,,opportunities ,,in ,,engineering 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,opportunity ,,books ,,opportunities ,,in ,,engineering ,,by ,,charles ,m4 ,,horton ,,opportunities ,,in ,,aviation ,,by ,,lieut4 ,,gordon ,,lamont ,and ,,captain ,,arthur ,,sweetser ,,opportunities ,,in ,,chemistry ,,by ,,ellwood ,,hendrick ,,opportunities ,,in ,,farming ,,by ,,edward ,,owen ,,dean ,,opportunities ,,in ,,merchant ,,ships ,,by ,,nelson ,,collins ,,opportunities ,,in ,,newspaper ,,business ,,by ,,james ,,melvin ,,lee ,,harper ,,brothers1 ,,new ,,york ,,established #ahag 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,opportunities ,,in ,,engineering by ,,charles ,m4 ,,horton ,harper ,brothers ,publishers ,new ,york and ,london ,,opportunities ,,in ,,engineering ,copyright #aibj1 by ,harper ,brothers ,printed in the ,united ,states of ,america ,published ,april1 #aibj ,,contents ,,chap4 ,,page ,i4 ,,engineering ,,and ,,the ,,engineer #a ,,ii4 ,,engineering ,,opportunities #i ,,iii4 ,,the ,,engineering ,,type #af ,,iv4 ,,the ,,four ,,major ,,branches #bd ,v4 ,,making ,a ,,choice #ca ,,vi4 ,,qualifying ,,for ,,promotion #ch ,,vii4 ,,the ,,consulting ,,engineer #dh ,,viii4 ,,the ,,engineer ,,in ,,civic ,,affairs #ed ,,ix4 ,,code ,,of ,,ethics #fb ,x4 ,,future ,,of ,,the ,,engineer #fh ,,xi4 ,,what ,,constitutes ,,engineering ,,success #gf ,,xii4 ,,the ,,personal ,,side #he ,,opportunities ,,in ,,engineering ,i ,,engineering ,,and ,,the ,,engineer ,several years ago1 at the regular annual meeting of one of the major engineering societies1 the president of the society1 in the formal address with which he opened the meeting1 gave expression to a thought so startling that the few laymen who were seated in the auditorium fairly gasped4 ,what the president said in effect was that1 since engineers had got the world into war1 it was the duty of engineers to get the world out of war4 ,as a thought1 it probably reflected the secret opinion of every engineer present1 for1 however innocent of intended wrong-doing engineers assuredly are as a group in their work of scientific investigation and development1 the statement that engineers were responsible for the conflict then raging in ,europe was absolute truth4 ,i mention this merely to bring to the reader's attention the tremendous power which engineers wield in world affairs4 ,the profession of engineering--which1 by the way1 is merely the adapting of discoveries in science and art to the uses of mankind--is a peculiarly isolated one4 ,but very little is known about it among those outside of the profession4 ,laymen know something about law1 a little about medicine1 quite a lot--nowadays--about metaphysics4 ,but laymen know nothing about engineering4 ,indeed1 a source of common amusement among engineers is the peculiar fact that the average layman cannot differentiate between the man who runs a locomotive and the man who designs a locomotive4 ,in ordinary parlance both are called engineers4 ,yet there is a difference between them--a difference as between day and night4 ,for one merely operates the results of the creative genius of the other4 ,this almost universal ignorance as to what constitutes an engineer serves to show to what broad extent the profession of engineering is isolated4 ,yet it is a wonderful profession4 ,i say this with due regard for all other professions4 ,for one cannot but ponder the fact that1 if engineers started the greatest war the world has ever known--and engineers as a body freely admit that if they did not start it they at least made it possible--they also stopped it1 thereby proving themselves possessed of a power greater than that of any other class of professional men--diplomats and lawyers and divinities not excepted4 ,that engineering is a force fraught with stupendous possibilities1 therefore1 nobody can very well deny4 ,that it is a force generally exercised for good--despite the ,world ,war--,i myself1 as an engineer1 can truly testify4 ,with some fifteen years spent on the creative end of the work--the drafting and designing end--,i have yet to see1 with but two or three rare exceptions1 the genius of engineers turned into any but noble channels4 ,thus1 engineering is not only a wonderful profession1 with the activities of its followers of utmost importance1 but also it is a profession the individual work of whose pioneers1 from ,watt to ,westinghouse and from ,eiffel to ,edison1 has been epoch-making4 ,for when ,james ,watt1 clock-repairer1 tinker1 being called into a certain small laboratory in ,england more than a century ago to make a few minor repairs on a new design of steam-engine1 discovered1 while at work on this crude unit deriving its motion from expanded steam and the alternate workings of a lever actuated by a weight1 the value of superheated steam for power purposes1 and later embodied the idea in a steam-engine of his own1 ,watt set the civilized world forward into an era so full of promise and discovery that even we who are living to-day1 despite the wonderful progress already made in mechanics as represented among other things in the high-speed engine1 the dynamo1 the airplane1 are witnessing but the barest of beginnings4 ,likewise1 when ,george ,westinghouse1 inventor of the airbrake1 having finally persuaded the directors of the ,pennsylvania ,railroad1 after many futile attempts in other directions1 to grant him an opportunity to try out his invention1 and1 trying it out--on a string of cars near ,harrisburg--ably demonstrated its practicability as a device for stopping trains and preventing accidents1 he also--as had ,watt before him--set the civilized world forward into an era full of promise and discovery as yet but barely entered upon1 even with the remarkable progress already made in industry alone in the matter of regard for the safety of human life--,westinghouse's own particular blazed trail through the forest of human ignorance this same airbrake4 ,so with other pioneers--with ,eiffel1 in the field of tower construction2 with ,edison1 in the field of electricity2 with the ,wright brothers1 in the field of aerial navigation2 ,with ,simon ,lake1 inventor of the submarine boat4 ,all were pioneers2 all set the civilized world forward2 all--though this perhaps is irrelevant1 yet it will serve to reveal the type of men these pioneers were and are--all overcame great obstacles--,lake not the least among them4 ,told that he was visionary1 when ,lake explained1 as he did in his effort to enlist capital with which to build his first submarine boat1 that he could safely submerge his invention and steer it about on the bed of the ocean as readily as a man can steer an automobile about the streets of a city1 that while submerged he could step out of the boat through a trap-door without flooding the boat1 by the simple process of maintaining a greater air pressure inside than the pressure of the water outside--,simon ,lake1 discouraged on every hand1 finally decided to build a boat himself1 and did build one1 with his own hands--a boat fourteen feet long and constructed of rough pine timbers painted with coal-tar--in ,atlantic ,highlands1 ,new ,jersey4 ,with this boat ,lake demonstrated to a skeptical world for all time that he was neither a visionary nor a dreamer1 but a practical doer among men--an engineer4 ,of such stuff1 then1 were1 and are1 engineers made4 ,whether they realized it or not1 whether the world at large realized it or not1 each represented a noble calling1 each was a professional man1 each was chiseling his name for all time into the granite foundations of a wonderful profession even yet only in the building--engineering4 ,their name is legion1 too1 and their names will last because of the fact that their work1 remaining as it does after them equally with the work of followers of the finest of the fine arts1 is known to mankind as a benefit to mankind4 ,known by their works1 the list extends back to the very dawn of history4 ,for it was men of this calling1 the calling of engineers1 who in the early days wrought for purposes of warfare--warfare then being the major industry--the javelin1 the spear1 the helmet1 the coat of mail1 the plate of armor1 the slingshot2 just as their later brothers1 for a like purpose1 conceived and devised the throwing of mustard gas1 the two-ton explosive1 the aerial bomb1 the mortar shell1 the hand-grenade--for the protection1 false and true1 of the home4 ,for the upbuilding of the home1 for the continuance of the home1 men of this calling also it was who conceived and shaped1 among other things1 the cook-stove1 the chimney1 the wheel1 the steam-engine1 the spinning-jenny1 the suspension-bridge1 the bedspring-oh1 boy6--the bicycle1 the sandblast1 the automobile1 the airplane1 the wireless4 ,thus it will be seen that engineering is a distinctive and important profession4 ,to some even it is the topmost of all professions4 ,however true that may or may not be to-day1 certain it is that some day it will be true1 for the reason that engineers serve humanity at every practical turn4 ,engineers make life easier to live--easier in the living2 their work is strictly constructive1 sharply exact2 the results positive4 ,not a profession outside of the engineering profession but that has its moments of wabbling and indecision--of faltering on the part of practitioners between the true and the untrue4 ,engineering knows no such weakness4 ,two and two make four4 ,engineers know that4 ,knowing it1 and knowing also the unnumbered possible manifoldings of this fundamental truism1 engineers can1 and do1 approach a problem with a certainty of conviction and a confidence in the powers of their working-tools nowhere permitted men outside the profession4 ,,ii ,,engineering ,,opportunities ,the writer can best illustrate the opportunities for young men which exist in engineering by a little story4 ,the story is true in every particular4 ,nor is the case itself exceptional4 ,men occupying high places everywhere in engineering1 did they but tell their story1 would repeat in substance what is set forth below4 ,more than any other profession to-day1 engineering holds out opportunities for young men possessing the requisite will to success and the physical stamina necessary to carry them forward to the goal4 ,opportunities in any walk of life are not all dead--not all in the past4 ,a young man to-day can go as far as he wills4 ,he can go farther on less capital invested in engineering than in any other profession--that's all4 ,the young man's name was ,smith4 ,he was one of seven children--not the seventh son1 either--in a poor family4 ,at the age of sixteen he went to work in overalls on a section of railroad as a helper--outdoor1 rough work4 ,at seventeen he was transferred to the roundhouse2 at nineteen he apprenticed himself to the machinist trade4 ,engineering8 ,he did not know what it was1 really4 ,merely he saw his way clear to earning a livelihood and went after it4 ,he was miserably educated4 ,his knowledge of mathematics embraced arithmetic up to fractions1 at which point it faded off into blissful nothingness--as our ,new-,thoughtists say4 ,but he had an inquiring mind and a proper will to succeed4 ,while serving his three years in the shop he bought a course in a correspondence school and studied nights1 taking up1 among other things1 the subject of mechanical drafting4 ,when twenty-two years of age he applied for1 and got1 a position as draftsman in a small company developing a motorcycle4 ,he was well on his way upward4 ,he spent a year with this company4 ,he learned much of value to him not only about mathematics1 but about engineering as a whole as well4 ,one day he decided that the field was restricted--at least1 too much so for him--and he left and went with a ,westinghouse organization in ,pittsburgh4 ,his salary was in the neighborhood of a hundred and ten dollars a month4 ,he remained with the company two years as a designer1 and then1 having saved up sufficient funds to meet his needs1 went to college1 taking special work--physics and chemistry and mathematics4 ,he remained in school two years4 ,when he came out1 instead of returning to the drafting-room and the theoretical end of the work1 he donned overalls once more and went to work in the shop as an erecting man4 ,two years afterward he was chief operating engineer in a small cement-plant in the ,southwest1 his salary being three thousand dollars a year4 ,a year of this and he returned ,east1 at a salary of four thousand dollars a year1 as operating engineer of a larger plant4 ,then came a better offer1 with one of the largest1 if not the very largest1 steel-plants in the country1 as superintendent of power1 at a salary of five thousand dollars a year4 ,when the war broke out1 or rather when this country became involved in the war1 my friend ,smith1 at a salary of ten thousand dollars a year1 became associated with a staff of engineers brought together into a corporation manufacturing shells4 ,and all before he was barely in his thirties6 ,a young