INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



constructing a building, would be to study in detail 

 the construction of one building, rather than the casual 

 observation of all the different systems. For even 

 meager descriptions of each of the different systems in 

 use would more than fill an entire volume the size of 

 this one. A typical structure for this purpose would 

 be one of the new hotels recently constructed at Atlantic 

 City, such as the Traymore, erected in the early 

 months of 1907. A striking thing in the construction 

 of this building, in which very little wood is found in 

 the finished structure, is the fact that it was built very 

 largely by skilled carpenters working at their trade. 

 There is nothing surprising in this to anyone familiar 

 with the process of reinforced-concrete construction. 

 But what carpenter a quarter of a century ago would 

 have believed that the introduction of fireproof stone 

 and steel buildings would have increased the demand 

 for members of his craft? It is simply another in- 

 stance showing how difficult it is for anyone to visu- 

 alize the effect that any innovation in the field of labor 

 will have upon the workmen themselves. 



It is a fact, of course, that any innovation in any 

 field of industry which is a sufficient departure from 

 existing methods of procedure in that field, must inev- 

 itably affect certain classes of workmen very materially. 

 The increase in number of new classes of workmen 

 must cause a corresponding decline in the numbers 

 of the older class who can find work; and if the inno- 

 vation be completely revolutionary in character the 

 workmen of the older method must eventually become 

 extinct. Many such revolutions have taken place in 



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