OBITUARY. 51 Mr. W. IsoN and Mr. HARGRAVES, acting as scrutineers, declared the following duly elected:—Members—Messrs.
FRED. G. BARKER,
JAS.
C. LANE, and JOHN SARVAASS; and Mr. H. E. UPTON as Junior Member.The discussion on the paper by Mr. Donald Clark, on "The Training of an Engineer," was resumed, and its conclusion was further postponed.
Prof. H. PAYNE read a paper, accompanied by diagrams and demonstrations, on "The Influence Line." A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Professor Payne on the motion of the .President.
At 10.15 p.m. the meeting dosed.
OBITUARY.
HENRY COATHUPE MAIS was born at Westbury-on-Tyne, England, in 1827.
After education at the Bristol and Bishops Colleges, and under private tuition, he was articled, in 1844, to Mr. M.
Penistone, C.E., one of Sir J. K. Brunel's chief engineers during that period of most important railway activity in England. After the completion of his articles he sought ex- perience in mechanical engineering in a large English engineering works.
Joining with the proprietor of these works, they brought an extensive engineering installation to Sydney in 1850, but the gold discoveries intervening and dislocating business, they were compelled to abandon their enterprise.
In 1851, Mr. Mais accepted the position of engineer to the then Sydney Railway Company, formed to construct the first New South Wales railway, i.e., from Sydney to Parramatta.
Later, he left that situation to act as one of the assistant engineers to the Sydney City Commissioners. In 1856, he
ALICE MILLS" STUDIO.
The late HENRY COATHUPE MAIS, M. Inst. C.E., M.I.M.E., M.V.I.E., M.Am.S.C.E., Etc.,
Born 1827, died Feb. 25th, 1916.
OBITUARY. 53 joined with E. D. Nicholls in carrying on extensive engineering manufacturing work (including the first hardwood mills in New South Wales.)
In 1858 he joined Messrs. Cornish and Bruce, the con- tractors for the Melbourne to Bendigo railway, as their engineer. Upon the completion of those lines in 1862, he was appointed engineer and manager to the Melbourne and Subur- ban Railway, extending from Melbourne to Hawthorn, and to Brighton. Upon the amalgamation, in 1866, of that and other lines, Mr. Mais retired from the service. During this period he was consulted by the Governments of Victoria and Tasmania upon important matters, notably upon the Yarra wharf schemes and the construction of railways in Tasmania.
After a brief engagement with the Victorian Water Supply Department, he was, in 1867, appointed Engineer-in-Chief of South Australia, a position he retained until 1888. This ap- pointment also covered, at various times, subsidiary engage- ments, i.e., engineer of water works, engineer of harbours, and general manager of the railways (1867 to 1879). He was in'these capacities responsible for the construction of 1,4.7o miles of railway, 8,000 feet of wharves, lighthouses, fortifica- tions, and other públic works, involving an expenditure of
--io,5oo,000. Also, during that period, Mr. Mais made an extended tour, on behalf of the Government of South Aus- tralia, to Britain, the United States, Europe, and Ceylon;
for the resultant report the Parliament awarded him a special grant of X815.
In 1888 he retired from the position of Engineer-in-Chief of South Australia to pursue private practice in Melbourne as a consulting engineer and arbitrator. In this capacity he became the consultant to many leading mining companies, acted as arbitrator between Governments and contractors in important railways disputes, and acted for the Victorian Government on a number of railway and other boards.
Owing to failing health he relinquished all practice in 1912.
Mr. Mais became a member of the Victorian Institute of Engineers in 1888. Several times he was elected a member of Council and Vice-President. Also he was a member of numerous other bodies, including the Institution of Civil En- gineers and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers of London,
54 VICTORIAN INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERS.
the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Photographic Society of Victoria, etc.
Mr. Mais died on February 25th, 1916.
DISCUSSION.
THE TRAINING OF AN ENGINEER.
(Paper by DONALD CLARK.)
Mr. T. D. ANDERSON* sent a written contribution to the discussion as follows:—He had just received his copy for the
"Proceedings" for May, and he was very sorry he had been unable to be present when the paper was read, or to hear the discussion thereon. He had to apologise for his absence from the present meeting also. The technical training of engineers was a subject on which there was a great diversity of opinion, and one on which engineers, and engineers alone, should be the advisors. Mr. Clark had truly said that the engineer had been satisfied to leave the preliminary training of engineers in the hands of the schoolmaster. It was pleasing to see that the Institute as a body was now going to take an active interest in this matter. Mr. Clark was to be con- gratulated on the manner in which he had brought the matter before the Institute.
There was one aspect which Mr. Clark had not touched, and that was the case of the boy at present in the workshop.
He had dwelt on the University student at length, and touched on the junior technical student and his future, but in the technical schools at the present time the difficulty was with the boys who were actually engaged in the workshop.
The average boy left school at 14 or 15 years of age; . he entered a shop as an apprentice under the usual conditions;
he had little to encourage him during his hours of work, and, very often, too little to look forward to in the future. In most cases the parents of these boys could not afford to give them a technical training, buy books, pay travelling expenses, and keep them during the early years of their apprenticeship.
*Head of the Engineering Department, Castlemaine Technical School_
