Generation
"It is impossible to tell you in the limits of a reasonable letter of all the activities of construction work.
It consists of Railroads, ware-houses, miles of them, Camps of all kinds, Hospitals, wharves and docks, water supply (The French don't drink any water and can not understand why the Americans want so much water). Sewers, and a hundred and one other things. Baker- ies and laundries; Y.M.C.A. huts and Red Cross buildings.
I an now building two new embarkation camps, each with a capacity of 10,000 men, for sending our men home.
The last order is to build and repair all the roads that the American trucks have mired and I have about 200 miles in this base, and that is some job in itself.
I have given a year and a half of my life to the country and as I have no permanent position to go back to I cannot afford to de- lay any longer than I can help."
Letter from Mrs. Frank Bierce Maltby, Washington, D.C. Feb. 3, 1920.
"Colonel Maltby is now on the Atlantic, enroute for Monvoria, Liberia, where he is going for the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury to make plans for the making of a Harbor, pier, breakwater, Custom House, etc. as Liberia has been aroused to its needs and is ready to take another step in this development. He will be gone three months--re- turning by France.....Of course he has never told you the French Government bestowed the Cross of the Legion of Honor on him, for his splendid work as Section Engineer of Base No. One.
We have bought a place of twenty acres where we hope to estab- lish a home...Cherrydale,".....
Letter. Morristown, Pa. Dec. 4, 1921.
"I was for nearly 4 months doing some special work for the U.S. Engineer Department at Norfolk and returned home about Nov. 1."
Letter. Kingston, N.Y. Aug. 16, 1923.
"Your letter of May 27th found me in rather a serious condition. I have been here somewhat over a year, building a 1 1/2 million dollar Hydo-Electric plant, as Engineer in Charge. I am responsible for the plans and specifications as well as the details of construc- tion, and before I knew it I was entirely worn out and on the verge of collapse. I am very much better now and am only telling you this as a reason for not answering your letter.
I hope to complete the work in November and then am going home and stay there. 38 years in responsible charge of construction work, including 2 years of war, is enough and I am going to quit."
(It will be seen that Col. Maltby did not "quit.") 1925. Summer and Autumn, in Ogdensburg, N.Y. in connection with the development of St. Lawrence River for the United States and Canadian Governments.
1926, Jan. He went to Liberia, Africa, by way of England and home by way of France. 1926, 30 Sept. Sailed for Peru, South America, for a short trip. 1929, June. "I have not had any professional work since 1928. I I have secured a temporary appointment with the Government Engineers and expect to go to Washington in about two weeks. The job will last probably not more than a few months."
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