The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-02-01
THE ADVANTAGES OF KNOWING \ GOOD TRADE
Your Mechanical Skill Is an Asset 1t Is
Impossible For You to Lose
By Mr..
By Mr.. B.

There has been a great deal writ
ten on the subject of knowing a
good trade, and probably many
get tired Of seeing so much of it;
but it is good subject to keep be-
fore the eye as good, in fact, if
not better, than the one of how to
increase your small capital to such
an amount as will make you inde-
pendent of labor. You might be-
come in a state of independence for
the present and stay in that pleas
ant condition for time, and then.
perhaps, in the immediate future
your wealth would take wings and
fly away, you would find yourself
IN a worse state of dependence
than you were ever in before.
But with thorough knowledge of
a good trade you have that which
no one can take from you some
thing that it is impossible for you
to lose while reason and memory
last. True, you might become
physically disabled, or your health
become in such condition that you
cannot work at your trade, but if
you have a comprehensive knowl-
edge of it, you may still hold a
position overseeing certain branch
es that do not require a great
amount of physical energy.
Another particular about know
ing trade land matter of great
Importance to some of us), is that
in applying for work it is rarely
asked that you give complete
history of your past life. The
party or firm that intends to hire
you seldom cares anything about
your previous history, only insofar
as it may relate to your experience,
ability and whether you are man
who can be depended upon to be
at his work steadily. And the
manner in which they usually find
that out is by trying you for few
days or a week; and at the end of
that time it is generally demon
strated to the satisfaction Cor dis
satisfaction) of the employer
whether you are capable of doing
the work or not; and also he de-
termines your steadiness by the
manner in which you perform
your duties and the degree of con-
centration you bring to bear on
the particular piece of work at
which he puts you, also he par
ticularly notices how many times
you gaze at the clock, how much
yawning and stretching you do
and how often you leave your
work and for what purpose.
j If a man is book-keeper,
cashier, salesman, teacher, or any
of those things that are classed
more as professions than trades,
he must furnish all sorts of refer
ences as to his past life, character,
ability and what-not, and these
must all pass as A No. l before he
is accepted (no matter how many
years. experience he has had) for
position at the bottom of the
ladder" usually paying barely
enough to live on.
If man follows a railroad ca
reer and works his way up through
long years of service with one
road, to finally become an engineer
or conductor on crack" limited
train with, comparatively, a large
salary, finally one day loses that
position from probably no fault of
his own, can he get another posi-
| tion like it on some other rail-
road? Most certainly not. If he
wants to continue as a railroad
man, and he is not too old, he is
obliged to start at the bottom
again at very much reduced
wages.
This is not so with the machin-
ist, printer, carpenter, blacksmith,
barber, electrical worker, plumber,
building mechanic, etc.; they do
not have to furnish A No. l refer