The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1892-08-10
CHOOSING A CAREER.
A TINSMlTH DISCUSSES THE OPPOR-
rUNITiES OF HIS TRADE.


Matthew Barr is the walking dele
gate of the Tin and Sheet Iron Workers
union, and worked for many years as a
tinsmith in shop and in business for
himself 1.-THE tinsmith trade" said
Mr.. Barr to reporter, 'is 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.
1.-THE best age for a 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 fedged
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 the 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 a 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 q labOrious
of strength. A tinsmith need not be as
strong as 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 will never become good tin
smith if he is not obedien. and patient.
He will 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 APP
pears to be important to him. In the
assortment shops boy will first be
taught how to use the shears. He will
be given a lot of old scraps to cut up,
and before his muscles get used to the
movement he will think that his arm
will drop off. He will receive about
three dollars week on the start.
1.-THE foreman watches the boy care
fully, and if he does not take hold of the
shears and other tools handily in q
few days, he will 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 will 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
Il l, he -,
neyman's bench to hold things for him,
and in this way gets an idea Of the prac-
teal use of tools. He may be kept at
this for long time, and this is the
period that will test his patience.
1T is always red letter day for the
beginner when the foreman gives him
piece of metal and tells him TO make
drinking cup. He has seen it done many
times, but when he comes TO cutting out
the tin and getting it into shape his fin
gers seem to be all thumbs. He wants
to make good cup but his anxiety will
knock it out of shape. When it is all
brightly polished it is taken to the fore
man for inspection. Nine times out of
ten the beginner is told to take it home
as memento. He feels very happy,
but he would not think so much of his
work if he knew that the real reason
that it was not taken by the foreman
was that it could not be sold.
1.-THE boy will soon find this out when
the foreman keeps him making cups I'M
til he gets perfect one. From cup
he goes to other things of minor impor-
lance, which he is kept at until he grad
ually acquires skill. 1t depends upon
the boy himself how much time he will
waste before he becomes an expert. If
he is civil and obliging the journeymen
will teach him pattern drawing, and in
this way the boy will learn how to block
out the models of every kind of work
and cut out patterns for himself.
During the last thirty years there
have been many changes in the tin
smiths trade. Machinery has taken the
place of hand labor in the manufacture
of nearly all utensils, but this has made
no change in the tinsmith's condition.
Organized labor has protected the work.