PROGRESS IN ENGINEERING 299 



institute, of Troy, N. Y., came to the front with the first civil 

 engineers to be graduated, not only in the United States, but 

 in any English speaking country — graduating a class of thir- 

 teen that year. 



The opportunities of obtaining training in engineering 

 lines previous to this time were very limited, as the onl}^ 

 institution giving any such instruction was at West Point, 

 and the only other means of obtaining an}^ such education 

 was by entering the office of some civil engineer. As this 

 latter system existed in New England, no formal articles were 

 drawTi, but the arrangement was understood to l^e for three 

 years, during which period the student was charged $100 

 per year for his tuition and was credited w^ith the liberal 

 sum of 12^ cents per hour for actual work in the field, office 

 work being gratis. The terms varied at times, particularly 

 after the war, when office work received the same compensa- 

 tion as field work. The student was allowed to ask questions 

 and to pick up w^hat information he was able. 



Previous to 1850 the important engineering positions were 

 held largely by graduates of West Point, but since the estab- 

 lishment of the institutions especially adapted to give instruc- 

 tion in engineering lines this institution has furnished few 

 engineers. Of the first thousand graduates of West Point 

 some one hundred and fifty became civil engineers, but of 

 the second thousand, only fifty, and since the class of 1863 

 few have become civil engineers of prominence. 



The condition of the country prior to 1840 was such that 

 there was little demand for engineers. There were practically 

 no railroads and the general development was not such as to 

 require the services of such men to any extent, outside, 

 possibly, of the canals. 



In founding Rensselaer Polytechnic institute Hon. Ste- 

 phen Van Rensselaer did much for the cause of engineering. 

 The institution w^as founded by him in 1824-25, but in the 

 first copy of the act of incorporation and in the constitution 

 and laws of the school the word engineering or engineer 

 does not appear. In 1828 these words made their appearance, 

 as the senior professor was to lecture on chemistry, natural 

 philosophy, geology, land surveying, and civil engineering. 



