• Parents given as Wm. R. Eckart, born Ohio, and Eleanor Carlisle, born U.S.A.402

• Upon the death of my mother in 1854, at Cleveland, Ohio, I was sent to Chillicothe to live with her relatives, my father moving to Zanesville. This broke up my home, as far as my parents were concerned, when I was about thirteen years of age.408

• U. S. S. Narragansett, Acapulco
Sept. 5th 1861
Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy
Sir -
Enclosed I forward my letter of acceptance to the position of 3rd Asst. Engineer in the U. S. Navy, also my letter of Citizenship, and Oath [of] allegiance, being the first opportunity that I have had of so doing since I received them.
I am respectfully,
your Servant
William R. Eckart, Jr.
3rd Asst. Engineer
U. S. Navy409

• To Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy
Sir -
I herewith desire to tender to you my resignation of the position of 3rd Asst. Engineer in the Navy.
I am urged to this course by the following considerations: during the thirty-two months which I have served in this Squadron, I have been upon the “Sick List” nearly one year both on board of the FlagShip “Lancaster,” and this vessel, and it will be seen by the letter of the Medical Officer of the Narragansett, which I enclose, that there is no immediate prospect of entire recovery. I therefore respectfully solicit the early action of the Department upon my communication.
I am very respectfully,
Your obd Servent,
William R. Eckart
3rd Asst. Engineer U.S.N.410

• Steam in the Chronicle Office.
Today the [Vallejo] DAILY CHRONICLE is printed by steam. We judged it to be an important event in the history of Vallejo enterprise when less than two years ago the proprietor of this establishment introduced a poser press to accommodate the rapidly increasing circulation of the CHRONICLE, but since that time his business has been increased so wonderfully, that he will now have four presses driven by steam. In fact, steam, or some other motor other than human muscle, had become a necessity to accommodate the business of the CHRONICLE office, and he feels a natural pride in being the first party to introduce it into a Vallejo printing office. Our engine is a neat and compact six-horse power, built at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, from drawings made by W. R. Eckart, and is in every respect a complete piece of machinery. The shafting and hangings are from the Foundry and Machine Works of Heald & McCormick, Vallejo, who have made an admirable job. Hereafter we shall be able to expedite the issue of the CHRONICLE, and accommodate patrons with the delivery of job work at an earlier time than formerly. The machinery may be seen at work after three o’clock in the afternoon.411

• SERENADE. The National Brass band serenaded Mr. Eckart and his bride last evening, thus welcoming them home from their bridal tour. Mr. Eckart responded handsomely, taking the boys to the Dawson House, where they indulged in champagne and other good things.412

• A NARROW ESCAPE. — The Oroville Record, of the 17th instant, says on Friday night of last week, Mr. W. R. Eckart, of the Marysville Foundry, had a narrow escape from assassination in Oroville. It seems that a company of Chinamen in the Lava Beds, had purchased some machinery from the Marysville Foundry, and by some means, had got the idea into their Celestial heads that they were being cheated by the interpreter who had made the purchase for them, and Mr. Eckart came to Oroville to settle the matter. The Chinamen seemed to think that he was in with the interpreter, and bad feeling was engendered against them. At night as he was standing on the corner of Montgomery and Huntoon streets, a Chinaman passed and struck him with a knife. The blow was aimed at his heart, and given with much force. Fortunately it struck a large and thick memorandum book in the breast pocket of his coat, which proved sufficient to check the progress of the knife. Such was the force of the blow, however, that the point of the knife penetrated the cover of the book, passed through several letters enclosed in the book and penetrated several leaves. The Chinaman escaped in the darkness. It is understood that the interpreter knows the perpetrator of the dastardly attempt to assassinate Mr. Eckart, but does not know of his personal whereabouts.
Source: Newspaper clipping, dated 1873, probably Marysville newspaper; in same style as “SERENADE,” above.

