PLUMBING OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY.

A few short years ago a man in Chicago closed up his little tin and sheet-metal shop and journeyed "back east" for just one purpose, and that was to learn how to properly line a wooden bath-tub shell with sheet copper so as to make a neat and workmanlike job.

He learned how; came back to Chicago and for a time made the lining of tubs a side line with him. In time the business grew until it was necessary for him to spend all of his time lining bath tubs. From that start, one of the largest manufacturing concerns in plumbing goods grew.

From the copper-lined tub we graduated to the iron-enameled tub, with a separate wooden rim; finally the rim became part of the tub and of the same material. Then came improved designs in enameled iron bath tubs, the early tubs being placed on feet, then came a base on which to place the tub, and now we are using white enameled bath tubs that are placed in a recess, or a corner or against one wall of the bathroom, with tile floors and walls built right up to the tub, so that there is absolutely no place in or about the tub offering refuge to insects or bugs of any kind. With this style tub, the working parts are placed in a small compartment with a door opening into the adjoining

room.

Bath tubs are also made of china in the same form as that described above and at the present time there is no more sanitary fixture than either of the above described tubs.

Similar improvements have been made in the other plumbing fixtures and at the same time a great deal of progress has been made in the manner of installation and the kind of materials used.

Truth to tell, the plumber of today is wrongly named, for we are told that a plumber is a worker in lead and there are hundreds of the plumbers of today who work from one year's end to the next without even touching a piece of lead; there are many others who do a very little lead work; and very, very

few whose lead work requires more than five per cent of their working time.

Thirty years ago the water pipes and the waste pipes within the building were of lead. Soon after that date the water pipes became galvanized iron. Up until ten years ago, 95 per cent of the homes had lead waste pipes for the laundry tubs, kitchen sinks and bathroom fixtures and that percentage has been gradually changing until now we find that less than 5 per cent have lead waste connections. Galvanized iron pipe is being used almost entirely and with highly satisfactory results.

And while the materials for the craft have been improving, so, too, have the tools. A few years ago the thread-cutting tools in every-day use were the so-called solid die pattern and cutting pipe threads with tools of that age was real work. The die was then improved and became an easier cutting tool, but this in turn has been almost replaced by the narrow receding dies which automatically work outward as the thread advances. A companion worker to the threading machine is the pipe cutter, first made with wide, heavy cutting wheels, and now made with narrow, razor-edged blades that do the job with onehalf the effort of the old.

And now we have a machine to do that work. Of course, there have been power pipe-threading machines in use for many years, but they have been big, heavy outfits. Now we have a motor mounted on two small wheels looking for all the world like a small cannon, which attaches to the die stocks usually operated by hand, and cuts the thread with no greater effort than the pressing of the button. With all of these improvements today, what will tomorrow have for us?

W. W. HUGHES.

MODEST DESIRES.

Fond Mother-"Dorothy, if you are bad you won't go to heaven. Don't you know that?"

Little Dorthy-"Well, I've been to the circus and the Chautauqua already. I can't expect to go everywhere."-Orange Peel.

JAMES WATT. (Biography)

James Watt, the Scottish inventor and engineer, was born in Greenock, January 19, 1736. Of the many things which he discovered and improved are the steam engine, the indicator to show the pressure in the boiler, the method of analyzing water and a uniform system of weights and measures for scientific

purposes.

As a boy, Watt was very delicate. For this reason he was mostly for himself. To pass the time he read and studied everything that came into his hands. In this manner he became able to solve anything that was brought up.

Watt's father, being a successful shipbuilder, gave Watt an opportunity to go into the shipyards and learn the use of tools. This he did very readily, making use of all the machinery and apparatus placed before him. Even the workmen noticed his skill and often said: "Jamie had a fortune at his finger ends."

He went to Mr. M'Adam's Commercial School. As he was in poor health he often had to miss his classes. This affected his standing, making him appear stupid. After one year he returned home.

In Greenock he attended the grammar school. On entering here he seemed to have left his dullness at M'Adam's for he turned out to be very bright in mathematics. In addition to mathematics he took up Latin and Greek.

When he was strong enough he wandered among the locks and valleys of the neighborhood. In this manner he attained knowledge of the flowers and trees. Often at night he rambled, during which he was chiefly attached to the impressive mechanism of the skies. At times he would drop in at some fisherman's cottage to hear the stories which they told.

At eighteen financial reverses of his father made him depend upon his own resources. At once he chose to become a mathematical instrument maker.

He went to Glasgow to seek work. Business being dull, he hired out as an optician. Here he befriended Dr. Dick, of the university. After a year in Glasgow he went to London to seek better opportunities to learn his trade. Here it was also difficult to obtain work for he was expected to serve years as an apprentice. At last he received work from Mr. Morgan. After a year's time he was to pay twenty guineas for the instruction. Here he made very many accurate instruments, and in a half year he was as good as a seven-year apprentice.

seven

In 1756 he returned to Glasgow to open up a shop. There being so much jealousy in his trade and as he had not learned there, he was unable to do so.

