Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (July 26, 1906)
THE SKILLED MECHANIC How to Bocomo One, and What It Moans to Succod in This Calling. By fiATH'L C. FOWLEB. Jr. Author of "The Boy—How to Help Him Succeed." "Building Business." "Fowler’s Cyciopedia of Publicity and Printing." "Practical Publicity." "Dollars and Sense,” "Gumption,” Etc. (Copyright, 19U6, by Naih’IC. Fowler. Jr.) The terms shilled or skillful may be so broadly defined as to cover all hand work requiring more than the exercise of automatic action, and it may he so narrowed as to eliminate any work save that of extraordinary, or, at least, of more than ordinary mechanical abil ity. For the sake of convenience. I pro pose to consider in this article' all liand-workers whose employment de mands the use of their hrain at the same time that they exercise their muscles. Such men may be classified as brain-and-hand-workers or as hand and-orain-workers, in the one case the brain doing more than the hand; and in the other, the hand accomplishing more than half of the work. The expert worker is commercially one gtade above the skilled mechanic; by the combination of ability and ex perience, he does some particular kind of work better than it can be executeif by the so-called skilled workman. Neither the skilled mechanic, nor the expert workman, nor anyone who em ploys both brain and hands, can be classed as a laliorer, or as a mechanic in a purely mechanical sense. While by the false ethics of an artificial soci ety the skilled mechanic and the ma jority of expert workmen are not con sidered the social equals of successful workers in some other callings, they are recognized at their full worth bv the representatives of civilized society. And this recognition is advancing in mighty strides, and sooner ur later the combination of brain and hand work will rank so high that society will dare file no exceptions to it. The formation of gigantic monopo lies, the consolidations of capital, and the fearful increase of business upon paper, cannot but produce a reaction which will apprize work at work's value, and render unto intelligent workmen the appreciation of high progress The skilled workman is a product of civilization, and progress in no small measure depends upon the work of his hrain .and of his hand. He is a builder of something, a maker of the tangible. The institute of technol- j *>gy and the technical school are to-day more vigorously pushing progress than are many of our classical institutions which reach less of the necessities than \ the realities of life. Chances to Rise. The bright, capable workman, with a fair education, does not permanently remain at a standstill in any depart ment of mechanics, unless, in spite of his mechanical ingenuity and capacity, he completely lacks ambitiitfi, a con dition which too often exists. Sooner or later he may become a foreman or superintendent, and possibly a manu facturer. The boy without pronounced busi ness or professional capacity stands a better chance of success, both in the present and for the future, by entering some trade which allows his hand to do his hand's best, than by taking chances with what he is probably un fitted for. If the bulk of his work is something which encourages and de velops his handicraft, he is reasonably certain of rising from the ranks and of earning a comfortable livelihood. The workman is almost certain of per manent living wages. It his mind takes little thought of what his hand is doing, an ordinary mechanic he will remain; but if the work of his hand comes under the in telligent direction of his brain, then he will rise as high as his combination of brain and hand will allow; which may be only a few steps above the or dinary or to any height, even to that of manufacturer and proprietor. The ordinary mechanic, above the laborer grade and beyond the appren ticeship step, earns from $10 to $12 a week on an average, aud up to seven dollars a day as a maximum. The skilled workman, who is able to do something beyond mere hand-work, seldom receives less than tnree dollars a day. and from that up to five dollars a day. The expert workman often earns as much as $2,000 a year, and from that up to $5,000 a year, although comparatively few receive the latter amount. His average income is prob ably not in excess of $2,000, although there are by no means a small number earning as much as $2,500 a year. The foreman and superintendent, who are either skilled workmen or expert work ers, and who are disciplinarians as well as mechanics, are seldom paid less than $1,000 a year, the amximttm be ing not far from $10,000, and the aver age from $1,200 to $1,500 a year. The terms foreman and superintend ent are. to an extent, analagous, aud frequently both offices are vested in oi 'n: but the superintendent o 'oreman, the