man still1 what lies ahead of him can readily be surmised4 ,smith will follow engineering on salary until he is probably forty1 when he will enter upon a consulting practice1 and at fifty retire with sufficient money to keep him in comfort the remainder of his days4 ,nor will he be an exception1 as ,i have stated in the opening paragraph4 ,the profession is crowded with men who have worked up from equally humble beginnings4 ,indeed1 one of the foremost efficiency engineers in the country to-day began as an apprentice in a foundry1 while another1 fully as well known in efficiency work1 began life in the ,united ,states navy as a machinist's mate4 ,automobile engineers1 whose names1 many of them1 are household words1 in particular have gone big in the profession and from very obscure beginnings4 ,it is not stretching the obvious to say that the majority of these men1 had they entered upon any other work1 would never have been heard from nor have attained to their present wealth and affluence4 ,smith was just one of many in a profession offering liberal opportunities4 ,the opportunities still exist and in just as large a proportion as they ever existed4 ,it remains but for the young man to decide4 ,the profession itself1 almost1 will take care of him afterward4 ,however1 not all of our engineers have gone upward by the overalls route4 ,nor is it at all necessary to do this in order to attain to success4 ,the high-school graduate1 entering a college of engineering1 has an equal chance4 ,some maintain that he has a better chance4 ,certain it is that he is better qualified to cope with the heavier theoretical problems which come up every day in the average engineer's work4 ,there is a place for him1 side by side with the practical man1 and his knowledge will be everywhere respected and sought4 ,but a combination of the theoretical and the practical1 as has frequently been declared1 makes for the complete engineer4 ,some get the practical side first and the theoretical side later2 some get the theoretical side first and the practical side later4 ,it matters little--save only that he who gets the practical side first is earning his way while getting it1 while the man who goes to college is in the majority of cases being supported from outside sources while getting what he wants4 ,but in the end it balances4 ,merely1 the full engineer must have both4 ,having both1 he has1 literally1 the world within his grasp4 ,for engineering is--to repeat--the adapting of discoveries in science and art to the uses of mankind4 ,and both art and science reflect and are drawn from ,mother ,nature4 ,there is still a great scarcity of engineers4 ,all branches feel the need--civil1 mechanical1 mining1 chemical1 automotive1 electrical--the call goes out4 ,it is a call just now1 owing to the vast reconstruction period confronting the world1 lifted in strident voice4 ,engineers everywhere are needed1 which in part accounts for the liberal salaries offered for experienced men4 ,the demand greatly exceeds the supply1 and gives promise of exceeding it for a number of years to come4 ,all manufacturing-plants1 all mining enterprises1 of which of both there are thousands upon thousands1 utilize each from one to many hundreds of engineers4 ,some plants make use of three or four different kinds--mechanical1 civil1 electrical1 industrial--some only one4 ,but not a plant of any size but that has need for at least one engineer1 and engineers are scarce4 ,therefore opportunities are ample4 ,to the young man seeking a profession1 provided he be of a certain type--possessed of certain inherent qualities1 the nature of which ,i shall set forth in the following chapter--engineering offers satisfactory money returns and--more satisfactory still--a satisfactory life4 ,the work is creative from beginning to end2 it has to do frequently with movement--always a source of delight to mankind2 a source having its beginnings in earliest infancy1 and it is essentially a work of service4 ,to build a bridge1 to design an automatic machine1 to locate and bring to the surface earth's wealth in minerals--surely this is service of a most gratifying kind4 ,and it pays4 ,the arts rarely pay2 science always pays4 ,and engineering being a science1 a science in the pursuit of which also man is offered opportunities for the exercise of his creative instincts1 like art1 is therefore doubly gratifying as a life's work4 ,i know--and it will bear repeating--no other profession that holds so much of bigness and of fullness of life generally4 ,engineers themselves reflect it4 ,usually robust1 always active1 generally optimistic1 engineers as a group swing through life--and have swung through life from the beginnings of the profession--without thought of publicity1 for instance1 or need or desire for it4 ,their work alone engrossed their minds4 ,it was enough--it is enough--and more4 ,and that which is sufficient unto a man is ,nirvana unto him--if he but knew it4 ,engineers seem to know it4 ,,iii ,,the ,,engineering ,,type ,it is becoming more and more an accepted fact that engineers1 or physicians1 or lawyers--like our poets--are born and not made4 ,i believe this to be true4 ,educators generally are thinking seriously along these lines1 with the result that vocational advisers are springing up1 especially in industrial circles1 to establish eventually yet another profession4 ,instinct leads young men to enter upon certain callings1 unless turned off by misguided parents or guardians1 and as a general thing the hunch works out successfully4 ,philosophers from time immemorial1 including ,plato and ,emerson1 have written of this still1 small voice within1 and have urged that it be heeded4 ,the thing is instinct--cumulative yearnings within man of thousands of his ancestors--and to disobey it is to fling defiance at ,nature herself4 ,personally1 ,i believe that when this law becomes more generally understood there will be fewer failures decorating park benches in our cities and cracker-boxes in our country stores4 ,the profession of engineering1 therefore1 has its type4 ,you may be of this type or you may not4 ,the type is quite pronounced1 however1 and you need not go wrong in your decision4 ,all professions and all trades have their types4 ,steel-workers--those fearless young men who balance skilfully on a girder1 frequently hundreds of feet in the air--are not to be mistaken4 ,rough1 rugged1 gray-eyed2 with frames close-knit and usually squat2 generous with money1 and unconcerned as to the future2 living each day regardless of the next1 and living it--steel-workers are as distinct from the clerical type--slender1 tall1 a bit self-conscious1 fearful of themselves and of the future--,i say1 the steel-worker is as different from the clerical worker as the circus-driver is from the cleric4 ,their work marks them for its own1 if a man lack it upon entering the work1 just as the school-room marks the teacher in time for its own4 ,the thing is not to be mistaken4 ,the successful engineer must be possessed of a certain fondness for figures4 ,the subject of mathematics must interest him4 ,he must like to figure1 to use a colloquialism1 and his fondness for it must be genuine1 almost an absorption4 ,it must reveal itself to him at an early age1 too1 as early as his grammar-school days1 for then it will be known as genuinely a part of him1 and the outcropping of seeds correctly sown by his ancestors4 ,having this fondness for mathematics1 which may be termed otherwise as a curiosity to make concrete ends meet--the working out of puzzles is one evidence of the gift--the young man is well armed for a successful career in the profession4 ,he will like mathematics for its own sake1 and when1 later1 in college1 and later still1 in the active pursuit of his chosen work1 he is confronted with a difficult problem covering strains or stress in a beam or lever or connecting-rod1 he will attack it eagerly1 instead of--as ,i have seen such problems attacked more than once--irritably and with marked mental effort4 ,the successful engineer must be a man who likes to shape things with his hands4 ,he need not always do it1 and probably will not after he has attained to recognition1 save only as he supervises or makes the mechanical drawings--the picture--of the thing4 ,but the itch must be present in the man4 ,and1 like the desire within him to figure1 it must make itself manifest within him early in life4 ,if a young man be of those who early like to crawl in under the family buzz-wagon2 tinker there for half a day at a time2 emerge in a thick coating of grease and dust and with joy in his eye--such a young man has the necessary qualifications for a successful engineer4 ,he may never do this--as ,i say--in all his engineering career4 ,but the yearning must be as much a part of him as his love for mathematics--so much so that all his engineering days he will feel something akin to envy for the machinist who works over a machine of the engineer's own devising--and it must be vitally a part of him4 ,to illustrate3 ,when only twelve years old the author1 in company with several playmates1 decided one ,november day to build an ice-boat4 ,from the numerous building operations going on in the neighborhood1 in the light of the moon1 he secured the necessary timbers1 and from a neighbor's back yard--also in the light of the moon--he got a young sapling which served delightfully as a mainmast4 ,with the needed materials all gathered1 it suddenly struck him that a plan of some kind ought to be made of the proposed ice-boat1 in order to guard against grave errors in construction4 ,to think was to act with this bright youngster4 ,he got him his mother's bread-board and a pencil and an ordinary school ruler1 and with these made a drawing of the ice-boat as he thought the boat should be4 ,knowing nothing of mechanical drawing1 and but very little of construction of any kind1 he nevertheless devised a pretty fair-looking boat and not a bad working drawing4 ,one of his playmates1 whose father was something or other in a manufacturing-plant1 showed the drawing to the family circle2 with the result that the kid's father1 laying a rule upon the drawing1 pronounced it an accurate mechanical drawing1 drawn to scale--which was one inch to the foot--and sent for the youthful designer1 meaning me4 ,what do you know about mechanical drawings8 he asked the bashful youngster1 pointing to the drawing under discussion4 ,i don't know nothing about it1 replied the kid--meaning me again4 ,i just made it with a ruler4 ,but how come you made it to scale8 ,that drawing is a complete plan and elevation of an ice-boat1 drawn accurately to scale4 ,he looked thoughtful4 ,i don't understand it4 ,you ought to take up with drafting1 my boy1 when you get a little older4 ,i never knew of a case like it4 ,what does your father do8 he suddenly asked4 ,he's an ice-dealer1#a replied the discomfited boy4 ,i just made it--that's all4 ,we need it1 too1 to go ahead4 ,turning to his playmate1 ,come on out1 ,jack2 the gang is waiting4 ,which terminated the interview4 ,yet the thing was the beginning of a career for the boy4 ,the boat in time somehow got itself built and out upon the little river2 but owing to the fact that its materials were stolen1 the river failed to freeze over that winter1 and for three winters following--not till the boat itself had fallen apart from disuse and lack of care--which points its own moral1 as hinted at above4 ,if you must build ice-boats1 and you are a kid with mechanical yearnings1 pay for the material that goes into the making of your product4 ,but the thing--as ,i say--was the beginning of a career for the lad4 ,in time1 through the kindly office of his playmate's father1 he became apprenticed in a drafting-room of a large manufacturing-plant--and the rest was easy4 ,in his first year1 on paper1 he devised a steam-engine with novel arrangement of slide-valves1 and thereafter for years designed engines and machinery about the country1 always quite successfully4 ,the successful engineer1 while possessed of certain spiritual characteristics1 must also--if ,i may be so bold as to say so--be possessed of certain physical characteristics4 ,one of these is large1 and what is known as capable1 hands4 ,short1 spatulate fingers1 with a broad palm1 appear to be a feature of the successful engineer4 ,of course1 there are exceptions1 as there are exceptions to every rule1 but in the majority of cases which have come under the writer's observation the successful engineer has had hands of this shaping4 ,he likewise has had wrists and arms to match with such hands1 and--in the practical engineer--that is1 the engineer whose particular gift is coping with ordinary problems of construction1 as against the genius who blazes new trails1 like ,watt and ,westinghouse and ,edison and ,marconi and the ,wright brothers--a head whose contour was along the well-shaped lines4 ,the so-called genius usually has an odd-shaped head1 ,i've noticed1 but for purposes of this book we shall