Measures for Progress: A History of the National Bureau of Standards

316 THE TIME OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1931-40)
tigations of Bureau operations, ordeals that deeply pained Dr. Briggs's gentle
spirit. The time called for a ruggedness and ruthlessness he did not have,
and in his later years he preferred not to think of the problems of that troubled
era, turning questions about them to peripheral subjects more agreeable.
Unlike Stratton and Burgess, Dr. Briggs was of slight,, slender build
and of warm, affectionate, and unfailingly kind demeanor and manner.
Dr. Stratton, when harassed by demands upon his time and attention or in a
stormy mood, often sought out Briggs' company in his laboratory in West
building, for as he once said: "You always have something nice to report
to me and I appreciate it.. These other fellows give me a lot of trouble." 50
The "something nice" was usually a new and ingenious piece of apparatus
or testing device, for, like Stratton, Dr. Briggs was strongly mechanical and
an inveterate tinkerer. When he came from the Department of Agriculture
he brought with him his mechanic, Mr. Cottrell, and for years the two
designed and constructed many of the special devices that Briggs used in
his measurement studies.'1 His laboratory was a wonderful clutter of appa-
ratus in various stages of assembly, a tangle of piping and tubing and ticking
instruments, but it was comfortable and a tranquil spirit filled it.
His serenity of temper was Dr. Briggs's outstanding characteristic, and
he was to have need of it under the frustrations of the depression years and
the pressures and harassments of security in World War II. Asked after he
resigned the direction of the Bureau and returned to his laboratory for the
secret of his unfailing patience, he liked to say that the "precepts of that great
philosopher and baseball player, Satchel Paige," best summed up his own:
Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool
thoughts.
Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
Go very lightly on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The
social ramble ain't restful.
Avoid running at all times.
Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.
The last was the precept he set greatest store by and delighted to quote at
interviews.'2
Dr. Briggs had two outside enthusiasms during his years at the
Bureau, scientific exploration and baseball. Succeeding Dr. Burgess on the
board of trustees of the National Geographic Society, Dr. Briggs took a highly
'° Interview with Dr. Briggs, Nov. 3, 1962.
Interview with Dr. Dryden, Aug. 26, 1963.
The NBS Standard, April 1963; interview, Nov. 2, 1962.