(lass T^35T 
 
 Book '£ ) 5" . 
 
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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSTB 
 
Isffie Draftsman 
 
 BY 
 ROBERT W. SHELMIRE 
 
 THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING BUREAU 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 19 19 
 

 COPYRIGHT 1919 
 BY ROBERT W. SHELMIRE 
 
 ©CI.A530123 
 
 JUL 10 1919 
 
Preface 
 
 This book contains a message to draftsmen. Its aim is to show 
 them the way by which it is possible to rise aibove seeming intoler- 
 able conditions, — conditions which have been imposed gradually 
 though persistently for many years until draftsmen have come to 
 realize that they are not getting a square deal. 
 
 The writer's viewpoint is obtained from the outside as well as 
 the inside of the drafting-room and is 'based on years of experience, 
 covering the greater part of the United States. His thought is not 
 one of bitterness, rather is it one of determination to present the 
 draftsman's case precisely as it exists, sparing none. That the evils 
 of the drafting-room may be destroyed, it has seemed necessary to 
 dwell at length upon them. 
 
 The critical reader must realize that the work is unique in that 
 it is the only book written on the ■business or economic side of draft- 
 ing; therefore the material is entirely original. A great amount of 
 time has been spent on the study of the problems confronting the 
 draftsman and a most careful search has Ibeen made to determine the 
 underlying causes and their remedies. The effects every one is 
 familiar with ; it is primary causes we want uncovered. In every in- 
 stance where unsatisfactory conditions are mentioned a remedy is 
 given or suggested. 
 
 Thus in a. spirit of helpfulness this (book is dedicated to those 
 men who are engaged in drafting, the finest, the noblest, the most 
 tedious work there is. The men who designed and made the plans 
 of the steel and concrete ships, the sub-chasers, airplanes, tanks, 
 
battleships, cannon, machine guns and a thousand other things, all 
 of which, to say the least, helped to perpetuate freedom on earth. 
 They doubled over the drafting-board to beat the mad Hun at his 
 own game of scientific warfare and they did it. They schemed, 
 planned, invented and developed the engines of war and destruction 
 but without any of the glory of seeing or helping them accomplish 
 their victorious purpose. The praises of the draftsman have never 
 been sung for they live and work in obscurity. 
 
 ROBERT W. SHELMIRE. 
 
 Chicago, May, 1919. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 THE KEY-NOTE. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE KEY-NOTE. 
 
 The substance of this book, in a word, is a plea for RECOGNI- 
 TION of the draftsman. The key-note of recognition is ORGAN- 
 IZATION. Without organization there will be no recognition. 
 
 Much to the shame of the engineering profession draftsmen in 
 general are held in low esteem. It is hard to explain why this is so, 
 since almost iaill engineers were formerly draftsmen and the drafts- 
 man of today is the engineer of tomorrow. The drafting-room is 
 both the cradle and the workshop of the engineer and of all engi- 
 neering projects. Engineers, many of them, have been raising them- 
 selves as it were by keeping the draftsmen down. Naturally drafts- 
 men have become discontented; hence the prevailing and nation- 
 wide unrest in drafting-rooms. 
 
 The unrest must be quieted but it needs to be done scientifical- 
 ly. Furthermore it must be done in a true democratic spirit, and the 
 attempt to define draftsman as something apart from engineer and 
 engineering is not democratic. Germany has her classes of engineer 
 employers and employees. Do we want this in America? 
 
 Draftsmen are forming unions. They have been driven to this 
 by those who should be foremost in trying to uplift them. Drafts- 
 men have themselves come to believe they are tradesmen, when in 
 fact, they are no more so than are dentists, surgeons or teachers. This 
 tendency to unionize is most serious because of the intimate knowl- 
 edge draftsmen possess of all the plans, processes and patents upon 
 which rest the very foundation of modern industry. Engineers, what 
 are you doing to prevent it? Read this book and get the draftsman's 
 viewpoint. Then let cooperation replace humiliation. Start at once 
 an employees' representation plan in the drafting-room. 
 
 The managing of drafting-rooms must receive higher considera- 
 tion. They are, generally speaking, run in a haphazard manner. If 
 every drafting-room were to be carefully and scientifically conducted, 
 sufficient saving would be effected to give draftsmen the one hun- 
 
10 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 
 dred per cent increase to which I believe they are entitled. Moreover 
 when engineers and draftsmen work together and control the oper- 
 ation and construction of all engineering works, to the exclusion of 
 lawyers, doctors and politicians, untold millions will be saved the 
 public. 
 
 The employment situation is one which reflects no credit on 
 engineers and their societies. True the societies were not organized 
 to furnish employment service, but does this excuse the members in- 
 dividually for not extending assistance to the younger men who are 
 growing up in the profession and will succeed them? The exploita- 
 tion of young engineer-draftsmen constitutes a most shameful chap- 
 ter in the history of engineering. To refuse aid and to force these 
 young men to seek the agencies was bad enough, but to find engi- 
 neers operating and profiting thereby is a bitter experience which 
 many have gone through. 
 
 Much of the responsibility for the draftsman's predicament is 
 placed on the older engineers. Draftsmen are not free from blame 
 however. They have remained all too willingly in a comatose state 
 while the world around them has advanced in thought and action. 
 Just as nations have learned that none can be free without assisting 
 others to be free, so draftsmen too must realize that none can live 
 to themselves and ignore the problems of society. Draftsmen must 
 help other draftsmen. They must exercise the right of franchise, 
 particularly concerning engineering matters. They must come out 
 of themselves and mingle with other human beings. They must read 
 technical magazines, keep up-to-date, tand be alive. 
 
 Schools which teach drafting must give the students a bette 
 idea of the im,portance and dignity of the work of engineering, pres- 
 ent the business side correctly, and cease trie misleading advertise- 
 ments. Thousands of young men are today being deluded with the 
 idea that a demand exists for draftsmen at salaries of "$35 to $100 
 per week to start." Every draftsman regretfully -knows that $35 
 per week was almost the maximum pay for men of experience before 
 the war and that the average increase since then has no more than 
 equalled the increase in living expenses. Draftsmen should exert 
 themselves to put these dishonest schools out of business and not 
 permit them to exploit the profession. 
 
 : 
 
THE KEY-NOTE. 11 
 
 A word has been said about draftsmen's conventions to stand- 
 ardize drafting and working conditions. It will mean a tremendous 
 saving when once this is done for there is a vast amount of energy- 
 wasted at present. Positions must be standardized so that drafts- 
 men filling positions which require equal amount of training shall 
 receive equal pay in all branches of engineering. 
 
 The chapter on patents contains information regarding proper 
 procedure to protect an invention. The subject is important to all 
 draftsmen and nowhere else is it given in such condensed form. 
 Almost every one is grossly ignorant of the nature and value of a 
 patent, and draftsmen, above all, should know more about them. 
 
 Finally — organize. With the existing societies if possible, but 
 ORGANIZE. The union method is beneath the intelligence of 
 draftsmen. Show the tradesman a better example of organization, 
 one which fights for and demands only what is right. If salaries are 
 too low, then prove that you are worth more. If -working conditions 
 are unsatisfactory or the management is poor, present your case 
 properly to the highest officials . Workmen have rights which em- 
 ployers are now bound to respect. If drafting is not the most pleas- 
 ant occupation, let's make it so. Remember, drafting is engineering 
 and draftsmen are engineers. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 THE DRAFTSMAN AND HIS WORK. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DRAFTSMAN AND HIS WORK. 
 
 APPRENTICE SYSTEM. A generation ago drafting was con- 
 sidered a trade and in fact that is about all it was. Men became pro- 
 ficient in making drawings but it was largely mechanical or physical 
 labor and did not include as much calculating or mental labor as the 
 drafting of today. This being also the day of the apprentice, most 
 mechanical plants required their apprentices to spend some months 
 in the drafting-room before becoming journeymen machinists. Then 
 followed a similiar system of apprenticing young men in the drafting- 
 rooms without requiring shop experience. This was a sad mistake. 
 The draftsman who has never worked in a shop or on construction 
 where he can see and feel his work go together, never makes a 
 thoroughly experienced man. In those early days great importance 
 was placed on learning a trade. Since drafting was considered the 
 same as a trade, a beginner, whether he was an apprentice or not, 
 received little or no pay during the first year or so. He was given 
 expert instruction however, and became a good draftsman. The 
 older men acted as teachers and task masters and were expected to 
 tell the younger ones what to do and how to do it. 
 
 SCHOOL SYSTEMS. Times have changed since then. Now it 
 is hard to find young men who have been well trained, because the 
 engineering schools do not place sufficient importance on this work 
 to give a good foundation on which to build a thorough draftsman. 
 There is little system about this training in the colleges tand schools 
 and young men are turned out with various kinds of rules and 
 methods instilled into them by teachers who many times have them- 
 selves only a superficial knowledge of the art. 
 
 For this reason the correspondence and night schools have been 
 able to fill a need since their students are mainly ambitious young 
 fellows who plug along until they develop into very good draftsmen. 
 They are able to earn a small wage from the beginning which makes 
 them even more desirable than college men, because the latter, hav- 
 
16 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 ing been taught to consider drafting menial work (a most contempt- 
 ible attitude) do not accomplish as much. Just how much time to 
 devote to drafting in college is a problem for educators to decide, but 
 to teach a student, or even to permit him to leave college, with the 
 idea that drafting is lowly work and beneath the college man is all 
 wrong. It makes him a snob and every true American hates a snob. 
 If a correspondence school student makes a better workman it is be- 
 cause he is not handicapped in this way and is willing to work and 
 learn. 
 
 THE ART OF DRAFTING. Drafting has become a highly 
 developed art, yet we are not dealing with the artist draftsman and 
 only to a certain extent with the architectural draftsman but more 
 particularly with the men now known as engineering draftsmen. 
 The foundation of this work is of course plain mechanical drawing. 
 The development proceeds into the higher work of calculating and 
 designing in connection with the drawing. 
 
 There are various branches of drafting work, each highly special- 
 ized and requiring special study for each one, except of course, 
 for the fundamentals of drawing, which remain the same. The 
 work of a structural draftsman differs greatly from that of a mach- 
 ine draftsman and from the others as well. However all lines of 
 drafting overlap and there is no distinct separation between them. 
 For instance a ship built of steel requires considerable work from 
 the structural draftsman. All ships require machine drafting also. 
 Railroad construction requires a particular type of training for 
 draftsmen' which is sometimes called civil engineering drafting, 
 meaning almost anything but nothing definite. It includes the 
 drawing of maps, grade profiles, bridges, buildings and plans of all 
 conditions of railroad building from sea coast to mountains, under 
 the head of Maintenance and Construction. In the Motive Power 
 department plans are made for engines, cars and all mechanical 
 equipment of the railroads. In the Signal department plans of signal 
 layouts, electrical equipment and all such work are drawn. 
 