confine ourselves to the average successful man in engineering4 ,thus you have1 roughly1 the engineering type4 ,i have sketched only the major characteristics4 ,the minor characteristics embrace many features4 ,there is patience1 for one--patience to labor long with difficulties2 concentration1 for another2 application1 for a third2 certain student qualities1 for yet a fourth4 ,many graduate engineers have gone off into other work immediately after leaving college because of a clearly defined dislike for detail in construction4 ,the average successful engineer will be a man interested in the shaping of the details of his machine or bridge or plant4 ,to many1 details are irksome4 ,if the young man who is reading this book knows that he dislikes a detail of any character whatsoever1 unless he be possessed of the creative genius of a ,westinghouse or an ,edison1 he would better take up with some other profession4 ,for engineering1 in the last analysis1 is the manipulating of detailed parts into a perfect whole--whether it be a bridge or a machine or a plant4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,the boy's father always wanted to be a carpenter4 ,,iv ,,the ,,four ,,major ,,branches ,the four major branches of engineering are civil1 mechanical1 electrical1 and mining4 ,i give them in the order of their acceptance among engineers4 ,each is separate from each of the others1 and each is a profession in itself1 and as distinctive from each of the others as is the allopathic from the homeopathic among men of medicine1 though not with quite the same distinction4 ,whereas the several groups of physicians seek to relieve pain and correct disorder by way of diversified channels1 the several groups of engineers each work in a field of endeavor actively apart from each of the other groups4 ,sometimes one group will lap over upon another group1 in certain kinds of construction work1 but even then the branches will hold sharply each to its own4 ,civil engineering embraces1 roughly1 all work in the soil4 ,the surveyor is a civil engineer4 ,he constructs dams1 builds viaducts1 lays out railroads1 and in the war1 where he was known as a pioneer1 he was responsible for all tunneling and trench projects1 besides keeping the highways clear and the wire entanglements intact4 ,civil engineering is a profession which keeps its followers pretty well out in the open4 ,a civil engineer will go long distances1 and frequently must1 in order to get to his work1 and1 having reached the scene of his labors1 enters upon a rugged outdoor life in camp where he remains until the job is completed4 ,the ,panama ,canal was a civil-engineering job--probably the largest of its kind ever undertaken--and its success1 after failure on the part of another government1 is a high tribute to the genius of our own civil engineers4 ,mechanical engineering is a profession whose medium of endeavor lies in the metals4 ,mechanical engineers shape things out of iron or steel or brass or other metal compositions1 and put these things into engines or machines for service4 ,all machinery1 whether it be printing-presses or automobiles or steam-engines1 is the work of mechanical engineers1 though in the matter of automobiles this has become a profession by itself1 one of the minor branches known as automotive engineering4 ,the mechanical engineer as a rule works within doors1 just as the civil engineer works out of doors1 and his work1 consequently1 is more confining4 ,in the pursuit of his profession he spends much of his time supervising the design of mechanical units1 and is the one man responsible for correct construction and security against fracture of the machine itself when in operation4 ,actually the mechanical engineer has more opportunities in his daily routine for the exercise of his creative faculties than has any one of the other kinds of engineers1 for the simple reason that no two machines even for the same purpose--speaking of types1 always--are exactly similar in construction4 ,two lathes of like size and scope1 if manufactured by two separate organizations1 will be different in their minor features1 and each in some particular will be the work of a mechanical engineer whose ideas are at variance with those of the mechanical engineer who designed the other type4 ,engineers1 like doctors1 often disagree1 which accounts for the many different types of machinery serving the same purpose which are found on the market4 ,electrical engineering is1 as its name implies1 a profession embracing all construction whose basis is the electrical current4 ,any unit whatsoever1 so long as it utilizes or eats up or carries forward a current of electricity1 is the work of electrical engineers4 ,the profession is a comparatively recent one perforce1 owing to the fact that but very little of a practical nature was known about electricity until a very few years ago4 ,the wonderful progress in this field made within the past twenty years is one of the marvels of the engineering profession4 ,dynamos1 motors1 arc-lights1 alternating current1 the ,x-ray--these are a few of the things which followers of the profession have created for the uses of mankind4 ,the field is yet practically unexplored1 and offers to engineering students an outlet for their energies--provided they enter this branch of engineering--second to none of the other branches4 ,a fascinating study1 doubly so because of the fact that nothing is known about electricity itself--its effects only being understood--electrical engineering should appeal to the curious-minded as no other vocation can4 ,it is a profession shrouded in mystery1 and not the least mysterious of its recent developments is the wireless telegraph4 ,what this one development alone holds for the future nobody can say4 ,all sorts of inventions can be imagined1 however1 and among them ,i myself seem to see automobiles operated from central stations--indeed1 all mechanical movements so operated--to the end that individual engines in time will cease to be4 ,the profession of mining engineering1 last of the major branches1 embraces all work having to do with the locating and construction of mines--coal-mines1 iron-mines1 copper-mines1 diamond-mines1 gold-mines1 and the like4 ,also it establishes the nature of the apparatus used1 though more often than otherwise the mechanical engineer in this regard is consulted1 since much of the machinery utilized in mining operations is the direct work of mechanical engineers4 ,screens and hoppers are mechanical devices the result of mechanical engineering genius2 but the work of shoring up1 done with timbers1 and the work generally of supervision of all mine operations1 rests solely with the mining man4 ,the shaping of these timbers1 though--the cutting of tenons1 for instance--is the work1 again1 of the mechanical engineer2 though the placing of these timbers1 to revert back once more1 is the work of the mining engineer4 ,there are many minor branches1 and more are rapidly coming into prominence4 ,chemical engineering is one of the older minor branches2 while industrial engineering--following closely upon automotive engineering--belongs properly with the more recent of the newcomers4 ,efficiency engineering is a branch which to-day is making a strong bid for recognition as a profession1 although the work as yet1 lacking1 as it does1 proper foundation in scientific truth1 even though strongly humanitarian in its motives1 has still to prove itself acceptable among the engineering groups4 ,structural engineering1 on the contrary1 belongs4 ,its work consists of the design and layout of modern steel structures--this roughly--while the minor branch known as heating and ventilating engineering1 as its name would indicate1 deals with the proper heating and ventilating of buildings1 and as a profession is closely allied with that of structural engineering4 ,out of these minor branches come yet other branches1 more particularly groups1 with each in the nature of a specialty1 such as gas engineering1 aircraft engineering1 steam engineering1 telephone engineering1 and so on4 ,students about to enter engineering colleges usually select one or another of the major branches and then after graduating begin to specialize4 ,but infrequently ,fate has much to do with this specialization1 since after leaving college the average young engineer will turn to the nearest or most promising vacancy offered him in his chosen field--a major branch--and in the work eventually become expert and a specialist4 ,if it be a concern manufacturing steam-turbines1 say1 the young engineer in time becomes expert and a specialist in steam-turbines4 ,so1 too1 with graduates in mining engineering1 in electrical engineering1 in civil engineering1 although the opportunities for specialization in any of these latter branches are not so good as in the mechanical field4 ,however1 entering upon a certain kind of work1 the student usually follows this work to the end of his days1 which is probably what engineering schools expect4 ,all strive to educate only in the principles of each of the major branches4 ,the rest is up to the graduate1 who is permitted1 and generally does1 the shaping of his own career afterward4 ,it is a feature of our democratic form of government--thanks be6 ,germany does--or did--the other thing4 ,germany made careers for her young men1 instead of young men for careers1 with the result that she also made machines out of them4 ,america is a nation of individualists1 which is what makes ,america what it is1 and our schools and school systems are responsible4 ,v ,,making ,a ,,choice ,about to make a choice among the branches of engineering1 the prospective student1 unless he have a decided preference to start with1 finds himself confronted with many difficulties4 ,engineering is engineering1 whether it be mining or electrical or civil or mechanical1 and this fact alone is not without its confusions4 ,yet if the young man decides for a mining career1 say1 the choice may take him1 after graduating1 off to ,south ,africa1 whereas if his choice lay in the electrical field he may never get any farther from home than the nearest electrical manufacturing plant in his town or state--and remain there for the duration of his life4 ,this making of a choice is a momentous thing in a prospective engineer's life4 ,it should be approached with all caution1 and with due regard for the nature of the life he would lead after graduating from school4 ,if he have a penchant for outdoor life1 then the choice1 in a way1 is easy4 ,he should select mining or civil engineering as his particular vocation4 ,if he be of those who prefer to remain more or less indoors in the practice of his profession1 mechanical or electrical engineering should be his choice4 ,these are the major advantages or disadvantages1 depending upon the point of view4 ,the minor ones are not so easily stated4 ,speaking always for the young man without a decided preference1 it is the writer's opinion that the prospective student should analyze his particular feelings in the matter and decide accordingly4 ,large projects may interest him more than smaller ones4 ,in this regard1 he will find greater satisfaction in following the profession dealing with large projects1 which is1 of course1 the civil engineering profession--although mining1 too1 has its large ventures1 which1 however1 do not break as frequently as they do in civil engineering4 ,on the other hand1 the young man may find himself attracted to the development of small propositions1 such as adding-machines and typewriters and sewing-machines1 and the like4 ,finding himself attracted to these no less important phases of engineering than the development of mines or the opening up of new country1 the young man can1 of course1 make no better choice than to enter the mechanical or the electrical field4 ,it all depends upon the point of view4 ,nor is there any hard-and-fast rule tying a man down to a single branch once he finds that he does not like it1 or finds that he likes one of the other branches better1 after he has given his chosen branch a trial in the years immediately following graduation4 ,not a few mining graduates drift over into straight civil work after leaving school1 and1 likewise1 not a few in the electrical branches find themselves in time pursuing mechanical work4 ,fate here1 as in the matter of specialization1 works her hand4 ,a prominent publisher of technical magazines in ,new ,york took the degree of ,arts in ,cornell in his younger days2 and more writers of fiction than you can shake a stick at once labored over civil-engineering plans as their chosen career4 ,herbert ,hoover is a mining man who best revealed his capabilities in the field of traffic management--if the work which he supervised in ,belgium may be so termed4 ,certainly it had to do with getting materials from where they were plentiful to where they were scarce1 which is roughly the work of the traffic manager4 ,and so it goes4 ,the young man in this particular must decide