latter being ,u of a department, Ww v ’"'nt is manager has gen pi B ... stand the principles of electricity. To an extent, at least, they are expert workers. The railroad engineer is a machinist, but he is classed above the J ordinary mechanic. He is a man of; nerve, of character, of presence of mind, of discretion, and able to meet emergencies. Without an abundance of qualities beyond those of mechanical! ability, he would not be able to suc cessfully hold the throttle of a freight locomotive. Ability in Demand. While shrewdness in business pays better than skill in mechanics, and while this business quality undoubted ly wins a greater money return than does any work of hand or of intellect, yet the skilled workman is not without opportunity for rapid advancement. He is in no sense a second factor in civili zation. As a matter of tact, he has a right to he really prouder of his at tainment than has the man whose i wealth consists only of money. When civilization advances another peg. the skilled mechanic, the man of brain and hand-action, will have the same social recognition as dees the rank and file of our business and professional men. The quality of skilled labor is rapidly growing better, and is pro-, gressing by such gigantic strides that it is only a question of time ivhen the ) intelligent work of the hand, will be considered upon the same plane as is the work of the brain, and there will be no such thing as despised labor. There will be little labor that involves muscle alone. Comparatively few educational au thorities, or those who have given ed ucational Ways and means intelligent thought, are in favor of a classical col lege education for those who propose to enter a mechanical trade-, but the educational opinion is almost unani mous in advising, tor anyone who in tends to be more than a common laborer, a course in the technical school of institute of technology, or, at least, j course in manual training. The boy woo enters a trade without, at least, a partial technical education, is liable to stay near the bottom, or to rise ve-y slowly, while the technicat sohool-traiaed boy usually makes rapid advances after his first year at work. Of couise. experience teaches, but ex-, perienre is often too far away to prop erly instruct in the preliminaries. A few yeats given to hard technical study in a good trade school or institute or technology will pay better in the end than can any amount of working ex perience. But on the other hand tech nical education without experience is well-nigh worthless. Experience without technical educa tion is worth something. The com bination or the two wins success. A thorough technical education, with ex perience, never allows-its possessor to i remain at a standstill. He must rise, and generally rises rapidly. Technical Training. No boy should begin to learn a trade, unless poverty requires it. until he has receive! a good common school edu cation; ana, if possible, he should en ter some technical school to he scien tifically trained for his work. Time spent in a technical school is not wasted. It pays. Perhaps not during the first yea; of active work, but dur ing the second year its advantages will permanently appear. The well-edu cated hand-worker is sure to outstrip the untrained workman. It is a fact that few well-educated and well trained mechanics remain in the rear ranks, and that most of them are either front-rank workmen, or are pro moted to command. Let us take two boys of equal capaci ty and of equal trade opportunity. One spends, say three years, in the tech nical school, and the other enters tne shop immediately after graduation from the common school. The latter boy has three years trade-start of the other. At the end of three years the first »oy, educated and school-trained for his work, enters the same shop, in shop experience he is three years be hind the other, and for one or two years the untrained and unskilled boy may be his superior: but at the end of , five years the boy especially trained, with a solid technical education back i of him. will outstrip the untrained boy 1 two to one. all things being equal. Education fits for experience. Ex | perieuce seldom takes the place of edit-1 ; cation, and when it does, it does so at | the expense of the individual. One's earlier years are, by nature! and by convenience, an absorbent and ediioat'oual period, in which it is nat i urai and easy for one to enjoy school study, and to acquire the knowledge which should precede actual experi I ence. The first few years of technical \ school training give a foundation, which the actual work in the shop . cannot afford. Experience needs e.lu I cation for its economical development. I The scientific or technical school dis- ' 1 cipltnes the boy's mind, and gives him, ‘he taost economical way, the