Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Third Supplement.djvu/269

 phrases of the author. He showed how this method might be applied without degenerating into grimace or becoming either elaborate or restless. His bearing and conduct on the stage were entirely natural, but were nevertheless informed at every moment with invention, and disciplined by a graceful economy to secure the effect at which he was aiming. His comedy was founded on sympathetic observation, and a zest for the intricacies of human character. He had a simple sense of fun streaked with a sentiment which was never forced and never lost touch with reality. Behind his art was a personality of rare modesty and charm, that instinctively avoided exaggeration and had a genuine dislike of publicity.

In 1874 Hare married Adala Elizabeth, daughter of John Hare Holmes, by whom he had one son and two daughters.

 HARTLEY, CHARLES AUGUSTUS (1825–1915), civil engineer, born at Hedworth, Durham, 3 February 1825, was the son of W. A. Hartley, of Darlington, by his wife, Lillias, daughter of Andrew Todd, of Borrowstounness, Linlithgowshire. He acquired his early practical experience in railway and mining work in Scotland and in harbour work at Plymouth. During 1855 and 1856 he served in the Crimean War in the Anglo-Turkish contingent with the rank of captain, and constructed some defence works at Kertch.

Hartley's connexion with the Near East did not terminate with the war. At the conclusion of peace in 1856 the attention of the Powers was turned to the improvement of the navigation of the lower Danube, which was impaired by the enormous quantity of mud and sand encumbering the estuary and deposited along the sea coast. By article xvi of the Treaty of Paris the European Commission of the Danube was established in order ‘to designate and cause to be executed the works necessary’ to clear the mouths of the Danube below Isaktcha. The Commission was empowered by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 to exercise its powers in complete independence of the territorial authorities, and its jurisdiction was extended to Galatz. By the Treaty of London in 1883 its jurisdiction was further extended to Braila. To this commission Hartley was appointed chief engineer in 1856. Some doubt existed at first as to which of the three principal estuaries of the Danube—the Kilia, the Sulina, and the St. George—was best adapted for improvement. After some hesitation Hartley advised that in the first place provisional works should be undertaken to improve the harbour at the Sulina mouth by utilizing the natural scour of the river. These works consisted of two piers forming a seaward prolongation of the fluvial channel. They were begun in April 1858 and completed in July 1861, and were so successful that in 1866 it was determined to replace the provisional piers by permanent solid structures. The task was completed in 1871 and the piers considerably lengthened. When the works were begun the depth of the channel at the bar was only from seven to twelve feet, but by 1861 it had increased to sixteen feet or more, and Sulina, formerly known as ‘the grave of sailors’, had become one of the best harbours on the Black Sea. In 1876 the depth was increased to over twenty feet, and from 1879 to 1893 it remained constant without recourse to dredging. In 1894 and 1895, owing to the increasing size of vessels using the channel, the depth was increased to twenty-four feet.

Equal success was achieved in dealing with the course of the Danube above the Sulina mouth. In 1880 was commenced the construction of a new entrance from the Toulcha channel in accordance with plans designed by Hartley in 1857. This work was completed by 1882, and by 1886 the St. George's branch also was made navigable. In consequence the Danube as far as Braila is now usable by steamers of four thousand tons net register, as compared with vessels of four hundred tons before the improvements were begun.

Hartley was knighted for his services in 1862 on the petition of merchants interested in Danube navigation and of sea-captains frequenting the river. In Roumania he was affectionately styled ‘the father of the Danube’. He continued to reside in that country until 1872, when he was succeeded as resident engineer by Charles Kühl, but he retained his appointment as chief engineer until 1907. To him and to Kühl the development of the navigation of the lower Danube is principally due.

Both before and after 1872 Hartley was engaged in much important work elsewhere, chiefly of an advisory character. He was consulted by the Indian government with regard to the improvement of 243