for himself4 ,actually1 there is more of mystery and fascination in the electrical field than in any of the other three branches1 and to prospective students this may be not without its especial appeal4 ,to others1 the work of mining may possess its strong attraction1 since this work takes its followers into strange places and among strange people frequently1 where oftentimes the mining engineer must live cheek by elbow with the roughest of adventurers4 ,to yet a third group1 civil engineering1 with its work of blazing new trails through an unknown country1 and wild outdoor existence through forests and over mountains and across valleys--may have its strong attraction4 ,while to a fourth group of prospective students the quiet career1 as represented in that of mechanical engineering1 always a more or less thoughtful1 studious life1 may hold out its inviting side4 ,the mechanical engineer1 like the electrical engineer1 is a man who generally commutes1 a man who comes and goes daily between office and home1 doing his work at regular hours within the four walls of his office--a quiet1 professional man4 ,such a life would appeal to the man of family rather more strongly than either of the outdoor professional branches4 ,yet the prospective student must make his own choice4 ,to the young man who has no particular preference1 and who would put it up to the writer as to just which branch to follow--the young man more or less in need--the writer unhesitatingly would advise mechanical engineering4 ,it is the one branch offering the largest and quickest returns1 and as a branch it fairly dominates all the other branches1 for the reason that whereas the mechanical engineer can get along without the mining engineer or the civil engineer or the electrical engineer1 neither the mining engineer nor the civil engineer nor the electrical engineer can always do without the services of the mechanical engineer4 ,no other branch so overlaps the other branches as does mechanical engineering4 ,the work of the mechanical engineer is seen in almost every piece of construction reared by the civil man1 just as it is seen in every bit of construction work of the mining and the electrical engineers4 ,at first glance this may not appear to be true1 but a close analysis of different jobs will bring out the truth of this statement4 ,thus mechanical engineering offers largest and quickest returns4 ,it does this for another reason4 ,because of this very overlapping upon the other three branches1 for every position open in the electrical field1 or the mining or the civil field1 there are a dozen vacancies in the mechanical field4 ,it cannot but be otherwise4 ,not one of the other branches but what has need at times for--as ,i have stated--a mechanical engineer4 ,the casings and base-plates and supports of motors1 for instance1 while the motor itself--its windings and the like--is the work of the electrical engineer1 are due to the designing genius of some mechanical man4 ,likewise1 in the mining field1 where shaking screens1 to name only one of the many mechanical units necessary in mining operations1 are an essential factor--units operated with pulleys and belts and cams and levers--all the province of the mechanical engineer--the mechanical man finds his uses4 ,so in civil work1 especially in dam construction where gates are necessary2 and in chemical engineering--to drop into a minor branch--where tanks and vats and ovens and stirring paddles and the like are used4 ,no matter in which branch a man may go1 always he will find evidence of the presence some time of the mechanical engineer4 ,the mechanical engineer dominates all the other branches1 as has been said before4 ,he is given second place in the order of the branches merely because the civil engineer happened to be the first and oldest kind of engineer to be given recognition as a profession4 ,this man made himself a professional man1 just as did the early practitioners of medicine--concocters of herbs in the beginning4 ,the proper selection will depend upon the young man's predilections and tastes4 ,if he selects wisely1 following out his predilections and tastes with a degree of accuracy1 he cannot go wrong4 ,he cannot go far wrong even if he doesn't follow out his hunches1 for the reason that he can always swing over into any one of the other branches whenever he sees fit to do so4 ,the thing is done every day1 and will continue to be done throughout all time4 ,merely1 it would be well for the young man1 of course1 to select in the beginning that branch which most appeals to him1 and to stick to it like glue4 ,success is certain to be his4 ,for in no other walk of life are the rewards so sure and so ample and so immediately responsive as in the engineering professions4 ,these--like the matter of his selection from among the four major branches--are solely a matter up to the individual4 ,,vi ,,qualifying ,,for ,,promotion ,immediately upon graduating--indeed1 often several months before graduating--the engineering student finds his first job awaiting him4 ,frequently he finds a number of first jobs awaiting him and must make a selection4 ,for it is the custom with large manufacturing concerns to send out scouts in the early spring of each year to address the engineering student bodies1 with the idea in mind of securing the services of as many graduates as the scouts can win over for their respective organizations through direct appeal4 ,what is usually offered the coming graduate is a brief apprenticeship in the shop1 at a living wage1 with promise of as early and rapid promotion in the organization as the work of the apprentice himself will permit1 or improves4 ,these offers are generally splendid opportunities4 ,the graduate may learn much of a practical commercial nature which perforce has been denied him in his student days1 and also1 having entered upon this apprenticeship1 he not only gets acquainted with production on a large scale1 but he is brought into touch with what constitutes most recent acceptable practice as well4 ,this1 provided he be a mechanical or an electrical engineer4 ,graduates in civil and mining engineering1 while offered positions from executives in these particular branches also1 have no such large opportunities offered them4 ,the work itself does not permit it4 ,yet in any of the branches there is never a scarcity of jobs open to graduates upon their leaving college4 ,to qualify for promotion in any work1 but more especially in the professions1 one must know one's business4 ,that is a trite statement1 but it will bear repeating4 ,the young graduate at first will not know his business4 ,his mind will be a chaos of theories based upon myriads of formul which cannot but confuse him in the early days1 when he is most earnestly trying to apply one or more of them to the more or less petty tasks which will be assigned to him4 ,all he can do under the circumstances--all anybody could do under the circumstances--is to wait patiently1 the while doing the best he can4 ,problems have a way of working themselves out--the correct formula will present itself2 its true application will become manifest--and thus the young engineer has learned something of a practical nature which need not forsake him throughout the remainder of his engineering career4 ,engineers are especially tolerant of one another's mistakes and errors4 ,they are much more so than medical men1 for instance4 ,in the field of medicine one must show by many practical cases wherein a certain treatment has proved effective before the fraternity at large will even give the practitioner a hearing4 ,this is not so among engineers4 ,engineers turn to one another in difficulties with earnest desire to help if they can help2 and when one of their number is in trouble in his efforts to solve a difficult problem the whole body will turn to him with friendly encouragement and advice1 if the latter is wanted4 ,the young graduate who is struggling with a problem come up in his daily work1 if he will but make the fact known to the engineers on the job in association with him1 will find himself surrounded by engineers every one of whom will be seriously concerned for him and anxious to render assistance4 ,so the young graduate need entertain no fears on the ground of possible errors when starting out4 ,merely he must go slow2 take his own good time on a job2 ask all the questions possible of his engineer neighbors4 ,frankness in engineering1 as in any other walk of life1 pays4 ,the bluffer is not wanted4 ,no man knows it all1 and certainly no engineer knows all there is to know about his profession4 ,time was when this might have been true2 but it isn't true to-day4 ,the work of engineering research and development has become so complex that engineers are forced to specialize4 ,the engineering graduate1 entering upon his first job1 will discover early that he1 too1 must specialize4 ,this will not be difficult1 owing to the fact that his engineering education has been general and designed to embrace in a liberal way all practice4 ,drawing1 as he will1 from this liberal source that which he finds necessary in the solving of his initial problems1 he will find himself within a short time becoming1 willy-nilly1 a specialist4 ,in the earlier years there should be considerable study done after hours on the part of the graduate engineer4 ,because his education has been general in the field1 and he now holds a position with a company manufacturing steam-turbines1 say1 he must wise up1 as the saying goes1 on the subject of steam-turbines4 ,it will do him no harm to trace back to its source all progress made in the field of turbine engineering and construction4 ,he will find no scarcity of books on the subject1 and with every hour spent with these volumes he will become more valuable to the organization employing him4 ,likewise1 if he find himself working for an electrical manufacturing concern1 and himself a graduate in electrical engineering1 if the product be only a single line1 and so small a thing as spark-plugs1 it will profit him greatly to read whatever has been printed on the subject of spark-plugs4 ,so with the mining graduate in the matter of the different processes of recovering minerals2 so with the civil graduate1 especially in the concrete field of construction1 which has made rapid strides in the past few years--the graduate should absorb as much as he can of the available works printed on the subject4 ,indeed1 this is the profession of it1 in that the practitioner must ever be alive and alert to what is being done and has been done from the beginning in his chosen line of endeavor4 ,next must come fealty4 ,the graduate on his first job must believe--and if he does not believe ought to change connections--that the product of his company is the best in the market4 ,this need not necessarily be true2 but he must feel that it is true4 ,for only in this way can he put the best that is in him into his work4 ,industry--and the engineer is the backbone of industry--is a hotbed of competition4 ,any organization needs all the enthusiasm it can get4 ,greatest enthusiasm of all must come from within its own circles4 ,lacking this enthusiasm within its own family1 the organization as a whole suffers4 ,the graduate must first of all supply enthusiasm to the source of his employment1 because at first he can supply but very little else4 ,he must be true to his trust in ways other than the mere doing of what he is told or producing what he is expected to produce4 ,this attitude cannot but help him qualify for promotion1 and rapidly4 ,it is a very important factor in any engineer's advancement4 ,then there is the matter of patience4 ,the writer knows of no other qualification more fruitful of reward than patience4 ,the word control is frequently used in this regard--self-control4 ,its other name1 however1 is patience--the thing that gives a man to try and try again until he succeeds4 ,engineering is a difficult profession1 though not more difficult than other professions1 and in the average engineer's working-day many things occur which1 if he be not possessed of infinite patience1 will serve to try him to a considerable degree4 ,patience with those below him--patience with those above him--patience with himself--these are all necessary and will prove helpful to him in reaching the top4 ,he must accept the petty tasks with a cheerfulness no less apparent than he accepts the more important ones4 ,he must present his own ideas to his superiors with a degree of caution which1 where the ideas are rejected1 will yet permit him to withdraw within himself without giving the impression of being peeved4 ,for engineering is above all other things the interchange of ideas among men having an equal training but a vastly different quality of experience4 ,men of diverse experience thus drawn together make for a balanced engineering staff1 and a balanced engineering staff makes for a well-organized whole4 ,the young engineer must conduct himself in such a way that his