, 1876-09-23

:
hibits enthusiasm which is nowadays
considered An attribute Of youth or IN
experience. The ordinary mechanic oil
to day is a child of to day, with its ruI'
inc passions well developed in nm.
Among those passions u desire, II greed
almost, for money is moi the least ana
he naturally takes the readest course to
obtain ii. Now what is that course
Is it 10 become skillful, practical me-
chanic BY no means; it is to learn the
most commonly known method of doing
work, the principles, so far as generally
known, governing the manipulation or
construction of the work or machine, as
the case may he. In fact, since to take
charge of Others is his aim, he only eX'
erts himself to gain sufficient knowledge
to enable him to do SO. The shop ma
nipulation, knowledge OF business, force
of character, mathematics, mechanical
drawing, etc, nee ssary to the attain
ment OF his object, he strives to master.
The better his education, the more sure
he is to rise; so that really intelligent
and well educated man, with ordinary
excrtion, is rarely found in the working
mechanic, even ii he has mad ten or
twelve years Of experience. As he drifts
away from its elements; as working
foreman, his studio are less practically
manipulative; he has spent perhaps five
years at his business, ami during that
time his attention has been divided be.
tween two things, one to become as ex'
pert workman rs he can, the other to
gain the extra knowledge necessary to
bring him into notice and make him
capable of managing anu directing other
men; and 50 soon as h. makes the first
step of advancement, bis progress in
acquiring manipulate skill is cut short
This is of course unavoidable: but 1t
leads to consequences, as We shall pres
emily see, that are not unavoidable, but
are on the other hand very deplorable.
AS q superintendent he enters new
field, in which his purely practical
knowledge 10 Of comparatively little
value to him; yet he is the representa-
tive head and front Of the purely prac-
tical man, and will often aspire to a
superior knowledge, OF even the practical
workmanship. The expert workman.
who has spent from 12 to 20 years in the
workshop, and who, in addition To being
naturally and mechanically skilllul, has
made the work his study, looks arounu
him in the workshop and sees here a
machine running too slow. there work
man who would do donble his quantity
of work If little Of that inside intor-
nation, which old and skiilful mechanics
always possess, were impaired to him.
Then he thinks how much more work
could be got out of the same amount OF
men and machinery If they only knew
what he knows. lie smiles TO himself,
and dismisses the subject from his mind,
feeding that in his sphere of knowledge
he stands alOne conscious, perhaps, that
he oo&akl not I'll the position Of even a
foreman, but conscious at the same time
that money Is being thrown away, and
that, so far as the practical workmanship
Ia concerned, those above him do not
know their business, ut least not ~ he
knows il. He has not only no enthu-
siasm, therefore, for those above him,
but he has innateiy poor opinion OF
them, and inwardiy rebels at his own
position. There is his field of usefulness
u comparative waste; and his mechani.
cal advancement is impossible, because !:
Here we may pause and repeat wo.
mans reason: Because. The truth 10
that he is not supposed to know any
thing, and Tor the simple reason that his
judges were never in his element. They
might have attained to his knowledge,
but they left his field Of study and do
not know that it takes twenty years to
become, on light work only, an expert
workman ut the lathe, machine, and
yiSc.
What are the chances OF combining in
one man, first, mechanic sufficiently
expert as workman to stand legiti-
mately as an authority and teacher to a
large shop OF workmen, secondly, one