 The work in all lines of drafting requires infinite patience. Par- 
 ticularly is this true where much lettering is to be done, as on maps, 
 etc., and also in machine drafting which requires great detail. Mach- 
 ine drafting or as it is usually called, mechanical drafting, requires 
 
 
THE DRAFTSMAN AND HIS WORK. 17 
 
 the most exacting work. A man may actually spend months on one 
 drawing of a complicated machine. Structural drafting, which in- 
 cludes the drafting for all steel and concrete structures, is probably 
 the most complicated, that is to say, when it is complicated at all, 
 because the draftsman must visualize the connections of the steel 
 members and the structure as a whole and at the same time do a 
 great deal of calculating as the drawing proceeds. The calculations 
 nearly always require trigonometry and sometimes the most complex 
 mathematical formulae. To draw skewed connections of steel work 
 requires an intimate knowledge of descriptive geometry. In mining 
 work the underground surveys have to be plotted accurately on maps 
 in order to tell just where the workings are and to see that they are 
 within the property lines. 
 
 Every draftsman should be familiar with two or three branches 
 of the work and have sufficient experience to enable him to take a 
 position in any one of them. It .may not always be possible, but it 
 is a great protection, for if work becomes slack in one branch, a 
 man, thus prepared, has the advantage of knowing how to do some- 
 thing else. In the same way construction men who have been 
 through the drafting-room are able to save themselves a loss if they 
 can obtain drafting work in the winter or at other times when they 
 can not work outside. Dull periods often occur in all branches of 
 engineering and necessitate frequent changes. 
 
 STANDARD PRACTICES. In all lines of drafting it is most 
 important to know the system in the particular drafting-room in 
 which you are working because there is no well established system 
 in common use for the preparation of plans. That is, a drawing of 
 a machine made in one plant does not conform to the practice of 
 another shop and so it might be impossible to build it there. Certain 
 branches of engineering have 'become standardized to some extent 
 however. A structural steel product could be built in any structural 
 plant, but every one has a different system of notation for their 
 drawings which is not understood in another plant and is apt to cause 
 confusion. 
 
 The reason there is so much chaos in the practice of drafting is 
 because there is no association in which draftsmen get together to 
 harmonize their work. They are eligible to membership in the big 
 
18 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 national societies but the caste system practically bars them from 
 taking any active part. In railroad work there has been some stand- 
 ardizing largely because of the interstate transportation system which 
 necessitated the repairs of equipment on roads to which the equip- 
 ment does not belong. Therefore the repair shops had to be able to 
 build the same repair parts -and work to uniform drawings. What 
 uniformity there is to railroad drafting is due to the Master Car 
 Builders' Association and the American Railway Engineering As- 
 sociation, but a great deal of "lost motion" yet exists on the railroads. 
 
 Standardizing for -all drafting work is something which must 
 eventually come about for the lack of system at present is causing 
 an immense loss of time and money. The kind of efficiency or system 
 which makes a draftsman a mere tooth of a cog-wheel in a great 
 machine is however not the kind of efficiency desired. There should 
 be a system of standards which does not require a, draftsman to spend 
 three or more months each time he goes to a new plant, learning to 
 work on exactly the same kind of drawings to which he has been ac- 
 customed. Since it is necessary that draftsmen change their posi- 
 tions more or less frequently because of the fluctuating condition of 
 engineering work, it should be made as easy as possible for one to 
 start at a new plant without losing any of the efficacy acquired at a 
 former place. 
 
 The solution of this question is draftsmen's conventions where 
 they may thrash out their problems in detail. Companies should 
 grant men the time and pay the expense of delegates to a convention 
 for this purpose because it means to them an increase in the pro- 
 ductive effort of the men. It costs several hundred dollars to break 
 in a new man at almost any kind of work. Shop managers compile 
 figures representing this cost on various lines of skilled labor. No 
 set figure could be given for drafting in general, but somewhere 
 between $100 and $1000 would cover almost any case. Of course 
 when a draftsman changes from one line of work to another he has 
 to learn the shop and office practice of that different line, which in- 
 creases the cost of "breaking in." However this expense to com- 
 panies would be greatly lessened if they would encourage their drafts- 
 men to standardize their work throughout the country. 
 
THE DRAFTSMAN AND HIS WORK. 19 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF DRAFTING. Drafting has assumed a very 
 important position in the engineering field, not to mention the entire 
 field of industry. It also represents a very considerable part of the 
 cost of engineering work. Occasionally the drawings cost much 
 more than they should, as the result of various conditions. Possibly 
 politics enters into the situation and the cost is not a consideration, 
 or perhaps it is lack of system or poor management. There may be 
 no check on the work and no one knows, for there is much drafting 
 which is done carelessly and without proper supervision. Such 
 drafting is a waste of time. If a drawing is of any value at all it 
 must be correct and made in such a way as to reflect the intelligence 
 of the engineer who plans and designs, so that every man who must 
 work to that drawing has confidence in it and in the designer. 
 "Cheap" drafting is expensive because some one always pays double 
 in the end. 
 
 Every drawing represents some one's thoughts and ideas. These 
 ideas are intended to meet requirements at hand and should be car- 
 ried out in a drawing well made and accurate within reasonable 
 bounds. It must be plain and every line for some purpose and all 
 complicated details enlarged so that no workman can go wrong. 
 Many draftsmen fail to realize that, when their drawings frequently 
 come back from the shop for explanations, information is lacking. 
 When a drawing is made correctly there is little speculation or ar- 
 gument about it. Every figure must be intelligible not only on the 
 tracing but on the blue print. Remember a workman has to read it 
 in the shop or an engineer in the field where they do not always have 
 good light and it is frequently blurred by dirty or greasy hands. 
 
 The importance and value of drafting and the great responsibility 
 often taken by draftsmen is not appreciated by the public nor does 
 the engineering profession give proper credit where it is due. The 
 value of work turned out by one draftsman will often run into mil- 
 lions of dollars per year. Doubtless he will not be entirely re- 
 sponsible : then again he may be. For instance, it was the draftsman 
 who took a hastily drawn plan of a cantonment, sketched on the 
 water and sewer pipes, calculated the proper sizes and within a few 
 days the entire system was under order, amounting to hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars. Does 'any one deny that this is engineering, 
 
20 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 
 or that the draftsman has the right to call himself an engineer? 
 Thousands of other draftsmen are taking the responsibility just as 
 this man did, but they are not getting paid for it, nor are they re- 
 cognized as engineers. 
 
 PRESENT STATUS OF THE DRAFTSMAN. To distinguish 
 between a tracer, a detailer, a checker, or a designer is an impos- 
 sibility. A tracer is sometimes a detailer ; a detailer is always an 
 embryo designer and sometimes a checker; a checker is one day 
 checking and the next day designing and the designer may frequently 
 be found tracing his own designs. There is only one line of distinc- 
 tion, and that is, or at least should be, between the tracer who has 
 the brains to become a detailer and the one who has not. Practically 
 every young man who enters the drafting-room is ambitious to ad- 
 vance step by step to what he considers better positions. If this 
 situation is clearly understood it will be seen that if these young 
 men are to learn the art of drafting thoroughly, they must begin at 
 the bottom and learn it all. They must become tracers and learn 
 to make plain lettering and ink a neat drawing. Where then does 
 the "professional tracer" come in? Answer: He does not come in; 
 he goes out. There is no place for him or for girls either who do not 
 intend to progress beyond the mere mechanical work of making a 
 tracing or even the very simple detail work. Girls, by the way, are 
 entering the drafting-room and I do not mean to say they should 
 not, — I would ias soon try to induce the Mississippi River to run up- 
 hill. However I believe they should enter on the same terms as boys 
 and receive equal pay for equivalent work. 
 
 In order to learn, the beginner must be instructed by competent 
 men and acquire actual experience with the work himself. He must 
 learn and advance, or his place given to some one who will. Since 
 the so-called "professional tracers" are now doing work which is re- 
 quired of students if the latter are to learn properly, then the former 
 should be eliminated from the drafting-room. Furthermore when 
 tracers are paid nearly as much as experienced detailers, as is some- 
 times the case, this is always a source of discontent in an office. 
 What incentive is there for a young man to go through college or to 
 burn the midnight oil for several years >a,nd then find a tracer, a mere 
 mechanical workman earning but a few dollars less than he does? 
 
THE DRAFTSMAN AND HIS WORK. 21 
 
 DRAFTING NOT A TRADE. It is obvious that drafting con- 
 sidered as a business is not a trade because the mechanical skill re- 
 quisite is of minor importance when compared to the mental work 
 required and actually used. Few realize this most important fact. 
 It is evident that since drafting is not a trade it must be classed as 
 a profession. If it is a profession it can scarcely be called the profes- 
 sion of drafting, for drafting is the foundation of the engineering pro- 
 fession. There is, therefore, only one other view to consider and 
 that is to recognize that drafting is the engineering profession as 
 much as any other work in engineering. This is the correct stand 
 to take. Furthermore, the draftsman has the right to be called an 
 engineer and to be a member of the engineering profession. 
 
 There >are many welfare and business problems which must be 
 solved by engineers and first of all is this one of definitions. The 
 terms, engineer and draftsman, must be defined so that every one 
 will know what is meant when the words are used. 
 
 Turn to the dictionary and you will find "profession" defined 
 very plainly as "an occupation that involves a liberal education and 
 mental rather than manual labor" ; "engineering" as "the art of de- 
 signing and constructing engines, public works, roads, etc., etc." ; 
 and "engineer" as "one engaged in engineering". Now this definition 
 of engineer does not conform exactly to common practice, since it is 
 frequently heard in a much more limited sense. However broad- 
 minded engineers do not limit the terminology of the word ; it is done 
 in the class rooms. The public will never understand what an en- 
 gineer is until engineers can agree among themselves upon a defini- 
 tion. As long as we consider only those who have progressed ias 
 far or farther than we ourselves as being engineers, and as long as 
 we say of the others, "Oh, he is not an engineer," this agreement 
 can never be brought about. 
 
 That there must be good and bad, competent and incompetent, 
 engineers until human beings become infallible, seems never to be 
 considered. When this familiar phrase, "He's not an engineer," is 
 heard, the speaker is invariably passing judgment upon his fellow 
 man and we are sufficiently warned of this folly two thousand years 
 ago. 
 
