to catch up and more than supply the legitimate existing demand, a condition of affairs that still exists.
Much of the work done in engineering offices is of a nature which does not demand the full training required by an engineer. Much of this work is drafting of a kind that merely requires a fair knowledge of standard methods of construction and the man who has worked around an office long enough "to soak it in," manages to eke out a fair living and is employed pretty constantly at pay which is about that of an average clerk. There are others who do nothing but make tracings, and obviously they do not require any more education than is given in grammar schools. Their pay is not high. Others are employed as blue printers, filing clerks, statisticians, timekeepers, rodmen, chainmen, etc. Nearly all enter upon the work with the idea of "learning it practically," the result being an imitation of the old-time British engineer, a technically trained mechanic. It is only an imitation, for in the case of the British boy a high premium was paid for the privilege of getting him into an office and some pains were taken to see that he managed to get the rudiments of an engineering education for the credit of the office, if for no other reason. The present-day boys and young men in American offices are not taken in as pupils. They are employed to do certain definite work that calls for no particular education and is
