The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1868-10-14
from the Scientific Americana

lecturer ueSk, anu " WI ilo HUN siuC euioot .
table platitudes about the dignity Of labor
but in spite of these, perhaps well meant en-
deavors, the occupation Of the mechanic, if
not himself personally, is not yet popular
AS laziness and aversion to merely utilitarian
work appears to be innate (oide the sayages
in unciyilized countries and their counter
types at honey it would be too much to ex-
pect that labor either in itself, or for its ben
eft to the community, would be sought after,
especially when the labor comprehendcd dirt
-soiled hands, and faces, and clothes, and
general unpresentability Notwithstanding
the fact that greasy mechanics can make as
good an appearance, when washed and dress
ed, in the church, the social party, and the
ballroom as those whose have never been
soiled with
1.-THE honorable CRIME of labor"
It may be unpleasant to grasp the soiled
hand of the mechanic at work, but water is
plenty and soap is cheap, and the trouble Of
washing is amply paid by the consciousness
of having shaken hands with one whose occu-
patton is honor, and its result public bcne
fit. For ourself, we always felt personal
pride in our standing among practical me-
chanics. and now feel sort of masonic union
with our former confreres.
Dirt is unpleasant to persons Of even ordi-
nary sensbilities. If cleanliness is next to
goodness" it is a virtue more generally ad-
mittcd and practiced, at least outwardly,
than others Of more saving character. It
is we'll; but there IS dirt that brings no dis
honor on the wearcr, the necessary dirt Of
labor. OF this.no workman need be asham-
ed i; it is not the badge Of servitude, but the
proof of independence. The filth Of vice,
the soil Of idleness is disgusting, offensive to
the beholder, and disgraceful to the wearer.
Itshould be Stunned as the pestilence.
Why mechanical employments, or rather
the work Of the mechanic should be consid-
cred, in any degree, low or degrading, it is
hard to conceive. The antipathy has Meth
er reason, fact, nor the exercise Of taste to
sustain it. Many other employments are as
laborious, as purely mechanical, as monoto-
nous, and some as soiling and indurating to
the hands as that Of the mechanic, yet they
do otshare in the disgrace some try to at
tach to the work Of a Mechanical trade
There is a proud qualification to the properly
constituted mind in producing, by the exer-
else Of judgement and the acquired skill of
the hands, some thing Of use and beauty from
inert and shapeless matter. Every mechanic
has felt it as he has looked upon the pr oduet
Of his labor, the addition he has made, or
aided in making, to the Appliances of hui
man needs, comforts or desires.
Who are these greasy mechanics? They
the path-makers Of the nations, the plon-
ecrs of progress, the brain, muscle, and nerve
Of the country, the neA MO build up and
sustain communities, who conquer nature and
make her the servant Of art. Such honor
able names as Watt. Bramah, Fulton, Evans,
Whitney, blanchard, and Stephenson shed
greater luster On their generation than those
ofathe soldiers and politicians of their day.
Who are among the most prominent and use
full men in the country at present Mcchan-
les practical workmen, who, if not now
day workers, yet have previously served their
noyitiate at trade and wrought with their
hands. To mention but a few of those in our
principal cities and towns who occupy envi-
able positions, but who are practical and
greasy mechanics in Philadelphia, we have
Sellers, jerks; in Providence, Corliss,
Brown in Taunton, Mason; in Worcester,
Washburn in Boston, Adams /; in Hartford
Woodruff, Pratt, Whitney, Stannard in
New York, Hoe, Copeland Smith, Bacon,
and others. all practical mechanics, shedding
honor on their vocation and ennobling labor.
To this brief list might be added hundreds
of living complications Of the honorable
character Of the mechanics work, without
mentioning single name of those whose in
ventions, apart from their mechanical skill;
have made their fame and fortune.
Can business that is the chosen employ
ment of such men as these be degrading Oh
disgraceful? Can any other show better
array Of talent character, standing, or num-
Der in its ranks nobler men? We think not
and yet parents, even fathers who are them
selves mechanics, hesitate about apprenticing
their sons to business than which there is
none more honorable. Some exceptions there
are. A prominent engineer, the other day,
in conversation, stated that he had accumu-
lated enough to set up his sons in business,
and enable them to start from higher point
than he did, "yct," said he, /" I am giving
them the advantage of practical knowledge
of the machinist's trade, to which | hope
they will stick, as have, through life"
The late Col. Colt was himself practical
mechanic. By his will he left to his nephew
an immense fortune At the time Of Col
Colts death that nephew was learning his
trade Of machinist in his unce's shop, work.
L.. J,rlu o,,orolI, Jo~- h.