broad •s of mechanics—the principles '•“nee teaches more slowly. ‘ be said to impress mechanic with t technical '•me high •inciples The ute,1 .1 his food that t produce tpert hand of any use, work upon— | the first place. ierlal, the most trthless, and cer rctal value. The toy of natural capacity, with s, willingness to work, and an ambition to amount to something, finds that his education makes it much easier for him .0 market his ability; and, fur then, it enables him to develop much more rapidly than he could hope to do if he entered the shop directly from the common school. The man is made from the toy, not the toy from the man. As the crude toy is shaped, so is the man likely to be. Therefore. ;os boy’s educational years will protibly be the most important ones of his whole life. The world needs more skilled work men and expert hand-workers. There is room for many more than are now available. These men, far more than the business men, are the pushers of progress. They, with the farmer, are producers of material commodities, rhey actually do something, something which contributes to the roundness and 'NiiOleness of life. There is a superficiality to soma lines of business, particularly of those iloue upon paper; and even the pro fessional, expert though he may be. to an extent, handles the intangible; but the skilled workman and expert work er are natural producers of actualities —indispensable necessities in the w'orld at large. A liberal technical education i3 an asset: First, because it assists in de veloping ambition; second, because it broadens the mind and makes it adaptable to the work of both the mind and the hand; third, it disci plines the mind, that the mind may he mere master the muscle; fourth, it apena opportunity for advancement: fifth, tr is economical, because it ena bles the boy to accomplish more in a given time, after he is fairly started in bis work, than he eould possibly effect without this education; sixth, it fits bim lor proprietorship. The blacksmith, unless he is self taught, at an expense far greater in the aggregate than is the lost of being school-taught, is many times more likely to remain a journeyman black smith than is his neighbor who has had the advantage of some sort of technical education. This trained man will not long remain at the anvil. In time, he will be master of many an vils ami of anvil men. True, he may rise to proprietorship without the aid it' the technical school, but he will be promoted quicker with this school taught education, and can hold his own better than he can hope to do other wise. This argument applies to other mechanical departments, much more than it does to blaeksmithing. It is simply a question of going to one's work before the mind and hand are sconomically and practically trained, or of going at it with mind and hand jspecially trained and disciplined to do hat work in the most economical and satisfactory manner. Finding a Level. 1 am not unfamiliar with the criti cism, which is sometimes merited, that the technical schcol-taught boy leaves the institute with a head out of pro portion to his body, and considers himself superior to manual labor. I'n loubtedly this is the case in altogether too many instances, but if the boy has the right stuff in him this big-headed uess ;s only a transient affliction, and will do but temporary harm. The tech nical school never made a wise man but. of a fool, never made a mechanical genius out of a boy who could not saw a board straight, and never will. It simply gives the boy of parts a better jpportunity to use what is in him. That is all it can do. and that is all it should do. It is the boy’s business to do the rest. The more thorough the preparation, the greater the chance ot success. . The rapid increase in manual train ing schools in our cities and larger towns has done much to properly fit bur boys, and especially our poor boys, for lucrative positions. School boards ill over the country, and even in some of the smaller towns, are beginning to appreciate the usefulness of the tech nical school, and are establishing man ual training schools or classes. Not a few ot our manufacturing establish ments are supporting tra.ning schools, where the sons of workmen are edu cated tree of charge, or at nominal cost. The future of American manufac tures is, to a large extent, vested in the manual-training and technical school of to-day. America cannot hold the position she has worked so hard to obtain, unless she dees more than she ever l as done before to educate the young in technical matters. Within the next few years 1 expect to see a technical or manual-training school located in every country center as a part ol the educational system. What we have to do, we must do; but let us prepare for what we have to do, so that wbat we have to do may be ac