general class work carries
a great deal of weight, as well ob the
Boclal standing of tho men.
Alumni.
When students nro in college they
seem to hnvo sufllclont spirit and
love for tho Institution from which
they ate to graduate, bo that when
thoy leave Bchool for actual work in
life tho Alma Mator will alwayB bo
remembered. By an occasional noto
the professor and fellow students will
bo able to keep Informed concerning
the residence and wolfaro of each
othor. As soon as graduates -do got
away, howovor, from tho old univer
sity or collogo thoy seem to Iobo J.ho
spirit nnd nobody hoars of thorn. Be
cause of this condition, each Sigma
Tau Is required to send in an annual
letter to tho chapter of which ho Is a
member. These letters aro then print
ed and sent out to all members. By
this means each member knows of
tho others and a perpetual fellowship
is maintained. But not only tho fel
lowship is maintained, but often finan
cial bunoflts are derived from It, since
one member can often assist another
to a better position.
Received Last Year.
The letters which appear In thlB
issue of the Nobrasknn aro those In
brief which have boon received for
the year 1908 from members of tho
fraternity who aro now in tho field.
Without doubt they will be of interest
to the students of the onglnoorlng de
partment, as they will indicate tho
standing of some of tho younger Ne
braska engineers who aro now prac
ticing tholr profession. They will alBO
be of interest to tho faculty and
alumni of tho university, as most of
the men concerned wero known in
Bomo manner or othor to tho univer
sity as a whole.
8end Out Letter.
Tho annual letter of Sigma Tau to
its alumni mombors was mailed from
Lincoln, December 29, 1908. It was
eagerly road by the graduates, who al
ways are pleased to hoar what their
brothers aro doing.
Several' of tho alumni wore heard
from last fall. Their letters follow:
Tho following explanatory noto was
sent out with the annual Sigma Tau
letter by O. L. PhllllpB:
"Lincoln, Neb., Dec. 29, 1908. Dear
Brother: I am sending you the 1908
copy of the annual letter. As" a re
sult of my failure to notify each man
that his letter was duo this lqtter is
a little late and there are several
brothers who are not represented.
l Wisn you a successful year uuu i uihu, uucuuuu i iiuvu uuuu ijuiuug in wim iiiuiuiujiuuvju. vvu uuu uu iuu
Jtope that you will have many inter- from 16 to 30 hours per day in tho I tors for omployos in addition to the
eating things to tell us next year. ' service of tho Aurora Electric com-' regular railroad structures, and also
"I wish you a successful year and
Fraternally yours, O. L. Phillips, Cor'
lespondlng Socrotnry."
Tho annual lotter:
"Dear Brothers In Sigma Tau:
When thlH annual lotter will have
reached you wo will have started upon
another year which tho chaptor, In
nondlng UiIb to you, wishes may bo
a happy and prosperous one to nil tho
brothers who aro at work. As wo did
not hoar from U1 the brothorB, wo
cannot lot thorn know all tho news
thnt tho annual lotter contnlnB, bo If
thoBO who got this will glvo tho Items
of interest to thoso who do not, they
will oblige tho chaptor, as wo want all
those who lenvo school to fool that
wo like to hoar from thorn nnd know
how thoy nro getting along. Also ro
mlnd thorn thnt Octobor 15 every year
is n day whon thoy should lay off
long onough to write a letter to tho
brothora.
"Last year wo had a v.ory enjoyable
nnd prosperous time. There wero
eighteen members during tho year.
Two of theso, White and Woller, grad
uated at tho end of tho first semester.
Ah Whlto was Sphinx., Hruobesky wns
olocted for tho place, for tho second
hC-moHter.
Several banquets and smokers wero
hold during tho year. At tho annual
banquet we had an exceptionally good
lime. A numbor of tho oarller mon
bolng proBent Brother John Westover
acted as toastmnHter. Our bnnquot
thlB year will probably bo hold In Feb
ruary, nlthough no doflnlto date has
boon chosen, and wo will bo glad to
have any of tho brothers present. If
jou can arrange to come, lot us know
to that wo may have a place for you.