Through the influence of Dr. Dick, Watt received work at the university. He skillfully did this work and as his reward he was given the title Mathematical Instrument Maker. At the university he became quite prominent with the professors and students for his knowledge of various subjects.

One day Professor Robison, of the university, suggested some improvements on the steam engine. Watt declared he knew little about the matter. As a result of this discussion he started to look up information about the steam engine. Later a small model came into his hands for repair. Through it he gained broad experience.

Watt became a partner with Mr. Roebuck, who was to finance the improvements. Success did not come as Watt thought, so Mr. Roebuck was forced to give up his plan. The times were hard then. Watt was forced to go surveying. He accepted employment with the Glasgow magistracy. In his engineering career he constructed the Monkland Canal,

on which coal is brought to Glasgow. After three years of surveying Watt again put his thoughts on the improvement of the steam engine, with the help of Mr. Boulton. Mr. Boulton owned a large iron works which contained many skilled workers. With the help of a true cylinder Watt constructed the steam engine that became a profitable machine.

In 1800 Watt turned over his business to his son. In Doldwlod, on the banks of the Wye, he bought a home. Here he spent the remainder of his days.

He died August 19, 1819, at the age of eighty-two, and was buried at Handsworth Church. In Westminster Abby there is also a monument to his memory.

WILLIAM E. ZIPSE.

Undoubtedly the question, "Do I have to take Shop English, Arithmetic and such subjects?" has been asked more than any other by entering student, particularly by men who have come for short course periods and desire to spend a maximum time in actual work. The answer, of course, is always "Yes!" But when that "Yes" is uttered, I have often thought I should like to explain in detail just why the subjects the student would avoid are the very ones he will in later years regret if he fails to take. However, before I try to "build-in" a foundation as to the "why" of these shop-allied subjects, let me try to show what the automobile apprentice mechanic will have to tread through.

I believe it is safe to say that Americans have the "Automobile Bug." Everybody is a prospect in the automobile business; even the most lowly of workers, plodding his way to business in the morning, cooly figures when he will ride to work in an automobile. The fact is, he may already have laid by a goodly sum toward his first car. If the truth be known, one will have a hard time finding the family that can not boast of an automobile or one in the possession of a very near relative. This desire for car ownership soon musters an army of owners numbering tens of thousands, all individuals mind you, who have but the scantiest idea of

proper maintenance. The cry for "good" automobile mechanics naturally arises from every quarter. It starts its murmur in the very household of the modern young American. "Father" wants to know if "Johnny" can do so-and-so about the car. Johnny thinks he can, and it becomes small wonder that when Johnny finds his studies a little dry and irksome at school his mind travels to the idea of a position in the "automobile business."

But Johnny isn't the only one who hears. the call of the automobile. There are many, years old than Johnny, who have had "dead end" jobs and look upon the automobile as an opportunity to seek employment with better chances of advancement. These fellows are almost always young men, under thirty, who left school between the seventh and tenth grades for one of the three common reasons, low family income, desire to be an earner or a failure in school studies. Most of these men have but scant knowledge of the automobile industry, but having heard of some one making a signal success and are ambitious to try it themselves. Some do not know whether or not they are "fitted" for "mechanics," at least this is the way they express it. You can't help but admire them, however, for having the courage to attempt the occupational change, for think how they must feel if "somebody" who claims to

"know" the automobile "game" after observing a possibly clumsy beginning tells the learner he cannot succeed.

Thus Johnny, his kindred companions and his older fellows are the main feeders of apprenticeship labor by the automobile world, a world he enters with a peculiar double baptism, consisting of the ability to drive and a few months garage experience of a rather doubtful sort. But this baptismal experience sets one thing firmly before him. He must know more practically or actually about the automobile to obtain even the payfooting on the job that can be termed "real" wages, enough to supply necessities.

But how is an accurate and comprehensive trade knowledge of the automobile to be obtained? Johnny wants to know and starts studying the proposition from every angle in keeping with his pocketbook. There is the opportunity of accepting a stock room job, an errand boy's job, spare driver's job, or job of kindred nature with the hope of gaining enough experience to enable him to induce some foreman to take him on a repair crew which he seems most ambitious at this stage to join. But, this process is too slow, too long and seems like waiting for dead men's shoes. Therefore, what else is there? Why, practically nothing, unless he is willing to "donate" his time by attending an "automobile school." And at this he hesitates for fear that the time element, plus living costs will make it impossible for him to gain the experience before his capital falls to zero. Of course, you will contend that living costs in many cases can be shelved, the learner living at home. I know, however, that you have watched conditions in the average American family during the past five years and fully realize that when Tom, Dick or Harry announce that they have left school, the home atmosphere changes considerably to them. They are now expected to "produce. They are counselled against spending more time than is absolutely necessary in the "school end of it." "Get on the job!" "Get ahead!" seem to be the expressions warming this atmosphere.

