BEGINNING A CAREER

When Harry returned to Washington after his experience in Fredericksburg, he still had the job of finding employment suitable to is newly acquired status as a graduate engineer. His search was ended when he landed a job with the Washington Street Car company, or was it the Capitol Transit Co.? During his early life city transport was accomplished by horse-drawn cars. His assignment on this job was to devise some means of moving the heavy and cumbersome batteries used to power the street cars from where they were used in the cars to a resting place in the car barn where they could be re charged. It must be noted that the heavy lead batteries weighed too much for the power they generated to permit them to climb up the hill that was Wisconsin avenue.

Frequently, it was necessary for the passengers to get out and walk up the hill. When his father Robert Isaac, heard about his new job, he inquired as to what the company was paying him. When Harry told him, he said “you’re not worth it”. For my part I was never able to penetrate to the meaning of that statement , that is, was it a jest, or was his father that critical of him. I’ll never know.

The United States and Spain were having diplomatic difficulties, and then the battleship Maine was blown up in the harbor at Havana Cuba, and the Nation was not prepared. The Naval Academy in Annapolis had not trained engineers in any great numbers at this time, and the Call went out for “Steam Engineers”.

Harry had a life-long desire to be three things; an engineer, a sailor, and a cowboy. By this time he was an engineer, and this was his opportunity to start a career at sea and still pursue an engineering profession.
He applied for, and obtained a commission as an Ensign in the United States Navy.

He was soon on a train heading for San Francisco. The train change in Chicago., by now is traditional, and while in the station, A woman approached him to ask for train information , mistaking him for a train official. His temper flared and he took the woman over to a news stand and purchased a pamphlet describing the uniforms of the United States military and gave it to her.

On the train out of Chicago, Harry heard that there was another Naval Officer on the same train. He made it his business to dress in mufty, when he heard this, until he learned more. It seems that the conductor on the train informed him that there was another Naval Officer aboard and he was curious to meet Harry. The feeling was not mutual, and Harry avoided T. Willie Brown vigorously.

It seems that T. Willie Brown telegraphed the Naval Base at Mare Island at nearly every stop advising the Commanding Officer that the train was an hour late, that the Conductor promised to make up the time; that the train was on time ; that the train was ahead of schedule; and that it had again lost time crossing the mountains. This was a guy to be avoided.

However, it was inevitable that they should meet in the Commander’s Office at Mare Island. When they were ushered into the Commander’s presence, and introduced themselves, the Commander exploded, “You’re the one that has deluged this office with those telegrams”. Furthermore T. Willie had not learned how to wear a dress sword, with its various belts etc. , and apparently, looked more like a comic figure than an officer in the Navy. The Marine on duty was ordered to take T. Willie out and dress him. This was the last that I ever knew that Harry saw T.Willie Clark.