Minnesota Highways, June 1952

              mm
mmwm
VOL.  1, NO. 8
1246 University Ave., St. Paul 4, Minn.
JUNE, 1952
The intricacies of an IBM printer were explained to
Gov. Anderson by Myrtle Olin as construction cost analyses
were being prepared from punched cards. Incidentally,
the IBM girls had just feted Myrtle with a birthday cake
in honor of her 25th anniversary with the department.
The man in charge, John Njus and Doris Guter were interested on-lookers, too.
The engineering departments were stops along the
way of the Governor's visit through the Central Office.
Rudy Kivimaki took time to explain how bridge planning
and design are handled efficiently despite the great demands on the division for many bridges throughout the
state. Marshall Anderson eavesdropped on the conversation   during   the   pause.
Governor Commends Department After Visit
The Department was honored recently when the Chief
Executive of the state, Governor C. Elmer Anderson, made
two informal and friendly inspection visits which took him
through the various sections
of the Central Office and
Driver's License buildings.
The visits were prompted
by the desire of the Governor
to be intimately acquainted
with the workings of all the
state departments and was
one of many he is making to
state agencies.
Governor Anderson was
personally conducted by Commissioner M. J. Hoffmann who
described the varied duties of
the divisions. In addition, division heads were given the
opportunity to explain fully
the details of their operations.
Along his route, the Governor
greeted many of his friends, while
a large number of Highway employees had their first opportunity
to meet "The Boss." He was very
gracious in his manner and showed
a lively interest in the many sides
of highway production.
The Governor has previously expressed a desire to visit the department as a result of a report
on the improvements in management programs made to him by
the Commissioner. This was a progress report on the reorganization
and mechanization of office methods that had been affected durino-
the year.
In commenting on the report,
the Governor said, "The Highway
Department has been well managed, but I think it is commendable that officials of the department have nevertheless made a
careful study of their operations
and found a means of making substantial savings."
Governor (Continued on page 5)
Department Names New Assistants
Four changes in the supervisory personnel of the Pa-
^jjl    effective   June   1,   have
~.ed from the request of
Assistant Chief O. L. Davis to
be relieved of his office duties
and be assigned to a vacancy
in the patrol force in the Mankato  sub-district office.
Ralph F. Potvin, Minneapolis,
Patrol inspector for over 14 years,
has been named
Assistant Chief
succeeding Davis. Ralph is the
only patrolman
remaining i n
the service who
was a member
of the first
group appointed in 1929. He
is replaced as
inspector of the
Dougher
southern   zone   by   Captain   Otto
Dowdier,  former  District 3 head,
j   been  a member  of  the
since 1933.
iatiT
Potvin
Robert A. Reed, who has been
a captain for five years, moves into the District 3 spot.
Inspector Neil Gordon, St. Paul,
is in charge of the northern zone.
Patrol      (Continued on page 2)
Me ska I Succeeds
Robbers
George A. Meskal, who has
headed the Bemidji construction district since 1949, has
been named to the post of assistant maintenance engineer
of the Highway Department.
He fills a vacancy created
when J. C. Robbers was appointed to the position of assistant chief engineer succeeding the late Harold E. Chard.
For 10 years prior to taking the
Bemidji position, Meskal was district maintenance engineer at Duluth. He also had been Dodge
County engineer at Mantorville.
He received his degree in civil engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1923, but began working for the department in 1922 as
a rodman. He is a veteran of both
World Wars I and II.
Pabst       (Continued on Page 3)