superiors will like him for what he is1 as indicated by his personality1 rather than for what he knows or does in his daily work4 ,to sum up1 then1 the young engineer1 having entered upon his first job1 must do three or four things in order quickly to qualify for promotion4 ,he first of all must spend time in study after his day's work is done--absorb all information having to do with the company's own product2 hold himself ever alert to the company's own methods of production2 watch for an opportunity whereby this production may be improved upon or the methods of production themselves improved upon4 ,the young engineer must proceed slowly in everything he undertakes2 when brought to a halt through difficulties he should instantly appeal to one or another of his associates or superiors2 he must be absolutely frank in all his dealings with these associates and superiors4 ,in this regard1 also1 it might be said that the young graduate1 following a habit become almost second nature with him in his school-days1 must keep a note-book covering his activities throughout each working-day1 a book wherein he will jot down everything of value to him which comes up in the day's work4 ,such books often form the basis of complete text-books in after years1 and1 indeed1 are acknowledged to be the foundation of more than one recognized authority4 ,though in this regard1 further1 such a practice is sometimes discouraged in some organizations1 since it is apparent that these note-books often contain facts which the organization does not wish to have made public1 being1 as these notes often are1 in the nature of trade secrets4 ,however1 the student with a conscience will effectively guard the secrets of his employer as contained in his note-book1 holding its contents for his own use in furthering the interests of the company which employs him4 ,and finally--in the matter of personality--patience and regard for the foibles of others will go far toward advancing the young engineer toward success4 ,he must never forget in his earlier years that he is embryonic in the profession2 that the profession is a difficult one and with many ramifications2 that if he was able to live through three normal lives he would yet know only a very little of what there is to know about his chosen work4 ,thus he will conduct himself in a manner designed to win the interest and affection of men who are superior to him4 ,life to-day consists more than ever of service1 and no man can go the path alone4 ,service--assistance one to another--makes up the sum total of life4 ,no engineering graduate--no young man in any walk of life--can progress far without assistance1 however brilliant as a student and capable as a man he may be4 ,if he will but bear this last in mind--this and the other even more important truth1 that as a man gives so shall he receive--that a dollar spent in charity means two dollars in the bank--,i mean that exactly--then the heights themselves will beckon to him at an early age4 ,early to bed and early to rise2 take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves2 a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush--we don't need--the engineering graduate does not need--that form of admonition4 ,it means nothing and is false4 ,what alone counts for success is a considerable regard for the rights and privileges of others1 the unfortunate as well as the fortunate4 ,greed never brought success that was lasting to any one1 and certainly it breeds unhappiness4 ,engineering is a work of service--service to others--and to the graduate who gets this truism will come all things of this life1 not the least of which will be material rewards4 ,,vii ,,the ,,consulting ,,engineer ,the consulting engineer represents the pinnacle1 as it were1 of professional success4 ,the inventor is something else--a wilding in the profession--and as such cannot be considered in a paper of this kind1 save only as to say that he is the presiding genius among engineers1 the ,shakespeare or ,milton among his kind1 a man whose path to the heights is nowhere known of men4 ,the consulting engineer1 on the contrary1 representing1 as he does1 the zenith of slowly attained power in some certain branch of engineering1 a vantage--point open freely to all1 is the embodiment of the goal toward which all graduates should strive4 ,the consulting engineer has perfected himself in his chosen field2 he has become an authority in his branch of engineering2 his word is accepted as final in court and privy council4 ,having gained to this enviable position only after prolonged study and protracted and wide experience in his particular specialty1 the consulting engineer has well earned whatever accrues to him in the way1 among other things1 of generous fees for his services4 ,still1 there are consulting engineers who have become so through accident4 ,the writer personally knows a consulting engineer who was following a general engineering practice when called upon one day to advise a group of capitalists in the matter of a garbage-disposal plant of new design for a large mid-,western city4 ,his services were sought not because he was a garbage expert1 but rather because he was expert in intricate pipe layouts and the like4 ,however1 once he got his hand into garbage disposition on a large scale1 he remained in this branch of engineering1 eventually traveling about the country supervising the design of similar plants whose object was the economical disposal of municipal refuse4 ,practically alone in the field1 his writings soon became accepted as authoritative1 and yet the whole thing began with that first call1 quite by chance1 in a matter foreign to the subject4 ,like other professional men1 engineers never know when the heavens will open for their particular benefit4 ,yet these cases are rare4 ,the average consulting engineer is a man who has won to pre-eminence only through protracted study and hard work in one line4 ,he is a specialist with a high reputation for accuracy and skill in that line4 ,the basis of this skill1 of course1 lies in a broad general engineering experience1 upon which is built a peculiar knowledge of a certain1 and not infrequently isolated1 branch of engineering4 ,heating and ventilating engineers are but specialists grown to such large numbers as to form a definite branch of engineering4 ,likewise1 automotive engineers are men who have specialized through long years in this branch4 ,the man who knows more about building dredges1 say1 than any other man among his engineering brothers is a man who will be most frequently sought by industrial powers feeling the need for a dredge1 just as a man suffering eye-strain will seek out the best specialist known to the medical fraternity4 ,he goes to the one acknowledged authority in this line1 and in doing so but follows a sane inner dictation4 ,and that is consulting work4 ,the individual of money who would launch into manufacturing1 knowing nothing of manufacturing1 will1 after deciding as to which branch of manufacturing he wishes to follow1 enlist the services of a consulting engineer big by reputation in this branch4 ,the capitalist may wish to enter the paper-manufacturing field4 ,straightway he will put himself in touch with a consulting engineer whose specialty is paper-manufacturing plants1 and1 having informed this man as to the amount of money he is willing to spend on the venture1 together with the location where he wishes1 within certain prescribed limitations1 to have his plant stand1 may withdraw from the thing1 if he choose1 until the plant is built and in operation4 ,the consulting engineer has done the rest4 ,he has gone out upon location1 seeking sites with an eye to economy both of power and transportation2 he has supervised the design of the plant and the location in the plant of the necessary machinery2 has enlisted the service of a builder whose task it is to follow these plans from foundation to roof in the work of actual construction4 ,for this work the consulting engineer receives a fee1 usually based upon a percentage of the cost1 and then turns to other clients--waiting in his outer office--who would enlist his services in a similar capacity4 ,the consulting engineer has other sources of revenue4 ,like the lawyer1 he is frequently retained by traction and lighting interests to guard the rights of these interests1 service for which he receives payment by the year4 ,his testimony is valued in matters of litigation1 sometimes patent infringements1 sometimes municipal warfare between corporations1 but always of a highly specialized nature4 ,he is an authority1 and when ,i have said that ,i have said all4 ,his retainer fees are large2 his work is exact2 he is a man looked up to by those in the profession following a general practice4 ,he has his office1 and retains a staff of engineers1 usually young engineers just out of college1 who1 like himself at one time1 are on their way upward in the game4 ,he is rarely a young man2 generally is a man of wide reading2 is a man respected in his community not for what he knows as an engineer1 but for the standard of living which he is able to set by virtue of his income4 ,besides the sources of revenue which are his1 and as ,i have set forth above1 he is sought by technical editors to contribute to magazines powerful in his field1 and this is a pleasurable source of income to any man in any walk of life4 ,the consulting engineer is a man to be admired and emulated by all engineering students4 ,as to the time in life when an engineer feels qualified to enter upon consulting work1 that is something which must come to him from within4 ,usually the engineer knows that he has become a factor in his chosen branch or specialty when he finds himself becoming more and more sought in an advisory capacity among his fellows4 ,he can judge that he has become an authority in his work by the simple process of comparing himself and his work with others and the work of these others in the field4 ,if he finds that he is designing a better plant or automatic machine1 or more economically operated mine or more serviceable lighting station than his neighbor1 and1 together with this knowledge1 perceives also that capitalists are beating a deeper path to his door than to the doors of his competitors--to warp an ,emersonian phrase--then the handwriting on the wall should be clear to him--to quote the ,bible4 ,having sufficient capital to carry him through a year or two of personal venturing in the consulting field1 he will open an office and insert his professional card in the journals in his field--and fly to it4 ,if he be a man of righteous parts1 he will succeed as a consulting engineer--and can go no higher in the profession4 ,the game is certainly worth the candle4 ,,viii ,,the ,,engineer ,,in ,,civic ,,affairs ,much has been written of late of the engineer as a citizen--of his civic responsibilities1 of his relation to legislation1 to administration1 to public opinion1 and the like4 ,it is timely writing4 ,the engineer is about due for active participation in civic affairs other than a yearly visit to the polls to register his vote4 ,he has not done much more than this since his inception4 ,his work alone has sufficed1 for him1 at least1 though the time is past when he can bury himself in his professional work and1 in the vernacular1 get away with it4 ,men of the stamp of ,herbert ,hoover have demonstrated the very great need for men of scientific training in public affairs4 ,such places heretofore have been filled with business men and lawyers4 ,these men served and served well4 ,but since administration of public affairs to-day is largely a matter of formulation and execution of engineering projects1 it is assuredly the duty of engineers to take an active part in these public affairs4 ,exact knowledge1 which in a manner of speaking is synonymous with the engineer1 is needed in high places in our nation4 ,men of technical education and training have demonstrated their fitness as servants of the people in the few instances where such men have taken over the reins of administration in certain specified branches of our government4 ,trained to think in terms of figures and the relation of these figures to life1 engineers readily perceive the true and the untrue in matters of legislation and administration1 though as a body they have never exerted themselves to an expression of their opinions on matters coming properly under the head of public opinion4 ,engineers have felt that they have not had the time4 ,or1 having the time1 that the public at large1 chiefly owing to the engineer's self-imposed isolation1 would not understand a voice from this direction1 and so engineers have kept silent4 ,the day has arrived1 however1 when this silence on the part of engineers must be broken4 ,the ,world ,war has been an awakening in this as in other directions4 ,lawyers and politicians have successfully dominated our government from its beginning1 with a single beautiful exception in ,george ,washington at one end