22 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 We must emphasize the distinction between the mechanician or 
 engine runner and the engineer proper. Engineering is not a trade, 
 nor the engineer an operator, but >a mental worker, a designer, a build- 
 er, etc., and his work a profession. Common practice in engineering 
 considers various kinds of technical men, including inspectors, teach- 
 ers, efficiency experts, chemists, etc., as belonging to the engineering 
 profession largely because they are not tradesmen and there is no 
 other profession in which to classify them. Draftsmen, surveyors, 
 etc., even rodmen and axemen, should also be included in the profes- 
 sion, provided they have the beginning of a technical education. 
 Since they are in the profession they have the right to be called en- 
 gineers. Why not let it be understood that they are engineers and 
 end this hypocritical practice of trying to define who is and who is 
 not an engineer? Engineers must broaden out, both in their defini- 
 tions and vision. Every definition which narrows the terminology of 
 "engineer" and engineering" is open to criticism and will not endure. 
 The words, tracer, detailer, checker, designer and squad-boss, are 
 words which help to cause the confusion and misunderstanding by the 
 public and by engineers. In dentistry we do not talk of "tooth- 
 pullers", "tooth-fillers", or "crowners", but there are men who do 
 these things and nothing else. They are dentists. The public under- 
 stands that the work of a dentist includes all such details but people 
 do not understand what a checker or a designer does nor even that 
 the work is connected with engineering. It is not necessary to use 
 such words denoting the kind of work one does, either in or out of 
 the drafting-room. If we want the public to understand our work 
 then we -should make it easier for them to understand. There is only 
 one way so far as a business title goes and that is to use the word, 
 engineer, and no other. Drafting as a business oa»n not be divorced 
 from engineering as a business. 
 
 In this book which pertains to the business end of drafting and 
 the welfare of the draftsman, there is no mention of technical sub- 
 jects or of proper methods of lettering, or of ways to hold the ruling 
 pen, nor is any space taken with the old, familiar tables, all of which 
 may be found in hundreds of other books. Draftsmen are tired of 
 studying them; no doubt they want a change of diet and so this 
 work is "designed" to answer the craving for something different. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 WORKING CONDITIONS. 
 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 WORKING CONDITIONS. 
 
 COMPARISON WITH OTHER WORK. The conditions un- 
 der which draftsmen work are most unsatisfactory. The attitude 
 seems to be to spend just as little money in this department as pos- 
 sible toward office furniture, space or salaries. The drafting-room 
 being absolutely essential it cannot be dispensed with, but it can be 
 and is made most disagreeable for the draftsmen in a great many 
 places. Drafting should be considered as an overhead expense and 
 not as labor at so much per hour on each contract. I do not mean to 
 say that the draftsman's time should not be charged up to each job, 
 for it should, but that drafting should be considered with the same 
 dignity as engineering, which it properly is. Until drafting is thought 
 of as engineering and engineering is raised to its proper place as the 
 "noblest of professions" the draftsman has little hope of bettering his 
 condition. 
 
 A comparison of the equipment of the average drafting-room 
 with other offices is sometimes amusing. A bank, for example, in- 
 variably has a magnificent building, marble walls and ceilings, elab- 
 orate metal work and burglar-proof vaults, mahogany furniture, 
 splendid rugs, etc., and yet at many of them same mahogany desks 
 are clerks which could be replaced by any intelligent boy with a few 
 weeks' training. The insurance companies are similiarly outfitted 
 and both savor much of that old fable about the spider and the fly. 
 State and Federal offices are frequently fitted out with thousands of 
 dollars worth of furniture and decorations with only a few political 
 ward-healers to occupy them. Large corporations invariably have 
 offices well furnished and equipped. 
 
 Consider now the drafting-room even in these same corporations. 
 All too often it is >a crowded, poorly lighted, dirty and dingy room. 
 The furniture for each man consists of one table @ $7.50 and one 
 stool @ $1.25, total $8.75 — normal price. The chief draftsman's 
 desk is about on a par with the rest of the office. A comfortable 
 
26 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 stool is almost an unheard-of luxury in a drafting-room though they 
 are on the market and sometimes furnished to book-keepers. Car- 
 pets or rugs are even more of a luxury but they are furnished for the 
 clerks in the outer office. To furnish good tables, stools, lockers, 
 T-squares, and instruments which go to make the draftsman's work 
 more efficient and agreeable seldom seems to enter the heads of the 
 management. For one class of work a drafting machine would pay 
 for itself in a few months. Again in other cases parallel rules, a set 
 of special curves, a good protractor, a pantagraph, a planimeter, or 
 slide rule would save an incalculable amount of time. How seldom 
 these things are considered ! 
 
 LIGHTING. One would think that the lighting system of a 
 drafting-room would receive first consideration and it probably 
 would in a new plant built at the present time under competent en- 
 gineers or architects. However it is a fact that there are hundreds 
 of drafting-rooms which are not fit for a man to work in without 
 artificial light or even with it, as at present installed. Experts on 
 lighting are not consulted though there is ample advice which may 
 be had gratis from the lighting companies and the manufacturers. 
 The proper way is to call in an illumination engineer who is not in- 
 terested in the sale of any particular kind of lamps. Draftsmen are 
 not capable of judging the proper kind of lights, altho they may 
 have strong opinions, because not one per cent of them ever worked 
 under a correct form of illumination. It is not possible for me to say 
 what is correct because experts aver that every room requires a spe- 
 cial treatment. However I can state that one thing which draftsmen 
 should demand is a proper lighting system. A light which is bright, 
 not a spot light, but well diffused. Positively no shadows on the 
 drawing for the eyes are constantly strained when trying to see a line 
 with shadows cast over it. I know of one railroad which refused 
 positively to put in drop lights instead of high ceiling lights in a 
 room in which some fifteen draftsmen worked. Much of the work 
 was tracing and ruinous to the eyes. 
 
 RULES. The rules in force in some of the various drafting- 
 rooms would be amusing if they were not so tragic. It is amazing 
 what freak traits of human nature are evidenced in their managment. 
 Frequently one is reminded of a school-room instead of a drafting- 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS. 27 
 
 room, then again of a machine shop, but seldom do the usual rules 
 indicate that they are being applied to intelligent men. 
 
 A chief draftsman forbade his men to talk to each other except 
 on business. One would infer that those guilty of breaking this 
 rule would be "kept in" after five o'clock and made to figure weights. 
 It is a frequent practice among chief draftsmen to gum-shoe around 
 the room when they see two or more talking together, presumably 
 to assist them in their work, but in fact, as all know, to find out if the 
 talk was social or business. Why is it that so many men will sacri- 
 fice the respect of those under them by such petty, sleuthful tricks, 
 when the information could be obtained so much easier and by more 
 honorable methods? 
 
 Any workman will invariably detect a sleuth or a spotter and 
 when a chief draftsman will so lower the standing of his position as 
 to sneak around to watch the men, his attitude is going to be reflect- 
 ed back to him immediately with interest and the men will not only 
 lose respect for him but will despise him as well. 
 
 USE OF TELEPHONES. Some chief draftsmen worry a lot 
 over telephone calls which come to the men and resort to novel 
 means to prevent them being called up during working hours. In 
 fact it is not uncommon to prohibit the use of telephones to drafts- 
 men while the clerical force are permitted unlimited use. I recall a 
 case in which the chief draftsman "listened in" on a phone conversa- 
 tion and was rewarded by hearing one of his men condemning certain 
 conditions under which he had to work. He was promptly dis- 
 charged. A capable manager first investigates the conditions, then 
 corrects them so his men will remain. At another place a chief was 
 known to represent himself to be the draftsman wanted in hopes of 
 catching information, — say, in regard to a man securing another po- 
 sition. Then if such were the case, the draftsman was fired because 
 he dared to want another position. 
 
 HANDLING SUPPLIES. Rules for handling supplies are 
 sometimes quite complicated and must have necessitated deep thought 
 in their creation. For instance in order to get a new pencil one must 
 return the stub of the old one and said stub must be under a certain 
 established length. Others take the name of the draftsman each time 
 a pencil or eraser is procured. A small set of books is kept, accu- 
 
28 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 rately recording the supplies of each man and how the office boy, 
 who is usually in charge of supplies, delights to tell the draftsmen 
 they are using too many pencils. It has always been a mystery to 
 me how authority could be so perverted as to put the draftsmen in 
 positions subservient to the clerks and even the office boy, but such 
 is too often the case. One man in particular, a designer of a hundred 
 million dollars worth of steel structures, has to quibble with a clerk 
 for his pens and pencils. 
 
 Supplies should be in charge of one of the responsible men but 
 they should be dealt out freely. A man should be furnished with all 
 the pens, pencils, etc., that he needs and even special instruments 
 should be provided for individuals or for the general use of the office 
 if there is need for them. They pay for themselves many times over 
 and tend to make a workman more contended. Standard books in 
 line with the work of the office should be kept accessible, and also 
 several technical papers for the men to read at off hours. Entirely 
 too much incompetent designing is done, a fact showing the lack of 
 common every day knowledge which could be found in standard 
 works and current magazines. 
 
 Now if these supplies, comforts or accomodations for the men 
 are being misused, then it is time to call to account the guilty ones, 
 and not to consider all as criminals and treat them accordingly, as is 
 the usual drafting-room method. An amazing lack of the knowledge 
 of management is displayed by the manager who makes petty rules 
 humiliating all his men when the rules should apply only to a few. 
 To one with average intelligence and an average understanding of 
 human nature, it should be little trouble to detect the man who was 
 taking too many pencils or abusing other privileges. Many a draft- 
 ing-room has been demoralized just because some chief draftsman 
 was too stupid to know this simple fact. 
 
 SMOKING. In regard to smoking in the drafting-room there is 
 only one thing to do : Prohibit it. The reason for prohibiting smok- 
 ing should be not so much because it takes time from the work (for 
 some will go out and smoke anyway), not because it is unhealthy or 
 unsanitary, but simply because it is not right to compel even one 
 man to work among others who smoke if it is objectionable to him. 
 Of course, if all wish to reek in smoke it is a different thing, or if 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS. 29 
 
 only one or two occupy a room, the problem is iatn individual one. 
 One chief draftsman has a rule which could have only been "de- 
 signed" by a warped product of the drafting-room, stating that men 
 must not smoke with this exception : "If the cigar or pipe has been 
 lighted before the whistle blew the draftsman shall go to work, but 
 may continue to smoke said pipe or cigar until it is sufficiently ex- 
 hausted so that he may economically dispose of same." This is at 
 least the substance of the rule. I presume long cigars were in de- 
 mand, so that one could light up at 12:59 and smoke till about 3 
 o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 TIME CLOCKS. Time clocks are an abomination in a drafting- 
 room and a source of great dissatisfaction. Drafting-rooms may exist 
 which claim to have success with time clocks and whose men seem 
 quite contented to punch them morning, noon and night but an in- 
 vestigation of such places would surely reveal one or these two things* 
 perhaps both : — Either the management was mistaken in thinking 
 they had men in the drafting-room when instead they had only boys, 
 — boys in intellect if not in years, boys who had never known any- 
 thing but a sort of slavery, never worked among real men, never 
 heard of a vacation with pay, never knew anything but a time clock 
 existence ; or else there was discontent and the management failed to 
 find it. 
 
 It is a peculiar thing but a fact nevertheless, that unless a man- 
 ager is wide awake and knows human nature, he will seldom dis- 
 cover the under current of opinion among his men until such time 
 when it may break out openly. A manager who is handicapped with 
 great self-esteem invariably makes this error because he creates a 
 barrier between himself and his men which bars all intercourse. I 
 once knew such a manager who even bragged about his 100% organ- 
 ization when in fact there was as times great dissatisfaction and low 
 morale, due as is frequently the case, to a subordinate. 
 
