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Show IS What ShaBI B It will not be more than 'a year or two now before your ambitious son has risen to be among'tho best operators opera-tors and generator men with the company. com-pany. It is the policy of practically all street railway institutions to advance ad-vance their own men to the most responsible re-sponsible positions, as each company has its own peculiar methods of wiring wir-ing and operating, and it would take some time for outsiders, no matter how capable, to muster these details; so the superintendents keep careful watch of their workmen, taking every pains to assist them in developing their competency and promoting them as rapidly as they show fitness and a place higher up opens for them. As it requires a long time for the majority of workmen to settle upon their permanent callings, it follows that there are frequent resignations, particularly in the lower positions. This, of course, works to the advantage advant-age of your boy, who has already decided de-cided that he is going to stick to his work. Therefore, almost before he can reasonably expect it, It Is quite likely that he will be appointed to the Important place of foreman of one of the smaller substations, at a salary of $100 or so a month. In this position he is the absolute and direct boss of all employees at that station and is responsible directly to the superintendent superin-tendent for its maintenance and efficiency. effi-ciency. He must know more than the dynamo tenders and switchboard operators, op-erators, because he has to solve prob- lems that puzzle them, as well as direct di-rect the repairing and overhauling of machinery, and can calk upon the main office for such additional help as he may need. A year or two at this, perhaps, after having served at the most important substations of the company, he will be gratified to learn that he has been promoted as assistant foreman In the power station, at $125 a month. As assistant he will be the actual acting foreman at night or the dullest period of the day, in charge of all workmen at the station, which may number as many as 40 or 50, and will be in command com-mand during the absence of the foreman. fore-man. Of course, after sufficient time has elapsed for him to get intimately acquainted ac-quainted with all the details of this position, he is the man for the fore-manship fore-manship as soon as there is a vacancy, and will get the place, at a further advance of at least $25 a month. Some foremen, who have proved their special spe-cial fitness," earn as much as $200 a month. It will require generally from six to eight years from the beginning for a young man to rise to a power house foremanship, though in special Instances it has occurred much sooner. soon-er. In ten to fifteen years from the beginning be-ginning your boy may get his next Jump up the ladder of success and be made electrical superintendent of power house and substations at a salary sal-ary of $2,500 to $3,500 annually, when hs will be superior to all foremen, including in-cluding the Important man in the power pow-er house, and will have such a wide range of activities as to make him one of the most important officials in the company. He may even be required re-quired to direct the entire motive power of the system. Including the steam plants, and he superintends the enlargement, construction and repair of all stations. From here on your, son's career rests largely upon his own efforts. He has reached this superintendency in ten to fifteen years from the time he began as a humble wiper and roustabout, roust-about, and is just beginning his prime. If he wishes to advance still higher, as he probably will, it is reasonably certain that he can reach a general superintendency or other high station In time. Different customs of administering the details of the work herein out: lined obtain with various companies; but the general features are as given. (Copyright, 1910, by the Associated Literary Lit-erary Props.) t POWER HOUSE SUPERINTENDENT? J t $ A line of practical engineer- Ing to begin In which your boy $ does not need any preparation besides being able to read and write His first Job will pay about $1.50 a day The various j position and responsibilities jf that will be hla on his way up j to superintendent of power houses and substations that jf 6upply motive power to a great 6treet railway 6ystem A line of work In which there . Is always a good living for a good man. By C. W. JENNINGS. S'll'tetf ERE is an occupation In which your boy any am-'lvri am-'lvri bitious boy may work up '; : to the , highest grade of MJjl technical skill and au-thority au-thority without having had r even the slightest "preparation prion to getting his start It Is one of the . numerous lines of employment that are offered by street railway companies com-panies throughout the land, and is open to any boy that wishes to begin at the bottom at a fairly good wage end have a certain and direct avenue of advancement straight up. to a high position. Maybe your boy has not cared to take up a job as motorman or street car conductor, which was elaborated upon In this serres a few weeks ago, but still would like to get in some phase of railway work as represented by the street car interests. Well, if that Is the case, and you have been unable to furnish him with a good Education, and he has a mechanical turn of mind, he probably could not do better than to get into touch with one of the superintendents or foremen fore-men of power houses. The Job at their disposal, which is the subject of this article, leads to a line of practical electrical engineering, the basal power that enables street cars of the present day to be operated. The requirements are slight. Of course, the applicant must have had sufficient education to be able to read and write, as he must in practically fill occupations; but further than this virtually nothing more is required than that he must be eighteen or twenty years old and of fairly good physique. Unusual shortness of stature Is a handicap, as workmen have to ,f -do considerable reaching for levers. ,The first pay your boy gets will be about $1.50 a day. - He probably will not be very enthusiastic over his work, as there will seem to be nothing technical tech-nical in wiping off machinery, cleaning clean-ing up things generally, and running errands for the foreman; but he must remember that he has to become ac-quainted ac-quainted with tools and equipment before he can understand them, and this will come sooner than he expects, if he is attentive and ambitious. Indeed, In-deed, It will probably be only a few months before- he will be given an advance ad-vance to $1.75 a day and sent out from the main power house to one of the substations In similar work. The advantage of this move is that, on account of there being comparatively compara-tively few employees, he will have a greater range of duties and responsibilities respon-sibilities and thus advance more rapidly. rap-idly. He will have to clean the big generators, switchboards, and wiring ipparatus, and thus the complex machinery ma-chinery will gradually become familiar to him. Within a few months more he may be sent back to the power house as boss of the cleaners there, at about $2 a day, or be set to operating a small auxiliary switchboard under close supervision, and after he has advanced sufficiently, go back to a substation as dynamo tender. It will require probably a year and a half more before he reaches this position; but then he will be paid from $2.50 to $2.75 a day, while he is getting there. Then, in all likelihood, he will go back to the power house as dynamo tender, to prepare him more thoroughly thorough-ly for the important advance to switchboard switch-board operator at a substation, which is one of the most important lesser places in the business. These operators opera-tors must stand their watch of a third of a day with extreme faithfulness, as on them directly rests the responsibility responsi-bility of correctly distributing the power through the lines connected with thai station. If they permitted their attention to be diverted from their work for even a moment, some fudden powerful change in distribution distribu-tion of current might take place that would cause great damage. All this is shown on Indicators above the switchboard, switch-board, requiring almost a constant hlfting of levers. The pay of switchboard switch-board operators at substatio'ns runs trom $3 to $3.25 a day. After demonstrating his earnestness nd ability at the substation, your now killed boy Is again sent to the main power house to do similar, but more Important, work, at a further advance of 25 cents In his dally wages. The power distributed to the various lines py the substations Is first generated fcnd sent out from the power house. |