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COL. WILGUS TO SPEAK IN UNION

Is Intended to Present Impartially the Advantages and Disadvantages of Engineering as a Profession

One of the foremost consulting engineers in the country, Colonel W. J. Wilgus, will speak on "Engineering and the Engineering Industries as a Career" in the Living Room of the Union at 8 o'clock this evening. Dean C. N. Greenough '98 will give a short introduction to the address by outlining the purpose of the series of lectures of which this will be the first, following which Colonel Wilgus will be introduced by Professor H. J. Hughes '94, Dean of the Engineering School.

Colonel Wilgus will arrive in Boston at 6 o'clock this evening and will immediately go to Cambridge to the guest of honor at a dinner which will be tendered him at 7 o'clock by the committee in charge of the lectures.

Will Return Tonight

Due to business pressure Colonel Wilgus will return to New York tonight so that he will be unable to confer personally with any men. Conferences will be held, however, tomorrow from 10 to 12 o'clock in the morning and from 2 to 5 o'clock in the afternoon in the Quiet Room of the Union. Professor H. E. Clifford will confer with all men interested during the morning hours while Dean Hughes and Professor L. J. Johnson '87 will hold office hours in the afternoon. All members of the University who wish to avail themselves of this privilege may sign for conference periods in a blue-book placed for this purpose on the desk in the Main Reading Room at Widener. This book will remain there until 5 o'clock today and will then be reserved to the Union in order that conference periods signed for immediately before and after the lecture.

A special shelf has been placed in the Delivery Room in Widener for books pertaining to engineering subjects. Books on the other professions that will be discussed in later lectures will be placed there shortly. These special books may be taken out only after 5 o'clock and are due the following morning.

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Colonel Wilgus whose education ended with high school reached a figure of prominence in the engineering profession through continued success in his railroad projects. He started his life's work as a road man on the Minnesota and Northwestern railroad and was rapidly advanced to the position of draughtsmen, superintendent, and in five years, division engineer. Following this he had charge of building a new railroad in the Great Lakes district. In 1903 Mr. Wilgus was in general charge of the electrification of the railroads in the zone surrounding New York and of the construction of the Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

Since 1908 he has conducted a private consulting practice, and has been the consulting engineer of the most important railroad engineering projects that have been attempted in recent years. When the war broke out Mr. Wilgus was appointed deputy director-general of transportation in the American Expeditionary Force and for meritorious service overseas was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by the United States government.

Series Includes Five Other Lectures

There will be four other lectures of this type on other professions, the first of which will be given Monday, March 19, on "Business". Mr. E. F. Gay LL.D. '18, president of the New York Evening Post and former dean of the Business School will be the speaker. The third lecture will be given on Monday, March 26 by Professor Bliss Perry of the English Department in the University. Professor Perry will speak on the opportunities offered to college men in the field of "Education". "Law and Public Service" will be the subject of the fourth talk, the speaker being Mr. James Byrne '77; Mr. Byrne, who is a fellow of Harvard College, is a prominent New York lawyer and president of the Bar Association in that city.

Dr. Thayer to Discuss Medicine

Dr. W. S. Thayer '85, the head physical of the Johns Hopkins Hospital will deliver the fourth lecture, with "Medicine and Public Health" as his subject.

President Lowell will conclude the series by lecturing on "The Choice of a Profession in Relation to a Liberal Education". The date set for this address is April 11. These lectures on the various professions will be presented from an impartial point of view and are open to all members of the University whether. They are also members of the Union or not.

The lectures arranged fo this year are of experimental nature and next year an entirely different plan may be adopted. The number of lectures may be increased the subjects changed or possibly the lectures may be done away with entirely and attention concentrated on the personal conferences.

The committee in charge of the arrangements will watch the developments that result from the lectures and conferences to see which part of the program appears most useful to the members of the University and upon their observations will base its future actions

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