and another admirable exception in ,woodrow ,wilson at the other4 ,washington was a civil engineer1 and ,wilson1 while trained as a lawyer1 was an educator4 ,in between these two men there may have fallen a scattering of others who were not lawyers or politicians2 the writer is not sure4 ,of one thing he is sure1 however1 and that is that engineers in the future will dominate politics to the betterment of the nation as a whole4 ,for engineers are idealists--otherwise they would never have entered upon an engineering career--and idealism has come1 as it were1 into its own again4 ,the man of vision of a wholesome aspect1 the man who can so completely forget himself in his work of service as to engage in tasks whose merits nobody save himself and those pursuing like tasks can or will understand--which is pre-eminently the engineer--is the one man best fitted to administrate in public affairs4 ,more important still than this statement is the fact that the world at large is beginning to realize the truth of it4 ,engineers as a body stand poised upon the rim of big things4 ,nor will they as a body stoop to the petty in politics1 once they are fairly well launched in active participation of civic affairs4 ,neither their training nor their outlook1 based upon their training1 will permit it4 ,for engineers1 more than any other group of professional men1 are given to see true4 ,and seeing true1 being1 as it is1 the essence of a full life1 is what is needed in our public administrators4 ,engineers in the past who have become more or less prominent in the public eye--and there are some who have--have demonstrated their ability to see things as they are4 ,westinghouse was the first man in this country to foresee the coming of the half-holiday ,saturday as an innovation that promised general adoption4 ,he granted it to all his employees at a time when lesser industrial captains believed him to be at least queer4 ,ford set the pace for a minimum rate of five dollars a day in his plant1 and lesser captains still frown upon him for having perpetrated this evil4 ,edison1 among other things1 has told of the importance of loose clothing--loose shoes and collars and hats--to a man who would enjoy good health4 ,the list is not long1 but the insight of those who form this short list cannot but be recognized4 ,what these men have said and done concerning matters freely apart from the subject of engineering reveals them as members of a fraternity well qualified to lead public opinion rather than to follow it1 as has been the province of engineers in the past4 ,each when he has spoken or entered upon action having the public welfare in mind has pronounced or demonstrated a truth which fairly crackled with sanity4 ,engineers belong in civic affairs4 ,the world of humanity needs men of their stamp in high places4 ,humanity needs men in control of state and national affairs who would hold the interests of humanity sacred4 ,engineers are such men4 ,not that engineers more than any other professional men are sprouting wings--not that4 ,but engineers do see things in their true light--cannot see them in any other light than the one imposed by the law of mathematics1 which is that two and two make four1 never five or three--and this involuntarily would admit of decisions and grant graces from the point of view of absolute truth1 which is1 of course1 the point of view of humanity--the greatest good for the greatest number4 ,with such men occupying high places in the nation's affairs1 the world of men and mankind would leap forward ethically and spiritually at a pace in keeping with the pace at which civilization has progressed under the impetus of engineering thought since the days of ,watt4 ,nobody can deny that progress4 ,nobody could well deny the fact that ethical progress under engineering guidance would be equally great4 ,i hold a brief for engineers1 of course4 ,engineering has been my major work for twenty years and more4 ,it has been my privilege to associate intimately with two men--yea1 three--possessed of great engineering ability4 ,the third man failed of great repute1 owing chiefly to his advanced--rather too much advanced--visionings4 ,he wanted to talk across the ocean by telephone at a time when the cable interests successfully prevented him from commercializing his apparatus4 ,and he died a disappointed inventor4 ,but he had the stuff in him1 the thing that makes for human greatness1 just as had the other and more successful two men with whom ,i as a designer was privileged to work4 ,all were men of kindly spirit1 of broad outlook1 of unselfish devotion to worldly interests4 ,each was a humanitarian4 ,each saw things as they are1 and each saw things as they should be1 and each thought much on problems of human welfare and betterment4 ,of such men in civic affairs the nation1 and indeed the entire world of nations1 has had but a sad too few in the past4 ,it is to be hoped1 and it is the belief of the writer1 that engineers will become more plentiful in civic life in the future4 ,i have always believed that the man who reached an advanced age without a sizable bank-account is a fact which would well serve as a definition as to what constitutes an idealist4 ,there are many such men--meaning1 of course1 men having a level set of brains1 and not mental incompetents4 ,such men are inclined to things other than the accumulation of bank-accounts4 ,they strive toward goals which to them are more worth while--self-improvement1 for instance1 spiritual growth being a better term4 ,of such men were the world's acknowledged saviors4 ,a man who can wilfully thrust oars against the current of a stream flowing currency-wise1 in such a way as to force himself into a back eddy or pool more or less stagnant1 is a man pronouncedly great among men4 ,the world is loath to recognize such a man for what he is2 yet such men have lived and still live and will continue to live1 always more for others than for themselves--seeing life in the true1 in other and more gracious words4 ,engineers1 in the abstract1 are such men4 ,the accumulation of money is secondary with them4 ,their work holds first place in importance4 ,possessed of that professional pride which will not permit a man to set aside his work and enter a more lucrative and materially satisfactory field of endeavor--if he starve in his obstinacy--engineers are men of the temperament1 aside from the training1 to minister to public needs and desires4 ,self-effacement is the engineer's chief characteristic4 ,he views largely and without bias4 ,he can see things from the other fellow's angle because he is not an engineer if he has not the gift of imagination4 ,the successful engineer has this most precious of endowments1 and1 having it1 cannot but be possessed also of kindliness and sympathy1 which are imagination's own brothers4 ,kindliness and sympathy are needed in the high places of our government for the people by the people4 ,and because men in time gravitate to their rightful sphere of usefulness through the workings of an all-wise ,providence1 engineers already have turned and are turning toward the administration of public affairs4 ,,ix ,,code ,,of ,,ethics ,all engineering societies have a code of ethics for the guidance of their membership bodies4 ,in each case it is a code based upon other and older codes1 codes long in practice among professional men1 such as lawyers and doctors4 ,it is a code built up on ,christian principles1 as it should be1 and rarely is it ignored among men of the profession4 ,to do unto others as you would have others do unto you is the basis of its precepts1 though more concretely it aims to guide the engineer in his business intercourse with other men in such a way as to give all an equal chance without transgressing the law4 ,the so-called building codes in effect in large cities are intended to hold engineers to restrictions for the greatest good of the greatest number1 and the code of ethics in practice among each of the engineering professions likewise was devised toward this end4 ,there seems to be need for it4 ,perhaps by pointing out where engineers sometimes transgress1 the writer more effectively can indicate the need of a code and the principles of which the engineering code of ethics consists4 ,even to-day there are engineers digressing from the path indicated by the professional body1 though in such a way as to benefit still by the protection of the law1 and to be not openly susceptible to admonition from the engineering societies' committees4 ,engineers of this stamp at best are but tricksters4 ,actually1 they should be debarred from practice1 just as the legal fraternity takes effective action against members of the bar who go outside the pale1 though nothing is ever done to engineers4 ,engineering organizations in this regard are weak4 ,the man's name should at least be posted1 or1 better still1 published in the society's bulletin1 so that the fraternity at large could know1 and1 knowing1 could warn men with capital to invest--the trickster's especial prey--for its own welfare4 ,there was an engineer brought to the attention of the writer whose activities were devoted to securing for his clients men of no mechanical knowledge who yet wanted something done by machinery4 ,a manufacturer of paper dolls1 say1 having entered upon this phase of manufacturing only because he had money to invest and not because he was interested in mechanics1 would see the need in his plant for additional mechanical devices to cut down manufacturing costs4 ,the engineer to whom ,i have reference would find this type of manufacturer his particular meat1 because of the man's ignorance of mechanics1 and1 after clinching him with a contract drawn up by the engineer's lawyer1 would undertake to devise for this manufacturer a perpetual-motion machine1 if that happened to be what the manufacturer wanted4 ,the engineer conducted a machine-shop in connection with his consulting office1 where1 at a dollar an hour for the use of his machine-tools1 he would develop his ideas1 as passed upon by the manufacturer who knew no more of construction or the reading of mechanical drawings than he did of the chicanery of the engineer1 and in this way roll up the costs against the unfortunate4 ,in the end the engineer might and might not produce a satisfactory working machine4 ,there was nothing in the contract about this--save only as it protected the engineer4 ,what was indeed produced was a list of costs for the development often of several designs of a given idea that to say the least were heartrending4 ,then there is the engineer who for a consideration will bear false testimony against his neighbor1 or his neighbor's ox4 ,this happens most frequently in municipal traction or lighting wars1 set before tribunals under the caption of ,the ,people vs4 the ,s4 ,s4 ,street ,railway ,company1 or in a battle of alleged infringement of patent rights4 ,there are engineering experts1 just as there are legal experts1 who deem it within their code of ethics to address themselves and their energies toward the refutation of such claims1 however wrong or right these claims may be4 ,engineering is an exact science4 ,it is based on principles hardly refutable4 ,yet there are engineers who will and can confound these principles before a court of law in such manner as to win for their clients a decision of non-suit where the facts point glaringly to infringement--in the matter of mechanics--or to win for their clients a favorable decision in the matter of costs of maintenance and operation of a railway1 in a case of this kind4 ,as has been said1 figures don't lie1 but figurers sometimes do4 ,other instances of breach of engineering ethics1 however otherwise secure from the clutches of the law1 occur to the writer1 but the two just cited ought to serve4 ,at best1 the topic is unpleasant and by no means indicates the character of the profession as a whole4 ,where there is one engineer who will perjure himself in the fashion as set forth above there are many thousands of engineers who could not be bought for this purpose at any amount of money4 ,the profession of engineering is notably clean2 its code of ethics rigidly adhered to2 the rights of others1 both in and out of the profession1 regarded with something akin to sacredness4 ,engineers1 as a body1 for instance1 possess a peculiarly rigid idea concerning themselves in relation to branches of the profession outside their own and yet intimately close to their own4 ,called in as an expert in the matter of heating and lighting a building1 say1 the heating and lighting engineer will rigidly confine himself to this phase of the engineering venture and to no other1 however he may find his work again and again overlapping the work of the structural engineer or the industrial engineer--phases concerning which he may possess important knowledge4 ,he regards these things as strictly none of his business1 and in doing so conserves the esteem and friendship of his confrres4 ,the code of ethics is