Arthur Johnson Grymes

ARTHUR JOHNSON GRYMES

ARTHUR JOHNSON GRYMES, now head /-% of several important New York marine enterprises, was born in Baltimore, Md., on March 7, 1866, the son of Benjamin R. and Rebecca (Johnson) Grymes. Was raised on his father's farm in Virginia, on the southern shores of the Potomac River. This may account for his love of all nautical sports as well as business.

After preliminary preparation he entered the Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg, Va., from which he graduated in the class of 1885. In the same year he began his business career in the Marine Department of the Erie Railroad Company at New York, as clerk in the ferry office, and remained with the company for twenty- seven years, advancing steadily as tug and barge dispatcher, assistant superintendent floating equipment, lighterage agent, terminal agent, superintendent marine department, and manager marine lighterage and foreign freight departments. This work enabled him to acquire an intimate knowledge of the operation and maintenance of New York Harbor terminal and marine equipment, and gave

him a large acquaintance among the foremost men in the marine business of the port.

In 1913 Mr. Grymes resigned from the Erie and acquired a large interest in the Brown Dry Dock Company. In 1915 he purchased the full interest and also bought the Burt & Mitchell Dry Dock Company, consolidating the two into the Grymes Engineering Company. Shortly after that he, with the well-known engineer, L. S. Parker, bought the entire stock of the Vulcan Iron

Works (established in 1848). Both companies have been successfully operated.

On Sept. 1, 1919, the Grymes Engineering Company was consolidated with the Vulcan, which will continue under the active management of Mr. Grymes as president. The company now has one of the finest machine and boiler shops in the harbor—five drydocks, and ample space for the construction and repair of steel and wooden vessels.

Mr. Grymes is a mem-ber of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Maritime Association, and the Railroad and Traffic Clubs. Is president of the Waterfront Contracting & Lighterage Company, and vice- president of the Brewer Dry Dock Company.

He is also a member of several clubs and social organizations, including the Whitehall Club, the Transportation Club, the New York Southern Society, the Virginians, the Essex County Country Club, the Sea View Golf Club, and the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club. He lives in East Orange, N. J., and has a summer home on the eastern shore of Maryland, and his New York office is 17 Battery Place, New York City.

With his record of efficiency and executive skill, and the enlarged and complete equipment he commands for efficient work in marine construction and repairs, Mr. Grymes is developing a greatly enlarged business in that line. The plan of Vulcan Iron Works, Inc., in Jersey City, under his management is taking high rank for shipwork and marine machinery.