"Wo Btarted the year with eight
active memberB, Brother FlBke not be
ing In school. We now have eighteen
and ono pledged. Tho fellows: Buol,
Currlor. Fulton, Fleming, Ouldingor,
Gnntt, Hinmnn, Howard, Jones, Let-
stir f ihlBBvHBH WH IflBBTBBBBBBWBBBBBKBBflBBSBBTTT
ton, Miller, Olson, Phillips, Stricter.
Urtula, Wohlenborg, Wlldlsh nnd
Woods, Harvey being pledged.
"Through tho efforts of Brother
Munn, who Is on tho ground, wo are
endeavoring to get a chapter of the
fraternity at Washington State Uni-
.vor8lty, provided he thinks It advis
able. With that and tho chapter at
Iown City, we will be well started to
wards a national organization.
"Extending the chapter's best
wishes to all tho brothers, I am, fra
ternally yours, H. C. Woods."
George L. Sullivan.
"University of Colorado, Boulder,
Colorado, School of Applied Science,
Sept. 25, 1908. Dear Brothers in
Sigma Tau: I am going to bo dutl
lul In sending my first lotter on tlmo
as I sure want a copy of that annual
letter whon it's out. I left Lincoln
as soon as I got my sheepskin and
spent the summer In San Antonio,
ToxaB, working for Webber Driller
Construction Co on the foundation
for a 20,000,000-gallon pumping engine
that Allls-Chalmers Co. aro putting In
there. From there I caVno out hero
and am teaching kinematics, machine
deBign and stenm engine design.
Boulder Is tho prettiest place I have
ever seen. Tho instructors aro mostly
young eastern men, and aro very
pleasant to work with. .
"With best wishes for Sigma Tau,
I remain, as ever, Geo. L. Sullivan,
1135 Pleasant St. Bouldor, Colo."
O. J. Shaw.
"Aurora, Nebr., Oct. 18, 1908. Dear
Brothers In Sigma Tau: I note by
the calendar that I am a few days
lato. I, howevpr, bellevo I' still will
come within tho threo days of
grace. It will take only a few words
to give a complete account of my
doings since leaving school last
Juno. I do not mean by that, that
I havo not been working most of the
time, because I have been putting In
pany. In tho struggle for dally
broad, howovor, my work is not varlod
to any extent. ,
"I landed lloro Juno 23, 'on trial.'
I am still on trial for that matter,
but have boon Informed that tho ex
j.obuic is liable to take. Tho only
question now with mo is whether I
can live through It or not. Prof.
Richards told me whon I started out
here that I would have to work like
tho d , and I ngroo with him, ex
cept that It in moro llko two d s.
My work as nfanngor consists of hir
ing and firing, tho first referring to
men, tho hiBt to tho bollors; reading
mcteiH; testing meters; collecting;
buying matorlalB.
"There Is one thing I ennnot handle
so far, that is the cigars tho travollng
men give mo. I often wish I had
Hrubesky to holp mo out as I know
there would then bo no difficulty.
I do find the work pretty hard here
nnd the hours nre very long nnd Ir
legular. I am gottlng somo valuable
fxpeiionco out of it, which 1b worth
tho effort put forth for a while, at
leaflt. To Borne of the fellows who
got out this year, I will say 'go easy'
when you tackle Home of theBe coun
try town lighting plants.
"I nwnlt with considerable antici
pation the coming of tho annual lot
ter, as I know It will bring mo many
things of interest and I hope the
Brothers will make it a bettor letter
than last year, although I thought that
ii banner lotter.
"Wishing the active members n
good year in school, and all tho older
members success, I am fraternally
youis, O. J. Shaw." i
A. L. Kokjer.
"Cheyenne, Wyo., Oct. 25, 1908
Dear Brothers: I Biippose that the
time la pnst for this letter, but I did
not remember the dnto on which It
was due.
Wood Shops
"After leaving school on .Juno 11,
1 spent a week at iny homo In Clarks,
then came to Choyenno and ontered
the employ of tho Union Pacific as
special apprentice. The course is
made up of 6 months In tho machine
shop, 6 months on the erecting floorT
2 months in the air room, 2 months
In tho car shops, 2 months on tho rod
gnng, and 2 months in the round
house. "I have spent four of the six months
required on the machine side and
have worked on nearly every ma
chine there. Tho first month I ran
one of the planers, the next two
months on a lathe, and have been
used as handy man on several dif
ferent machines for tho laBt month.
