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Show What .Shall 14 BeJg MARINE ENGINEER? An occupation within the reach of any boy with a liking for machinery and sufficient ambition and perseverance ' to make himself master of it It demands a long and faithful apprenticeship, ap-prenticeship, but the outcome is most satisfactory How a bright and energetic boy of 14 may become be-come head of a big engineering department before he is middle-aged. middle-aged. By C. W. JENNINGS. fiSTA WHEN 'ou made that long Wf fljlf delayed trip to Europe you perhaps noticed, when W sauntering about the deck, a trim,- strong-looking man in blue coat, with the words "Chief Engineer" on the front of his cap. He was apparently a man without work to do; for he strolled about the deck sunning himself, occasionally occa-sionally stopping to exchange a word with a passenger, and evidently didn't nave a care or responsibility in the world. And he was only about thirty-five thirty-five or forty. And yet that same man was one of the most alert on board; for on him directly di-rectly rested the strain of getting the tiuge vessel across the seas on schedule sched-ule time and with due regard to the safety of the passenge-s. The rumble of the engines six or eight stories below be-low was as familiar to him as the tones of your boy's voice, and was noted constantly. It is a fine occupation, that of marine mar-ine enginer, and one that offers almost unlimited opportunities for advancement advance-ment to the young man possessing ambition and energy. As in all other occupations, there are many who do not appear to get ahead very far; but the rewards are adequate for the one who works and studies to increase his efficiency. Yes, your boy can be a marine engineer. en-gineer. It is simply up to him to get at it, no matter what his age or education, edu-cation, so long. as he is at least fourteen four-teen or fifteen and is in good health. Strangely enough, the best way to make the start, if one has high ambitions, am-bitions, is not in a vessel at all, but in a machine shop. To be sure, the logical logi-cal way would seem to be to get a job as fireman on a tug or ferry boat or other small craft and so work up, and many have begun in that very way; but a full knowledge of machinery must be attained somehow before the worker can get very high, and it is difficult to do so in any other place than where the machinery is made and put together. Your boy is looking at the end rather than the means, and prefers getting as much experience as he can before, at 21, he takes his examination ex-amination for engineer. (Under government gov-ernment regulations he must be of age before he can do this ) So, at the age of 14 or 15, he goes to the foreman of a shipbuilding or repair re-pair plant and applies for a job. When he gets it he will be nothing, for a time, but a machinist's helper, and will do only the most ordinary kinds of manual labor, such as wiping off pieces of steel for the machinists, running run-ning errands, carrying things, etc., and will be paid only $3.50 or $4 a week. After a while he begins to get acquainted ac-quainted with the different tools in use at the shop, learns what they are used for and how they are operated, and in course of a few months will be doing some of the less important work of the regular engineer. And so examination for second assistant engineer, en-gineer, at $S0 to $115 a month, and this work will be a little more important, im-portant, particularly as he has had the great advantage of a thorough mechanical training. Perhaps he will have charge of the boiler room and most of the ordinary repairing on his own initiative. At the end of that year he is qualified quali-fied to be examined for first assistant, who draws $90 to $125 a month. This, of course, is the most important job in the engineering department, next to the chief himself; for the first assistant assist-ant is really the acting chief when the latter is away, and nas the handling cf the men and the overhauling of machinery. ma-chinery. After a year as first assistant, your boy will be qualified to take the final examination for chief engineer, and, as far as regulations are concerned, will be eligible to take entire charge of the engine department of any American steam vessel In the merchant mer-chant marine. The pay of chief is generally from $135 to $175 a month and board. However, it would be almost unheard un-heard of for so young a chief to be given one of the large Atlantic liners, even though he might be competent; for there must first be a vacancy, and the seniority rule obtains pretty generally. gen-erally. There are chiefs on liners in their early 30s, and one of the large companies has as superintending engineer en-gineer on shore a man of only 35. The next step is to this position of superintending engineer, who is chief of the engine departments of all vessels ves-sels on the line. He is consulted by the vessel chiefs as to all important repairs and alterations in machinery, the installation of new equipment, and is the company's highest authority on all matters in this branch of the business. busi-ness. His pay when first appointed is usually about 50 per cent, more than he received as chief; but he has to pay his own living expenses ashore, which lessens the difference to that extent. Advancement beyond that point rests entirely upon your boy's capability. capa-bility. In many instances, almost innumerable in-numerable ones, these marine engineers engi-neers have gone into special work as consulting engineers and have received receiv-ed high positions in shipbuilding plants, some of them earning very large salaries. The writer knows one who was taken from a liner on the Pacific ocean and made head of the engineering department of the largest iron works and shipbuilding plant on the. Pacific coast. This particular young man (he was under 35 when he received this advancement) ad-vancement) was not exceptionally brilliant bril-liant naturally; but he was a hard worker and didn't neglect a single opportunity op-portunity during all the 15 or 20 years of his work to learn anything and everything he could about all phases of engineering. He studied at odd hours and evenings, took up several special courses of study that he could w'ork at nights and when off duty, and, in short, made his work his pleasure and had a real joy in accomplishment. Generally about the time one takes his first examination before the government gov-ernment he becomes a member of the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, Associa-tion, composed entirely of marine engineers, en-gineers, which gives him a test and certifies as to his capability when ha applies to Uncle Sam. The advantage of this is that he is thus endorsed by men of experience and standing, who know what he has done and how capable cap-able he is, and this indorsement counts for a great deal. (Copyright. 1310. by I hp Assor-lnted Literary Lit-erary Press.) he goes on advancing in capability and pay until, at the end of the fourth year, he will be earning $9 or $10 weekly. This completes his period of apprenticeship, appren-ticeship, and he is a full-fledged journeyman jour-neyman machinist, entitled to $3 or $4 a day. Now, he should not go at once to a vessel expecting to make an engineer, but instead should remain re-main in the machinist's trade, for two or three years more to gain experience. experi-ence. Furthermore, it will be better for him to go to other shipyards and work, so as to become acquainted with the different methods ot constructing con-structing engines, boilers, etc. In this way he will broaden his knowledge until he can meet any mechanical emergency that is likely to occur. By the time he is 21 or thereabouts he should go to the chief engineer of some steam vessel and ask for a Job as fireman, water tender, or oiler, to gain the practical experience aboard ship. Under Uncle Sam's regulations he must have a year of this work before be-fore he Is qualified to take the examination exam-ination for third assistant engineer. Of course, he passes the test given him by the local government inspector of boilers, and is then ready for his first regular job at engineering. His pay at once expands from the $45 a month and board he received as oiler to $70 or $S5, also with board, and he stands one of the regular watches of four hours. Engineers work four hours and have eight o(T in regular service. He also helps at making repairs to the machinery and watches the pumps, dynamos, etc. A yax of this, and be may take the ' |