PREFACE 



COMMENCING in the year 1914 a series of articles by the 

 author of this book appeared in the pages of Building 

 Age, with the title " Design of Beams, Girders and Trusses." 

 The articles were completed early in 1916, and in reply to an in- 

 sistent demand they were prepared for appearance in book form 

 with practically an equal amount of new material. The present 

 book is the result. 



Before writing the articles the subject matter had been tried 

 out on a number of classes of students, some of them in evening 

 schools and some in private classes organized for the purpose of 

 preparing the students to pass state examinations to obtain a 

 license to practice architecture. The writer in the intervals of 

 a busy professional life has managed to find time to teach in even- 

 ing schools a deserving class of men who entered the offices of 

 architects and contractors at too early an age. 



Samuel Butler says: " There are plenty of things that most boys 

 would give their ears to know; these and these only are the proper 

 things for them to sharpen their wits upon." It happens that a 

 great many boys have a taste for drafting and like to watch con- 

 st ruction work. Under the guidance of woefully ignorant teachers, 

 lacking practical experience outside the class room, drafting is 

 thought to be an end; and equipped with a certain facility in 

 elementary drafting these unfortunate boys go forth to seek em- 

 ployment. They find it, and after laboring a few years discover 

 that draftsmen who are merely draftsmen are truly unfortunate 

 beings. Never enough to go around in brisk times, they are a 

 drug on the labor market in dull times. The boys were given what 

 they were ready to give their ears to know, but their immature 

 judgment was at fault and the judgment of their teachers was no 

 better. 



When a realization comes of the fact that a man must " learn 

 more to earn more," Samuel Butler is there again with a wise 

 remark as follows: "The rule should l><- never to learn a thing till 

 one is pretty sure one wants it, or that one will want it before 



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