Jacob H. Douma
When this new Chief came to the Chief's office, he brought Slichter along. Everyone
thought he was going to have Slichter as his assistant, civilian assistant, but he decided not
to do that. He decided to appoint Slichter as Chief of the Engineering Division. It may
be that's when Stuck moved on. But anyhow, Slichter became Chief of the Engineering
Division, and he was a very good fellow to work with. He understood engineering well.
He understood some hydraulics pretty well, too.
Did Slichter come over with Lewis Pick in
Pick. That's who it is. `49. Yes, that's Pick. But anyhow, Slichter was Chief of the
Engineering Division for quite awhile
and then Hathaway moved. He was a
special civilian assistant to the Chief of Engineers. That's when he was also President of
the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Well, that's in the early 1950's.
yes.
Do you remember some of the more bitter struggles you may have had or disagreements
in various aspects of some projects?
I forget them. Let's see now. What are the bitter things?
One thing I didn't like very well when I was in the Structural Branch was that John
Harold, who was sitting next to me, would review a project, write up some comments, and
get them typed. Then he said, "Jake, will you take a look at this?" I was doing the same
thing on another report. I looked at his review comments and said, "I don't agree with
this comment on the high-velocity channel flow. He didn't know too much about
velocity channel flow. I had difficulty agreeing with some of his comments on that
subject. He was there quite a few years before I came and didn't appreciate my writing
comments on his comments and handing them back across the aisle. He looked at my
comments for some time, but didn't say anything for two or three days. Then he wrote
something and gave it to Mr. Steele.
I never had any bitter arguments about review comments made by other branches. For
example, if the Concrete Branch said something, I would generally accept it because I am
no expert on concrete. It was the same way with hydraulics. I remember, though, once
a concrete engineer said, "We never did that at so-and-so dam. " I said, "Yes, I know you
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