Person:Millard Dowell (1)

Growing up in Kansas was an experience with shaped my life. We walked to the two-room school, taught my Miss Myrtle Shinn and Mr. Geer. To get to high school in Haviland I sometimes rode my horse, Josie. When the roads were muddy we often rode the caboose of a scheduled freight train. Farm chores stimulated my imagination. Once, when it was my turn to kill a chicken for dinner, I rigged up a guillotine to do the job. In 1921, my parents bought me a radio (at the cost of several loads of wheat). It was one of the first radios in the county. I spent many happy hours tuning in the outside world, getting stations as far away as Puerto Rico. I learned about farm machinery at an early age. It was a proud moment when my father let me, at the age of ten, drive the family car through the farm gate. Learing about tractors, combines and other farm machinery prepared me for my future work, that of an engineer. I attended the University of Kansas and in 1929, I went to work for the General Electric Co. Here, I designed a new fan blade, using the high-speed camera techniques developed by Dr. Edgerton of M.I.T. I also worked on superchargers and jet engines used in aircraft. During WWII, at the request of the Military, I investigated the possibilities of the V-2 rocket, to see if it would be possible for the Germans to use it successfully to bomb Europe. Later i worked on diesel engines for locomotives. Although my family has lived in many areas in the East, I feel that my roots are in Kansas. I always like to come back to visit whenever I can. (Millard F. Dowell, in Kiowa Co. History)