• Statement of Services as a Mechanical Engineer
Was born in Chillicothe, Ohio June 17th, 1841; graduated from St. Clair Street Academy, Cleveland, Ohio, as a Civil Engineer. Served a regular apprenticeship with Griffith, Ebert & Wedge, Zanesville, Ohio, as a machinist, and afterwards worked as a journeyman and draughtsman in their establishment.
At the breaking out of the war, entered the Navy as Engineer, July 8th, 1861, serving in that capacity on various government vessels until 1864, when my resignation was tendered and accepted, then entered the employment of H. J. Booth & Co., proprietors of the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, Cal. as assistant draughtsman, serving them afterwards as their Chief Draughtsman, Foreman, and Superintendent.
In May 1867 was duly examined as to my qualifications and licensed to act as a 1st class Chief Engineer in the Merchant Service (license No. 25, 1867). Same has been renewed on application in 1871 and 1875. After leaving the Union Iron Works in 1869, entered the employ of the U. S. Government at Mare Island, Cal. as Foreman, and was soon afterward appointed Superintendent of Steam Machinery where I remained until leaving to enter as partner in the Marysville Foundry January 8th, 1872 with my former employer. Where we are now carrying on the business of manufacturing mining and marine machinery under the firm name of Booth and Eckart.
Was educated as a Civil Engineer, at the St. Clair Street academy in Cleveland, Ohio - was admitted as an Associate to the Institute of Naval Architects in 1869.
W. R. Eckart407

• Evening Chronicle
VIRGINIA CITY, NEV.
Per Week 25 cents.
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23, 1878
The Fulton Foundry.
The Fulton Foundry is now under the Superintendency of Mr. Eckart, formerly of San Francisco, and is prepared to furnish drawings, estimates and specifications in mechanical engineering, and especially in the construction of steam engines and boilers of all descriptions, wire rope, transmission pumping machinery, etc. All kinds of machinery, in fact, can be made here in the best style, and Mr. Eckart’s wide reputation as a practical engineer is such as to give patrons solid assurance that their orders will be satisfactorily filled.413

• AN APPOINTMENT –– W. R. Eckart, Superintendent of the Fulton Foundry, has been appointed Deputy United States Mineral Surveyor for this State. Now he will be “monarch of all he surveys” and “his right there will be none to dispute.”414

• A New Iron Steam Yacht for Lake Tahoe -
The Carson Flume and Lumber company have decided to build a new iron steamer to be used in connection with their extensive lumber business on the lake. Their fleet heretofore has consisted of the the iron steamer “Meteor,” the wooden boat “Emerald,” and such other boats as the necessity of their extensive business has compelled them to charter during their busy season. The “Meteor” was the first iron screw yacht ever constructed on the Pacific Coast, and has proved herself after two years’ trial, as being the staunchest and fastest yacht ever built in the United States, having made upon numerous occasions over twenty-one miles per hour to the proof and satisfaction of many doubting experts, who can believe nothing but what they see and try themselves...
The boat as well as the machinery will be built from the designs and specifications of Mr. Eckart, Superintendent of the Fulton Foundry of this city, also the construction engineer and designer of the “Meteor” which has given such satisfaction to the company.415

• AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE
A Traveler Having to Wait for a Bed
Until a Corpse was Removed From It.
W. R. Eckart, of San Francisco, is still in town. He had a somewhat unpleasant experience at Pocatello, at which place he had to stop over one night on his way here. After some delay he was shown to a room at the railway hotel, and although the thermometer registered a long way below zero, he found the windows wide open and the room looking anything but cheerful. After having the windows closed and the lamp lighted, he remarked that there was a large number of medicine bottles in the room; and after getting into bed he became painfully aware of the fact that the air was strongly impregnated with the fumes of carbolic acid. The night being extremely cold, he drew the bedclothes over his head, when he found the carbolic was stronger in bed than anywhere else. Visions of small pox at once floated through his brain, and he came to the conclusion that some one from California with that disease had occupied the bed; but knowing that if such was the case the danger was already done, and he would gain nothing by leaving bed, he lay quiet and went to sleep. In the morning he asked Boniface for an explanation, and was informed that a railroad man who had had his legs crushed had been occupying the room. Mr. Eckart said he hoped the gentleman had not been disturbed on his account. “Oh, no” said my host, “he died at 5 o’clock yesterday evening, and his body was sent east.” This, of course, accounted for the delay in giving him the room.
Source: Newspaper clipping, dated Jan 1888, probably local Anaconda newspaper

• SUBMARINE BOAT.
SHE MAKES A REMARKABLE SHOWING.
Considered to be Absolutely Safe — The Vessel Dives Beneath the Water.

