The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-09-04
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING.
Pertinent Suggestions to Young Men
Who Are Looking That Way,


Who Are Looking That Way,
Tho inducements offered by the pro-
fession of electrical engineering are
drawing each year an increasing num-
Der of young men into technical study
Of the subject. A word to such may not
be out of place. You must remember
that the great electrical industries in
which You hope to see active service are
the growth of hardly more than single
decade; yet, while this gives high prom
Use for the future, it is clear that the pio-
neering period is for the most part gone
While each year will see an extension
and strengthening Of electrical interests,
they are steadily settling into more con-
sentative and business like shape. Do
not, therefore, look for the sudden and
brilliant success that came to reward
some of the early workers in the cleo.
trical field, but rather for the steady
labor and well earned prizes that pertain
to serious and faithful professional work
Electrical industry has two widely
different phases-business and technical
In the former an electrical education may
or may not be of marked service-one Of
the most active and successful electrical
business men we know was, until quite
recently, the manager of q brewery-in
the latter it is no longer convenience,
but a necessity. Fifteen years ago so
little was known of the practical appli,
cation of electricity that quick invent
i've mind, with no more technical train
ing than might be gained by the expert
ence OF a telegraph office, could strike
OUT in new lines of progress with every
prospect of success. Today, while the
field Is very, very far from being fully
explored, good work cannot be done
without studying and profting by the
results of that fifteen years of marvel
GUS developmsn emit.
He who starts today with the training
that would have meant success then will
probably dismal failure now. There
fore, in taking up the study of electrical
engineering remember that the more
careful and thorough work you do the
better the chance in the future. And do
not be deluded into the idea that you
should hurry through your training and
"learn practical electricity in the work
shop" You can learn more that will be
of service to you bya years careful work
in a good laboratory than in five years
in an electrical mandatory. Do not
expect to leave the laboratory with an
intimate knowledge of any electrical sys-
tem-you will not have it, but you will
have acquired what is of vastly greater
value, that firm grasp of the general
principles that will enable you to seize
the details of any system with a rapidity
that will surprise you.
Study then the broad principles in.
volved in applied electricity and the the
oretical basis on which they rest. This
is the electrical side of your education.
But there is another, every whit as i'm
portant. Electrical engineering is me-
chanical engineering, plus electricity;
and while, perhaps, Sir William Thorn
sons statement that mechanical en-
gineer can acquire all the necessary
electrical training in six months or 80 is
rather strongly put, there is a deal of
truth in it, A sound idea of mechanical
principles is very necessary to success in
practical electricity, and the ideal train
ing then would build a firm superstruct-
ure of electricity on foundation of me-
chanical engineering. Put all the time
you can spare, therefore, on thorough
training in some one of the excellent
schools that are available, and when you
have completed it make up your mind to
work for all you are worth. -Electrica
World.