a liberal one among the engineering groups4 ,it has been laid down with an eye to fairness both for the practitioner and the client4 ,rigidly held to1 it will admit of no engineer going far wrong in the practice of his profession1 and1 broken1 will not land him in jail4 ,it is presupposed that engineers are men of intelligence4 ,a man of intelligence will hold himself to the spirit of the ,ten ,commandments if he would attain to success1 and to the letter of them if he would be happy during the declining days of his life4 ,most engineers realize this and accept it as their every-day working creed4 ,life to them1 like the medium through which they give expression to their ideas1 is a matter of mathematics4 ,two steps taken in a wrong direction mean an equal number of steps forcibly retraced--or the whole problem goes wrong4 ,engineers rarely take the two steps in the wrong direction4 ,when they do take wrong steps they are quick to right them4 ,for the code is always before their eyes4 ,x ,,future ,,of ,,the ,,engineer ,just at present the future of the engineer is more richly promising than it might otherwise have been but for the war4 ,due to the period of reconstruction now confronting the world1 a work almost wholly that of the engineering professions1 engineers for a period of a decade at least are destined to be overburdened with projects4 ,nor will any one branch be occupied to the exclusion of any other branch or branches4 ,civil and structural engineers will1 as a matter of course1 have the first call2 but with the work of these men well under way--consisting of the reconstruction of towns and cities--mechanical and electrical men will necessarily be called upon1 with1 no doubt1 liberal demand for mining engineers4 ,each branch will have its place and serve its usefulness in the order as the reconstruction work itself will fall1 with the result that all branches of the profession will be busily occupied4 ,manufacturers have been ready or are getting ready for this unprecedented promised activity for some little time4 ,representatives are flocking abroad on every boat sailing from these shores with schemes and plans for the rapid upbuilding of devastated ,europe4 ,these men1 for the most part1 are engineers embracing all branches of the profession1 and each is a man especially well qualified to serve in his branch4 ,in a way he is a specialist4 ,he may represent a giant structural organization1 or a machine-tool manufacturer1 or an electric-lighting and power concern--any one of the many fields of industrial enterprises whose product is needed to place demoralized ,france and ,belgium back upon a productive basis4 ,for when the construction period is over with there will be need for machine-tools and equipment for operating these tools1 such as engines and boilers and motors1 all of which come properly under the head of engineering productive enterprises4 ,engineers--especially ,american engineers--will be in great demand1 as they are already4 ,nor will the close of the reconstruction period witness an abatement of this demand4 ,having once entered the foreign field on a large scale1 they will of necessity continue to be in demand not only for the furtherance of industrial projects1 but for purposes of maintaining that which has been installed at their hands4 ,machinery has a way of needing periodical overhauling--even the best of machinery--and this will entail the services of many engineers for long after the machinery itself has been set up4 ,the services of erecting engines1 operating engineers1 supervising engineers--known more properly as industrial engineers--following1 as the need will1 close upon the heels of the constructing and selling men--will keep the many branches alive and in foreign trade for much more than a decade--or so it seems to the writer4 ,other nations may1 of course1 whip into the field and in time crowd out the more distant--meaning ,american--engineers and engineering products4 ,but ,i don't think so1 because of the acknowledged supremacy of ,american engineers in many directions4 ,the war itself taught the world that we possessed such a supremacy1 and the world will be slow to forget--especially the purchasing side of nations themselves so crippled of man-power as to be for a generation well-nigh helpless4 ,so the immediate future of the engineer is richly promising4 ,it is so rich with promise that a young man could hardly do better than to enter upon engineering as a life-work1 provided he has no particular choice of careers1 and would enter upon an attractive and scopeful one4 ,his work is already laid out for him4 ,taking up a course of study leading to the degree of ,m4,e41 or ,c4,e41 or ,e4,e41 in four years1 upon graduating1 he can retrace his way1 or the way of his brother1 over the battle-fields of ,europe1 a constructive rather than a destructive agent now1 a torch-bearer1 a pilgrim1 a son of democracy once again advancing the standard in the interests of humanity4 ,he may do this as a mechanical engineer1 as a civil engineer1 as an electrical engineer1 as a mining engineer2 it matters not4 ,what does matter is that he will be carrying ,old ,glory1 in spirit if not in the letter1 to the distant outposts--the especial province of the ,anglo-,saxon race1 anyway1 from the beginnings of this race--and so serving to maintain the respect and affection already established in these countries by our soldiery4 ,to the writer the thing looks mighty attractive4 ,yet the young engineer's future need not lie in distant places necessarily4 ,he may stay at home and still have his work cut out for him4 ,the promised unparalleled activity in the field of engineering on the other side cannot but enlarge and accentuate the activity on this side of the water4 ,plants will be operating full blast to catch up with the demand imposed by this abnormal activity1 and thus the engineer will perforce bear the burdens of production4 ,he will bear them in all directions1 since industrial activity means engineering activity1 and the work of production cannot go on without him4 ,in the mines1 the mills1 the quarries1 the foundry1 the machine-shop1 the pattern-shop1 the drafting-room1 the engineering offices1 the consulting divisions--all these1 necessitating as they do the employment of one or more engineers in at least a supervising capacity1 will have urgent need for his services4 ,constructive work always1 he will grow as his work grows1 and because the growth of his work under these abnormal conditions will be of itself abnormal1 his own growth under these conditions will be abnormal4 ,he will find himself a full engineer before his rightful time4 ,right here it would be well to point out to the young graduate the importance of getting under a capable engineer4 ,for1 much as the writer dislikes to admit it1 there are engineers who are not capable and who yet occupy positions of great responsibility4 ,the young engineer1 fresh from college and a bit puzzled as to the game as a whole1 if he accept a connection under an engineer1 for instance1 whose inventive ideas are impractical1 will unwittingly absorb such a man's viewpoint on construction1 and so spoil himself as an engineer for all time to come4 ,cases like this are not rare4 ,the writer personally knows of more than one young man who enlisted under an engineer whose ideas on administration probably accounted1 being as they were good ideas1 for his position of authority over matters not strictly of an administrative nature4 ,the man wanted to exercise his authority over all things within his department--not the least of which was machine design--with the result that the young graduate's normally practical viewpoint on matters of construction became warped into that of the man over him1 and continued warped for so long as he remained under this man1 and frequently longer1 indeed1 to the end of his engineering career4 ,the young engineer must pick his boss as our young men are facetiously advised to pick their parents4 ,the wrong selection will prove disastrous to him in after-life4 ,which is but an aside--though a very important one4 ,to emulate a weakling in whatever walk of life1 be it painting or writing or engineering1 means to begin wrong4 ,everybody knows the importance of a right beginning4 ,it is no less true of the young engineer than of others4 ,and what with the example set by ,herbert ,hoover and other dollar-a-year men1 mostly engineers1 in the nation's administrative affairs during the war1 the future of the engineer looks bright in these quarters as well as in quarters embracing engineering constructive work wholly4 ,the engineer of the future undoubtedly will take active part in municipal and national affairs1 more likely than not in time entering upon a political career as a side interest1 as the lawyer enters upon it to-day1 within time--so it seems to the writer--members of the engineering professions occupying positions of great trust1 such as state governorships and--who knows8--the ,presidency itself4 ,certainly the hand points this way4 ,more and more engineers are coming into prominence in the public eye1 and with every member of the profession so coming1 the respect for men of his profession multiplies among laymen4 ,it is not too much to say1 therefore1 that engineers are destined to fill places of great political power4 ,it is to be hoped that they are4 ,whether they do or not1 the future at this writing amply promises it1 and so forcibly that it may well be included as existing for the engineer1 as being a part of the future of the engineer4 ,,xi ,,what ,,constitutes ,,engineering ,,success ,a graduate of ,cornell1 in the class of '#je1 after placing away his diploma where it could not trouble him through suggestiveness1 accepted a position with a large manufacturing concern in western ,pennsylvania4 ,he was twenty-three years old4 ,he went into the shop to get the practical side of certain theories imposed upon his receptive nature through four long years of study in a mechanical-engineering course4 ,the concern manufactured among other things steam-turbines1 and this young man1 having demonstrated in school his particular aptitude for thermodynamics--the study of heat and its units in its application to engines1 and the like--entered the erecting department4 ,donning overalls1 and with ordinary rule in his hip pocket--as against the slide-rule with which he had worked out his theoretical calculations during his college years--he went to work at whatever was assigned him as a task by his superiors--shop foremen1 assistant superintendent1 occasionally an engineer from the office4 ,this young man did many things4 ,he helped to assemble turbine parts2 carried word of petty alterations to the proper officials3 assisted in the work of making tests2 made detailed reports on the machine's performance2 screwed up and backed off nuts2 in short1 got very well acquainted with the steam-turbine as manufactured by this company4 ,he knew the fundamentals of machine construction1 and an understanding of the details of this particular type of turbine therefore came easy to him4 ,he worked shop hours1 carried his lunch in a box1 changed his overalls every ,monday like a veteran4 ,usually his overalls more than needed changing1 because he was not afraid of the grease and grime with which he came into contact throughout the day4 ,he liked the work and went to it like a dog to a bone4 ,he was applying in a practical way what he had learned in college of a theoretical nature1 and finding the thing of amazing interest4 ,he made progress4 ,in time his work was brought to the attention of the chief engineer1 and one day1 when the president of the company1 who was also an inventor of national repute and responsible for the design of the turbine being manufactured by the organization1 wanted to make certain bold changes in the design1 the chief engineer sent for the young engineer whose work in college in thermodynamics had won for him certain honors1 with the result that our hero found himself presently seated opposite the president at a table in the latter's office1 engaged in working out calculations on his slide-rule--calculations beyond the powers of the president1 because he was not a heavy theoretician4 ,this call was a big advance indeed1 for it marked him as a man of promise--a comer--in the concern4 ,the president liked the ease with which the young engineer got him in the matter of the proposed changes1 and quite before either realized it both were talking freely1 exchanging ideas1 in the field of turbine construction generally4 ,the young man unconsciously was driving home the fact that he was a capable engineer1 one who1 while still lacking in broad experience1 was nevertheless possessed of the proper attitude toward engineering as a whole to compel the interest and attention of his superior4 ,the young man eventually was sent out upon the road as an erecting man4 ,in this work he discovered certain operating faults in the design1 and1 reporting these