Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1892-10-12
CHOOSING A CAREER.
A TINsMlTH DISCUSSES THE oPPoR-
TUNlTIES OF HIS TRADE.

A Practical Talk That Should Interest
Thoughtful Parents-What a Boy May
Expect In Work and wages-Details of
the Apprenticeship.
Matthew Barr is the walking dele
gate of the Tin and Sheet Iron Workers
union, and worked for many years as
tinsmith in shop and in business for
himself. "The tinsmith trade" said
Mr.. Barr to reporter, sis split into sew
eral branches, and to be able to do all
kinds of work in tin and sheet iron re-
quires considerable time spent in each
department. Sheet iron work, as it is
understood in this city, is carried on in
what are known as furnace shops
while the manufacture of tin goods is
restricted to what are called assortment
shops. Apart from these there are the
cornice makers and slate and metal
roofers, which are included among the
branches that tinsmiths must know to
round out their knowledge.
''The best age for boy to begin the
tinsmith trade is about sixteen. He
ought to have picked up sufficient edu-
cation from the common schools at this
age to give him fair start in life. No
boy is bound out as an apprentice to a
tinsmith in this country, but beginners
are not looked upon as full hedged
journeymen until they reach the age of
manhood, no matter how proficient they
may be- In some shops boy has very
little show, because there is system of
employment which practically excludes
him.
This is the result of surplus of labor
in other countries. Tinsmiths land here
from other lands with but little knowl-
edge of what the trade requires here,
but with general knowledge of the
business and & use of tools. They ap-
ply for work in shops and they are taken
on in preference to the native born boys
who desire to learn the trade. These
foreign mechanics can learn quicker
than boy generally, and while they are
hired for low wages, they in short
time are able to do almost as much work
as an expert tinsmith. This system is
against the American boy, but SO long
as there is money in it for the bosses it
will be kept up.
This trade is not such a laborious
one that it requires an unusual amount
of strength. A tinsmith need not be as
strong as a carpenter, blacksmith or
bricklayer, but he must have plenty of
endurance. He ought to be versatile
intellectually, because he is not mere
machine, but is often required to make
entirely new things, which can only be
done with fair degree of inventive
skill, besides an expert knowledge Of
the use of tools.
"a boy viii never become good tin
smith il he is not obedient and patient.
He viii have to do some simple thing
over SO many times that life will be-
come very weary in the shop before he
is set to work upon something that ap-
pears to be important to him. In the
assortment shops boy viii first be
taught how to use the shears. He will
be given lot of old scraps to cut up,
and before his muscles get used to the
movement he viii think that his arm
will drop off He win receive about
three dollars a week on the start.
'sThe foreman watches the boy care
Tnlly. ana II Nc uOes HOT take nOlu OF the
shears and other tools handily in q
few days, he viii probably remind
him that he has made mistake In his
calling. Some boys are put at this and
other trades by their parents who would
make good clerks and statesmen, but
never win be good mechanics. To ac-
custom the boy to the use Of the mallet
and hammer, he Is kept Strengthening
old pipe When he knows little about
tools and shows the proper spirit in
doing his work. he is sent to the iOnr-