The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-10-04
DEARTH OF ENGINEERS
TECHNICAL MEN WANTED
WAR HAS MADE ENGINEER MOST
IMPORTANT FACTOR IN ALL
THE NATIONS.
(Brooklyn Eagle)

(Brooklyn Eagle)
Never before in the history of the
world has the engineer become so i'm
portant factor in the conduct of the
nation as at the present time and the
demand for the trained man Is becom-
ing greater and greater as the world
war progresses and will reach high
water mark when the work of recon-
struction begins. 1t now lies with the
technical institutions of the country to
supply the growing needs and young
men with bent toward engineering
We're never before able to find so many
reasons for selecting an engineers
career as at the present time.
In a recent address before body of
prominent engineering educators, Sec
rotary of War Baker prophesied the
coming of the day of the engineer"
Great Day for Engineers.
Nobody knows what the world is
going to be like when this war is
over" he said. Nobody knows how
long this war is going to last. But we
do know that when this war is over,
the rehabilitation OF a stricken if not
paralyzed civilization Is going to be a
long drawn out and uphill task, and
there will be need on every hand for
trained minds, for trained and school
ed men. The day Of the engineer will
be indeed the big day. Men should
then be present in very great numbers
of industries, the reconstruction of an
earth which has been swept by an all
consuming conflagration"
J. A. Waddell of Kansas City, one of
the countrys foremost engineers. re-
Gently addressed an open letter to the
profession and to the press in which
he made a detailed analysis Of the
present situation.
"The larger part of the civilized
world" he wrote, will have to be re.
constructed after the war, not exclud
ling our own great railroad system
which undoubtedly will have deterior
ated on account of overuse and lacl
OF adequate upkeep. Such reconstruc
ton Is almost exclusively the work o
engineers.
Loss Of Technical Men.
"The European technical men have
been killed off by thousands during the
past three years; and their slaughter
will not cease until the war ends
Moreover it is more than probable
that many American engineers wht
serve in Europe will never return t.
our shores, and that a large number O
those who do come back will be NOR
or less incapacitated from active pro
fessional work.
"The technical schools of all thu
other warning countries than our
have practically been out of commits
sion for three years, thus cutting dowl
there. almost to zero, the supply o
new men for the engineering profes
sion. The call to arms in this countr!
by both volunteering and conscrip
ton, it is feared, will soon have re
duced to about one-half the attend
ance at the technical schools Of thu
United States. while instead Of beini
halved, it ought properly to b.
doubled
Demand for Young Graduates.
"In spite of the present paralyatiol
of many lines of engineering work, du
to the cessation Of large construction
and to the absolute lack of capital TO
important new projects Of peaceful
character, the demand for young grad
yates Of technical schools by the man
ufacturers of war supplies is so grea
that there is already marked deart
[ of such assistance, which dearth vii
, be more accumulated as the war pro
crosses and as the call for ships, guns
I Ammunition, airplanes, automobile
, and other war paraphernalia increase!
> Until the United States entered tn
| war it was almost certain that most
the reconstruction work Of the worl
would be done by American engineer
t and in any case they are sure to get
fair share of it; but It seems sham
j. that this country should miss such
golden opportunity as that which lie
I before it for securing the lions shar
The Conclusion.
: what is the important deduction
t be drawn from these premises? Ev
: IDENTIFY 1t Is that, by some means
: other, we must manage not only
g prevent any falling off in the attend
/, ance at our technical schools, bot
during and directly after the war, b.
also greatly increase 1t.
"And how can this be done? Firs
h by urging more young men to go
}, college and by persuading their pa
8 ents that it is their duty to send Il
d boys there for the ultimate good
Y both themselves and the country. Sc
n ondly, by inducing oil sub -freshm'
g who have shown any special aptitu'
for mathematics, mechanics or cher