TAMS in New York. We agreed to take a graduate course in hydraulics and a
graduate course in hydrology at Johns Hopkins. The hydraulics they could give
us at night under Mr. [Fred] Medaugh and the hydrology was going to be every
Friday afternoon under Abel Wolman, with John Geyer filling in when Abel
couldn't be there.
A couple of fellows came down from the Philadelphia Electric Company and
Conowingo Dam to register for the two courses. Abel's course was a seminar
and we called it "A Hydrologic Analysis of the Susquehanna River Basin."
Now, Abel at that time was somewhat jaundiced about the economics of Corps
projects and I think that the engineering profession generally thought that the
Corps was kind of stretching the economic analysis to justify some of the
projects. Abel's view was that when the Corps goes into a town to investigate
a potential project that the government would build and the local people would
have to provide the land, easements, and the rights-of-way, the town council
will look at the cost of the land, easements, and rights-of-way and they will,
in their heads, do a cost-benefit ratio of what they know the benefits really are
and weigh them against the cost that they have to put up, and if they can see
that ratio coming out favorable, they would agree to go ahead with it. He was
very dubious about the Corps' cost-benefit analyses, particularly estimation of
benefits.
You should remember, Abel was a consultant to the Miami Conservancy
District where everything was computed down to a gnat's eyebrow, and they
didn't build projects unless there were either collectable benefits or taxes
sufficient to pay for them because there weren't any federal funds. I think Abel
at that time was expressing the general views of the engineering profession, but
I don't think this extended down to the graduates' not wanting to take a job
with the Corps. In 1939 and 1940, you didn't analyze things like that. You
wanted to get on a payroll. The effect of the Depression.
Anyway, we took those two courses, but I wasn't able to finish the last month
because I was in an automobile accident in the spring of 1940 and had to drop
out. In the summer I left the Corps to take another job. I should have said that
my first job was temporary. It wasn't under civil service. They didn't take out
retirement or anything like that, although I had benefits such as annual and sick
leave. That's how John Starr could hire me the next day.
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