Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1911-05-05


are a lot of ways in which an ambi
tious youth can get this technical
training
As a general thing the worker IL
somewhere around twenty-five years
old by the time he has got the neces.
sary schooling and all the advance.
nent he can from being merely an in
stfument man, and is ready to go on.
We shall say that he has elected to
leave the construction corps and &c
on with the maintenance department,
which takes care of-naintains-com
pleted track and has come in from
the Wilderness and been made rcd
man in the Office CT one of the division
engineers. All railroacs have pretty
much the same lines of advancement;
but We shall take the procedure fol.
lowed by railroad whose mainten.
ance department is world-famous
Having been thoroughly tested by
the division engineer and found to
merit advancement both because o.
his knowledge OF engineering and bis
seeming ability to handle men Of the
section gang sort, your boy ultimately
finds himself an assistant supervisor
Of one of the roads branches, at 6.
salary of about one hundred dollars.
This is the boys real try. out in ex-
ecutive work, and If he sizes up to his
new responsibilities, he will be sent to
similar work on the main line. This
time, however, owing to its greater
Importance, he viii have only twenty.
five to thirty miles to look after; but
his pay viii be about hundred and
twenty-five dollars month. Then he
goes back to the branch line, this
time as supervisor, at a hundred and
fifty dollars; and before long takes d
similar post on the main line, at q
further increase in salary Of twenty
ave dollars a month.
The next step taken is when your
boy becomes division engineer Of q
branch line. Then he goes as divi
sion engineer on the main line, his
work covering a hundred to one hun.
dred and twenty-five miles OF read, at
two hundred and seYenty-hye dollars
monthly.
Following this, he will be assistant
principal engineer at three hundred
and fifty dollars to four hundred dol
lars month. This Office is directly
under one of the general superintend-
ents, who supervise the work Of the
engineers Of four to eight divisions
Of course, your boy VIII before long
be made general superintendent
himself, getting from four hundred to
one thousand dollars month, and
after he has worked up to the head
Of the most important place in this
branch Of the business, will be In di-
rect line for the post of general man
ager. From there he goes straight
through to vice-president, and the goal
Of president at last, at salary that
may rival that received by the presl
dent Of the United States, or even
top it.
But should the boy have gone on
from rodman to instrument man In
the construction department, he would
next be made chief of the surveying
party under the engineer at a monthly
salary Of seventy-fve to one hundred
and twenty-five dollars. Then he
would be an engineer OF construction,
working directly under the chief en-.
gineer, at anywhere from one hun
dred to three hundred dollars month
His work here might be in the field
or in constructing terminals or other
improvements in a city, and would be
a direct stepping stone to the chief
engineers post, where, as assistant
to the latter, he would receive from
three hundred to five hundred dollars
a month.
Then he would become chief engi-
noer and afterward .nsgnt be made
president CT the system or be called
to some of the greatest engineering
enterprises in the world, such IS lay
ing out entirely new systems o; r.i.i
road in hitherto unexplored regions,
experimenting the construction Of
canals or gigantic reservoir systems,
or directing vast projects CT any kind
that have anything to do with trans-
portation. Every header Will recall
that 1t was only four years ego that
John #, Stevens, chief engineer OF the
Great Northern railway. was made
chief engineer of the Panama canal,
about the highest engineering position
in the world. And yet Igr. stevens Ys
now only fifty-six years old, and he
was once rodman with an obscure
surveying crew. He became chief en-
sineer OF the Sabine Pass & North
western railway when ne was only
twenty-three, showing what young
man of grit and energy can GO.
Railroad positions, by their very re-
cuirements and responsibilities, must
so to those who have proved their
ability to ill them. Pull may get one
q place at times; but it will rest upon
his merit to keep it; for there is too
much at stake TO run risks from in
competent employees. And the de-
velopment of the country is so rapid
nowadays that there is always q
shortage Of men able to take the high
est position. 1t is fact that there is
probably more room at the top for
the ambitious young man in railroad
ing than in any other line of activity.
1t is up to the sole efforts Of the youth
making his start as stake-car1ier or
station porter or section hand to get
there.
Copyright. 1910. by tho Associated 1t
erary Prass)