The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1911-05-26


SE ing a machinist than the
unattractive work of han.
ding greasy machinery
and lifting heavy pieces Of iron and
steel and generally wearing yourself
out, with no prospect Of reward ahead
Of you beyond the foremanship of
shop after years of hard labor. Pos
sibly the village blacksmith, who is
one variety of machinist, has appear
ed to you as an example Of the high
est promotion to be reached In this
line Of human endeavor.
If so, you could not have made a
greater mistake. At the present time
there is no single line of preparatory
work that offers greater opportunities
for subsequent advancement than are
found in the developing Of a so-called
ordinary machinist. If your boy
shows any mechanical bent at all you
could provide no more promising
groundwork for him than to make him
a machinist. After he has been
Through the mill" or served his ap-
premiership and undergone a year or
two of development he would. be able
to make choice among almost count
less specialties, any one of which
would give him the chance to rise as
high as his brains and experience
would carry him.
It will be we'll for him to know in
the beginning that it is not a calling
In which it is sufficient to earn his
salary by prompt and regular keeping
OF tho prescribed hours of labor, and
to do no more than that. He must not
make the mistake of believing that if
he is faithful to his ordinary duties
he VIII be deserving of reward and
will get it. There is no other calling
which requires more study outside of
regular hours, and it is that which
makes for increased efficiency and
consequent success.
If your boy understands this, let him
apply for job to the foreman Of an
establishment. telling him that he is
ambitious and wishes to begin at the
very bottom, to learn all that there is
to be learned and to work upwards.
Let him try to make it evident from
the start that industry, faithfulness
and ambition are his present assets.
The pay of an apprentice, which is
the first position, will be slight, bare
ly enough to pay living expenses In
the most modest surroundings; but
such unpleasant features have been
endured by every chap worth while
who has got on, and your boy can
stead 1t as well. His employer will
probably start him out at 81 or IS a
week, which will be all he will get for
the first year. The hours will be any
where from eight to ten day, accord
ing to the custom in the town in which
you 1--we.
Probably he will be put at machine
work. One of the machinists will set
the milling machine or drill press to
work on the job of the moment, and
then tell the apprentice to keep it 60
ing just that way, instructing him to
cab somebody If it should not pursue
the even tenor of its way This ia.
Ililij,rizes the youth with that particu-
]ur ,ool, and after he has had a like
experience with each of the others he
will possess general knowledge of
their different functions which will
serve him in good stead later on.
The second year-when he is given
en- increase of 81 week in wages-he
&c IN uorE OF 1othoc
that are used for turning, cutting,
chasing, filing, polishing, screw set
ting, engraving and shaping, or other
purposes, tending and oiling the ma
chines aud keeping them at work as
they were set by the journeyman in
the first place. Also he will occasion
lily go back to the milling machines,
presses and other appliances he work
I'd at the first year, this time with
greater familiarity and skill. An
ttEer development will be in assem-
Wing, or putting together, several
parts of machine that has been
hade in the shop, this giving him
lbundant opportunity to exercise his
skill and ingenuity, as he will have
learned early that it is better for an
employe to figure out problems for
himself than to ask questions about
it.
Another dollar week is added to
his pay the third year, making a total
of Sc. His work during this period
will be largely in the assembly room
and it will fit him to manipulate lathes
and machine tools of all kinds. In
this department he will be at work on
complete machines, learning where
the different parts belong and how
they should be put together, getting q
pretty thorough knowledge Of machin-
cry in general.
The fourth year is usually the last
OF his apprenticeship, though some
shops require i've and even six for
preliminary instruction, and financial
~ will mean a further increase of 81
q week. Here your boy will be train
ed in the final stages Of assembling
tho finished machinery and taught
how 20 take the blue prints and speci-
fications furnished by tho mechanical
craftsman, lay out the work, and COM
plete q brand new appliance, or tool
or whatever the drawings call for.
An this work. Of course. win be done