"Tho shops hero employ nearly a
thousand men at present and they
uro putting new mon to work nearly
every day.
"At present thoy aro running the
shops fifty hours per week; nine
hours per day for flvo days and flva
hours on Saturday. If work is rush
ing wo work Saturday afternoon also,
and get time and a half for it.
"I have been watching the accounts
of tho football games in the Omaha
and Lincoln papers and wishing that,
I were back In school to see somo of
them. Tho game with Minnesota was
a poach.
"Hoping to receive a copy of tho
Sigma Tau letter I remain, fraternal
ly yours; A. L. Kokjer, 104 E. Six
teenth St., Cheyenne. Wyo."
H. P. Warren.
"Colon, Ry. Dopt., Oct. '25, 1908.
Dear Brothers in Sigma Tau: The
past year has been comparatively
uneventful with me. . I am still work
ing for tho Panama railroad and am
tow engineer in charge of mainte
nance, having charge of tho road
maBtor and master carpjtntor's work
as well as tho engineering connected
with maintenance. We build all quar
maintain tho eight docks which be
lqng to tho company. During the
coming year it 1b intended to con
struct a new permanont dock 1,600
foot long.
"During tho past year we havo com
pleto.l tho Gnmbon bridge fourteen
pinto girder spnnB nnd one through
truss and have installed three new
girder spans In the Barbncoas bridge
over tho Chagrefc rlvor.
"Brothers Needham and Woller are
still here. C. K. Smith has gone to
Peru, leaving hero last July. I do
not know how many of you are fortu
nnta enough to hnve somo of the fel
lows on tho same work with you, but
I am sure that those who havo agree
with me in thinking It a great priv
ilege. My exporlence with the fellows
has been peculiarly satisfying and
I hope and bellevo thnt the men here
are of the same type as Sigma Tans
everywhere.
"Am anxious to get back and at
tend another meeting similar to thnt
of last, spring when tho active mem
bers initiated a few novices with
i.omc added 'wrinkles' to tho ritual.
As over your Brother, H. P. Warren."
R. L. Battan.
"Spokane, Wash., Oct. 26, 1908.
Dear Brothers: The year has been a
busy ono for me and no doubt for the
whole bunch.
"After a couple of promotions with
the Washington Water Power Co. I
tendered my resignation on Juno'l
?nd ombnrked In engineering work for
'yours truly.' When I tell you thnt
Spokane doubles Kb population about
every four years you may understand
that things aro lively here at all
times. They do not even wait for
the election -of Taft.
"I hnvo had considerable drafting
in the Inst year. There is much to
do along tho line of architectural
work. I am now working on a dam
and reservoir proposition for a fruit
man. Concrete is coming into Its
own rapidly in this city. However,
city bridge contracts running up Into
hundreds of thousands of dollars, are
a little too heavy for me to tackle
as yet.
Tho style of our firm of which
'yours truly' is vice-president and
secretary Is the American Concrete &
Engineering company.
"Here's success to all tho follows.
Your Brother Sigma Tau, R. L. Bat
tan, Spokane, Wash., Box 738."
L. K. Needham.
"Colon, Panama, Oct. 27.
"Dear Brothers in Sigma Tau:
"It Is past the tlmo wo aro sched
uled to give an account of our deeds
for the year but I'm living In hopes
that some one else Is slow and I may
yet bo In time.
'Ab several of your know I'm still
In the land of tho tropics whore Uncle
Sam owns the busiest railway in tho
world.
"I've been working as transitman
on maintenance of way under Brother
Warren and so, of course, havo no
kick coming on my bosB. My exper
ience has been almost unlimited and
dMwrsraried from office boy to brldgo
building.
"I spent two months on bridge
work, nnd got somo valuable Informa
tion, especially on concrete work.
"Brothers C. K. Smith, J. H. Woller,
H. P. Warren and myself were all
here for about six months,' and, as
we worked out of tho same office and
saw each other every day, had a very
pleasant life, indeed.
"Brother Smith, howovor, being
moro onorgotic than tho rest of us,
learned to speak Spanish very fluent--ly
and decided to go to Peru, S. A.,
whore he would havo a better chance
to Increase, his education in that lino.
