974 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 442. 



thus contribute to the welfare of the people 

 are very sure to secure a handsome commis- 

 sion and scores of these men of the new 

 generation are thus helping others while 

 helping themselves. The conduct of the 

 industries of the country is iconstantly 

 more and more falling into the hands of 

 the systematically trained and technically 

 learned man. 



Young men, such as our best professional 

 schools of engineering are now tvirning 

 out, are greatly needed and the need is 

 recognized by employers. The demand has 

 been for some years past greater than the 

 supply. A generation ago it was next to 

 impossible to induce the average manager 

 of an industrial establishment to admit 

 the college man within his doors. To-day 

 the same class of men is sought by all, and 

 the larger and the more important the in- 

 terests involved, the more anxious are the 

 officers of the organization to find men 

 trained in the professional school, com-' 

 bining science with practical knowledge, 

 and prepared to face and to solve the tre- 

 mendous problems now constantly arising. 

 I have a deep file of letters calling for such 

 men; there is practically none unem- 

 ployed, urdes* on the sick-list. All the 

 professional engineering schools are thus 

 situated. Turning out a thousand or more 

 annually, the whole output is absorbed by 

 the great industries and immediately upon 

 leaving the doors of the college. If suited 

 to the profession, success is assured ; other- 

 wise, failure is just as certain. 



The prizes to be won, like those in all 

 other professions, are large; there is 

 always room at the top; the earnings at 

 first are usually small in cash, large in 

 valuable experience ; opportunities come in 

 increasing number if the man is the right 

 man for the higher place; more men are 

 needed than can be found to take the 

 higher positions of responsibility and of 

 commensurate compensation. The wise 



young professional seeks opportunity for 

 profitable experience without much regard 

 to compensation. I have known a man to 

 refuse a good salary and to accept fifty 

 cents a day, where he saw an oppor- 

 tunity to secure practical experience and 

 training such as, in his estimation, was 

 what he most needed. His spirit was that 

 of Agassiz, who, when asked why he re- 

 fused an important and lucrative business 

 position, is said to have replied : ' I can not 

 afford to give my time to money-making.' 

 Both had their rewards, each in his own 

 way, in that form of professional success 

 which was the highest ambition of each. 

 Many young college men are to-day work- 

 ing for the great railroad companies, for 

 the electrical companies and for industrial 

 enterprises of all kinds, accepting insig- 

 nificant pecuniary reward for the time, in 

 order that, by securing that special ex- 

 perience and expert knowledge needed to 

 supplement their special education, they 

 may prepare themselves for positions of 

 honor, of responsibility and of financial 

 value. Here 'the last shall be first.' 



It is of little consequence what line of 

 work the young man enters, provided it be 

 that for which he is individually well 

 fitted by nature and training. In mechan- 

 ical and electrical engineering, in ship- 

 building and in the railway system, in 

 mining or in public works, great opportu- 

 nities are all the time, and more and more 

 frequently, offering. It matters little what 

 line the man selects, provided he is nat- 

 urally fitted to do the work, by talent and 

 by inclination, and that he acquires 

 promptly the needed professional training 

 and a later experience. If able and reli- 

 able and loyal to his employers, he is far 

 more likely to be promoted faster than is 

 desirable than to remain iinrecognized in 

 any important organization. His early 

 years should be devoted to securing pro- 