GREEN POINT, (N. Y.), Sept. 22. — The submarine torpedo-boat Holland made a remarkable good showing on her practice run today, and aside from the regular run of a mile under water at a uniform depth of seven feet, discharged a regulation Whitehead torpedo such as is used in the Navy. The trial lasted one hour and a half. W. R. Eckhart, [sic] consulting engineer of the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, took the plunge in the Holland. The torpedo, when discharged, took a downward course and struck the bottom fifty feet from the bow. The cause of the deflection of the torpedo off its course was thought to be the disarrangement of the mechanism. Otherwise the trial was most successful. Afterward the Holland, with Mr. Eckhart aboard, made a deep dive, completely submerging the flags, which are ten feet high. Five minutes later she came to the surface.
Eckhart said he considered the boat absolutely safe and practical, and would prefer being aboard the Holland when submerged than in the fireroom of any surface torpedo boat.
Source: Newspaper clipping. Source and date unknown.23

• “W. R. Eckart, veteran construction and mechanical engineer, A. M. Hunt and W. F. C. Hasson, electrical engineers, served as consultants during the building of the plant. L. M. Hancock was the engineer in charge.” Nevada County Power Co. “Work on the Nevada power plant started with a rush July 5, 1895.” “Despite the obstacles, the Nevada power plant was finished in seven months. Power flowed into Nevada City in Feb. 1896; to Grass Valley, a month later. Initial installed capacity was 300 kilowatts, soon to raised to 1,200 kW.” (pp. 128-135)
Eckart was “In charge of design and construction of mechanical and hydraulic equipment” of Electra Powerhouse built by Prince André Poniatowski and his Standard Elec. Co. of California (inc. Nov. 27, 1897, W. Vir; reincorporated in Calif. Feb. 7, 1899). Poniatowski (first under Calif. Exploration Co, inc. April 1896 succeeded by California Exploration, Ltd, inc. 1898) optioned several mining properties in Amador County and needed electricity to develop and operate the mines. Local supplier was Blue Lakes Water Co. (org. 1887 by W. Frank Pierce to build “a pipeline from Amador Co. to Oakland to supply 17,500,000 gal of water daily”). He negotiated with Pierce to supply electricity and financed ($122,500) the construction of the Blue Lakes Powerhouse (450 kilowatt generators) “on an old millsite on the Mokelumne River 5 miles from Jackson, where water could be dropped 1,040 feet from the Amador Canal...” The plant began operating October 25, 1897. After this project Poniatowski conceived of a larger power plant which would be able to serve San Francisco, 143 miles away. He visited the Blue Lakes Region to examine the potential water resources including engineering data, water storage capacity, size of dams, and estimated costs. He estimated that the power plant would have to generate as much as 15,000 kwatts. This project was too big for his company so, working with W. H. Crocker, developed a plan of financing which included the formation of the Standard Electric Co. of Calif. The Blue Lakes Powerhouse was operated successfully until Nov. 1, 1899, when fire destroyed construction of the Electra Plant "the last word in design and construction." Chief Engineer, “Dr. Frederick A. C. Perrine, first professor of electrical engineering at Stanford Univ. and later pres. of the Stanley Elec. Mfg. Co.” was responsible for the design of the electrical parts of the project and for the transmission system. “Associated with him were Frank G. Baum, brilliant Stanford engineer, and A. C. Bunker, young electrical engineer who had had experience with the Stanley Electrical Co., manufacturers of Electra’s generating equipment. Engineers C. P. Gilbert and C. H. Ellison were members of the extensive staff.” “In charge of design and construction of mechanical and hydraulic equipment was veteran W. R. Eckart who had a broad background of experience in mining and hydraulic work. He was an engineering officer of the Navy in the Civil War. He had designed the first locomotive built in Calif. by Peter Donahue’s Union Iron Works. He designed and built for the Bliss family the steamer Meteor which was operated for years on Lake Tahoe. At Virginia City he had been Consulting engineer for Mackay, Flood, O'Brien and Fair in the Comstock mines, installing high-pressure pipe lines to lift water from the lower workings to the surface by huge Cornish pumps.”416,417, p 167

• “Deep Mining Work In The Comstock Lode,” by W. R. Eckart, M. E.
The following contribution to the “Report’s” efforts to bring about the drainage of the Comstock mines and the resumption of the deep mining therein, through advanced methods and the use of the most improved appliances is from the pen of W. R. Eckart, M. E. Mr. Eckart’s article is exhaustive and comprehensive, and coming from such a leading authority is sure to have great influence upon the mine engineers of the Comstock, who are now ascertaining the best means of draining the mines and searching for new bonanzas at greater depths.418

• Excerpts from letter from John W. Mackay to William Roberts Eckart, 17 Aug 1899:
Prince Poniatowski, wired me last night, that you were coming with him to New York, and would be at the Waldorf on Monday. I am sorry I will not be here when you arrive, as I should have liked to talk with you on several topics. I am going to Idaho, with another party, where we have been prospecting mines for some time, and will probably arrive in San Francisco in about two weeks.419

