ABC OF THE STEEL SQUARE 7 



trade secrets were guarded so jealously, that 

 only a limited few were allowed to know them, 

 and unless he was made of better stuff than the 

 most of his fellow-workmen, he was forced to 

 plod on in the same groove all his days. 



Not so with' the mechanic of today ; if he is 

 not well up in all the minutiae of his trade, he 

 lias but himself to blame, for although there is 

 no royal road to knowledge, there are hundreds 

 of open ways to obtain it; and the young me- 

 chanic who does not avail himself of one or other 

 of these ways to enrich his mind, must lack 

 energy, or be altogether indifferent about his 

 trade, and may be put down as one who will 

 never make a workman. 



I have thought that it would not be out of 

 place to preface this work on the "Steel Square," 

 with the foregoing remarks, in the hope that 

 they may stimulate the young mechanic, and 

 urge him forward to conquer what at best are 

 only imaginary difficulties. A willing heart and 

 a clear head will most assuredly win honorable 

 distinction in any trade, if they are only prop- 

 erly used. Indeed, during an experience of many 

 years in the employment and superintendence of 

 mechanics of every grade, from the green "wood- 

 haggler" to the finished and accomplished work- 

 man, I have invariably discovered that the fin~ 



