The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-09-22

] BY C. W. JENNINGS.
$~%<~~~~~>><~~~~~~%4%1>~~S
wy + the average boy were
mn, asked which he had sooner
Y GA be, president OF the United
&,.EIG States, the worlds greatest
detective. leader of the
biggest band. or president
OF railroad It is doubtful what the
answer would be. Probably. aftor long
consideration, he wodld say all four.
Anyhow. no would have only one
chance in some forty million every
four years Of being the nations prosi.
dent, and TO he the detective or the
band leader would depend somewhat
upon natural talents. which he might
or might not possess.
Therefore, he would do we'll, prob.
ably, to select the railroad presidency;
for that position requires no special
genius, and It is simply n matter of
getting a starting Job which Is not
particularly difficult, working hard.
and attending strictly to business,
and the chances are not ut all obscure
that he will reach tho coveted goal
Boomer or later.
II your boy has his mind set on
striving for n railroad presidency, and
you believe he 20 wise I'm doing so,
there is no end Of places to begin, for
there are numbCrless tried avenues
leading to the presidency-such as
first getting n Job as n section hand.
or as clerk in a railroad office, or as
roustabOut and assistant in a small
station, Today the railroad prcsl.
dents who began in these and similar
lowly positions arc by no means
scarce-in fact, they are IN the ma
jority
But your boy wants to get out into
the wilderness, so to speak and learn
railroadiHg literally from the ground
up--that ia, he wants 70 become
civil engineer and build railroads be-
fore no bosses one? Finel
Well, then, your BOY desires to
make his start for railroad prcsi-
dcncy In this manner-what must he
know? Without doubt he ought to
have n good high school education be.
foro applying for a job; for he viii
not get very far before there will be
figuring and other things TO do that
an ignoramus couldn't hope 10 sur
mount, and he could not get much be-
fond the bottom otherwise (Of
course, boy with determination can
do anything he sets out to do, and he
might self.teach himself at nights and
other times; but that is not the kind
OF hustler now under consideratlon)
Probably the initial work given your
sixteen or eighteen.year-old boy will
not appear as II It would lead to any
where at all: for likely II will be moth
ing more than carrying stakes for sur.
yeying corps in tho field, going back
TO camp on errands. and doing things
generally that are little more than
chores. But all this time he will be
getting familiar with tho methods OF
blazing trails through the wilderness
that are ultimately to be the line OF n
completed railroad.
Before long he will be an aXman,
then chairman. when his pay will be
anywhere from thirty.flve to fifty dol
lars q month. In the beginning, he
will not get much, II anything; for
there are other boys that have mapped
out railroad careers for themselves,
and many Of them are willing to work
for almost next to nothing till they
get above the stake.carrying stage.
The first distinct promotion that
amounts to anything will be from AK
man or chairman TO rodman, the man
that manlpulates the long pole with
rows OF figures on 1t that everybody
secs with surveying parties. He gets
from forty to sixty dollars a month,
which is not at all bad, considering
that food and clothing requirements
are not expensive, and that the pro-
motion to this post is sure sign that
your boy is getting on.
Then, II the boy has been observing
what the others do, and asking ques
tons. and getting posted, he viii be-
como instrument man after awhile,
and run the level or transit, ana VIII
receive anywhere from sixty to ninety
dollars a month.
But right here, or before. 1t will be
necessary for the boy to get some
more schooling, II he expects to get
much higher In HIS work; from in
strument man on will come up tech
nical requirements that make II al
most necessary for him to 'haye the
equivalent of four-year's course in
n school of civil engineering. The boy
has soon learned this. OF course, and
has saved his money. or has been lay
ing of. for few months nov and then
to devote to studying; or, II he should
have. happened to have work at q
terminal near or IN city, he has been
able u attend night school. There