• The Pitot tube used during the tests was designed and constructed by Mr. William Roberts Eckart, M. I. Mech. E.175, p 8

• When the history of engineering on the Pacific coast comes to be written it will not be complete unless the work of W. R. Eckart occupies the large place in the book that it occupies in fact and in the experience of his contemporaries. Mr. Eckart has been honored by membership in the following societies: American Society of Civil Engineers since 1881; American Society of Mechanical Engineers since 1882 -- vice president from 1883 to 1885; The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, 1878; Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, 1893; American Society of Naval Engineers; Associate Member of The Institution of Naval Architects, London.161, p 157

• [excerpt] Eckart was always on the firing line of progress and delighted in nothing more than in dealing with new and difficult problems. He was eminently a student in his manner of handling them, and spared no pains in insuring a sound foundation for his proposed solution or mode of treatment. He was notable as a collector of books and professional literature and of fine precision apparatus used in engineering measurements; was a member of many engineering societies and technical organizations, and occasionally contributed papers of value to their transactions. In 1872 he married Harriet Louise Gorham; to them were born three sons and one daughter. After a long period of failing health, during which he retained his keen interest in engineering, he died in Palo Alto, Cal., at the home of his eldest son.420

• William Eckart Dies at Ripe Old Age, Was Former Resident of Marysville and Had Wide Reputation As An Engineer
William R. Eckart, a brother of George R. Eckart of this city, died at Palo Alto Tuesday evening at 8 o’clock. He had been ill for some time and heart trouble was his ailment.
Deceased made his home in San Francisco until about a year ago, when he moved to Palo Alto. He was a former resident of Marysville and in the seventies was the proprietor of the Marysville foundry. Leaving Marysville he was form many years mechanical engineer for the Union Iron Works, and designed the engines of the famous old battleship, Oregon, and other ships built by this concern. After he retired from this position he entered the employ of the United States Government and was the representative of the government on all types of government boats. For the past number of years he was the consulting engineer for a number of large electrical and other corporations and had a national reputation as an electrical and mechanical engineer.
His wife, who survives him, was Miss Hattie Gorham, a former Marysville girl, and the daughter of the late Charles M. Gorham, who was for a number of years the mayor of this city. Deceased at the time of his death was coiner in the United States Mint at San Francisco.
Deceased will be buried today at Palo Alto. He was seventy-three years old.404

• Together with his half-brother, Isaac Roberts Eckart, portrayed in Allen Smith, Jr. painting, dated Cleveland, 1843. Portrait now [2004] hanging in home of Dave & Gretchen Mills, Scottsdale, Arizona.421

• Cannot find William Roberts Eckart in 1870 or 1880 censuses.

• 1850 Census: Chillicothe, Ross, Ohio. Age 9, b OH.422
• 1860 Census: Zanesville, Muskingum, Ohio. Age 18, b OH. Machinist.423
• 1900 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 59, b Jun 1841, OH. Mechanical engineer. Father b Canada (Fr); mother b OH.185
• 1910 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 68, b OH. Consulting engineer. Father b Canada; mother b OH.424

• The Eckart portrait, depicting Isaac Roberts Eckart and his half-brother, William Roberts, was appraised at $1,000.00 insurable value in 1974.425

• New York trained artist, Allen Smith, Jr. settled in Cleveland, Ohio in 1841, having been in New York City from 1830, and swiftly rose to prominence as a portrait and genre painter. Like all artists, he suffered greatly during the Panic of 1857, and this circumstance forced him to take a job in James F. Ryder’s studio where, according to his employer’s advertisements, he produced the “best oil painted photographs in Ohio.”426

• BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
W. R. ECKART
The Company’s Consulting Engineer, a Veteran Foremost in His Profession on the Pacific Coast
Ohio has produced more presidents than any other state. There may be something in the environment or something in the consciousness of the great achievements of her famous sons that impels a goodly percentage of Ohio-born men to advance to positions of prominence. The incentive of close example, the germ of ambition, whatever it be, the Ohio man at his best climbs above the average that start under like circumstances. Who today are the half dozen great engineers on the Pacific slope? You can’t name them and omit W. R. Eckart from the front rank. For more than forty years his life has been identified intimately and exclusively with most of the great engineering problems and developments of this part of the world.
He began life as an Ohioan sixty-eight years ago, for he was born at Chillicothe June 17th, 1841. His mother’s people had been pioneers in the settlement of that part of Ohio. His father was a merchant, with shipping interests in vessels on the great lakes.
First young Eckart attended private schools. Then his mother died when he was 12. After some public schooling in Chillicothe and Cleveland he took a special mathematical course in an academy at Cleveland in the hope of becoming a civil engineer, as he had a relative who was a civil engineer and president of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, which was being somebody in those days! When the boy was in his early teens the father moved to Zanesville, where he had a managing interest in a flour mill. Now it happened that the power for this grist mill came from six water wheels. New wheels had to be installed. Young Eckart was assisting the millwright. And as he worked at setting up those wheels he was noticed. A member of a firm prominent in those days in general mill and steamboat work offered him a place as apprentice. The youth had voyaged a little on Ohio and Mississippi river steamboats, and marine engineering had fascinated him. So he accepted the apprenticeship. The firm’s junior partner was manager of the works; he was master mechanic of great ability, and had been apprentice and foreman to Sir Joseph Whitworth in England, when the Whitworth works grew famous for machine tool construction. The manager became young Eckart’s friend, his severest and most encouraging critic. No work was done “good enough”; it had to be finished as the best possible. That apprenticeship and those ideas laid the foundation of the Eckart thoroughness and efficiency as a practical engineer.
Participation in steamboat trial trips to test machinery further interested the apprentice in marine engineering. July 2d, 1861, he took the government examinations and passed them with the rank of No. 1 of his date. He was appointed a third assistant engineer and ordered to join the United States naval fleet at San Francisco.
During his three years of naval duty, from the time he was 20 till he was 23, he made the acquaintance in San Francisco and gained the lasting friendship of the foremost men then in the engineering profession in California — Paul Torqua, Joseph Moore, Irving M. Scott, Wallace Hanscom, Huttner, Specht. Because of poor health he resigned from the navy and decided to make his home in San Francisco. He secured employment in 1864 in the drafting room of H. J. Booth & Co., a concern that manufactured mining machinery and repaired coast steamships. Irving M. Scott was the company’s chief draftsman at that time. A year later Eckart, then 24, was chief draftsman, and August 30th, 1865, the Booth & Co. shops turned out from Eckart’s designs and drawings the first locomotive manufactured in California. The trial run was made that day on the railroad from San Francisco to San Jose, with the governor, state and city officials, and other notables as invited passengers.
In 1867 Eckart went east, passed the examinations that licensed him to be a first-class chief engineer in the merchant marine, and then returned to California and continued his work with Booth & Co. In February of 1869, after nearly five years with the concern designing mills and mining machinery, he resigned to accept the appointment as draftsman to the steam engineering department at the Mare Island Navy Yard. That was when he was 27. He became foreman machinist, and was finally promoted to superintendent of steam machinery at the navy yard. He designed steam machinery, propellers, and dynamometers for the noted experiments made by the government with “steam launch No. 4.”
