The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1891-10-17
WHATISYOUR son TO BE
A FIELD OFFERED BY THE GROW
ING ELECTRIC BUSINESS.

The Advance in Electricity Has Been So
Rapid That 1t Has Progressed Faster
Than the Intelligence Necessary to
Handle It-Good Wages Paid.
Two men were sitting face to face be-
tween the car tracks on Park row the
other day. 1t seemed to be a dangerous
position, for they could not follow their
work and at the same time keep their
eyes on the rafting teams on either
hand. They had to keep their elbows
in, too, or the cars would bump them.
They were seated at a manhole, testing
cables of wire which were in the subway
beneath. Each had the end of a cable
in hand and a portable galvanometer-a
square box about the size of a cigar box
in front of him.
But a few years ago the man engaged
in connecting wires in this way touched
the tip of each wire in urn to the tip Of
his tongue. If there was a current rum
ming through the wire he felt a little
pricking and a soul taste. He did this
the whole day through, and was none the
worse for receiving so many slight cleo
trio shocks and tasting so much copper.
It was a very primitive test, but a very
good one, and old wire testers still use it
when in a hurry. But soon a galvan-
ometer was made, which not only finds
the current but gives some idea of it's
strength. The rapid way in which in
vention has been piled upon invention in
the electrical world is marvellous, and it
seems surprising that a sufficient mum
Der of workmen of sufficient intelligence
should be found in such a hurry to prac-
tically put these inventions into use.
A question upon this very point was
put to a we'll known electrician who
happened to saunter by the two men at
work.
BAD WORK.
1T is only surprising in q measure"
he said. Gas a matter of fact, the bust
ness has grown much faster than the
intelligence necessary to handle it, and
many accidents are due to that fact. The
electric light people at first had to rely
very largely on the workmen engaged by
the telegraph companies, and both had
to draft in a large number Of new men
and train them to the work. Any mar
with a little knowledge Of mechanics
and the handling of tools soon makes a
good lineman. There is no great skill re-
quired, except in care that the wire does
not become abraded in handling, while
the good wages paid for the work
seventy-five dollars a month-are a great
inducement. But the business has I'M
doubtedly suffered in it's rapid progress
for the want of skilled men, and the
market is by no means overstocked yet.
Only the other day one Of the New York
companies had to send to the New Eng
land Cable company to borrow men to
make joints in city lines.
"Some Of the underground work, too,
las been badly done, but much of this
has been quite as much due to keen COM
petition and the proverbial economy of
the unscientific stockholders. When it
comes to buying wire, costing from
81 400 to 81 500 q mile, the stakeholder
has a lot to say about it, and cheap wire
is too often a result. One of the electric
light companies uns ar alternating cur
rent, and it now begins to find, all over
the country, that it's wires are already
becoming faulty. They cannot stand
the strain.
CHANCE FOR YOUNG E.
''One of the things absorbing the atten-
ton of electric men today is to find an
insulator which will stand heavy alter
mating currents. So the trouble has been
as much a matter of cheap material as
unskilled labor"
"Have the workmen a union yeti"
mo, O yet. There is an association
called the Society of Electrical Eng1-
neers."
And where do the engineers and
executive men come from?'
"a good many of the heads of depart
ments have their training at the various
schools Of technology, such as the Stew
n institute, Cornell university, the
Massachusetts School of Technology. In
deed, nearly all the universities have
classes in electricity now, and they sup
ply n good deal of the talent for the bust
ness.
These young fellows from the schools
of technology have started in the black
smith shop and worked right up, and
the only thing about electrical matters
they have no knowledge of is the bust
ness end of it. They easily find posi-
tons at from $50 to 500 a month at the
start, and readily get more according to
the ability they display.
at is a great business for a man to get
into. whether he is we'll educated or not.
There is such an enormous field for the
application of electric power outside of
the electric light. See how fast the
electric street cars have grown through
out the country! Then there are the
other almost innumerable applications
of the force which will soon be in de-
mand. No, sir, the skilled workman
who goes into the electric business, of
whatever grade he may be, need feel no
fears of his labor market being over
crowded New York Advertiser.
Lovers in Mackinac.
Mackinac is a perfect heaven for low
~- Tl,- IN.- hail H. " x