 The argument for the time clock is that it facilitates the keeping 
 of the time and acts as a check on the men. Granting however that 
 it may assist somewhat in the work of a $50 per month timekeeper, 
 it is a deep humiliation to a draftsman and tends to place him on a 
 plane with irresponsible workmen ; it is an indication that the men 
 are not considered honorable enough to turn in their own time cor- 
 
30 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 rectly ; it is an insult to a man's intelligence. One seldom thinks that 
 what may be saved by a timekeeper is lost by the draftsman in telling 
 his fellow workmen how much he likes to "punch a clock." Cer- 
 tainly the morale of the men is lowered by these devices, which 
 means that much less work is accomplished. 
 
 PLACE MEN ON THEIR HONOR. The proper way to keep 
 time is to have time cards which each man fills out himself accord- 
 ing to the record desired for the paymaster and cost accountant. If 
 men are placed on their honor almost all of them will be honorable, 
 but if compelled to punch a clock (which means to them that the 
 company does not consider them so), these very same men will find 
 ways to beat the machine. 
 
 As to keeping check on the men, this can be done by the chief 
 draftsman, chief engineer, or the person in charge in a very simple 
 manner, namely for the one in authority to know his men. He 
 should know his workmen; know if they are capable of good work 
 and of telling the truth. If there is any suspicion that a man is no: 
 truthful or is without honor, then he should be watched and when 
 found guilty, called to account. When I say a man should be watched 
 I mean that it should be done in a very unobtrusive manner instead 
 of employing means to find evidence which will convict the one whom 
 it is desired to find guilty. 
 
 WIDER VISION NECESSARY. Tact is a wonderful thing, a 
 wonderfully rare thing in the engineering profession. We do not 
 mix sufficiently with business men. We do not take part in the 
 things which, although foreign to engineering work, are essential to 
 an acquaintance with the vagaries of human nature. Engineers live 
 too much to themselves, particularly office engineers. This con- 
 finement tends to make men narrow minded and petty. Jealousy, 
 spite work and all the little sins mortal man is heir to become magni- 
 fied under close inspection. We must broaden out and look at the 
 doughnut of Life instead of at the hole. Why do engineers stoop to 
 such contemptible things as are frequently done? Because they start 
 out by stooping over the drafting board. They strain over a worn- 
 out scale. They squint at a begrimed slide rule. They curse over 
 the fact that the union man gets more money than they do. They live 
 and breathe this atmosphere until they absorb these qualities They 
 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS. 31 
 
 become stooped and strained and discontented but under all there is 
 a sincerity of purpose. There are no finer characters than the great, 
 broad-minded engineers who have surmounted the minor details of 
 the business and who now can get the proper perspective. 
 
 LOYALTY OF DRAFTSMEN. Draftsmen are almost without 
 exception, loyal to their employers, submitting even to the crudest 
 systems of management. The draftsman is a conscientious worker 
 but a poor business man because his thoughts are bent on his work 
 and not upon the almighty dollar, as are his employer's. It is only 
 recently that he has been forced to think about the dollar because of 
 the rapidly increasing demands on his purse. As necessity has 
 awakened him to this fact he looks around and finds common day 
 laborers earning (?) as much as he does. He finds skilled labor re- 
 ceiving six, eight and ten times as much. Is it any wonder there is 
 unrest with the market price of brawn at $50 and brains at $5 per 
 day? It is an actual fact that steel (designers were getting about $7 
 per day while steel rollers with the same company were getting 
 $52.50 per day. This is merely an interesting comparison to show 
 the difference between an organized trade and un-organized pro- 
 fession. 
 
 INTOLERABLE CONDITIONS. There are some conditions 
 which are intolerable and it is absolutely unnecessary that draftsmen 
 submit to them any longer. One is discharging men on short notice. 
 Thirty days is not too much time to give a man to enable him to se- 
 cure other employment and it is up to the draftsmen to insist on get- 
 ting it in order to reduce so far as possible the economic loss in- 
 curred in making a change. I have in mind the case of a man who, 
 feeling he would be let out, secured the offer of another position. 
 His company however told him they wanted him to stay, so he re- 
 mained. In two weeks he was "laid off" without any previous notice. 
 It is with considerable restraint that I do not mention the name of 
 the company for it is a notorious one in its methods of treating men. 
 The latest symptom of dementia shown by this same company is to 
 allow one hour's pay bonus per week but if a man is one minute late 
 he is docked for 15 minutes and loses his week's bonus in addition. 
 In this same class was the method of paying a certain bonus on the 
 number of sheets of drawing turned out without regard to the amount 
 
 
32 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 of work on each sheet. This bright idea was installed toy a company 
 which desired to show Uncle Sam how fast they were turning out the 
 ship plans. The company has since failed which seems like just 
 retribution to the ones guilty of the unprincipled, not to say treason- 
 able, work. 
 
 Chief draftsmen frequently hold positions on their seeming abil- 
 ity to get work out of the men and not on their qualifications as man- 
 agers, as should be the case. Quite naturally in such places we find 
 conditions which that type of man approves. Men are promoted be- 
 cause they are favorites with the chief and "take what he says." The 
 office becomes undesirable from the standpoint of every man who 
 has any self-respect. Likewise the company gets a bad name and is 
 condemned whenever mentioned. The companies with such un- 
 enviable reputations are numerous and the day will certainly come 
 when it will be realized. Draftsmen can hasten the day by inform- 
 ing themselves as to proper methods of conducting a drafting-room 
 and then requesting that these methods be adopted. This will mean 
 the advancement of the most competent. 
 
 The space alloted to draftsmen in some places is of very meagre 
 dimensions, even tho space may not be expensive in that location. 
 You will find in some drafting-rooms today the actual measurement 
 of floor space allowed for each man, not including the table space, 
 to be not more than twenty inches by four feet. No doubt being in 
 jail has its disadvantages but the convict has commodious quarters 
 compared to the average draftsman. If a company can not make suf- 
 ficient profit out of its drafting-room to enable it to furnish the drafts- 
 man with proper accomodations such as lockers, towels, sanitation, 
 ample room, good tables, with drawers, correct light, heat,pencils, 
 pens, erasers, T-squares and paper, etc., it had better go out of busi- 
 ness and let that company do the work which has an up-to-date 
 management. 
 
 NEEDED CHANGES. We have progressed and the old things 
 must pass away. The workman is everywhere demanding his share 
 of the profits and benefits derived from his work. Draftsmen have 
 a right to demand justice under this most welcome new regime. 
 They need at least two weeks vacation each year. They need life 
 insurance, sick insurance, job insurance, and it is perhaps best that 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS. 33 
 
 they receive sufficient pay to enable them to buy this rather than 
 have it given to them. They need recognition of their services and 
 higher pay. They need better management and they need to be 
 better managers. They need an organization to get these things 
 because under the intensive business methods and desire for in- 
 creased production, it is evident that the needs of individuals are not 
 supplied by charitable institutions. 
 
 MORALE. There exists at present in most drafting-rooms an 
 extremely low morale, a lack of the esprit de corps. There is also 
 considerable "soldiering." This does not at all contradict the state- 
 ment made in regard to the loyalty of the draftsmen, but reflects on 
 the management which permits these conditions to exist. The word, 
 morale, has come into prominence during the war. Every one knows 
 that if the morale of an army is low its capabilities are greatly dim- 
 inished. Morale means about the same as esprit de corps and in 
 plain words both indicate the interest in the work at hand. At any 
 rate so far as the drafting-room is concerned, the interest in the work 
 is the principle, as it were, which underlies all the problems regard- 
 ing working conditions. Why do so many draftsmen want to get 
 out of the drafting-rooms, even out of the engineering business? 
 Why do they all want to take up farming? Because they have lost 
 all interest in the work. Every young man is interested in drafting 
 when he first takes it up. Why do they lose this interest? Simply 
 because of the abominable conditions, only a few of which have been 
 mentioned. I could fill a book with instances if it would do any good. 
 Thousands of draftsmen have been made nervous and many physical 
 wrecks. I have seen them driven to drink. I know of some who 
 joined the I. W. W. I have heard them discuss Bolshevism, favor- 
 ably too, as the only means of correcting the conditions. There are 
 socialists in most every drafting-room. I know they have been told 
 and by engineers, "to go form a union, then we can deal with you." 
 And right there we get the meat of the cocoanut. 
 
 ENGINEERS RESPONSIBLE. It is the engineers, the men 
 who style themselves the profession, who really are responsible for 
 the draftsman's predicament. It is they who have tried to shove the 
 draftsman out of the engineering profession and have actually made 
 draftsmen, themselves, believe they do not belong there. This phrase, 
 
34 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 "Oh! he is only a draftsman/' is made a thousand times a day which 
 naturally hits everyone doing drafting work. No amount of explain- 
 ing can take the stigma off the designing draftsman and put it on the 
 tracer. It is the most contemptible phrase in use today among en- 
 gineers and not one who uses it ever looked in the dictionary to find 
 out the correct definition of the word, engineer, which is, to state it 
 again, "one engaged in engineering." It is slightingly inferred that 
 drafting is at the bottom of engineering. To this I agree. Draft- 
 ing is precisely where one would expect to find the foundation of 
 engineering — at the bottom. 
 
 THE REMEDY. It is evident that there are many things which 
 go to create chaos in the drafting-rooms. It seems to be human na- 
 ture to feel dissatisfied with one's own position in life, seeing only 
 the thorns, while another's work seems to be all rosy. Now this dis- 
 satisfaction, coupled with discontent, amounts to discouragement 
 and discouragement is the worst handicap to progress that a man 
 can experience. It is purely a mental condition and should never be 
 allowed to gain a foothold in consciousness. The only way to prevent 
 it is to uproot every evil which has a tendency to cause a lack of in- 
 terest in one's work. You can not make a man like his work, but you 
 can make conditions agreeable so that he will like it and take an 
 interest in it. To carry the proposition to its ultimate conclusion it 
 is possible to have every man like his work provided the fundamen- 
 tal causes which make a man dislike it are discovered. It can not be 
 done by adopting the strong arm methods of a union, by plunging the 
 country into an I. W. W. or Bolshevik revolution, by anarchy, or 
 blood shed, but it can be accomplished only by charitable and un- 
 selfish endeavor. Furthermore it is being done and a number of man- 
 ufacturing plants are working in almost perfect harmony and with 
 contented employees. They are all coming to it. 
 
 SIGNS OF PROGRESS. Drafting-rooms which are laboring 
 with complicated systems of filing might profit by investigating such 
 long established concerns as, for instance, the Baldwin Locomotive 
 Works, of Philadelphia. Twenty years ago this company was using 
 a method of handling drawings in their office and shops which would 
 put to shame many that are in use today. 
 
WORKING CONDITIONS. 35 
 
 With a desire to lift the draftsman out of his limited sphere, the 
 Chicago office of the Robins Conveying Belt Co., has established a 
 class in art for its draftsmen. The class is held once a week and is 
 given one hour's personal instruction at the Art Institute without 
 charge. This is a long step in the right direction. 
 