When he was 30 he left the navy yard to become a partner in the Marysville foundry firm of Prescott, Scheidel & Co., later styled Booth & Eckart. The firm built a great variety of hydraulic and mining machinery. Because of his experience in the experiments with the government launch Eckart guaranteed a speed of 21 miles an hour when taking the contract to build the little steamer Meteor for the Carson Lumber Company’s use on Lake Tahoe, and the Meteor made the speed and was at the time the fastest boat of its size in the world.
At 31 Eckart was appointed consulting engineer in the sinking of the four air shafts for the famous Sutro tunnel in Nevada. He spent months experimenting at Virginia City, collecting in his minute and methodical way data necessary to a commanding understanding of the whole situation. It was nasty, suffocating work, deep down in the mines, in a steamy, reeking atmosphere, where drops of subterranean water blistered the skin.
He had already designed the hoisting and drainage works for the Belcher, Yellow Jacket, Ophir, C. & C., and other historic mines.
In 1873 he established his residence in Virginia City as the consulting engineer for that remarkable quartette of bonanza kings, Mackay, Flood, O’Brien, and Fair.
About 1876 it became evident to the big operators on the Comstock Lode that heavy and powerful pumping and hoisting machinery would have to be installed to operate at a depth of 2,000 or 3,000 feet below the 1,600-foot level to be tapped by the Sutro drainage tunnel, which was then in 15,500 feet and had about 5,000 feet still to go to reach the lode. Prescott, Scott & Co. and the Risdon Iron Works were keen competitors for the contracts to construct the desired machinery. The firm that could produce an acceptable design first usually got the job. So Prescott, Scott & Co. sent Eckart down to San Francisco to help Irving M. Scott with the designs. And there was where Eckart’s earlier collection of minute data counted. While he did not design the great hydraulic pumps of the Comstock, his experiments in 1880 and 1881, while a member of the United States Geological Survey preparing his government report on the “Mechanical Appliances of the Comstock Lode,” became classics for the information of engineers, as the problems involved things not before undertaken in engineering and difficulties of a peculiar nature because of the great depth and the subterranean hot waters encountered.
About 1880, when deep mining on the Comstock began to decline, Eckart, then 39, moved to San Francisco and opened an office as a consulting engineer, and for ten years designed or supervised the construction of works for many well-known mines in California, Utah, and old Mexico. He made the plans for the Anaconda Copper Works in Montana and the hoisting and reduction works for Haggin and Tevis. In 1896 he solved the problem of getting the water out of the Alliston Ranch Mine at Grass Valley, which had lain idle and its lower levels bafflingly submerged for thirty years.
When the Union Iron Works entered upon its great career of warship building Eckart was engaged as its consulting engineer, and as such he assisted in conducting most of the preliminary and official trial trips and in rendering the reports.
In 1899 he was appointed consulting engineer for the Standard Electric Company, now owned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and then became it resident constructing engineer for all its hydraulic works, reservoirs, pipe lines, ditches, and power houses. Those were the days of pioneering in long-distance transmission of electric energy, and Eckart, who, more than a generation earlier, had taken so prominent a part in the work on the Comstock of getting the boiling water out of the depths of the Sierra Nevada mountains, was among the first to solve the problem of getting the melting snows from the tops of those same mountains down to hydroelectric plants that would transmit the energy on 200 miles to the local needs of the coast cities. Since 1907 he has been consulting engineer for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
His life has been busy but unobtrusive, his achievements in his profession many, and his recognition partly expressed by membership accorded him in the most prominent engineering societies of American and England.446