faults to the home office1 observed that not a few were remedied in subsequent designs4 ,he moved about the country from place to place1 setting up and operating steam-turbines1 until there came the blissful day when he was called back to join the engineering staff in work covering design4 ,laying aside his overalls1 he emerged as a crisp young engineer in a linen collar and nifty cravat--although not till later did he don a cream-colored waistcoat--and thereafter his hours were seven instead of nine4 ,with a desk and a stenographer he entered upon work of a somewhat statistical character4 ,he followed the designs of rival companies as best he could through their advertising and articles covering their respective designs appearing in the technical journals1 and about this time also applied for admission1 and was granted it1 in the foremost engineering society embracing his particular branch of the profession4 ,he was still making progress4 ,likewise1 he was rapidly becoming an expert in the field of steam-turbines4 ,his work in the shop1 together with his experience on the road1 both as an erecting man and operating engineer1 had eminently fitted him for valuable service in the home office as an engineer overseeing design4 ,his work in charge of design1 where his knowledge of what had given service both good and bad in details of construction while he was in the field1 was extremely valuable to the designer himself1 was rapidly rounding him out as a steam-turbine man4 ,his salary had gone up apace with his progress2 he had met the right girl at a club dance in the suburban town where he had taken modest quarters2 he was rapidly headed toward success both as an engineer and a citizen4 ,he had been out of school probably six years1 and was still a very young man1 with all the world practically before him4 ,one day he was asked by the chief engineer of the concern to journey to ,new ,york1 and read a paper before his engineering society at one of the regular annual meetings1 on the subject of thermodynamics in its relation to the company's own product--the turbine4 ,he tipped over his chair in his eagerness to get out of the office and on the train4 ,he realized the importance of this opportunity4 ,he was to appear before his fellow-engineers--the best and most capable and prominent in the profession--and to appear as an authority on his subject6 ,the thing was another step forward4 ,he prepared a paper1 basing it on his six years' experience in steam-turbines1 and when he reached ,new ,york had something of value to tell his brother engineers4 ,the meeting was held in the afternoon1 and1 dressing for the part1 he stepped out upon the platform before a gathering of some eight or nine hundred engineers and delivered himself of his subject with credit to himself and to his organization4 ,not only that4 ,in the rebuttal1 when engineers seated in the auditorium rose to confound him with questions--engineers representing rival turbine concerns--he proved himself quick at the bat and more than once confounded those who would confound him4 ,he was making his mark on the industrial times4 ,his paper was reviewed in the technical journals and almost overnight our young hero found himself recognized as an authority in his chosen branch4 ,he was sought out for other articles by technical editors1 his associates in the home plant generously commended him for his work2 his salary received another elevation2 he called on the girl that night and had her set the date4 ,then he plugged for salvation--further knowledge as a turbine man--harder than ever4 ,having won the full confidence of the officials of the company by this time1 he was given free voice in all matters having to do with the design of their product1 and shortly after his first little boy was born was promoted to the position of assistant chief engineer4 ,he served in this capacity for two years1 and then1 realizing that he had gone as far up in the organization as it was physically possible to go1 owing to the fact that the chief engineer was the president's sister's husband--or something like that--he accepted an offer from one of the rival concerns manufacturing turbines and entered the organization as chief engineer at a salary too big to mention4 ,our young friend had at last arrived4 ,yet his success was not quite complete1 nor will it be complete1 until he sets up1 as he assuredly will some day1 as a consulting engineer4 ,when he at last does this1 when he swings out his shingle to the breeze1 he will then have attained to the maximum of possible success as an engineer4 ,already recognized as being possessed of a fine discrimination in matters of engineering moment1 especially in thermodynamics as related to turbines1 he has but gone up in channels early laid out for him1 and indicated to him1 in his college days4 ,his direction even then was clearly marked4 ,all he had to do1 and all he did do1 was to develop himself in this single direction4 ,he did nothing that would be impossible to any other engineering graduate4 ,merely he hewed to the line--persisted in remaining in the one branch of the game--met with his reward in time just as any young man would meet with it4 ,there was nothing of phenomenal character1 nothing of the genius1 revealed in what he did4 ,his way is open to all4 ,and it is a way both worthy and admirable1 for to-day this engineer stands high in his profession and is meeting with financial reward in keeping with his position among engineers4 ,there you have in the tracing of one engineer's progress to success precisely what constitutes engineering success4 ,the details may differ1 but the principles and the rewards will be the same1 whether you enter upon civil or mechanical or mining or electrical engineering4 ,success in engineering constitutes certain satisfactory money rewards and an even more satisfactory recognition by one's associates and fellows4 ,success in anything is that4 ,a man must work for them1 however4 ,there never was and never will be a rainbow path to the heights4 ,toil and an abiding faith in one's own capabilities--these make for success4 ,success makes for happiness1 and happiness1 as everybody knows1 is all there is to this life4 ,i wish all men happiness4 ,,xii ,,the ,,personal ,,side ,as to the personal side of engineering as a career1 if it would be a source of gratification to you to know that you were helping to build up the civilized world1 then you should enter the engineering profession4 ,because men differ in their ideas as to what constitutes a full life--some placing ideal homes above all things1 some seeking continuously diversified sources of pleasure1 some wanting nothing better than a fine library or freedom to cultivate taste in pictures1 some wishing only to surround themselves with interesting people1 some wanting nothing but an accumulation of dollars1 some wishing but for power of control over others--all men would not find the full life in engineering4 ,yet the majority of men would1 because the profession holds that which would appeal to a great many different ideas as to what a complete life consists of4 ,engineering as a profession is scientific1 idealistic1 constructive1 profitable4 ,it is combative--in the sense that it shapes nature's forces--and it calls for a sense of artistry in its practitioners4 ,added to these1 it embraces a certain kind of profound knowledge the possession of which is always a source of pride to the owner4 ,let me explain this last4 ,the engineer1 being as he is a man who views things objectively1 notes details in everything that comes under his eye1 be it dwelling or automobile1 or bookbinding or highway4 ,the layman does not4 ,the layman1 outside his work1 sees only the thing itself1 when looking at it--the general outline4 ,but the engineer1 trained to note details in construction1 observes detail at a glance1 and does it almost subconsciously1 if not immediately after leaving school1 then assuredly later1 after he has been practicing his profession for a time4 ,his outlook is objectively critical4 ,entering a house for the first time1 and trained as a mechanical engineer1 he will note the character of the woodwork1 the decorations1 the atmosphere1 the arrangement of the furnishings1 all with the same facility that he will note details upon entering for the first time a power-station or a manufacturing plant--things within his own province4 ,nor is this faculty confined to the concrete4 ,engineers are of that deeply instinctive race of folk who perceive cause in effect with the lightning swiftness of a wild animal4 ,if they are not this when entering upon the profession1 assuredly they become so after a period spent in the work4 ,something about the practice of engineering breeds it--breeds this objective seeing and abstract reasoning--and to be possessed of it is to get more out of life than otherwise is possible4 ,which possibly accounts for the fact that engineers as a group seem to have a common-sense viewpoint of things1 one that is frankly acknowledged and drawn upon when needed by men in other walks of life4 ,engineers are extremely practical-minded1 and this makes for a certain outlook that will not permit of visionary scaring away from the common sense and the practical on the part of its possessor4 ,engineers know why things occur without having witnessed even the occurrence itself4 ,their powers of reasoning are developed to degrees beyond the average--or they seem to be--and out of this comes one of the sources of gratification on the personal side to the man who pursues engineering as a profession4 ,the thing spreads out as ,i contemplate it4 ,i would make so bold as to say that the man of engineering training will see more at a glance when first viewing the ,grand ,caon1 say1 than will any other professionally trained man4 ,should the ,caon collapse1 he would know instantly why it collapsed4 ,he could give an opinion on the wonderful color effects that would interest the artist1 and he would know without hesitation how best to descend to the bottom and wherein to seek the easiest trail4 ,all this1 without his being a civil or a mining engineer1 understand2 merely a man trained in constructive mechanics4 ,on the other hand1 the mining or the civil man would view the wreckage of a locomotive accident and see in the debris1 select from the snarl of tangled wheels and driving-arms and axles a ready picture of the nature of the accident and how much of the wreckage offered possibilities for repair4 ,again1 the engineer sees in a tree1 with its tapering trunk1 the symbol of all tower construction1 just as he sees in the shape of a man's arm the pattern to follow when devising a cast-iron lever for an automatic machine4 ,he sees things1 does the engineer2 sees objectively2 follows nature throughout4 ,all this being true1 the engineer has a rather interesting life of it4 ,for not only does he see a little more clearly than otherwise would be possible to him without his education and training1 but also he does things with his hands that come easy to him without previously having undertaken them4 ,the engineer can do much around his own home1 if he so choose1 that of itself is a source of great satisfaction4 ,engineers can swing doors1 build fireplaces1 landscape1 erect fences1 make garden1 and can perform these tasks with a degree of neatness and skill that brings favorable comment from journeymen whose vocations this work is1 and do the work without training whatsoever in the work4 ,wall-papering1 painting1 carpentering1 laying up of brick1 or the placing of a dry wall--plastering1 glazing--the list is endless that as side-plays are possible to the man with an engineering training4 ,he need not do these things1 ever2 but if he wants ever to do them1 he finds that he can do them and do a creditable job of each1 and this without his ever having turned his hand to the work before4 ,which sums up in a measure the personal side4 ,the engineer is not a superior being4 ,merely he is a man possessed of a highly specialized education and training which peculiarly fits him for any practical work1 and out of this work1 for practical thinking of the kind known as constructive4 ,being constructive with his hands1 he cannot but in time become constructive with his brain4 ,being constructive as a thinker first1 he cannot but become constructive as a doer later4 ,the one hinges closely on the other1 and having both1 as the engineer must who would be a successful engineer1 he has as much of the world under his control as comes to any man1 and1 in a great degree1 more than is the favorable lot of most men4 ,for the engineer is both a thinker and a doer4 ,ponder that--you4 ,men are either one or the other--most men--and rarely are they both4 ,either side of their brain has been developed at the expense of the other side4 ,not so with the engineer4 ,the successful engineer is both thinker and doer--must be in his profession4 ,it seems to me that engineering has many beautiful attractions as a profession4