complished at the minimum of exhaus tion and at the maximum of effective ness. There's economy in preparation. Trade in Business. Mr. Joseph W. Phinney, manager of the American Type Founders' company of Boston, in a letter to the author, says: "If I advised a boy to become a skilled mechanic instead of entering business, what would be my reason for so doing? "I should only so advise when satis fied that the boy s desire to learn a trade was prompted by a natural apti tude and liking for mechanics: under standing this fact, and knowing the trade that he had the most decided leaning towards, l should then urge him a thorough theoretical and prac tical training, a training that ought to make him an expert, a first-class work man, and one that should command the very best consideration in position and wages. "The same methods would obtain in advising a boy to take up business. “As to the particular advantages and disadvantages in becoming a skilled mechanic, I do not know of any dis advantages where the boy has a nat ural and proper destre for mechanics. Under these circumstances he will make r much larger success in the work for which he has an aptitude than if forced into a work toward which he must always feel indifferent or antagonistic. It is avoiding the misfit of the square peg in the round hole.' PRESIDENT OF REPUBLICAN CLUBS Gen. Eilwin Augustus McAlpiu, of New York, who was elected president of the National League of Republicans Clubs, in convention in Philadelphia, has been a national figure in political affairs for many years, and especially identified with the activities of the league. WHY THUNDER SOURS MILK Electricity in the Air Sets Microbes Working with Wonderful Energy. To many persons the curdling of milk in a thunderstorm is a mysteri- ! ous and unintelligible phenomenon. Milk, like most other substances, contains millions of bacteria. The milk bacteria that in a day or two. under natural conditions, would cause the fluid to sour, are peculiarly sus ceptible to electricity. Electricity in spirits and invigorates them, affecting them as alcohol, cocaine or strong tea affect men. And under the cur rent's influence they fall to work with amazing energy, and instead of taking a couple of days to sour Hie milk, they accomplish the task com pletely in half an hour. It is not the thunder in a storm i that sours milk; it is the electricity in the air that does it. With an elec- i trie battery it is easy, on the same principle, to sour the freshest milk. A strong current excites the microbes to supermicrohic exertions, and in a few minutes they do a job that un der ordinary conditions would take them a couple of days. Employers of labor regret that elec tricity has not a similar effect on workmen. They say that if it had they would use a good deal of it sur reptitiously. SCENIC MARVEL OF IDAHO.' Why the General Public Knows Sc Little About the Wonderful Snake River. The world is less familiar with the Snake river of Idaho than with any other river of importance in the United States; and yet it is our sev A PERIODICAL IN HIMSELF. New York Merchant Had C.aim to Fame, Though Not Altogether Literary. It was Oliver Wendell Holmes— was it not?—who was asked, after he had made a trip across the ocean, if he had done any literary work while on board the ship, and answered that he "had been a frequent contributor to the Atlantic.” Somewhat similar is the anecdote related of a New York merchant whose business had required him to make several jonneys to San Fran cisco and back during the year. While on one of these long trips, after he had exhausted the stock of teading-matter he had brought with him. h was showing a fellow pas senger a bundle of the popular mag azines that formed a part of the sup ply. "You don't seem to have the Over land Monthly here.’ remarked the passenger. “Huh!” exclaimed the New York er. “I’m the overland monthly my self." CERTAIN DEATH FOR ONE. Russian “Suicide thiel” Leaves No Hope for Participant Who May Be Uniucky. A tragedy, romantic on the surface but in reality throwing a repulsive light on the hollowness of life in Rus sia. is reported from Moscow. Two young Poles named Nidetzki and Komorovsky. attending a ball given by Count Feodorovo, were both so smitten with the beauty of the count’s daughter that, though friends froni boyhood, they at once became deadly THE SITUATION. -- _ jnth largest river—more than 1,000 miles long, says the World's Work, 't is one of the most wonderful and mpressive waterways in the world. The few who have tried to follow its winding course through wild and for bidding extents of lava plateaux do lot wonder that so little is known of t, for no railroads traverse the life ess desert that borders it, and no mats for hundreds of miles at a itretch. dare ply its waters. It is navi gable for only 