Then, on the other hand, Johnny's par

ents are very likely to discount the ability of Johnny's instructors "to teach him much" of practical value, for, isn't an "instructor" a plodding, unimaginative so-called "scholarly man" with a great amount of unusable information stowed away in his head and much given to positive rules and formulas?

Isn't it small wonder then, that when the student appears at an institute, such as Dunwoody, he fights against the requirement to take Shop English, Shop Arithmetic, and such "allied" subjects? Certainly he has been nicely prepared to doubt the wisdom of consuming valuable time on these subjects. They are nuisances that he escaped from once when he left the public school and he must try to escape them again! What good will they do him? and, are they a necessity?

I believe, beyond all doubt, that these subjects are essential and that too much "fine material" is lost each year by allowing men with the proper mentalities to drudge along in shops without the chance of advancement, simply because they have not the opportunity to acquire knowledge, or a misbegotten idea that they do not need it. I even further believe that all are as important as any of the so-called "practical" work could possibly be. In fact, that they run hand in hand with the "practical."

At this juncture I wish to stop to define the word "practical" as opposed to the word "theoretical," for we hear both so often. To them I want to add a third, the word "manual," which we hardly ever hear. It is not my intention to juggle these words, but merely to record my version. That the man who desires a "practical" trade knowledge really is requesting a "manual" instruction, for by all the rules of parlance, a “practical" man is one that has been carefully trained in the manual operations with the proper assortment of blended theory.

Suppose for an instant that we accept the request of a student and give him an intensive manual ("practical") training on any specified line of equipment, how far is he going to get in battling with his job? Will he get the job? Will he hold the job?

Curiously as duty to state

Will he advance on the job? it may sound, I think it my that I have had experiences that answer very sternly these questions. In the automotive lines such a worker will get the job only if he is a glib talker. He will hold the job only during the busiest seasons. He will never hold the job for a continued period. He will positively not advance on the job! What is strictly a manual job? It is the lowest form of work to be handed the applicant in an organization.

Foremen and superintendents repeatedly state that the worker without a well-built foundation of technical knowledge coupled with the "ability to understand," which will enable him quickly to get and then comprehend the additional data, rules or formulas which any unusual job requires will never reach their sphere. The foreman or superintendent, therefore, looks upon himself as one set apart by reason of a superior training and experience.

Now, no one can visualize a foreman or superintendent as being a "bookish" individual given to highly theoretical statements, nor on the other hand, as being a man highly trained manually. In the old line shops the foreman was often the man who made the best "slave" driver, but in the modern automobile plants, making any pretense at organization, the foreman is a leader by reason of superior technical skill. And what may "technical skill" be? It is trade science, the practical working knowledge of the trade with all its manual operations, theoretical formulas, rules, regulations and essentials that one acquires through years of experience. A foreman, then, is not a specialist as a manual operator nor a specialist as a theorist, yet he forms one round on the ladder in the climb to success.

In shop after shop I have noticed that the successful workman was the one who:

Knew the proprieties of the place so that he could conduct himself in the proper man

ner.

Had the intellect known as the "ability to understand."

Could write a good hand and draw up neatly a part order or report.

Kept a faultless series of time cards understandable by the office stenographer or billing clerk.

Had a pleasing address to the "trade.”

Was neat about the car and "fussy" about the order of layout for disassembled parts.

Read and understood articles in the leading trade journals and discussed them frequently with fellow workers.

Was always industrious, with a reasonable skill in "bench” mechanics.

Imagine a student meeting the requirements as noted above by an application to manual work alone. It is not a worth-while idea and should be immediately discarded.

The student who appears at any trade institute so crowded for time, that he objects to facing the standard set for allied-trade subjects, like Arithmetic, English, and Mechanical Drawing, must liken himself to the soldier who dashes into the fray by grabbing a rifle but entirely forgets to carry ammunition with him. He may fight off his enemies for a while, clubbing to the right or left, but in the end they will "get" him and get him good!

STANDARDIZATION OF
OF TRAC-
TOR PARTS HELD INDUS-

TRY NEED.

Standardization of tractor parts is a necessity to the fullest development of tractors, according to W. E. Mowery, chairman of the Minneapolis Society of Automotive Engineers, who spoke before a meeting of the organization in the rooms of the Manufacturers' Club last night. The designing of machinery parts so that they may be properly heat treated and operate to the best advantage was urged. Minneapolis is the center of the tractor industry, Mr. Mowery said, and engineers and designers here should take the initiative in the standardization of parts.

WANTED—A boy who is sorry for himself and is not forever talking about himself.