This
was Captain Eads, of St. Louis,[26] an original genius _minus_
scientific knowledge to guide his erratic ideas of things mechanical.
He was seemingly one of those who wished to have everything done upon
his own original plans. That a thing had been done in one way before
was sufficient to cause its rejection. When his plans for the St.
Louis Bridge were presented to us, I handed them to the one man in the
United States who knew the subject best--our Mr. Linville. He came to
me in great concern, saying:
"The bridge if built upon these plans will not stand up; it will not
carry its own weight."
"Well," I said, "Captain Eads will come to see you and in talking over
matters explain this to him gently, get it into proper shape, lead him
into the straight path and say nothing about it to others."
[Footnote 26: Captain James B. Eads, afterward famous for his jetty
system in the Mississippi River.]
This was successfully accomplished; but in the construction of the
bridge poor Piper was totally unable to comply with the extraordinary
requirements of the Captain. At first he was so delighted with having
received the largest contract that had yet been let that he was all
graciousness to Captain Eads. It was not even "Captain" at first, but
"'Colonel' Eads, how do you do? Delighted to see you.
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