Los
Angeles County
Biographies
WALTER GORDON CLARK
One of the foremost consulting
engineers of southern California, and one who enjoys a national reputation in
his profession, is Walter Gordon Clark of Los Angeles, with offices at 318 West
Ninth Street. Mr. Clark was born in Salt
Lake City, Utah, on October 23, 1876, a son of Thomas Alvin and Eunice Madelna (Wright) Clark.
His early education was received in the public schools of his native
city and in the Salt Lake Academy, after which he attended technical schools in
California and also received instruction under private tutors.
Having completed his studies in
preparation for his career in the engineering field, Mr. Clark immediately
began active work and during the subsequent years has created for himself an
outstanding position in the national ranks of his profession. He has occupied many positions of high
importance and responsibility, and in every assignment has indicated a thorough
knowledge of engineering and marked executive ability. He was one of the organizers and served as
vice president and manager of the Kilbourne &
Clark Company of Seattle, Washington, and as engineer and manager of the
Ansonia Brass & Copper Company of New York and Connecticut from 1904 to
1907. From 1909 to 1914 he was
consulting engineer for the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company of
London, England, and South Africa. He
was directing engineer of the Canadian Klondike Power & Mining Company of
London, England, from 1910 to 1914. One
of the notable phases of his career was his association with the late General
George W. Goethals of New York, from 1918 to 1928, in New York and Los
Angeles. From 1903 until 1921 Mr. Clark
maintained offices in New York, where he maintained research laboratories in
which a number of important electrical, mechanical and chemical discoveries
were made, among which is the development and utilization of carbon dioxide gas
as a low temperature refrigerant; the high tensil
strength hollow transmission cable used in the transmission of electric power,
completed in 1903; and the electric firing of glass for optical purposes. In the metallurgical line was the development
of a new type of pulverizer and a vibrating separator in which metaliferous ores are economically separated from the
associated rock and earth.
During the Spanish-American War, Mr.
Clark assisted in putting in the submarine mines and defenses in San Francisco
Bay. He brought to the notice of the
people the possibilities of the Boulder Dam, now under construction, and it was
at Mr. Clark’s solicitation that Secretary Franklin K. Lane introduced the bill
and obtained the appropriation for the original survey by the United States
Government. He was one of the organizers
and is a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Biltmore Company
which operates the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles and through his love of
preserving California history he suggested the design for the main entrance to
the hotel. It was in 1921 that Mr. Clark
located in Los Angeles and ever since has been deeply interested in the welfare
of the city. He is president of the
Pacific Geographic Society, is a fellow in the American Institute of Electrical
Engineers, and is affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of
Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and the American Electrochemical
Society. He is a member of the Union
League Club, of New York, and the Engineers Club of the
city of Los Angeles.
Mr. Clark was united in marriage in
1926 with Miss June Conway, a member of one of the representative families of
Washington, D. C. They reside at the
Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. During
the years of his residence in southern California Mr. Clark has cooperated with
all civic movements which he considered of merit, and has won for himself a
place of esteem among his fellows, a position well justified by his personal
and professional accomplishments.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the
South Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 757-759, Clarke
Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES