Emery John Caiger
Emery John Caiger (1858-1910) of E. J. Caiger and Co
1910 Obituary [1]
EMERY JOHN CAIGER was born at Landport, Portsmouth, on 1st March 1858.
He was educated at the Portsea School, and at the age of sixteen commenced his apprenticeship with the Northumberland Engineering Co., of Millwall.
Adopting Marine Engineering as the special branch of his profession, he served for several years as marine engineer, sailing as chief engineer at the early age of twenty-three years, and two years later was appointed superintendent engineer for Messrs. John Holman and Sons, in whose steamers be had formerly sailed.
After acting for several years in this capacity, he established himself in London as a consulting engineer and naval architect. The business, known as E. J. Caiger and Co., increased to such an extent that, for some years before his death, he was assisted by two other partners.
He was recognized as an authority on the design of marine propellers, and invented a device called the "Anti-Clog," which was found to be successful in preventing ropes from coiling themselves round a steamer's propeller. His professional duties often carried him abroad, and he happened to be staying at the Hotel Trinacria at Messina, at the time of the terrible earthquake in 1908. The hotel was almost razed to the ground, and he himself narrowly escaped with Isis life. He was the means of saving a number of lives, and was the last to leave the hotel. Although a man of strong constitution, the shock had a serious effect upon his health, and he died at Margate, where he had gone for a holiday, on 19th June 1910, at the age of fifty-two.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1887; and he was also a Member of the Institution of Naval Architects.