Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1910-12-02

2SIGM to the highest grade OF
n ID technical skill and au-
thority without having had
even the slightest preparation prior
60 getting his start. It is one Of the
numerous lines Of employment that
are offered by street railway COM
panies throughout the land, and is
open to any boy that wishes to begin
at the bottom at a fairly good wage
and have q certain and direct avenue
of advancement straight up to a high
position.
Maybe your boy has not cared to
take up q Job as motorman or street
car conductor, which was elaborated
upon IN this series few weeks ago,
but still would like to get in some
phase of railway work as represented
by the street car interests. Well, If
that Is the case, and you have been
unable to furnish him with a good
education, and he has a mechanical
turn Of mind, he probably could not
do better than to get into touch with
one of the superintendent or fore
men Of power houses.
The Job at their disposal which Is
the subject of this article, leads to
line of practical electrical engineering,
the basal power that enables street
cars of the present day to be operated.
The requirements are slight OF
course, the applicant must have had
sufficient education to be able to read
and write, as he must in practically
all occupations; but further than this
virtually nothing more is required
than that he must be eighteen or
twenty years old and of fairly good
physique. Unusual ShOrtness of stature
is a handicap, as Workmen have to
do considerable reaching for levers.
The first pay your boy gets will be
about $3.50 a day. He probably will
not be very enthusiastic over his work,
as there will seem to be nothing tech
nical in wiping off machinery, clean
ing up things generally, and running
errands for the foreman; but he must
remember that he has to become &C
quainted with tools and equipment
before he can understand them, and
II he is attentive and ambitious. In
deed, 1t will probably be only a few
months before he will be given an ad-
vance to $1.75 a day and sent out
from the main power house to one Of
the substations in similar work
The advantage of this move is that,
on account Of there being compare
lively few employees, he will have a
greater range of duties and respon-
Eibilities and thus advance more rap
idly. He will have to clean the big
generators, switchboards, and wiring
apparatus, and thus the complex ma
chinery will gradually become familiar
to him.
Within a few months more he may
be sent back to the power house as
boss of the cleaners there, at about
81 a day, or be set to operating
small auxiliary switchboard under
close supervision, and after he has
advanced sufficiently, go back to
substation as dynamo tender. 1t will
require probably year and half
more before he reaches this position;
but then he will be paid from $3.50
to $2T5 q day, while he Is getting
there
Then. In all likelihood, he will go
back to the power house as dynamo
tender, to prepare him more thorough
~ for the important advance to switch
board operator at substation, which
is one Of the most important lesser
places In the business. These opera
tors must stand their watch of third
Of a day with extreme faithfulness, as
on them directly rests the response
bility of correctly distributing the
Apower through the lines connected
Nth that station. II they permitted
,ir attention to be diverted from
II work for even a moment, some
ZEN powerful change in distribu-
Of current might take place that
cause great damage. All this is
on indicators above the switch
requiring almost constant
8 Of levers. The pay of switch
operators at substations runs
B to s3.25 day.
I demonstrating his earnestness
bility at the substation, your now
ID boy is again sent to the main
q er house to do similar, but more
bortant, work, at further advance
Is cents in his daily wages. The
Bower distributed to the various lines
10y the substations is first generated
md RoQt out from the power house