Of courso all of us except' Brother
Wollor have had our six weeks' vaca
tion in tho states sinco last Octobor,
and although the United States has
ENGINEER WALSH STAR
LEADS C0RNHU8KER FIVE TO
VICTORY OVER AME8.
ONE-SIDED SCORE Of 42 TO 20
Inaccurate Goal Tossing Mars Play
of Nebraska Five Herbert, Left
Forward, Plays Good Game
for Aggies.
Nebraska opened the local inter
colloglato basket-ball season at the
university armory last night by whal
loplng the Ames agglea in a Blow
game by a score of 42 to 20. Inac
curate goal-tossing marred the other
wise brilliant play of tho Cornhuskors.
Neither Walsh, the Nebraska captain,
nor Woods, loft forward, wero In form
and both of thom missed many easy
throws for goals. In team work the
Comhuskers Bhowed great improve
ment over tholr play against tho Jay
hawkorB last week. In this respect
they outclassed tholr opponents and
kept tho play In Ames territory prac
tically all the time during both halves.
The visitors at times exhibited
flashes of brilliant basket shooting,
Dnd for flvo minutes In tho second
half made most of tholr points. For
tho AggleB, Herbert, left forward, waB
a star. He followed tho ball contin
ually and frequently broko up the
Cornhusker play. Law also did somo
fast work for the Aggies. Bell and
Captain Walsh were the stars for Ne
braska. Lhe-up.
Nebraska. Ames.
Walsh If Herbert
Woods, Schmidt. . .rf Brown
Petrashek c Do Vault
Boll, Jonos rg v.. Case
Perry, Minor If Law
Goals from field Walsh, 8; Petra
shek, 5; Perry, 4; Bell, 3; Do Vault,
5; Herbert, 3; Brown, 1. Foul goals
Walsh, 2; Brown, 2. Referee Hewitt
Umpire Pinneo.
its advantages, so has tho land of tho
cplghlttl, where winter Is coming on
and woolen box aro expensive.
"Tho 'big ditch' grows largor at on"
amazing rate, and if wo don't have
war with some one to take away the
army-no doubt we will havo Bhlps
sailing through the canal " in a fow
years.
"I havo grown rather rusty on tho
doings of tho brothers, and especially
so -of thoso still In the university, so
you may bo sure tho arrival of tho
annual letter Is looked forward to
with a great doai of ploasure.
"I know tho bunch at tho university
was small to start with this fall, but
I bellevo the fow wo had will carry
on tho work and make Sigma Tau a
stronger and better society than over
before, and when tho men aro out of
school thoy will see tho benefit de
rived from such an organization more
clearly than over.
"With best regards to all tho broth
ers and wlBhes for a successful year
in tho Iowa chapter, aB well as our
own,
"Yours in Sigma Tau,
"L. K. NEEDHAM."
Cristobal, C. Z., caro Chief Eng.
P. R. R.
Chester K. Smith.
"Lima, Peru, Oct. 28, 1908.
"Nebraska Chaptor of Sigma Tau:
"Dear Brothers: I'm afraid this
letter will be somewhat late, and I
am sorry it has boon neglected so
long. At the time of the last annual
letter I was In Colon holding tho job
of draftsman on the Panama railroad.
I remained there until tho last of
July, this year, working in tho office
at the time. Brothers Warren and
Needham, who are still on tho job,
will probably toll you about tho work,
so I won't say anything about it.
"During May and Juno I spent a
vacation In tho states, part of which
was put in around the old campus.
"In July I packed my work bag and
came down hero to work as an assist
ant engineer on construction for tho
Corro do Pasco Mining Co., an Amer
ican company who have a bunch of
copper mines at Cerro de Pasco and a
big smoltor at La Fundlcion.
"The company is .engaged in mak
ing extensive improvements in and
additions to Its plant, especially at the
smelter, where the capacity of the
furnaces will bo practically doubled,
by adding flvo reverboratory furnaces,
light McDougall roasters, two dust
chambers and a large steel stack be
sides numerous minor details,
"Since I havo been. hero I have
worked both at Cerra de Pasco and
La Fundlcion. Have been hero in
Lima and Callao for the past month,
but will go back up the hill next week,
"The ride up over the mountains
Is .very interesting as it is quite a
railroad. Tho point whoro it crossos
tho- Andean divide ' is 15,665 feet
above sea level, and tho road from
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