10 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
Is it not more logical to spend the money of the commonwealth in 
training men to bridle the forces of nature, to blast our rocks and dam 
our rivers, to make the waste places of the Southwest glad with a peren¬ 
nial stream from the Rio Grande, than to spend money in educating men 
in other fields, whose after efforts can be no more than the efforts of a 
private citizen ? The profession of engineering in the South (and it is a 
distinct profession) has been fed from every English-speaking clime under 
the sun, and the recruits, having fulfilled their special appointments, have 
left the land as dearth of resident engineers as it was before their advent. 
We must apply the same principles to our industrial enterprises that in¬ 
fluenced Jefferson when he was working for higher education in Virginia. 
We must stop bringing our engineers from other climes, and we must 
depend upon ourselves for our own leaders. It is folly'to rethresh the 
old dry straw about State’s rights; to uphold the doctrine that the State 
is able to direct its own affairs and to control its own commercial destiny, 
and then follow this argument b} 7 a refusal to provide for the training of 
our young men in the engineering branches. I don’t suppose any one 
will understand me to limit the term engineering to the ordinarily ac¬ 
cepted meaning, which is usually restricted to civil engineering. I use 
it in its broadest sense, and in this sense it includes all industrial educa¬ 
tion; in fact, wherever mathematics is applied to utilize the forces of 
nature for man’s benefit. It should commence in the city high school, if 
not in the lower grades, in the shape of manual training. 
Almost every day we read in the papers about some bridge disaster, 
some water tank failure, or the collapse of some public building. Our 
own State is covered by a system of iron highway bridges, 10 per cent of 
which would not pass any board of expert bridge engineers that could be 
named. Right here is an argument of everyday life that ought to ap¬ 
peal to every county commissioner in the State. A bridge of a certain 
span is to be erected. The commissioners court receives several bids, 
and generally accepts the lowest. The highway bridge companies are 
represented by drummers who “skin” the bridge, yes, even take off the 
flesh, and in some cases take out essential bones, and by so doing under¬ 
bid other companies. Every drummer submits plans that he thinks will 
win, and these are often arranged to catch the eye. To such a demoral¬ 
ized condition has highway bridge lettings descended that reputable 
bridge companies have withdrawn from that branch of the trade. 
An agent (not an engineer) recently sent the following telegram to 
several bridge companies: “ Wire me at once the lowest price for which 
you will deliver a highway bridge—span 100 feet, and width 14 feet, fac¬ 
tor of safety 4.” And this under the shadow of our great capitol! Bids 
were even submitted based on these “wild cat” outlines. 
County commissioners who are in other respects shrewd business men 
