Scientific American Supplement, No. 623 | Page 4

the beginning. The educational facilities you have enjoyed
are of such great value in some exceptional cases that the parties thus
benefited may do you an injury by leading others to expect that you
will be equally valuable in performing duties which require much more
practical experience and knowledge of detail than it is possible that you
could have obtained in the time you have been here.
The incident is ripe with suggestions. No matter how humble a position
you may take in the beginning, you will be embarrassed in much the
same way as the young gentleman in question, though it is hoped in a
less degree. Your course of action should be first to learn to do as you
are told, no matter what you think of it. And above everything keep
your eyes and ears open to obtain practical knowledge of all that is
going on about you. Let nothing escape you of an engineering nature,
though it has connection with the business in hand. It may be your
business the next day, and if you have taken advantage of the various
opportunities to know all about that particular matter in every detail,
you can intelligently act in relation to it, without embarrassment to
yourself and with satisfaction to your superior.
Above all, avoid conflict with the practical force of the establishment
into which you are introduced. It is better, as we have at another time
advised, to establish friendly relations with the workmen and practical
men with whom you have to do.
You are to be spared this evening any direct references to the "conceit
of learning," but you are asked and advised to bear with the conceit of

ignorance. You will find that practical men will be jealous of you on
account of your opportunities, and at the same time jealous of their own
practical information and experience, and that they may take some
pains to hinder rather than aid you in your attempts to actively learn the
practical details of the business. The most disagreeable man about the
establishment to persons like you, who perhaps goes out of his way to
insult you, and yet should be respected for his age, may be one who can
be of greatest use to you. Cultivate his acquaintance. A kind word will
generally be the best response to an offensive remark, though
gentlemanly words of resentment may be necessary when others are
present. Sometimes it will be sufficient to say, "I wish a little talk with
you by yourself," which will put the bystanders at a distance and enable
you to mature your plans. Ascertain as soon as possible that man's
tastes; what he reads and what he delights in. Approach him as if you
had no resentment and talk on his favorite topic. If rebuffed, tell a
pleasant story, and persist from time to time in the attempt to please,
until his hardened nature relaxes and he begins to feel and perhaps
speaks to others favorably of you. St. Paul has said: "For though I be
free from all men, yet have I made myself servant of all that I might
gain the more." This is the keynote of policy, and though in humbling
yourself you control and hide your true feelings, recollect that all your
faculties are given you for proper use.
We have referred to some who have acquired the happy faculty of
making themselves immediately useful. This is a much more difficult
matter than the words imply. If one of you should be so fortunate as to
be ordered to make certain tests almost like those you have already
conducted here, or to tabulate the results of tests as you have done it
here, or to make inspections akin to those which have been fully
explained here, there is every probability the work would be done
satisfactorily in the first instance. But let a much simpler case arise, for
instance, if a superior hand one of you a letter with the simple
instructions, "Get me the facts on that," you may be very much puzzled
to know what is to be done and how to do it. It may be that the letter is
a request for information in regard to certain work that was carried on
in the past, in which case it will be necessary for you to hunt through
old records, copy books, engineering notes, drawings, and the like, and

get a list of all referring to the subject; to make an abstract of the letters
and notes if they are at all complicated; and finally to lay the whole
before the overworked superior in a business manner, that he largely
from recollection, aided by the references and notes, can write an
intelligent answer in a very brief period. The way not