Year: 1871

What Ought Mechanic 10 Know . l.s


WE cannot answer this question for
| every special trade, but there are certain
principles involved which apply to all
conditions of labor, and these we can em-i
ploy for the solution of the inquiry.
| There was q time when labor with the
hands was disgrace, and from the num-
Der Of poor doctors, briefess lawyers, and
churchless devines there are to be met
with even nowadays, we might infer.
that some people still had a lingering fear
of soiling their fingers with undignifed
labor.


According to an old India legend, the
priesthood came from the head, the soldier
from the arms, and the meshanic from the
feet, of the god Brahma. 1t was in, the
interest of the priesthood to keep out all
knowledge, as their religion was founded
on superstition, and would not bear the
light of science. No doubt the mechanic
of those days was expected to know very
| little, as very little was required of him,
and civilization and the arts were made to
suffer in consequence. Some important
discoveries were made, notwithstanding
the discouraging circumstances, but no
body knew how to use them. The Chi
nese invented gunpowder several thousand
years ago, but did not know how to use
it for any other purpose than for fire
works Many chemical compounds were
known to the Arabs, but they appear to
have had NO application for them. There
was a want Of knowledge on all sides
| progress was necessarily slow. +Ir4.
We have attained great prosperity in
our day, because our industry has been
raised to the high condition of art. If we
do not wish to retrograde, we must take
care that our mechanics receive an educa-
ton in many branches of knowledge, and
we now propose to point out what some
of the requirements are.


The mechanic must learn to know the
forces of nature, in order to apply them to
his wants. If he does not understand these
| forces he will be constantly exposed to
errors and loss. Arkwright labored for
years upon his loom, without being ableto
complete it, and it was not until his part
ner, Strut, brought knowledge of
mechanics to bear, that the invention was
perfected. Watt could never have con-
structed his steam engine if he had not
previously learned from DIR. Black the
laws governing the expansion of vapors;
and he had the good fortune to. live in an
age, where there were enough people who
derstood the laws of physics to be able to
appreciate and sustain his invention. The
celebrated French Professor Papin was
not so fortunate. He attempted to con-
struct steamboat in 1890, and was so far
successful as to propel it as far as the
source of the Weser River. In order to
descend this river with his boat it was
necessary for him to obtain the consent of
the King of Hanover. He accordingly
wrote a letter to the great German philos-
opher, Leibnitz, accompanied by plans and
specifications of his invention, and asking
the boweaful interposition of the philopher,
with the ministry to obtain this permis-
sion. The original letter is preserved in
the library at Hanover, and the petition of
Leibnitz, also, sustaining with all the fore
thought of a great mind, the request of
the French refugee; but the opposition of
the boatmen, and the ignorance of the
ministry defeated the whole enterprise,
and Papin was driven out of the country,
and is supposed to have died in great
poverty in England.


The laws of nature that the mechanic
must understand are classed under. the
general name of physics; heat, light, cleo
tricity ahd magnetism, are the distin-
gushing forces, and they ought to be well
understood and studied by every artizan.
According to the modern law of conser
walton; the sum total of forces in the uni
verse is the same now as at the creation,
the only difference being that they have





the earth, the motion impaired by gravi-
tation does not cease when the ball Is
stopped, but it is changed to motion of
the smaller particles, and this latter move
ment is what we term heat. The asserted
base is, in fact, warmer than 1t was before.
We can, by means of one force, create an
other, or we can substitute one force for
another. And in all this we must keep in
view that it is work that we wish to -ac-
complish. A machine that will accom-
plish no work is of no value in our day.


The mechanic ought also to study the
elements that are subject to physical laws
This branch of knowledge is called chem
istry 1t involves the study of the prop
critics and uses of all ponderable matter
What are called elementary substances
constitute the stock -in-trade of all the arts
and sciences, and it is as necessary for the
mechanic to understand them as it is for
the merchant 10 be familiar withfhe goods
he sells.


The mechanic must study mathematics.
This branch of knowledge is the language
and the key to all other sciences, and 1t Is
indispensable to success everywhere.
A knowledge Of political economy and
of the laws of trade is also necessary
The mechanic ought to understand the
relation of labor TO capital and the laws
of commerce. With knowledge OF these
branches of science and skill in the use
of implements, the mechanic in our age is
! the lord of creation, and every rank and
honor is open to him. He is everywhere
welcomed, for his presence increases the
wealth and power of the land.


1t is the fashion at the present time to
eXalt labor, and yet it is not often that the
so called man of education takes to trade.
The old prejudices against labor still OBJ
| tain, and our young men rush into COM
merce, or what are called the learned pro-
| fessions This is a great mistake, and can
be in a measure remedied by giving to the
mechanic higher education,


In a play called THE Carpenter of
Rouen," the dignity and Importance of
the mechanic is thus aptly illustrated;


"The mechanic is Gods nobleman.
What have mechanics not dones Have
they not opened the secret chambers of
the mighty deep and extracted its treas
ures, and made the raging billows their
highway, on which they ride as on a tame
steed9 Are not the elements OF fire and
water chained to the crank, and, at the
mechanics bidding, compelled to turn it
Have not mechanics opened the bowels of
the earth, and made the products con
tribute TO their wants. The forked light
ming is their plaything, and they ride
triumphantly on the wings of the mighty
winds. To the wise they are flOodgates OF
knowledge, and kings and queens are
decorated with their handy-works.i He
who made the Universe was a great me
chanic. "-ScieiatiJte ABaeSicGe


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Graham Gems.