• WILLIAM ROBERTS ECKART, M. Am. Soc. C. E.
DIED DECEMBER 8TH, 1914.
William Roberts Eckart was born on June 17th, 1841, at Chillicothe, Ohio. His father, William R. Eckart, was a merchant of prominence, who, at one time, had large shipping interests on the Lakes and, later, a managing interest in the Putnam Flour Mills, at Zanesville, Ohio. His mother was member of the Carlisle family, pioneers in the settlement of Ohio.
After attending the public schools of Chillicothe and Cleveland, Mr. Eckart, having determined to take up the Profession of Civil Engineering, took a special course in mathematics at the St. Clair Street Academy, in Cleveland. Accepting the opportunity of serving an apprenticeship in the works of Griffith, Ebert, and Wedge, a firm of good reputation for general mill and steamboat work, he had the good fortune to come under the observation and to obtain the friendly interest of the junior partner, Mr. Wedge, who had had exceptional opportunities, in the shops of Sir Joseph Whitworth, in the manufacture of machine tools requiring extreme accuracy of construction. The effect of Mr. Wedge’s insistence that “the best” was to be attained, was not lost on Mr. Eckart, but supplemented his natural ability and became apparent in all his work.
It was natural that his early opportunity to work on steamboat construction and to participate in trial trips, awoke in Mr. Eckart a desire to enter the Government service as a Naval Engineer. The application was made, and in the examinations of June, 1861, he received the highest rating of all applicants of that date.
On July 30th, 1861, he was appointed Third Assistant Engineer and ordered to join the fleet of naval vessels on the Pacific Coast. He arrived in San Francisco in the latter part of 1861, and soon became well known among, and formed friendships with, California’s foremost engineers, including Paul Torqua, Joseph Moore, Irving M. Scott, Wallace Hanscom, Huttner, Specht, and many others.
In 1864, after resigning from the Navy on account of ill health, Mr. Eckart entered the em-ploy of H. J. Booth and Company, at San Francisco, under Mr. Irving M. Scott who was Chief Draftsman, and was engaged principally on the design of mining machinery and steamboat work. As Chief Draftsman with the same firm, Mr. Eckart designed the first locomotive built in California, which was given its trial trip from San Francisco to San José on August 30th, 1865.
In 1869, Mr. Eckart, then holding a license as First-Class Chief Engineer in the Merchant Service, accepted appointment as Draftsman in the Steam Engineering Department of the Mare Island Navy Yard, where, later, he was Foreman Machinist and Superintendent of Steam Machinery. A report by Mr. B. F. Isherwood and Mr. Eckart to the Secretary of the Navy on the relative efficiency of different propellers, and dynamometers used in making the necessary experiments. [“On Marine Propulsion,” Transactions, Inst. of Naval Architects of London, 1872, Vol. XIII, p. 315.]
In 1871, Mr. Eckart left the Navy Yard, and entered into partnership with Prescott, Scheidel and Company, at Marysville, the firm name being afterward changed to Booth and Eckart. This firm specialized in hydraulic, milling, and mining machinery, and by reason of its favorable location did a prosperous business.
In 1876, the firm of Prescott, Scott, and Company, which succeeded that of H. J. Booth and Company, took some large contracts for pumping machinery for the Comstock Mines, and Mr. Eckart was recalled to San Francisco to assist in its design and to superintend its construction. By this time quite a rivalry had sprung up between Prescott, Scott, and Company (The Union Iron Works), and the Risdon Iron Works, in producing designs of machinery to handle the water and ores at Virginia City.
At this date the Sutro Tunnel was “in” 15,500 ft., had 5,000 ft. more to go, and would strike the Comstock Lode just below the 1,600-ft. level. The mine owners were already realizing that nothing but the heaviest and best designed machinery would meet the requirements on all the workings below the tunnel and, therefore, designs for pumps and hoists of large capacity to reach 4,000 ft. below the surface were decided on and called for. Not only the great depth, but also the ventilation and sinking of shafts in virgin ground abounding in large but unknown quantities of hot water to be met and overcome, presented problems unparalleled in engineering experience in any part of the world, and Mr. Eckart had a large share in dealing with and overcoming these conditions.
Having acted as Consulting Engineer for Sutro in sinking four shafts on the line of the tunnel, the investigations then made helped him materially when, in 1876, the orders came for the large pumps and hoists. He spent months in Virginia City experimenting, taking “cards” from pumps where the water would “boil an egg” and the vapors “airbound the pumps”, and where the expansion and contraction strains due to great changes in temperature often wrecked the heaviest castings. The knowledge thus gained was of great advantage to the firm he represented.
About this time, Mr. Eckart moved to Virginia City and became Consulting Engineer to the “Bonanza Firm,” consisting of Messrs. J. W. Mackay, I. C. Flood, J. J. O’Brien, and James G. Fair, which owned or controlled nearly all the “North End” mines. During this time, he was Manager of the Fulton Foundry, at Virginia City. In 1878, he was also appointed United States Deputy Mineral Surveyor for the State of Nevada. During the following two years, a great part of his time was occupied in the underground workings of the Virginia City and Gold Hill Mines, investigating, planning, repairing, and improving the pumps and machinery, as the mines grew deeper and the water kept increasing. While still a resident of Virginia City, he, in connection with Mr. W. I. Salkeld, a noted millwright of the time, designed and built the Bulwer Standard Mill, at Bodie, which, at that time, was one of largest pan mills for working ore.
