The labor world., 1900-09-08


no object) a tiny ray of light wandered
IOn from the parent fold and after
I many adventures reached a new world
In playing around in it's new-found
liberty it became entangled among the
foliage Of the dense vegetation, hope
| 1essly lost it, finally in the mysterious
process Of the chemistry of nature, be-
came assimilated by this vegetation.
| Dead to the world it lost it's Identity
| its vitality. In the process Of time the
| tree of which it had become a part
! became submerged with countless 9TH
| ers, deposits of earth settled on it, and
| 1t was not only dead, but buried.
After Il Thousand Years
human beings, actuated by a ray Of
| the divine light of reason, seeking to
! relieve the burdens of life, found this
| tree, now black, dull and formless, and
transported it, let us say, to Milwau-
| kee, where under the reviving influence
Of heat our tiny ray was brought back
to life, and in the joy Of it's rebound
liberty leaped into activity. With 9TH
ers it started out to enjoy the freedom
! of escape; it soon found itself bounding
backwards and forwards in the pris-
on house which confined it, though
slightly bewildered and confused by it's
exciting adventures, in the armature
OF a dynamo, it escaped out along a
net work of wires, and there meeting
I with further opposition it makes a final
| supreme effort, and in the fullness Of
| it's joy and the purity Of it's nature
it shines out, limitedly rivaling the
sun itself and flashes to the great
| source Of light glad signals of it's re-
lease.
Minnesota and Engine Construction.
| Just over the hill back of Duluth may
be found an unlimited quantity of iron
the forces in past ages as it lies there,
unless you were informed what the ma
| terial was, you'd say "Well, that's poor
soil for corn" But a tree torn up by
| it's roots in a storm, exposed the treas
ure, and it is now sent by the millions
! of tons to the blast furnaces where the
| first step in the transformation takes
place. Then through the necessary sta
ges till it reaches the hands of the en-
| gine builders: ready to become part
of the proposed machine. 1t is melted,
| hammered, machined, fitted and pol
| ished, becoming the muscles, the bone,
| the nerves, of the harmless Titan.
| Grand in its helplessness, sublime in
| it's impotence. Like the Sphynx, which
| for centuries has looked out over the
Nile, watching with impassive face for
| the promised liberatOr, our machine
stands, motionless, impressive, mute.
But the liberator comes; the brain
| force is supplied; it moves, it feels the
| vigor Of motion, it becomes thing of
each perform their parts, and the red
dirt from over 1.-The hill becomes the
| breathing, moving creation of man,
dancing in the poetry of motion, and
| subscribing the wants of it's creator.
Is it any wonder that the intelligent
engineer who can understand these
processes, forgets the CRIME and the
grease, and sees only that which is
bright and interesting?
EnnOb1ing of the Craft.
It is to the great credit of this Asso-
citation that it's principal object is to
elevate and ennoble the craft by edu-
eating it's members so that they may
raise themselves out of the depths Of
| drudgery and be able to appreciate
the nobility of their profession thus
teaching them to be self-respecting.
"God helps those who help themselves
Man respects those who respect them
selves.
The self-respecting, progressive en-
gineer will take advantage of the op-
portunities offered by his membership
in this Association by the splendid pub
:.,+o G l.: 10
to successfully grapple and solve the
ever multiplying problems with which
he is brought face to face He will be
considerate of and helpful t. his breth-
ren, and being in all things a gentle
man he will become a necessity and
be appreciated. But
Not the Least of His Duties.
is that of showing the world that he
is loyal to his convictions and proud
of his opportunities by performing all
the duties of citizenship, letting it be
known that an engineer can be man
among men, taking his place with the
laborer and the capitalist, the business
and the professional man, in doing
what he can to maintain the glory and
the freedom Of our country, in which
every American citizen may be a king
and every woman a queen in her own
right. =
In acknowledging the honor of being
privileged to speak on this occasion for
the National Association of Station
ary Engineers, I desire to confess the
added pleasure of knowing that includ-
ed in my protein constituency is that
portion of those present who engineer
the engineer, the engineers auxiliary
a most interesting and important por-
ton of the domestic machinery-the
faithful, loyal, and (as [ never yet met
an engineer who amounted to anything
who was not judge of beauty I must
add, handsome and accomplished wives
and daughters Of the engineers, who
honor this convention with their pres
ence and add dignity and a charm
to the proceedings unknown in the alb
sence of the cause of all our sorrows
and the source of all our happiness.
| TIME TRIED,
Ever and Always Good