KEEFER, Samuel, civil engineer, born in Thor-old, Canada, 22 January, 1811. His father, George, removed from New Jersey to Canada in 1792 after his property had been confiscated by congress. He was afterward the first president of the Welland canal company. The son was educated as an engineer, was appointed secretary of the board of works for Lower Canada in 1839, from 1841 till 1853 was chief engineer cf the Government board of public works, and in 1852 made a survey for the Sault St. Marie canal. In 1853 he resigned his place under government to become resident engineer of the Grand trunk railway, and established the line between Montreal and Kingston. He was appointed government inspector of railways in 1857, and soon afterward deputy commissioner of public works, and held both places till 1864. His report upon the plans for the new parliament buildings at Ottawa was approved of by the governor-general in 1859, and in 1869 he completed the suspension-bridge at Niagara falls, which was at that time the longest single-span bridge in the world. He received a diploma and gold medal for the design and description of this work at the Paris exposition of 1878. In June, 1880, he was appointed a member of a royal commission to inquire into the conduct and prosecution of the Canadian Pacific railway.--His brother, Thomas Coltrain, Canadian engineer, born in Thorold, 4 November, 1821, was educated at Upper Canada college, Toronto, and in 1838 began his career as an engineer. After having been employed in various capacities, he was ordered by the government in 1850 to survey the rapids of the St. Lawrence with a view to their improvement, and also to explore the country between the head-waters of the St. John in New Brunswick and the St. Lawrence, opposite Sague-nay river, for the purpose of opening intercolonial communication by canal or railway. In 1851 he resigned frown the government service and was appointed chief engineer of the Toronto and Kingston section of the Grand Trunk railway, and made preliminary surveys for a bridge over the St. Lawrence, the present Victoria bridge being the outcome of his plans. He constructed water-works for Montreal, Hamilton, Ottawa, and other cities. In 1878 he was sent to Paris as chief commissioner for Canada at the international exhibition, hi 1849 he was the successful competitor for a premium that was offered by the Earl of Elgin for an " Essay on the Influence of the Canals of Canada upon her Agriculture." he published " The Philosophy of Railways" (1849).