 The bridge department of the Southern Railway, Washington, 
 D. C, a number of years ago, recognized their draftsmen to the ex- 
 tent of giving them titles of "assistant engineers." Draftsmen on 
 other railroads should ask for this recognition also. 
 
 The American Bridge Co., have in some of their plants adopted 
 a commendable scheme for retaining draftsmen during dull times. 
 It is by simply working shorter hours. When there is a decrease in 
 the amount of work it is far better to distribute the loss among the 
 whole force than to make a few suffer for it. 
 
 The Willys-Overland plant of Toledo and the Link Belt Co. of 
 Philadelphia and Chicago may be taken as examples of offices 
 equipped with drafting machines. All others not using these labor 
 saving devices are certainly behind the times. 
 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 MANAGEMENT. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MANAGEMENT. 
 
 LACK OF INFORMATION. Customary forms of management 
 for drafting-rooms leave much to be desired. Little has t>een written 
 on this subject, except as may have been intended to expose such 
 unsatisfactory conditions as have already been mentioned. Engineers 
 have been prolific in their books on industrial management, control 
 system, production and scientific management, but the work shop of 
 the engineer himself seems always to have been overlooked. The 
 books on the principles of scientific management and efficiency are 
 legion and so much has been said on these subjects that is un- 
 scientific and tends to cause inefficiency, that the terms have be- 
 come odious to many people ; particularly the word, efficiency, which 
 will not in the next century be aible to free itself from the general 
 idea of its being something German. German efficiency is now per- 
 fectly understood to indicate the ultimate in human slavery, the 
 suppression of all individuality for the attainment of a purpose, 
 which was world supremacy. Sufficiency, not efficiency, was the 
 real trouble with the Germans. This subject is recalled only as a 
 warning that we do not fall into the same pit and in our desire to be 
 proficient and more efficient, become instead, sufficient. Neither 
 must we countenance any systems which prevent full development of 
 the individual nor suppress his inventive and creative abilities. 
 
 EFFICIENCY vs. ECONOMY. In place of the obnoxious word, 
 efficiency, I prefer to use the plain old-fashioned word, economy. It 
 is good enough for our purpose and when we, as a nation, learn (as 
 we did somewhat during the war) what economy is, then it will be 
 time enough to talk about efficiency. As for scientific management 
 we want that of course in the drafting-rooms, but not some foolish 
 mortal's idea of what constitutes scientific management. Scientific 
 must indicate something correct. It is therefore the highest develop- 
 ment in, or the nearest to the correct form of, management that we 
 desire. 
 
40 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT. In every problem in scientific 
 management due credit should be given to the late Frederick W. 
 Taylor, whose pioneer experiments in this field are of inestimable 
 value. They are valuable because he discovered and established 
 certain fundamental principles which have been the basis of all later 
 studies along this line. In order that a machinist may do his work 
 with the greatest degree of efficiency, Mr. Taylor found that there 
 are twelve variable factors constituting a problem which has to be 
 solved previous to starting an operation of metal cutting. All these 
 factors pertain to the cutting of the material, the tools used or speed 
 of machine, etc., and the machinist is considered a constant coeffi- 
 cient in all cases. Now the work of a draftsman and that of a mach- 
 inist is entirely different. The difference comes in the machinist be- 
 ing a workman skilled in physical labor while a draftsman is one 
 skilled chiefly in brain work and only to a certain extent in physical 
 labor. This is contrary to the prevailing idea of a draftsman's work, 
 but the fact remains that his work is almost entirely mental. 
 
 So when it comes to determining the efficiency of a draftsman's 
 work Ave may have 1200 variable factors instead of 12 and as the 
 mental capacity varies with each person we may have 1200 variables 
 in each individual case. The mental efficiency of a man may depend 
 upon most anything in his daily life or past experience, from what 
 he had to eat for breakfast to what place he went to school. It is 
 therefore practically impossible to gage a draftsman's economic 
 standard in the same way by which that of a machinist's is obtained. 
 
 Furthermore the Taylor system is so dangerously near to making 
 a man a human machine that it is out of place in a drafting-room. 
 There is quite enough of this human machinery about now, built by 
 "slave drivers." After all conditions are analyzed it will be seen that 
 what the draftsmen really want, what every one wants, is a square 
 deal. Ethics is a word which has come to indicate hypocrisy among 
 engineers, but which if properly applied will not only solve the prob- 
 lem of working conditions but the one of proper management of 
 drafting-rooms as well. Ethics is the principle of right action, square 
 deal, justice. We want ethics applied. 
 
 ETHICS APPLIED. In order to apply ethics in the manage- 
 ment of the drafting-room, an understanding of what is right is re- 
 
MANAGEMENT. 41 
 
 quired, and a knowledge of how to apply this understanding as well. 
 It is evident that better managers are needed, otherwise such un- 
 satisfactory conditions would not exist. One reason for poor man- 
 agers is because the salaries usually paid to chief draftsmen are not 
 sufficient to get good managers. Another reason is that schools do 
 not produce managers, nor is sufficient importance given to this 
 work in engineering. At present it is most difficult if not actually 
 impossible to obtain capable managers as chief draftsmen. Therefore 
 they will have to be trained. 
 
 THE MANAGER OR CHIEF DRAFTSMAN. A manager 
 should be broad-minded, capable, able to command respect and be 
 above petty jealousies. He must use tact and discretion in handling 
 the problems which come up. If he is a good manager his men will 
 like as well as respect him. He must have no favorites. He must 
 be free from the minor details and be accessible at all times to those 
 in his charge. Many chief draftsmen seem to think that their most 
 important work is looking after the mailing of blue prints instead of 
 devoting their time to managing an office. The best test of any 
 management is the fact that the employees like their work and re- 
 spect the "boss." 
 
 It seems to be the usual thing, when discussing labor problems 
 to entirely forget those who furnish the money which makes busi- 
 ness possible. However the above test will stand for when men like 
 their work and are interested in it there will be production and 
 economy ; hence it is a square deal for the men, the manager, and the 
 company. 
 
 Drafting-rooms should have distinct lines of promotion and each 
 man be made to understand just where his position in the organiza- 
 tion is. The last man to be employed naturally is at the bottom of 
 the ladder but this is no reason why he should not b>e promoted over 
 the other men provided he has the qualifications. The injustice comes 
 when one who obviously does not deserve it, is stepped over an- 
 other. This happens when the manager plays favorites or when there 
 is a stockholder's son who must be advanced. In any case it is poor 
 judgement. 
 
 Drafting-room forces are usually divided into squads and in or- 
 der to handle any amount of work it is necessary to divide the author- 
 
42 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 ity as well as the responsibility. Ten men is sufficient number for 
 one squad. Sometimes a chief draftsman assumes all the authority 
 but is ever ready to shift the responsibility when errors occur. That 
 there is gross mis-management no one can deny who has the slight- 
 est knowledge of conditions, but before complaining too much about 
 the "chief," it might be well for every draftsman to ask himself, 
 "Could I do any better?" 
 
 MISMANAGEMENT. It seems strange that in engineering 
 offices careless and indifferent management exists where one would 
 expect to find everything in mathematical order and precision. Re- 
 cently I met a young engineer carrying a small grip. He told me he 
 had to carry his drafting instruments home every night because there 
 was no place in the office to leave them. This was in the office of 
 one of the prominent engineers of the country. Thus in the home of 
 efficiency we find the ultimate of inefficiency. Every office has its 
 own model system of filing drawings and no two are alike. Most 
 of them seem to be worked out with the idea of hiding drawings 
 rather than filing them for future reference. Methods of making up 
 the pay-roll are frequently even more complicated than the filing 
 systems. 
 
 One o'clock closing on Saturday has always seemed to me a 
 method of trying to get a day's work out of the men while giving 
 them a half-holiday at the same time. If it is to be a half-holiday 
 then the office should close at twelve o'clock, allowing men to get 
 their lunch at the usual hour. Draftsmen rarely accomplish any 
 work between twelve and one anyway. Holidays are similarly grant- 
 ed, with strings to them. The men are not notified in advance, there- 
 fore can make no plans and the holiday does them no good. The 
 company loses their time and the men gain nothing. 
 
 These things are mentioned because they are positively unneces- 
 sary sources of discontent. Engineers mismanage their own affairs 
 and the men under them because they are largely ignorant of systems 
 of management which have proven to be correct or scientific in prin- 
 ciple. There is now practically a standard wage for draftsmen al- 
 though it is not uncommon to see one man perform 100% more 
 work than the man by his side. To pay a worker in proportion to 
 the work performed is a fundamental principle in scientific manage- 
 
MANAGEMENT. 43 
 
 ment. Every one knows that unionism has stood for the standard 
 wage as against scientific management. Therefore every engineer 
 who has not helped to enforce this principle has been, on the other 
 hand, supporting the standard of unions. 
 
 FOREIGNERS IN THE DRAFTING-ROOM. One other 
 condition in the engineering field should be uncovered in all its shame^ 
 namely, the situation concerning foreigners or at least near-foreigners, 
 un-Americans. A number of cases have come to my notice where 
 foreign engineers, even enemies, have been given preference over 
 Americans, preference to which no superior qualities entitled them. 
 Two reasons may 'be given for this : first, that foreigners will work 
 as a rule much cheaper and second, that a number of executive posi- 
 tions are held by foreign engineers. It does not seem possible that 
 a loyal company would during the war allow its engineering depart- 
 ment to delay the output of war work through the employment of 
 disloyalists. Yet such was the case and in one instance it was not 
 discovered until the work was several weeks behind. The method 
 was of German simplicity. The draftsmen started to work on the 
 roof of the building first. 
 
 Now all this may be criticised as being pessimistic; however 
 one cannot take an optimistic view of the engineering field and ignore 
 these undesirable conditions. They must be exposed and when com- 
 pletely exposed to view, they are partially destroyed. The fault lies 
 with the management and the management must be so informed in 
 no uncertain terms. The work of drafting is too vitally important to 
 be mismanaged. 
 
 TRACING DRAWINGS. It is an open question whether or not 
 it is advisable for every draftsman to completely finish and trace his 
 own drawings. It is certainly true that this method would often be 
 more economical, because of the tracer's many possible mistakes 
 which have to be checked, changed and corrected; all taking time 
 and costing more in the end, than if the drawing had been finished 
 by the one who made it. Then again the detailer or designer is 
 frequently able to outline his work in pencil and finish it in ink on 
 the cloth at a great saving of time. In comparing the two ways, it 
 will be found that the experienced man will trace his own work in 
 one-half to one-fourth the time of the ordinary tracer; he will make 
 
44 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 fewer mistakes and cause less time for checking and correcting. 
 Since the tracer ordinarily earns about one-half to one-fourth the 
 salary of the detailer, there is nothing saved when it takes him twice 
 as long to make the tracing as it does the detailer, not to mention 
 the other items. No iron-clad rule can be made in regard to the 
 tracing of drawings because every office has its own peculiar con- 
 ditions and requires special attention. There are lines of work where 
 it is no doubt economical to have tracers to trace the drawings, but 
 they should always be students or beginners. 
 