100 miles from its jttnc don with the Columbia to the Idaho mimdary. and in several isolated sec dons of the interior. For the greater iart of its course it flows through old and magnificent canyons of its own making through desolate and awful wastes, the result of vomiting craters ind of convulsions of the earth. A Question of Means and End. John Morley, secretary of state for India, himkelf one of the very few men in British public life who do lot golf (he declares he’s not old enough yet to begin it), tells of an incident in a practice game to those same famous North Berwick links. A laird and his son were playing, wish the younger man sent a ball whizzing dangerously hear his fa ther's ear. "Ye maunna kill pa!" explaimed the caddie; then adding, after a .thoughtful pause: "Maybe ye'll be the eldest son?” enemies ami before the ball was half ' over had determined upon a duel to 1 tlie death ' by that most strange but 1 most deadly of all methods—the stii- ‘ 'oide of one of the combatants. It was decided that the loser of a game 1 of ecarte should kill himself, and 1 toward the end of the ball the in- 1 fatuated pair went to the card room for their game of death. In a few minutes Komorovsky had lost. and. quietly drawing a revolver, he shot himself through the heart. Nidetxki took the first express for Berlin. As for the fair cause of the tragedy, she was so little impressed that with in a few days she had accepted a pro posal from a Russian nobleman. Scarcity of Hickory Wood. Hickory, one of. if not the most valuable of our native woods, has be come so scarce that many substitutes have of necessity been found for it. The wonderful increase in the demand for buggies and carriages of the finer class had much to do with the virtual exhaustion of the great American hickory forests. England, Germany. China. Australia. South Africa and the South American countries made strong requisitions on the American supply. Years ago the supply of this fine wood north of the Ohio rive had been ex hausted. Despite substitutes and changed conditions, hickory remains 1 one of the most valuable of American ] , WOOdS. ^ To Visit Our South American Neighbors Significance of Official's Mission to I South America—Will Attempt to Dispel Erroneous Beliefs Re garding Our Attitude. f Washington.—An event of great im portance to both South America and the United Slates is the trip which Secretary of State Root is making at present to the third pan-American con ference at Rio de Janeiro and to the other principal South American cities, j " The purpose of the trip, it is frank- ! ly stated, is to encourage better re'a- j tions with our South American neigh- \ bors. Secretary Root will make a number of speeches and will talk per sonally with alt the most distinguished statesmen of the south American countries. He will try to remove the | .— .. SECRETARY OF STATE ROOT. (Cabinet Official Who Is Making a Tour of South American Countries.) popular idea from the Latin-American mind that the United States is armed j with a big stick and intends eventual ly to bring the entire western hemis phere under its control. In place of these erroneous beliefs j Secretary Root will tell them that we will protect them front old world in vasion and will try to be friendly and trade in peace with them. AVe will insist, he will tell them, that they must' pay their debts and fight, off plagues. Root goes not officially, but as a dis tinguished visitor to the conference, which meets at Rio de Janeiro about the 23d of July. The president's sum- { mer palace at Petropolis, across the; bay. will be his residence. From Rio. at the conclusion of the conference the Charleston will convey Secretary Root to Montevideo and Buenos Ayres, around the Horn to Va'paraiso, Bueno Ventura and up to Panama. He will inspect the canal and return home in October. The official representatives of the United States to the Pan-American conference will be William i. Buchan an, chairman: ex-Gov. H. A. Montague, of Virginia; Dr. L. S. Rowe, of the University of Pennsylvania: Van Weer Polk, of Tennessee; Tulio Larrinaga, the Porto Rican delegate in congress; Prof. Paul S. Reinch, of the University of Wisconsin, and Charles Ray Dean.) of the state department, who goes as' secretary. For the first time the South Ameri can countries have been asked to the1 conference at The Hague. So that fact makes the coming Pan-American con ference very important. The delegates of ail the creditor countries will probably take a united stand in favor of what is known as the Drago doctrine, the name being de rived from the fact that it was the first; generally advocated by Dr. Uouis Drago, minister for foreign affairs of: the Argentine republic. This doctrine is briefly that a citizen of some for eign country, as, for example, the. United States, who