During the early part of 1880, Mr. Eckart was appointed a member of the U.S. Geological Survey under Mr. Clarence King, and was given charge of investigating and reporting on “The Mechanical Appliances of the Comstock Lode.” On this work, which was practically a labor of love, he spent nearly two years collecting data, testing pumps, engines, and hoists, and making drawings for the Government of all the machinery on the Comstock. The finest instruments procurable in the United States and Europe were used in the various investigations of efficiency. Hydraulic indicators tested and calibrated for from 500 to 5,500 lb. per sq. in. were used in testing the hydraulic pumps designed for the Cholar, Norcross, and Savage Shafts. Chronographs, to measure and record the velocities of engines and pump rods, accurate to 1/500 sec., were used on the surface and at a depth of 2,500 ft. The use of this instrument enabled results to be obtained which became of great value; diagrams taken from the heavy rods and pumps on the lower levels gave the clue to the location of the strains which had been so destructive in breaking rods and balance bobs in the past. The velocity curves of the rods and pumps revealed the fact, not theretofore known, and only in recent years properly understood, that the elasticity of long rods could give rise to free vibrations which at times were superposed on the force vibration and accelerations due to the engines and pumps, so that maximum vibrations and strains resulted at certain parts of the rods, which exceeded the elastic limit of the timber of which the rods were constructed. Changes were thus determined in the location of balance bobs and weights, which increased the efficiency of the pumps and checked the destruction of the rods and bobs. Some of these velocity diagrams, as well as illustrations of the largest pump engines and the hydraulic pumps, were published by Professor A. Riedler, of Berlin, while acting as Commissioner of Mines to the German Government in 1893.
In 1881, Mr. Eckart removed to San Francisco and opened offices there as a Consulting and Constructing Engineer and, during the following eight or ten years, some of the largest and most important mining plants were designed and constructed under his supervision. The pumping engine for the Ontario Mine, with perhaps the largest Cornish pump for deep mining ever built in the United States, was constructed from his designs during this period. The pumps were 20 in. in diameter, with 10-ft. stroke; two pumps at each station operated from one pump rod, 2,000 ft. long. In 1881, he began, for Haggin and Tevis, plans for all the Anaconda Copper Works, Hoists and Reduction Works, in Montana, which were started as a silver mill with a capacity of less than 350 tons per day, were increased in size and changed by addition until, in 1888, they were capable of working 3,000 tons per day. He designed and carried out much other work for the same firm.
In 1883, the Union Iron Works was changed to an incorporated company, and Mr. Eckart was retained as Consulting Engineer in matters pertaining to the propelling power of the Government vessels built by that Company. He was present at and assisted in conducting nearly all the preliminary and Government trials of these vessels.
In 1899, Mr. Eckart was appointed Consulting Engineer to the Standard Electric Company, and afterward became Engineer in charge of construction as well. He continued to act as Consulting Engineer after the completion of the plant, and after the Pacific Gas and Electric Company acquired his property as a part of its great power system, he was retained in the same capacity by the latter company, in connection with the hydroelectric branch of the work.
In 1907, the Snow Mountain Water and Power Company engaged Mr. Eckart as Consulting and Constructing Engineer, and he was connected with that company until he retired from active business at the close of 1913. He continued in the employ of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, however, to the day of his death, which occurred on December 8th, 1914, at the residence of his son, Mr. W. R. Eckart, Jr., in Palo Alto, Cal. He is survived by his widow, Harriet Louise Eckart, and four children, W. R. Eckart, Jr., of the Leland Stanford, Jr., University, Charles F. Eckart, Olaa, Hawaii, Nelson A. Eckart, M. Am. Soc. C. E., of San Francisco, and Mrs. C. E. Hume, of Piedmont, Cal.
Mr. Eckart had unusual talent as an experimenter and investigator. His methods were thor-ough, painstaking, and accurate, and his records of tests and experiments could always be regarded as absolutely trustworthy. Most of the special instruments and devices needed in his various investigations were designed and made by himself. Among such instruments was a “Chronograph for Engineering Purposes, with the Hipp Escapement”, described under that title by him in a paper [Transactions, Am. Soc. Mech. Engrs., Vol. 3, p. 184] presented before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, in 1882. In the discussion of that paper, the late Robert H. Thurston, M. Am. Soc. C. E., of Cornell University, speaks of Mr. Eckart as follows: “He is a very careful worker. In fact, I have not met in the profession a man who seemed better adapted to the application of fine measurements to experimentation on the steam engine.” This instrument was devised for use in the investigations made by Mr. Eckart on the Cornish pumps of the Comstock Lode, and was used subsequently in other investigations requiring accurate time measurements.
As a man and among his colleagues, Mr. Eckart had the admiration of all who knew him. He was a hard worker, always going to the bottom of his problems; and the mass of data which he had accumulated and the results of his ripe experience, were at the service of this colleagues whenever he was appealed to. His friendly help has been appreciated and will be remembered by all who have worked or conferred with him.
Mr. Eckart was honored by membership in the following Engineering Societies: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, April, 1882; Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, January, 1878; Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, May, 1893; American Society of Naval Engineers; and Associate Member of the Institute of Naval Architects, London.
Mr. Eckart was elected a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, on January 5th, 1881.447

• William Roberts Eckart
[excerpt] One need but to see William Roberts Eckart to know that he is a man of forceful character whose habit it is to accomplish what he undertakes and the records show that he has risen to a position of distinction among representative American mechanics and engineers. He was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, June 17, 1841, a son of William Roberts and Eleanor (Carlisle) Eckart. In the maternal line he represents one of the pioneer families of that portion of the state. In 1842 his parents removed to Cleveland, where the father, who was a merchant, had large shipping interests in vessels on the lakes.
William Roberts Eckart, Jr., began his education in a private school of Cleveland but after his mother’s death, which occurred when he was but twelve years of age, his time was divided between the public schools of that city and of Chillicothe until he entered upon a special course in mathematics at the St. Clair Street Academy of Cleveland for the purpose of preparing for the profession of civil engineering. In the ‘50s the family home was established in Zanesville, Ohio, where the father had a managing interest in the Putnam flour mills.161, p 153

• Married 28 years in 1900.185