Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1900-08-18

Of the practice upon the mind and body.
The public has learned, however. that
II Is not always necessary to take the
doctors seriously upon these questions.
The doctor has been found to be very
fallible human being, given to much
guessing and learned speculation. 1t 10
found that men quite often grow fat
on diets and drinks that are condemned
by the physician. But when q lot OF
hard. headed railway officials, who are
not animated In their business by senti-
mental considerations, prOmulgate IRON
clad edicts against the use Of the cigar.
cite among their employees 1t Is a safe
assumption that they have found the
habit to be positively harmful. SO much
SO that 1t impairs the usefulness OF
those VINO are addicted to II, and, II In.
dulged In to excess, renders them unit
for the peculiar responsibilities that be-
long to the railway service. There Ii
perhaps no industrial service In this
country that depends for Its success
upon the steady nerve and the unfllnch-
Ing fidelity Of employees as does the rail.
way service. 1t Is found that excessive
cigarette smoking skaters the nerves
and clouds the intellect. Men who be.
come slaves to the habit IRE not de-
pendable men. They cannot be relied
upon In the emergencies that IRE Incl.
dent to the railway business. Rather
than make any rules governing or rcgu.
lating indulgence In the habit. the rail-.
way companies wisely concluded that
the safest course Is to forbid the prac-
tlce entirely. When the railway man.
ayers and the doctors get together on
the cigarette question all defense Of
the pernlcious habit might as well be
abandoned.
&eA
Better proof Of the fact that the peo-
pie are drifting away from pills and
litigation could not be furnished than
Is presented by the remarkable growth
OF technical education In the United
States. Time was when the surplus
proceeds of the farm were devoted to
educating the farmers son In law or In
medicine. The farmer did not want his
son to be tiller Of the soil or q me.
chanic. He must be a lawyer or a doc
tor; once In a great while he was edu-
Gated for the ministry. These stood out
In the farmers mind as the highways
to the Hottest mountain tops OF human
ambition. But our wonderful Industrial
development has wrought great
change In education ideas. Even the
public schools are endeavoring In their
limited way to meet the public de-
lnand for an education that trains the
hand as well as the mind, and which
lays the foundation for mechanical
and scientific pursuits. Realizing that
the ''pOlite professions" are unproft-
able and overcrOwded, young men are
now shaping their education with
view to becoming electrical and mining
engineers. 1t Is only since the war
that technical educatiOn--the applica-
ton Of the sciences to the needs of man
has had any marked development.
The drift to electrical engineering, in
fact dates back only as far as the first
successful inventions In electric motive
ana lighting power, which have COM
pletely revOlutiOnixed the systems OF
transportation and illumination. There
are now sixty-four technical colleges In
this country, all but four Of which have
been founded since the civil war. There
are eighty-nine institutions, however.
that give instruction In the different
branches OF engineering. In recent
address before the Society for the Pro-
motion Of Engineering Education In
New York Prof. Ira o. Baker, Of the
University Of Illinois gave table
showing the courses of instruction ana
number Of students In these eighty
nine institutions. which was as follows:
| Institutions Number Gradu.
| Offering Of ates In
courses. students. 1850.