petent leaders were then in Chicago, ready for the assault on the camp, and muskets were there in abundance to arm the 9,000 prisoners. Chicago was to be burned, and its flames were to be the signal for a general uprising of 500,000 well-armed men throughout the western country. Every avail- able soldier had been sent to the front by the gov- ernment, and Sweet had in the garrison but 796 men, most of whom were unfit for active duty. Moreover, it was too late to receive re-enforcements. His only hope of safety lay in the speedy arrest of the Confederate leaders who were then in Chicago. In this emergency he called to his aid one of his prisoners, a Texas ranger named John T. Shanks, who was well acquainted with the Confederate officers, and engaged him to ferret them out. To gain him confidence with the Confederates, he al- lowed Shanks to escape from the prison, and made great efforts for his recapture. Col. Sweet thought he could trust the man ; but he had him constantly shadowed by detectives pledged to take his life in case of his treachery. Shanks did his work so well that within thirty-six hours the leaders of the in- tended assault were in irons, and a large quantity of contraband arms was in the possession of the government. When Chicago awoke to the danger it had escaped, its citizens collected at a mass- meeting and publicly thanked Col. Sweet for the service he had rendered. For it also the govern- ment promoted him to the rank of brigadier-gen- eral of volunteers. When he was mustered out of service at the close of the war he resumed the Eractice of his profession in Wisconsin, but in 1869 e was appointed IT. S. pension-agent at Chicago. He held this position till April, 1870, when he was made supervisor of internal revenue for Illinois. This office he held till January, 1872, when he was called to Washington to be 1st deputy commis- sioner of internal revenue.
SWEET, Elnathan, civil engineer, b. in Chesh-
ire, Mass., 20 Nov., 1837. He was graduated in
the scientific course at Union college in 1859, and
became a civil engineer, making a specialty of con-
structing bridges and other engineering work by
contract. In 1876-'80 he was division engineer
of New York state canals, and he was elected state
engineer in 1883, which office he held for four
years from 1 Jan., 1884. Mr. Sweet's principal con-
tribution to engineering science consists in. the de-
termination of the laws that govern the propulsion
of vessels in narrow channels, an account of which
he published in 1880 in the " Transactions " of the
American society of civil engineers, of which or-
ganization he was elected a member in 1878. His
writings include annual reports that he issued
from Albany during the years he held office, and
various technical papers.
SWEET, Homer De Lois, engineer, b. in Pom-
pey, Onondaga co., N. Y., 24 Jan., 1826. He worked
on his father's farm, attended the district schools,
and, becoming a civil engineer, built the reservoir of
the Syracuse water company at Onondaga hill in
1862-4, and in 1865 designed and superintended
the erection of the large stone bridge in Syracuse.
For three years he was employed on " French's Map
of New York State," for which he surveyed Onon-
daga county, and he also made a map of the "great
wilderness " in northern New York in 1867. From
1864 till 1873 he was secretary of the New York
state sheep breeders' and wool growers' association,
and secretary of the Onondaga historical associa-
tion for nidie than twenty years. At an early age
he contributed songs, poems, and later essays on
art, agriculture, and engineering to newspapers un-
der the pen-name of " Parmenus Smartweed." He
has also published "Twilight Hours in the Adi-
rondacks (Syracuse, 1870). and has now (1888)
ready for the press "The Philosophy of English
Versification." — His brother, John Edson, inven-
tor, b. in Pompey, Onondaga co., N. Y., 21 Oct.,
1832, was educated in a district school, and in
1873-'9 was professor of practical mechanics at
Cornell university. He was a founder of the Ameri-
can society of mechanical engineers, of which he
was president in 1883-'4. He is believed to be the
first to suggest the use of pipe-lines for transport-
ing oil from the oil-wells, and is the inventor of the
straight-line high-speed engine, and one of the first
to construct a composing-machine to form a matrix
for casting stereotype-plates directly without the
use of movable type. He is a contributor to the Lon-
don " Engineering " and " American Machinist."
SWEETSER, Henry Edward, journalist, b. in
New York city, 19 Feb., 1837; d. there, 17 Feb.,
1870. After graduation at Yale in 1858 he devoted
himself to mercantile pursuits, and then became a
reporter for the New York "Times." In 1860 he
was made night editor of the " World," and in
1863 he founded, with his brother, Charles H. Sweet-
ser, the " Round Table," from which he withdrew
in 1866, and, after a short visit to Europe, returned
to New York and engaged in editorial work until
his death. — His brother, Charles Humphreys,
journalist, b. in Athol, Mass., 25 Aug., 1841 ; d. in
Palatka, Fla., 1 Jan., 1871, after graduation at Am-
herst in 1862 engaged in journalistic work, aided
in founding the " Round Table," and became con-
nected with the New York "Evening Gazette."
He was an originator of the " Evening Mail " in
1867, and the " City " in 1869. After the failure
of the latter enterprise he removed to Minnesota,
and subsequently to Chicago, where he became lit-
erary editor of the " Times, but, owing to impaired
health, he went to Florida. He published " Songs
of Amherst" (Amherst, 1860); "History of Am-
herst College " (1860); and "Tourist's and Invalid's
Guide to the Northwest " (New York, 1867).
SWEETSER, Moses Foster, author, b. in
Newburyport, Mass., 22 Sept., 1848. His uncle.
Andrew J. Sweetser, was a pioneer of Dakota, and
another uncle, Henry, served under Gen. William
Walker in Nicaragua. He studied at Beloit and
Columbian colleges, and travelled in Europe and
the East. He is the author of " Artist Biogra-
phies " (15 vols., Boston, 1877-8) ; " Europe for
$2.00 a Day " (Boston, 1875) ; " Summer Davs Down
East " (Portland, 1883) ; several guide-books to the
White mountains, and Osgood's (now Cassell's)
" Pocket Guide to Europe " (Boston, 1883).
SWEETSER, William, physician, b. in Boston, Mass., 8 Sept., 1797 ; d. in New York city, 14 Oct., 1875. He was graduated at Harvard in 1815, received his medical degree there in 1818, and practised in Boston, Burlington, Vt., and New York city. From 1825 till 1832 he was professor of medicine in the University of Vermont, and from 1845 till 1861 he held the same chair in Bowdoin. He also lectured in Jefferson medical college, Philadelphia, and in the medical schools of Castleton, Vt., and was professor of medicine in Hobart college, Geneva, from 1848 till 1855. Dr. Sweetser published "Dissertation on Cynanche Trachealis or Croup " and " Dissertation on the Functions of the Extreme Capillary Vessels in Health and Disease," to which were awarded the Bovlston premiums for 1820 and 1823 (Boston, 1823); "Dissertation on Intemperance," to which was awarded a premium bv the Massachusetts medical society
(1829); "Treatise on Consumption" (1823-'6) ; "Treatise on Digestion mid its Disorders" (1837);
