Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/855

Rh, which may be found all along our Atlantic sea-coast, and particularly in the clearing of the channel of Hell-Gate, he has shown himself a man who held the resources of science in his hand, and knew exactly what to do with them; and in the use he made of them, to promote the greatest public benefit, the originality of the devices which he contrived, and the certainty with which he accomplished his designs, he has shown himself to possess the highest title to scientific recognition.

was born in Norfolk, Virginia, August 24, 1823. His father, Thomas Newton, represented the Norfolk district in Congress for thirty years, and was, when he retired, the oldest member in service in the United States House of Representatives. After having been given such instruction as the schools of Norfolk could confer, young Newton, when about twelve years old, was placed under private tuition, especially in mathematics, for which he showed a marked taste, with the purpose, already formed, apparently, of making a civil engineer of him. He entered the Military Academy at West Point in July, 1838, where, we are informed, his worth as a careful and comprehensive student was known and recognized by his superiors, and his natural bent and acquirements were at once given opportunity for play. Upon his graduation from the Academy in 1842, he was appointed a second-lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. He served as assistant to the Board of Engineers in 1842 and 1843; and in the Academy, first as assistant professor and afterward as principal assistant Professor of Engineering, from 1843 to 1846. In the latter year he was designated as assistant engineer in the construction of Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, and Fort Trumbull, New London, Connecticut. From this work he was transferred to be superintending engineer of construction of Forts Wayne, Michigan, and Porter, Niagara, and Ontario, New York. In 1852 and 1853 he was engaged in superintending the surveys of Cobscook Bay, Kennebec River, and Matinicus Islands; and for the breakwater at Owl's Head, in Maine. Next we find him in Florida on similar work, looking to the improvement of St. John's River, the Haul-over Canal, and the repair of the sea-wall at St. Augustine; in Georgia, looking after Forts Pulaski and Jackson, and the improvement of lighthouses on Savannah River; at Sullivan's Island, attending to the trial and inspection of the dredge boat for the bar; and again in Florida, supervising the fortifications and lighthouses of Pensacola Harbor, from 1855 to 1858.

He was appointed in 1853 a member of the commission for devising a project for the improvement of St. John's River; in 1856, of the board to examine Pensacola dock; and of the special board of engineers to select sites and prepare projects for the coast-defenses of Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. There also appears, under the date of July 1, 1856, a record of Lieutenant Newton's appointment as captain of engineers, for fourteen years' continuous service. He was