Of current interest

Edward Parris Burch, retired consulting engineer, Minneapolis, Minn., died May 4, 1945. Mr. Burch was born on August 20, 1870, in Spring Brook, Wis., and was graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1892. Following his graduation he became engineer of power for the Twin City Rapid Transit Company, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., and remained in that position until 1900 when he became a consulting engineer. In the latter capacity, Mr. Burch laid the first high-voltage underground cable installed in the United States (13,000 volts) and, in 1898, had charge of the installation of electric machinery for a 10,000-horsepower-capacity hydraulic plant at St. Anthony´s Falls on the Mississippi River. From 1899 until his retirement in 1936, he was active as a consulting engineer throughout the nation, specializing in electric-traction and evaluation problems.