lends money to the the government of a South American country, ought to depend solely upon the courts of the country to which the money is loaned for collection, and that under no circumstances should he invoke the aid of his own government to collect such a debt. In support of such a doctrine it is pointed out that money lenders who advance money to impecunious and un reliable governments, such as some of the South American republics are. charge sufficient interest and impose ather hard conditions to fully compen sate for the risks they run of losing the money. It is considered unfair by South American statesmen that their gov ernments should become involved in continuous diplomatic difficulties with foreign nations by dealings which have been oi a private character and with private citizens of those countries. The conference will discuss other subjects, such as international copy right, quarantine, regulations, uni formity of customs and court regula tion. and the general topic of arbitra tion. To Study Yankee Tactics Lieut. Brugere of France Will Attend United States College Through Courtesy of Roosevelt. Kansas City.—Lieut. Jean Batiste Brugere. son of Gen. Brugere, chief of staff of the French army, is the guest of officers at Fort Leavenworth. The presence of the young French man in this country is a recognition by President Roosevelt of the courte sies paid Gen. Chaffee. Gen. Bell and Gen. Crozier by Gen. Brugere during the visit of the American officers to France last year. Upon the return of the American commission, after spending several weeks in France studying French mili lary methods. Gen. Bell made it known to the president that Get,. Brugere was exceedingly anxious that his son should have a course of study at the j United States staff college. Some months ago President Roosevelt ex tended an invitation to the young man to enter the school at Fort Leaven- i worth, and Lieut. Brgere arrived in f^?w York about the middle of March. He visited President Roosevelt and ; Secvretarv Taft before coming west, j Lieut. Brugere. who is 22 years old. [ tomes from a long line of French war- j riors. He holds a commission in the dhasseurs d'Afrique, now stationed at ■ riemeen. Algeria. He was a student »t the Ecole Militaire at St. Cvr for j two years and at Sauneur a year, after which he received a commission in the regiment to which he belongs at the present time. Until the opening of I-IEL'T. JEAX BATISTE BRl’GERE. (French Army Officer Who Will Study American Military Methods.) tlie staff college next fall I-ieut. Bru gere will devote himself to the Ameri can language and accustom himself to American ways. - a !!^—ggg LOCOMOTIVE IN POLITICS New York.—One of the best equipped i of the few private observation loconio- j tives owned by railroad officials in | this country is the St. Lawrence, the ! property of the Central Vermont rail- j wav. This locomotive, which has an in terestlng history, was originally owned j by Col. E. C. Smith, former president | of the Cemral Vermont road and gov- ‘ ernor of Vermont, and was used by ! Gov. Smith as the pilot of his private car. Mansfield. By some of those who were active in Vermont politics while Mr. Smith was rhief executive of the Green Mountain state the St. Lawrence was known as “the Vermont political ma chine,” a name which was developed through the frequent U3e of the loco motive on political errands in state campaigns. When Gov. Smith retired from the presidency of the road, the St. Law rence became the property of the rail way company and is new used by General Manager Jones and other officials. The locomotive was constructed with a view to the peculiar uses to which it might be and is now put such as conveying the chief officials of the road on their tours of inspec tion over the line, as well as for haul ing the private cars on trips of busi ness or pleasure. It was built, in Schenectady, 14 years ago. It is of the eight-wheel type, with the observa tion car in front and above the boiler The observation saloon is handsomely furnished with carpet and rattan chairs. The boiler mountings on the engine are nickel plated, and the observation saloon is equipped with electric lights A speml recorder and other modern appliaucts are attached. The total weight of the engine is 158.000 pounds and is capable of developing 160 pounds of steam pressure, a sufficiency to guarantee a high rate of speed for a locomotive cf that type. Region Infected by Fever Tick ---- x -% ■ Boundary line of the district in the southern mr, which is infected with the Texas fever tick it iQPartt« of the United States made by a commission to the United States 'aarici.it.^i j ted> from a rePort annual loss in cattle from the fever tick and ?iu department that -the will amount to $40,000,00# annually. cotton from the boil weevil