 CHECKING DRAWINGS. Great responsibility is frequently 
 placed on the draftsman. Even the detailer should realize the im- 
 portance attached to his work for even though it may be checked, 
 the checking is only done to catch possible errors. Accuracy is the 
 first consideration. Whether the mistake is overlooked or not, it 
 was made by the detailer and therefore he is responsible for it. Of 
 course the final responsibility of the work rests upon the one who 
 last goes over it but no detailer should ever depend upon a checker 
 to catch his mistakes. His drawing should be finished and correct 
 as far as can be reasonably expected. 
 
 All glaring errors should be caught as well as any which would 
 entail considerable expense. A detailer should always take time to 
 look over his drawing before it leaves his hand and check the most 
 important dimensions or the basic figures. This tends to eliminate 
 at the start any prominent mistakes. He should also, especially if 
 careless tracers are in vogue in his office, always compare his draw- 
 ing with the tracing to see if all figures and lines are copied correctly. 
 
 This review work on the part of the detailer pays for itself. 
 When it is not done (and this is more often the case than otherwise) 
 it is the fault of the management. To rush work thru the drafting- 
 room is very poor business. This review work may consume but a 
 few minutes or perhaps an hour or more, but the idea is, that the 
 drawing should go to the checker as nearly right as possible. It is 
 permissible to "leave for the checker" only the things of minor im- 
 portance such as the mere addition of figures. It is sometimes per- 
 missible to leave them for the templet maker or machinist or field 
 engineer but only when there is harmony between these parties and 
 they are in close proximity, such as in a very small shop. 
 
MANAGEMENT. 45 
 
 Some checkers have a practice of falsely marking a figure on a 
 drawing in order to see if the detailer is back-checking the drawing 
 before making the changes. Permit no subterfuges to detect one's 
 trustworthiness. Meet the situation face to face and not by sneak- 
 thief methods. 
 
 It is impossible to fix hard and fast rules to govern drafting and 
 draftsmen. All engineering as soon as it gets beyond the absolute 
 mechanical formulae is a matter of judgement and experience. There- 
 fore it becomes necessary to have men in charge of drafting-rooms 
 who possess good judgement and have had broad experience. 
 
 I have, suggested that the mechanical tracer, that is, the man or 
 girl who has no desire or ambition or ability to progress in technical 
 engineering, be eliminated. If this is done there will be left in the 
 drafting-rooms only those who already possess or are acquiring a 
 technical education. This will at once solve some of the problems 
 of management. 
 
 TURNOVER. Probably the worst feature in the present man- 
 agement of drafting-rooms is the "labor turnover". It is appalling 
 when the class of work is considered. The "turnover" indicates the 
 frequency with which the force is turned over or replaced and it is 
 not unusual to find places where there is 100% turnover, meaning 
 that new men were employed during the year equal to the average 
 number in the office throughout the year. There are hundreds of 
 shops which will not permit such a high percentage even among the 
 laborers and if it were to happen some officials would lose their job's. 
 Many times the turnover would be made a lot quicker except for the 
 fact that the men knew of no better place to go so they remained. 
 
 The financial management evidently knows nothing about these 
 conditions ; if they did they surely would be looking for some higher- 
 class chief engineers or chief draftsmen. A few figures will show 
 why. Suppose an office with an average force of twenty men should 
 lose during the year twenty men and employ twenty more. At a very 
 minimum, it would cost that company $100 to break in each new 
 man, making a total of $2000 per year. Now if the company would 
 take this sum and add it to the $2000 which it is throwing away on 
 the chief draftsman it would have the sum of $4000 which would be 
 nearly sufficient to get a good manager. We need a better class of 
 
46 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 men for chief draftsmen, — not the type who hold their positions 
 thru their ability to drive men, but the kind who can get the work 
 accomplished without driving them. 
 
 FOOLISH EFFICIENCY. Various absurd attempts have been 
 made to introduce methods of efficiency (so called) in the drafting- 
 rooms. The men responsible for these rules have the most casual 
 acquaintance with the true principles of economic management and 
 their limited knowledge does more damage than would absolute 
 ignorance. Would anybody want to ride in a railroad train with a 
 man in the cab who had never been over the road before and had 
 only a "casual acquaintance" with the signals? It is the same with 
 these self-sufficient individuals who tinker with problems of scien- 
 tific management without an understanding of the fundamentals in- 
 volved. 
 
 In my cub days I was employed in a drafting-room where all 
 were forbidden to draw dotted lines in making the pencil drawings. 
 A full line naturally can be made much quicker and saves time. As 
 I remember in looking back at those engine designs, drawn all in 
 full lines, and then think of the hours I used to spend trying to pick 
 out of that mystic maze some part of the machine in order to make a 
 shop detail, — well it was good training but doubtful economy. 
 
 Quite recently, I was informed of another concern which re- 
 quires draftsmen to follow a similiar procedure : when making a long 
 line with a T-square, say from left to right, in order to save any 
 extra movements the T-square must be shifted to another position 
 and a second line be drawn from right to left as the arm returns to 
 the first position. I would not believe it possible for an engineer to 
 give such a ridiculous order, if I did not know of other cases equally 
 foolish. 
 
 THE SLIP-STICK TABOOED. In some railroad offices for 
 instance the use of a slide rule or planimeter is riot allowed in cal- 
 culating cross sections. Let me explain to the unitiated that a "cross 
 section" in railroad parlance is simply a section of the road bed in a 
 cut or on an embankment and the points of elevation are taken with 
 the level, reading only to tenths of a foot, which is sufficiently ac- 
 curate to answer all requirements. The object being to determine 
 the cubic yards of material excavated or hauled. A planimeter is a 
 
MANAGEMENT. 47 
 
 small instrument which will give the area of any regular or irregular 
 surface by simply tracing the outline with a pointer. This can be 
 done in a few seconds, whereas it takes many minutes or even hours 
 to calculate the same area. Likewise the slide rule sometimes may 
 be used to great advantage on this and other classes of work. The 
 party who stated that the railroads could save a million dollars a day 
 surely must have been familiar with common drafting-room practices, 
 but the railroads do not seem to profit by the advice because there 
 are scores of draftsmen at this time, still figuring "cross sections" 
 long hand on the government valuation work. The situation is 
 enough to discourage the invention of labor saving devices. 
 
 PHYSICAL AND MENTAL LABOR. The methods applied to 
 laborers or skilled tradesmen will not do in scientific management of 
 the drafting-room. We are dealing with an entirely different kind 
 of work. Taylor, himself, says that in his law of physical labor the 
 more stupid a man is, the more nearly the law is fulfilled, showing 
 conclusively that as the work becomes all mental, the law is in- 
 applicable. Of course time studies could be made of draftsmen and 
 methods devised of doing the mechanical work with the least num- 
 ber of movements, and in the quickest time, but of what value would 
 the results be? They would only apply to about 1/10 of the drafts- 
 man's work, while the 9/10 or the mental part is neglected. Where 
 would be the economy in teaching a man how to save a fraction of a 
 minute in the operation of drawing a line while he is so constituted 
 that he loses hours in trying to decide where that line is to be 
 placed? 
 
 TIME STUDIES vs. WORK STUDIES. Valuable studies 
 however can be made to determine if the work performed by the men 
 is necessary or whether the best systems are being followed in per- 
 forming it. For instance, I have a blue print of an ordinary structural 
 drawing showing shop details of plate and angle work. The sheet 
 is 36" by 42" and only comfortably full. By counting enough to 
 estimate the balance, I found that there were some 2100 numerals, 
 800 letters and 1500 lines, not to mention inch marks, circles, dotted 
 lines, cross hatching, etc., on this one sheet. A little well directed' 
 thought on the part of the draftsman would enable him to save some 
 of these numerals, — perhaps 5% of them, but the drawing was well 
 
48 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 made according to the practice of that office and all the numerals 
 which could have been saved is a negative factor. 
 
 Now assume a new manager should look at this drawing. If he 
 knows something about managing he would readily see that the 
 great bulk of these 2100 numerals and 1500 lines were unnecessary 
 and represented a great loss of time. A little cooperation between 
 the drafting-room and shop would make it possible to draw such 
 plans with about 20% of the effort required to make the one in ques- 
 tion, transferring to the shop a little extra work. 
 
 This additional work thrown on the shop (which in this parti- 
 cular case would be the templet or pattern shop) is brain work. The 
 templet maker would have to think a little more, becoming thereby, 
 more interested in his work. He would not feel that the draftsman 
 considers him an ignorant workman. With this greater interest in 
 the work, comes a greater content. Being more contented, he turns 
 out more work. "Greater production" is sounded constantly into the 
 ears of workmen, sufficient to drive them to join the I. W(on't) 
 W(orks), but how few there are who understand that increased pro- 
 duction will never prove economical if the interest is thereby taken 
 out of the work. The tendency should be to make men think about 
 their work, not to have others do it all for them. This is why draft- 
 ing is one of the most interesting of occupations, — it is all thinking, 
 scheming, planning. Draftsmen lose interest in their work only after 
 awakening to the fact that for years they have been exploited and 
 have as -a result become bankrupt and social inferiors. I have gone 
 on record in the technical journals as stating that at present from 
 25% to 50% too much drafting is done. A change will come about 
 gradually and when once the profession educates the public to the 
 necessity, thousands of positions will open up which will demand 
 the services of these men as engineers and managers. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 TEMPORARY NATURE OF DRAFTING. Owing to the tem- 
 porary nature of their work, draftsmen are compelled to change 
 positions more or less frequently. No general statement applies to 
 ll branches of engineering and altho there are many manufacturing 
 ifants which are able to keep their draftsmen on the pay-roll even 
 luring dull times, the majority are not. For instance, a construction 
 ompany secures a contract requiring a large drafting force. The 
 -raftsmen are procured but when all the plans are completed, their 
 vork is finished. Unless the company obtains another contract at 
 his time, it can hardly be expected to retain its employees indefinite- 
 y. Again if the concern is a manufacturing company with a steady 
 msiness ordinarily it would be folly for it to keep a large drafting 
 orce over an extended period with no work for them. To these com- 
 panies engaged in the uncertain business of engineering and con- 
 racting, which desire to give their employees just treatment, con- 
 ideration is due for the many difficulties with which they have to 
 . ontend. 
 
 DRAFTSMAN NOT DAY LABORERS. Companies need only 
 
 d understand that draftsmen are not day laborers and that the re- 
 
 ponsibility of their work demands that they be given somewhat 
 
 .igher consideration. Now those employers of draftsmen who hire 
 
 aid fire men with no thought whatsoever for the responsibility of 
 
 their work nor for the value of the service which they have rendered, 
 
 should be accorded scant courtesy. Many times when a force of 
 
 draftsmen is laid off the company could well afford to keep them 
 
 employed in some way until another contract was secured. I know 
 
 >f a case where men were laid off one day and on the next day a 
 
 new contract was secured by the company and they were asked to 
 
 return. How ridiculous it is to conduct a business on such a short 
 
 sighted policy. 
 
