Theodore M.
something-to be on a payroll, so I walked right down and cashed the check
at a nearby bank-1 needed the money. Otherwise I'd have kept that check and
framed it. But was a lot of money in those days. It was Friday, and I
needed it. So that was my start with the Corps of Engineers.
I started work at the same time as another young man who was an architecture
graduate. We were put into a squad headed by an architect named Bert
Lichtig-L-i-c-h-t-i-g. Bert was one of these self-made architects that had never
gotten a college degree, and he said something like this-"You know, I don't
have a sheepskin, but I don't really need one. Just because you've got that
piece of paper that says you're an engineer"-or to the other fellow-"you're
an architect, he said, "That doesn't mean anything to me. I got to see what
you can do. Then he said, "What I want you fellows to do is to draw the
borders and the title block on linen for my men to fill in the drawings.
At that time, every job had detailed plans and specifications prepared before
bids were taken. The plans were drawn up in India ink on linen. We were
working on plans for the Susquehanna River flood control, so I spent my first
couple of weeks drawing those borders and title blocks for the plans. The other
fellow and I made a game of it, to see who could do the most. I don't think we
ever did more than seven or eight a day. I think the maximum was about eight
a day. We were putting
first, at the top, you remember, it wasn't the
Corps-it was U.S. Engineer Department, or U.S. Engineer Office, something
like that. I have a towel that I stole as a souvenir of my first job-the statute of
limitations has run out, so I can tell you-it says, "USED" embroidered in red
on it. Every draftsman had a towel that he used to keep his hands and cuffs
clean so that he wouldn't make a smear when he was working on those
drawings.
On the other corner, at the top, it said, "War Department." And the title block
had the name of the project, and the name of the drawing, and always
Prepared by.. "Reviewed by..." "Submitted by.. and "Approved by..."
and the name of the district engineer and the chief of the Engineering
Division-all that in 020 Leroy. Well, that's mighty fine print, and if you're
not real careful, you'll smear it. Finally, down in the title block, it said,
"United States Engineer Office, Baltimore, Maryland District.
Anyway, I did borders and title blocks for a couple of weeks-we were
working on drawings for the pumping plants and levees for the Wilkes-Barre
35
Previous Page
