Robert William Lyons Toozs
Robert William Lyons Toozs (1856-1895)
1895 Obituary [1]
ROBERT WILLIAM LYONS TOOZS, born on the 8th of February, 1856, passed from the Thomason Civil Engineering College, Roorkee, in November, 1875, into the Public Works Department of the Government of India.
He was posted to the Rangoon and Irrawaddy Valley State Railway, on which he remained for eighteen months, being engaged first on survey work, then in charge of a subdivision of 25 miles, and finally in preparing plans and estimates in the engineer’s office.
After acting for six months as personal assistant to the Chief Engineer of the Railway Branch in Burma, Mr. Toozs was engaged from September, 1877, on the Holkar and Neemuch State Railway, at first on works of construction and then in the traffic department, of which he officiated as superintendent for three months.
On returning from leave in September, 1879, Mr. Toozs was posted to the Indus Valley State Railway as personal assistant to the Chief Engineer.
He acted in that capacity until August, 1882, when he was transferred to the Kandahar State Railway and placed in charge of a subdivision of the construction of that line, acting on several occasions during the next fifteen months as Executive Engineer in charge of 132 miles of open line.
From November, 1883, to November, 1884, he took furlough on medical certificate. He was then posted to the Jhansi-Manikpur State Railway, on which he superintended the construction of a subdivision of 30 miles.
In February, 1885, he was appointed to the divisional charge of the survey of the Indian Midland Railway from Gwalior to Jhansi, a length of 61 miles, of which one-third was Ghat work.
On the completion of that task he was posted to the Bellary-Kistna State Railway in March, 1886, on which he remained for more than five years. During that period he had charge of the construction of various divisions, the works including heavy cuttings and embankments, large viaducts, two tunnels, and several bridges and station buildings.
From September, 1891, until March, 1893, Mr. Toozs was employed on the surveys for the Kashmir Railway, after which he was engaged for six months on the Bengal and North Western Railway.
In August, 1893, he attained substantive rank as an . Executive Engineer, 2nd grade, and in the following month he was posted to the Eastern Bengal State Railway, being placed in charge of the Calcutta division of that line in January, 1894.
His career, however, was cut short by an unfortunate accident in the cricket-field. He was struck by a ball in the stomach, inflammation was set up and peritonitis supervened. He died at Barrackpore, after ten days’ illness, on the 24th of March, 1895.
Mr. Toozs was elected an Associate Member on the 4th of February, 1890.