Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-21
HOW TO BECOME A MECHANIC.
Some Directions of Use to Young Mon
Learning Trades.

1 From Wood AND Iron
Perhaps no question in the whole range Of
mechanics is asked with 80 much earnestness
and usually receives 80 meager q reply as that
| from the young man who asks: "How can be-
come good mcdaniel" In nearly every case
the young man asking this question feels that
the circumstances surrounding him absolutely
prohibit the idea Of his attendance at any OF
the technical schools, and in his despair of
| finding any way himself, he turns to the editor
of some mechanical journal. Too often he is
told to read such and such a book. regardless
of the fact that the reading Of no one, or a
dozen books, or o hundred books will make a
mechanic of him
As one who has been compelled to get all of
his mechanical information without personal
assistance from any one, 1t may not be out of
place for rs to outline such plans as have been
of the most help to us. The best of all mechan-
ical educators of to-day is the mechanical Jour-
nal. Let the young man who wishes to become
mechanic subscribe and pay for one or two
such journals as have a special bearing upon
what he wishes to learn. We say pay for it be-
cause there is a moral influence of having paid
for what he is getting that will cause him to OBJ
tain more real information from one journal so
obtained than from a dozen which may be
given him. Each number should be read care
fully, and every article studied SO thoroughly
as to be certain that there are no points not
understood.
Nor is this all. Each statement made should
be carefully compared with everyday expert
ence, and when items Of information are con-
veyed that have no direct relationship to his
present surroundings he should enter upon
periments or carefully retain the remarks I'M
til he can find such an opportunity. 1t is by
the careful comparison of others statements
with ones own practical experience that the
best and truest knowledge OF mechanics comes.
0ks ario auhi Ma o. Cd
vantage to the young mechanic. In fact, they
become a necessity. if he wishes to develop far
in mechanical science; but a great number
of minds are wiser than any one mind, so is the
technical journal, which is the reflex of many
minds, better than the book, which is the re-
fex of only one mind.
On the practical side of the question the
young mechanic should carefully study the
machine with which he comes in daily contact.
long time spent in the study Of single ma
chine may seem like a waste of time to the be-
ginner, but if he thoroughly understands but
one machine. he has travelled a long road
toward the comprehension of all machines. By
the understanding of a machine is meant not
only understanding how it operates but how it
is made, the thickness and kind of metal, the
size of bolts, the proportions and general ar
engagements of parts. The best way to go about
the study of a machine is to carefully make
set of drawings Of it, letting everything in the
drawing be of the exact size and proportion
that is in the actual machine. Having made
this drawing, the next study, and the one that
will give the test to native ability, is to locate
in the machine the amount, kind, and direction
of the strains that come upon it when in ope-
ration. and see if the proportions are in true
relationship to these strains.
II he finds in his work what are apparent
weaknesses in the machine let him then care
fully watch it in operation, with every nerve
on the alert, and see if he can detect these as
actual weaknesses. If this work is made and
studied out faithfully, without the assistance
Of any one it will be Of vastly more benefit to
him than anything he could possibly learn in
a college. Having extracted all the informa-
ton possible from the first machine. let him
take another of a somewhat different class and
go through it in the same way. A comparison
of the strains and proportions in one machine
to the strains and proportions in the other will
give some idea Of the latitude exercised by de-
signers. If the young man has the true
mechanical instincts, this. investigation will
have an absorbing interest to him, and he will
see a wide vista of thought opening up before
his mind, which in after years will bring forth
good fruit.
Such work is not impossible nor even hard
for the young man who has to work ten hours
a day for his living. If he has any real de-
sire, real ambition to become a good mechanic
his spare moments, morning, noon and night,
will be turned upon his Investigations, and even
in so short time as a few months he will find
that he has made wonderful progress. The
watchward of advance is think. Think in all
times and places. Remember that one hours
earnest thought upon a subject on which you
have been reading is worth ten extra hours of
reading upon it. The mechanic who will per-
sistently study and think on his business will
not down. He will certainly come to the front
even though he were confined in the walls Of o
prison.