OBITUARY.

CECIL BUSHE FRANKS was the son of Mr. John Ferguson Franks, Barrister-at-Law, of Dublin, and a grandson of the late Chief Justice Bushe of Ireland. He entered the Royal Navy when a boy, but, owing to his defective hearing, he was obliged to retire, when he decided to devote himself to Civil Engineering. Going out to New Zealand, he was for a time engaged with a party of surveyors in making Government surveys. On leaving New Zealand he went to the United States, settling for a time at Buffalo, N. Y., and during the time he was there he was engaged in painting marine pic

tures.

About the year 1870, he moved to Hamilton, Ont., and entered the service of the late Great Western Railway Co., remaining with them until 1873, when he accepted a position on the Hamilton and Lake Erie Railway which was then under construction. Having continued with this Railway Company for some time, he resigned in order to form a partnership with Mr. Stanton of Hamilton as Provincial Land Surveyors.

In 1881 he was again engaged upon the Great Western Railway, and was connected with it and the Grand Trunk Railway up to June, 1888, when he resigned his position on account of ill-health. He then went to England for about six months, hoping to derive benefit from a change of air, but on returning to this country he was no better.

Soon after his return to Canada he decided to go out to South Africa, but on reaching England he was persuaded by his family to remain there for a time, and to undergo a course of medical treatment.

At the end of three months he was much improved in health, and he went to Rotterdam on a short visit. There he died suddenly on the 18th of October, the cause of death being aneurism of the heart.

Mr. Franks was an extremely well educated man, and a thorough mathematician. His circle of friends was very large, and being so honorable, upright and pleasant, he made friends wherever he went.

He became a Member of the Society on the 3rd of February, 1887.

E. E. GILBERT, one of the oldest and best known mechanical engineers in Canada, died of heart disease on February 12th, 1889. He was born in Montreal in 1823, and at the time of his death was sixty-six years of age. Like a great many engineers of the day, he did not receive early professional training. He commenced his career in the forwarding business at Montreal, and was one of the pioneers in trading by steamer to Chicago, and other then distant ports on the Great Lakes. Having great mechanical ability, he invented machinery for loading and discharging cargo on the vessels with which he was connected.

In 1858, he and the late Mr. W. P. Bartley entered into partnership as engineers. The firm carried on business in Montreal for several years, building a large number of engines for river and lake steamers, as well as machinery for other purposes. He afterwards removed to new works, which he carried on on his own account for many years, and where he constructed some of the largest engines for lake and river steamers in Canada, introducing many important improvements, particularly in the valve gear of marine beam engines.

He was, perhaps, the first engineer outside the United States to fully recognize the advantages of the "Corliss" valve gear, and as long ago as 1859 he had built and fitted a paddle steamer with a Corliss engine. In 1860, the steamer "Montreal was built, having a Corliss engine with a cylinder 60 in. diam. and 8 ft. stroke.

In this steamer he introduced the forced blast for boilers, on the closed stoke-hold system, now in universal use on modern fast steamers in naval and mercantile marine. This steamer is still running regularly between Montreal and Quebec, and, after nearly thirty years, is still a fine specimen of marine engineering.

Later on in connection with his sons, he invented a new system of submarine rock blasting and excavation, and undertook extensive government contracts for deepening the rapids in the River St. Lawrence, all of which were successfully carried out under unusual difficulties. He devoted much attention to pumping engines for water works, and built engines for Toronto, Montreal, and other cities in Canada. One of his last examples was for the high level service of the Montreal Water Works. The engines were built from his own design, and their performance not only exceeded his own guarantee, but placed them amongst the best of high duty pumping engines.

He contracted a few months ago with the Canadian Government to exe cute works on the enlargement of the Cornwall Canal, and after visiting Ottawa on business connected with the work, he died suddenly of heart failure on arriving at his home.

He became a Member of the Society on the 20th of January, 1887.

LOUIS LESAGE, eldest son of Mr. Louis Lesage, of L'Epiphanie, L'Assomption County, Province of Quebec, was born on the 13th of August, 1827.

He was educated at the College of L'Assomption, which he entered at the age of twelve years. There he remained for about ten years, taking a complete course of classical studies, and devoting himself principally to mathematics, in which he excelled. About the year 1848, he had serious thoughts of entering the priesthood, and, with this object in view, he commenced the study of Theology at the Grand Seminary, Montreal and at Chambly. During a portion of this time he was associated with the present Archbishop of Montreal, as secretary to the late Mgr. Bourget

In 1851, however, he decided to devote himself to Civil Engineering and Architecture, and spent some time in acquiring practical knowledge under Messrs. Labelle & Laberge, contractors, Messrs. Ostell & Perreault, land surveyors, and also under Mr. Bourgeau, then architect for the Montreal Court House, St. Peter's Church, and other important buildings in Montreal.

He was employed for a time on the survey for the Grand Trunk Railway, at Rivière du Loup, and on his return to Montreal, in 1853, he became assistant to Mr. Thomas C. Keefer, Past President of the Society, then engineer of the Harbour Works and the new Water Works of Montreal. Mr. Lesage henceforth devoted himself to hydraulic engineering, and in 1856, he was appointed Superintendent of the Montreal Water Works, which office he filled till his death, a period of 33 years.

From 1856, the history of Mr. Lesage's professional life is therefore the history of the Montreal Water Works. Up to this time, the city water had been supplied by small pumping engines at the foot of Friponne St., under the pressure due to the old reservoir on what is now St. Louis Square, with a distribution system which was inadequate and imperfect, even for that supply. The new aqueduct, with pumping machinery and reservoir for furnishing 6,000,000 gallons per day, at nearly double the effective pressure, had just been built and set to work. Mr. Lesage's first duty was therefore to remodel and enlarge the distribution to a scale corresponding with that of the new supply. Difficulties soon arose in supplying the rapidly increasing water consumption of the city, owing to the aqueduct and the River St. Pierre, which acted as a tail-race, becoming choked in winter with both frazil and surface ice, thus greatly reducing the head and quantity of water available for driving the pumping machinery.

To remedy this, Mr. Lesage, in 1865, added a turbine and pumps with a pumping capacity of four millions of gallons per 24 hours; the turbine being placed at such a level as to be little affected by changes in the head and tail water. In 1867, the pumping main was doubled, and the distribution had by this time been vastly enlarged.

Much relief was afforded by the new pumps, but the consumption soon again overtook the winter capacity of the supply, and in 1869 Mr. Lesage had recourse to steam pumping, mainly with a view to tiding over the winter difficulties.

In 1872, a second pumping engine of three million gallons capacity was added, and the tail race was lowered, so as to give increased efficiency to the water power machinery. Two years later, he further improved the water power machinery by the substitution of a turbine at low level for one of the original breast wheels. By this time, the average daily consumption had increased to 8,000,000 gallons per 24 hours, and to keep pace with it, Mr. Lesage added a Worthington engine of 8,000,000 gallons capacity, and also a 30 inch pumping main. For the supply of parts of the city not commanded by the main works, Mr. Lesage planned, and, in 1875, put into operation a high level system with a Worthington engine, taking water from the main reservoir and discharging into one of one and three quarter million gallons capacity, at 210 feet higher elevation.