Time for the next–and probably the most exciting–installment of my series on Alan Chapman’s notes about the early power plant:
I’ve already talked about McCants and about Walworth, English and Flett. Up today is the real breakthrough, the thing that made me exclaim out loud when I saw it: Edward “Cap” J. Dennis.
I’d seen references to “Mr. Dennis” all over the place but I couldn’t tell exactly what his job was. In fact, I was never entirely certain whether Dennis was his last name or his first. Once I had his whole name, though, things began to fall into place very quickly. Here’s an article about him that appeared in the Engineering Section of the Thresher in January 1930:
There’s a lot of great information here but there were a couple of things that really stood out to me. First, a marmoset?? Second, he essentially lived here. I’m going to try and see if I can figure out exactly where “the small white bungalow just back of the Institute grounds” was located.
Here’s Mr. Dennis in his domain, the man in the white shirt with his hand on the ladder:
Bonus: When we were in New York this weekend I saw this mechanical owl in the window of Barney’s. It’s quite large and it moves back and forth and speaks in a deep voice. The effect, I must say, was more disturbing than festive.
