thif; company as chemi8t for on~ };ear and \nt~ then. l?roinote~ to he ~s "istant superintendent. He left III 97 t~ take t.h~ positIOn of chief ("hel11lst for the American Foundry Company which po 'ItlOl1 he held for two year8, (roin" from that to the pO'ition of superintendent ,yhich he held until the ~on:-;;lidation of the American Steel Company ,yith the American Steel Foundry '8 C~mpany in 1~05. ])~lring tha t tin:~ Ho~ at.·o acted as consulting ("hel11lst ane! chemical engll1eel' for the Sligo 1, urnace Company of :-;t. Louis, :'IIo., and the Xational Iron and f-Iteel Company of :'Ilexico City, :'IIexi('o. From HlO.) to 1907 he was chief engineer of the :'IJ issouri hOll Company, of \"hich he is nOlI' manager \\"ith headquarters at ~t . Loni8, \lo. 'The actual \\'ork in which I haYe been engaged for seyeral years has been strictly r.onstruction \\'ork. After taking position with the American Steel 'Foundry's Company, I was placl'd in charge of their open htarth department and did much of the designing and erection of their open hearth furnaces. I also designcd t\\'o open hearth furnacf's fOT' the Schoenberger Steel Company of Pittsb~trO", Pa, and one for the :\ ationa! Iron and Steel Company , at Xonoa\co, :'Ill'xico. Designed and erected a chemical plant for the Sligo Furnace Company at Sligo, :\[u, for making by-procJucts from wood smoke, namely \I'ood alcohol. acetate of lime, tar, and acetone. This plant is still in successful operation. For thl' past year I haye been engaged in the. construction of an ore drE'ssing plant for the ~[issouri r ron Company at Waukon Junction, Io\\·a."
In ('i\"il life :'I[r. Erwin has held the foJlo"'ing positions from time to time: member and secretary of the Board of Education at Granite City, III.; for H number of years, secretary of the Granite City Building and Loan A~s()('iation; Trustee of the :'1. F. Chur('h at the same cit,\"; he organized t\\"o ('ompanies of the recruits at the time of the Spanish-l\mprican \\'ar, and Illade a race for mayor at Grflllite City in lR9q, losing the election by eight "ote~. He has \\Titten a number of technical articles along his lines of \\"Ork, and has also taken out t\\·o patents on nlcuum distillation. He is a memher of the :'IJaRonie Ortier, Sons of the American RevolutiOll, Io\\a Engineering Society, and St. Louit> Engineer::;' Club. O(,toiler ]9, 1900, :'Ill'. Erwin married ::\Iiss Catherine Listeman, of Collins\"ille, Ill. One rhild, a daughter, Catherine Elizabeth, was horn to thrll1, Augl1;;t 2:i, ]907.
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