52 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 TRAINING REQUIRED. It takes many months for a drafts- 
 man to become familiar with a line of work at a cost to the employer 
 of several hundred dollars, and then the moment the work runs so 
 short that this man's services can be dispensed with, he is laid off. 
 No regrets are mentioned. No acknowledgement made for the good 
 service rendered. No hope expressed that work would come in so 
 that he might soon return. A dishonorable discharge, as it were, 
 with the dishonor not on the man, however, but on the chief drafts- 
 man or chief engineer who possesses so little conscience, so little of 
 that fraternal spirit which should exist between men in the same 
 work. Yes, and so little knowledge of the proper way of handling 
 men. It is astonishing that the financial heads of companies allow 
 conditions like this to exist. They do exist, however, and all too 
 frequently. 
 
 ORGANIZATION NECESSARY. If draftsmen were organ- 
 ized they could correct such a condition by informing the head of 
 the company, the one who is responsible to the stockholders, that 
 such a policy was both a losing one for his company and most un- 
 satisfactory to the draftsman. Of course, employers are just as 
 human, and just as stubborn, perhaps, as the rest, of us, and when 1 
 they cannot see a thing is right and just, sometimes it is necessary 
 to force the issue in another way. An organization is essential be- 
 cause an individual can do practically nothing alone. A union is not 
 necessary, that is to say, a union which advocates continual strikes 
 and boycotts. However a national organization could with more or 
 less publicity rectify any condition which was not right. There is 
 nothing so distasteful to people in general as adverse publicity. In 
 such cases the draftsmen would avoid that company as surely as if 
 a boycott were declared, and it would not be long before the publi- 
 city would have an effect on the business of the comany. So it is 
 evident that draftsmen have all the power in the world if they but 
 organize and chose to exercise it. Let us hope that it will always be 
 exercised for good, and good only. 
 
 SEEKING EMPLOYMENT. Since draftsmen must change 
 their positions rather frequently it behooves them to study ways 
 and means of procuring new positions and to avoid the loss of in- 
 
EMPLOYMENT. 53 
 
 come so far as possible between positions. Draftsmen like most all 
 engineers are poor salesmen, but selling their services is a very im- 
 portant matter. Here are a few points to observe when applying for 
 a position by letter: 
 
 1. Have the letter typewritten. Use a printed letter head of 
 your own if possible or of your present company. Do not 
 use cheap looking paper. 
 
 2. Start the letter by commanding the attention of the reader 
 and close, leaving him with the impression that he needs just 
 such a man as you. 
 
 3. Make your letter short and to the point. Always tell the 
 truth. Never state your present salary, — state your future 
 salary. 
 
 4. Have a concise statement of your experience always on hand 
 and up-to-date. This is a most valuable thing to send an 
 employer and the most important selling point you have. 
 
 The above ideas convey only elementary advice but it is advice 
 that is very badly needed by draftsmen. They are notoriously care- 
 less in these matters even when it is vitally important for them to 
 secure work. Many good men have lost out because they lacked an 
 understanding of these simple facts. 
 
54 
 
 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 SAMPLE LETTER OF APPLICATION. 
 
 Chicago, 111., Jan. 1, 1919. 
 
 The Lake Shore Steel Co., 
 Gary, Ind. 
 
 Dear Sirs : - 
 
 Please consider my application for the 
 position of structural draftsman adver- 
 tised in the "Daily News". 
 
 My experience in this line has been 
 varied and practical, a summary of which 
 is enclosed on a separate sheet. 
 
 Inspection work and observation in the 
 shops has given me a familiarity with out- 
 side methods and I feel competent to eco- 
 nomically detail or design any ordinary 
 steel structure, or to take charge of 
 squad. 
 
 Trusting that you are paying the cus- 
 tomary rates on this class of work for one 
 of my experience, I will therefore expect 
 a salary of $4200 per year and will be 
 available two weeks after acceptance. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 524 La Salle St. 
 
 JOHN JONES 
 
EMPLOYMENT. 55 
 
 RECORD OF EXPERIENCE. 
 
 JOHN JONES, 524 La Salle St. Chicago, 111 
 
 Age 30. Married. American born. 
 
 Graduate Technical High School. 
 
 3 years Civil Engineering at Univ. of 111 
 
 y 2 year rodman, C. B. & Q. Ry . 
 
 l l / 2 years instrumentman on location and con 
 struction, C. M. & St. P. Ry. 
 
 3 years drafting. Details, layouts, de- 
 signs and estimates on steel and con- 
 crete and general civil engineering. 
 Occasional outside inspections. With 
 H &H . engineers and architects. 
 
 2 years drafting. Detailing and checking 
 
 on bridges and buildings with 
 
 Bridge Co. 
 
 1 year in charge of squad about six men. 
 Heavy bridge work. With same company. 
 
 8 years total practical experience. 
 
56 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 THE EMPLOYER'S VIEWPOINT. When writing an ap- 
 plication consider the position of an employer. He is a busy man. 
 He receives many applications. His notice is attracted to a neat, 
 typewritten page and if he finds the qualities there that he is look- 
 ing for, why should he look further? He does not, and the other 
 letters are "filed", which may mean filed in some places and the 
 waste basket in others, but it amounts to the same thing to the man 
 out of a position. It should not be very difficult for any drafts- 
 man to get his letter typewritten. It may incur a trifling expense 
 but it is worth it. In fact it is to one's advantage to get advice on 
 letter writing from experts, who can usually be found, as can typists, 
 in the typewriter supply houses. 
 
 PROMISCUOUS LETTER WRITING. The promiscuous 
 writing of letters to business concerns should be discouraged be- 
 cause it cheapens the profession. Chief engineers actually receive 
 hundreds of applications of all kinds, not hundreds in a year, but 
 sometimes hundreds in a week. Of course they are seldom seen by 
 the chief, as a clerk or possibly the office boy, has a blanket order to 
 answer them thus : "There are no positions open at present but we 
 will file your application and notify you if anything turns up." Many 
 an otherwise intelligent man has been buoyed up by such a false 
 hope. In most cases these applications are filed and never referred 
 to. When the company wants a draftsman the first one who comes 
 along is employed, or if none appear, it will advertise. 
 
 It is almost a waste of time and effort to seek a position unless 
 you have some clue to a vacancy or perhaps have a personal friend 
 who will reply to your letter. Sometimes a suggestion can be found 
 under "New Construction" in the engineering papers, then your let- 
 ter can be stated thus : "I read in the News that your com- 
 pany is about to start construction" etc. If a mutual friend can be 
 found and his name used in the letter it will almost always bring 
 a courteous reply. It may be a subterfuge but if the truth is stated 
 it is permissable. 
 
 APPLICATION BLANKS. Application blanks present a pro- 
 blem with which it is hard to deal. They are undoubtedly a nui- 
 sance to every draftsman. Every company has its own forms and 
 

 EMPLOYMENT. 57 
 
 applicants usually have to fill them out before receiving any con- 
 sideration. The draftsman is at a disadvantage because he is the 
 "beggar", so to speak, and can not be the "chooser". 
 
 On the whole an application form contains a great amount of 
 useless information which no employer ever wants, reads or verifies, 
 but they may require considerable time in filling out. If a man 
 wishes to apply in a number of places he must go through the ordeal 
 for each one. These blanks frequently have a column for salaries re- 
 ceived in former positions. This is not a square deal for the ap- 
 plicant. Does any company ever tell its cost prices to a competitor? 
 Do they ever divulge the inner secrets of their business to any one 
 who may ask? Then what right has any employer to request a pros- 
 pective employee to tell the very thing which he should keep secret, 
 — i. e. — "salary in last position" or "present salary"? Why should 
 this question be asked except for the purpose of taking advantage of 
 the one seeking the position? My advice is never to lose this advan- 
 tage but state your price and make it exactly what you think your 
 services to be worth. It is a very common thing for draftsmen to 
 ask for a salary much less than they are worth and sometimes less 
 than the company is willing to pay. A company can hardly be ex- 
 pected to pay more than asked. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS. Recommendations are a farce nine 
 times out of ten. Employers ask applicants to give recommenda- 
 tions or to name two or three past employers, professors or friends 
 as references, largely because it is the customary thing to do. Now 
 everybody knows that any young man can get one or a dozen to 
 "recommend" him for a position and many, many times the recom- 
 mendor laughs up his sleeve at the joke on the prospective employer. 
 Frequently the lad who was lowest in his class at college and whom 
 the professor blushes to recommend, proves to be the very best kind 
 of a workman while the head of the class cannot hold down a second- 
 rate position. 
 
 Any man who has acquired some years of experience can like- 
 wise procure recommendations because it is seldom that an employ- 
 er will state anything to the detriment of a former employee, and 
 rightly so. Any such black mark on a man's record is almost im- 
 
58 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 possible to efface and will discourage him if he really desires to be- 
 come a better workman. I once knew a man who boasted of the 
 ex-convict which he engaged. This man had charity, or love for his 
 fellow man, in his heart. If a draftsman is discharged because of a 
 serious mistake, it is no reason why he should be refused an op- 
 portunity to get along in another position. In fact if he profits by 
 his mistake he will be a better man than before. 
 
 When the man to be employed is an executive, his record can 
 easily be investigated by the interested party if the importance of 
 the position warrants it. If however it be a draftsman who is to 
 work in a subordinate position the man should be accepted and em- 
 ployed on his own word and without bothering a lot of busy execu- 
 tives, for references about which they know nothing and care less. 
 If the chief draftsman is a competent manager he can tell in the 
 course of a few days at the most whether the new man is capable 
 or not. An incompetent chief may however, (I have seen it happen 
 many times) allow a draftsman to work for weeks or months with- 
 out any particular supervision, only to discover finally that his work 
 was so full of errors that it all had to be done over. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENTS. In regard to answering advertisements 
 for positions it is difficult to advise for there are all kinds of freaks 
 employing draftsmen and a well written letter may go wide of the 
 mark, whereas the "cheap" looking letter against which I have ad- 
 vised, may appeal to the limited bank roll of the concern advertising. 
 Some will accept the applicant who offers to work for the lowest 
 sum. Others wil do just the opposite and take the one who asks the 
 most, believing that they are thereby getting the best. The condi- 
 tions will remain uncertain until engineering in general is raised to 
 a higher plane. 
 
 Advertising under "situations wanted" is an excellent way to 
 obtain a position when any answers to the ads are received. It gives 
 the applicant a far greater advantage to have a company write first, 
 in answer to an advertisement. Fifty letters writen in answer to 
 "help wanted" ads may not bring a single reply but one answer to 
 a "situation wanted" ad may mean a position. Unfortunately a small 
 percentage of the latter class of ads are ever answered. If it is a 
 
EMPLOYMENT. 59 
 
 dull period they are few indeed but in busy times undoubtedly 
 many good positions are secured that way. Generally speaking the 
 expense of advertising represents a considerable waste of money and 
 effort. If the same amount were invested in an organization which 
 cared for the employment of its members it would be much more 
 satisfactory for all concerned. The employee would know where 
 there was any chance whatever of securing work without writing 
 letters or filling out applications or making personal interviews. The 
 employer likewise would know where to find the class of men he 
 wanted. 
 
 "JOB" HUNTING. One of the most pernicious habits of 
 draftsmen when out of work, is to "go the rounds" of the engineer- 
 ing offices, asking, even begging, for a job. If there is a personal 
 friend in the office, ask for him and find out if there is any prospect 
 before calling on the chief draftsman. One on the inside can always 
 give some idea of the conditions and if there is not some hint as to 
 a possible vacancy it is very bad policy to interview the boss. The 
 reason is this: draftsmen calling frequently on busy men about po- 
 sitions is an annoyance. It cheapens drafting. It actually keeps 
 salaries down. 
 
 For instance, say 100 draftsmen are let out in a large city as is 
 not an infrequent occurrence. They make a mad scramble for new 
 positions. If there are 100 offices in the business district, each of 
 the 100 men may call at each office in about a week's time. The 
 case is not an extreme one, for there are times when ten men a day 
 will call in one office, seeking positions. Naturally a chief drafts- 
 man becomes somewhat disgusted. Since he is apt to meet and 
 talk with other chief draftsmen, each will compare notes about the 
 "job-hunters" and the impression is exaggerated until they estimate 
 1000 men out of work, instead of 100. 
 
 Naturally also these chief draftsmen size up the men and per- 
 chance take one or two who are willing to work for about $100 per 
 month. It is useless to vent our wrath on either party because they 
 are both lacking in moral stamina, Since men are so weak morally 
 it is necessary that some form of organization compel them to live 
 up to the ethical ideals of the best. \t is for their good as well as for 
 
 i 
 
60 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 the good of all. Some form of prices must be maintained to prevent 
 this suicidal process. 
 
 RETAIN DRAFTSMEN IF POSSIBLE. Companies should 
 make every effort to prevent the flooding of the market with 
 draftsmen. However they will do so only, when they have wide 
 awake managers who understand how costly it is to hire and fire 
 men, or when pressure is brought to bear through an organization. 
 Men can be put on part time if times are very dull and it is neces- 
 sary to suffer some inconvenience. In this way they can keep the 
 wolf from the door and save the expense of moving to a new place 
 till times become better. Companies which deliberately lower the 
 salaries of men while keeping them at work the same number of 
 hours justly earn the contempt of their employees, except of course 
 when economic conditions of the country change. They should en- 
 deavor to find work in neighboring plants, even of competitors if 
 possible, for their draftsmen, with the idea in view of having them 
 return when the time is propitious. Have an understanding that the 
 men are "loaned" if is agreeable to the draftsmen. 
 
 SELLING SERVICES. I am not one who believes that tech- 
 nical men should sacrifice any considerable amount of time to the 
 study of salesmanship in order to sell their services. If too much 
 time is devoted to this, when one has no desire to become a sales- 
 man, then there is an economic loss. A certain amount of attention 
 must be given to the business end of drafting but if the best de- 
 gree of the engineering is to be obtained, efforts should be concen- 
 trated on this work and not upon acquiring positions by the science 
 of salesmanship. 
 
 Therefore the positions and salaries of these men should be 
 protected for the sake of their families if nothing else. It is advis- 
 able to read books on selling, and writing letters, etc., but do not 
 neglect the technical papers and current articles in connection with 
 the work. There must be an organization to handle the welfare and 
 business matters. Dues paid into the organization will give the 
 needed protection to draftsmen, provided they take sufficiently 
 active part in it to see that it is run properly and not for the selfish 
 interests of a few. 
 
EMPLOYMENT. 61 
 
 the publication of the American Association of Engineers, appeared 
 an article by the writer in which is was stated that the employment 
 agencies were taking more money out of the pockets of the engineers 
 than was being paid into the big national engineering societies. This 
 statement has since been given nation-wide publicity in circulars 
 and I have yet to hear of it being disputed. This sum if put into 
 one national organization would solve the employment problem for 
 all engineers. 
 
 The employment agencies are a cause of great humiliation to 
 draftsmen. Men are compelled to go to the agencies at times when 
 starvation stares them in the face. It is then the applicant learns of 
 the crooked channels through which they operate. His eyes are 
 opened to the fact that chief engineers and chief draftsmen hire only 
 through such and such an agency; that engineers and others are 
 reaping profits from the unfortunate who need work; and that when 
 once they have dealt with an agency, they are continually pestered 
 with new offers. Many have been fired in order that a chief could 
 hire new victims. To suggest such a thing as split fees may be 
 unethical, but not necessarily untruthful. The agencies are a dis- 
 grace to the profession but the profession had best ask itself, "Who 
 is directly supporting them, the employee or the employer?" 
 
 It is wrong in principle for individuals to derive profit from 
 those who happen to be out of work and the private engineering 
 agencies must eventually go out of business. The Division of En- 
 gineering of the U. S. Employment Bureau has made an attempt to 
 give free service to all technical men and has rendered valuable aid 
 to the government and to the men during the war. The American 
 Association of Engineers has developed a free employment service 
 for its members, second only to the Government. Other engineering 
 societies have likewise attemted to give service to their members. 
 Neither these societies nor the Government will be able to effective- 
 ly serve all draftsmen or all engineers until one agency has eliminat- 
 ed all the others through a survival of the fittest. There must be 
 only one. 
 
 SUPPLY AND DEMAND. The demand for draftsmen dur- 
 ing the war was beyond all precedent but nevertheless there was no 
 
62 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 period in which the supply was not equal to the demand. The U. S. 
 Employment Bureau states that the only exception to this fact was in 
 a few specialized lines but reports indicated that the supply became 
 inferior where the demand was the greatest. Every draftsman should 
 note carefully that normally there are too many in the drafting bus- 
 iness. Every young man who intends to follow engineering should 
 know it also. Every school should note it, because there are more 
 students in the engineering courses than ever before, particularly 
 in those schools which give only a superficial engineering education 
 but sufficient for them to take up drafting. 
 
 I have no intention of campaigning against the schools to re- 
 duce the supply of technical men. The proper way to correct the 
 condition of over-supply is to create a larger demand. A technical 
 education is a good foundation for any line of industrial occupation, 
 and there are great opportunities in the field for the surplus drafts- 
 men if they would only rise to the occasion. There are thousands 
 of positions in the service of cities, states and federal government, 
 which technical men should hold and they no doubt would if they 
 displayed more interest in the civic affairs of the community in 
 which they live. To get into politics is not saying that you have to 
 sacrifice any principle of engineering ethics or even of your own 
 religion. Politics is what we make it or what the crooks make of it 
 when the best citizens refuse to vote or run for office. 
 
 UNETHICAL PRACTICES. There exists among some com- 
 panies which employ draftsmen a practice that is most reprehen- 
 sible and one that is becoming more and more unpopular. It is the 
 practice of making agreements, probably unwritten ones, between 
 companies or individuals not to hire men from each other. That is to 
 say, a draftsman perfects all arrangements to make a change by 
 which he hopes to better his position, when all at once the secret 
 agreement comes into play and the deal is off. It is without doubt 
 barring a man's progress and prevents him from improving his con- 
 dition through individual effort. It is similiar in effect to a black 
 list or a boycott and without a semblance of justice. 
 
 To say the practice is unethical to a draftsman who has been 
 through such an experience is to receive a string of invectives a- 
 
EMPLOYMENT. 63 
 
 gainst the entire engineering profession in general and certain in- 
 dividuals in particular. Why? Because the profession is represent- 
 ed principally by the big national societies. These societies are 
 strong for preaching about their ethical ideals and the dignity of 
 the profession. But it is the individual engineers who are re- 
 sponsible for the above practice and they invariably belong to one 
 or more of the big societies. If any think that this practice is ob- 
 solete I will say that some of the most powerful corporations in the 
 U. S. are today exercising this and similar methods of keeping drafts- 
 men — engineers — on the tread-mill and it is not confined whol- 
 ly to the big electrical companies either. 
 
 Hire-and-fire methods are also abominable ones which are in 
 vogue in many engineering offices and construction organizations. 
 Companies are extremely particular regarding the experience and 
 qualifications of the men they employ, but do not hesitate to un- 
 ceremoniously discharge them the minute they cease to become a 
 necessity. 
 
 No such thing as a "permanent" position exists and draftsmen 
 should accept no discounted salary on the promise of one. Promises 
 also are frequently made regarding future increases and various 
 other inducements given to persuade draftsmen to accept positions 
 when men are not very plentiful. Draftsmen should beware of these 
 rash promises because they are only made by crafty managers who 
 will not be over scrupulous in keeping them. 
 
 ; 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 COMPENSATION. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COMPENSATION. 
 
 GREED FOR WEALTH. Money, money, money and more 
 money. Higher pay, minimum wages, just compensation. It is a 
 disease. From the ignorant laborer to the bloated plutocrat the cry 
 is the same, — more money. When will mortals learn that money, 
 or material wealth, never brings the happiness which the inner self 
 really desires? Never till the Christ Truth enters the consciousness 
 and heals this insane desire, this covetousness, this disease. Wealth 
 positively does not bring either health or happiness. Both are men- 
 tal conditions, therefore they cannot be dependent upon material 
 money. If you have ever seen a real, old time darkey you will in a 
 measure realize that health, happiness and poverty may dwell 
 amicably together. 
 
 If this .seems like a bit of a sermon it is a most important one 
 and a factor in the settlement of wage disputes which is seldom 
 ever taken into account. The tendency has been too often to make 
 demands for higher pay without regard to the justice of the cause, 
 to get it because some other trade got it. There is no principle be- 
 hind this method. For instance if John earns more money than his 
 older brother, this fact in itself is no reason for the older brother to 
 make any disturbance about it. If an electrician makes more than 
 a brick-layer it is no reason why the latter should demand higher 
 pay. If a steel roller makes $50 per day is it any reason why a 
 yegg-man should make $5000 in a night? If one draftsman in the 
 office makes more than you do is that any reason why you should 
 put on a grouch and make yourself miserable? 
 
 This is just what causes the misery and discontent, — coveting 
 something which some one else has. If draftsmen want a just com- 
 pensation it would be well to sit down and think these things over 
 and reason the problem out scientifically. Every office must en- 
 deavor to grade the positions so that there will be no cause for 
 
68 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 complaint about the inequality of salaries. It is a problem for the 
 management, not the draftsman. Any draftsman who has brains 
 enough to make a competent workman must have sufficient intel- 
 ligence to bring him to the conclusion that right and reason will 
 win, not eventually, but NOW. It won the greatest conflict in all 
 history and it will win every time it is applied. 
 
 FACTORS OF COMPENSATION. The factors which must 
 be considered in determining a just compensation are varied and in- 
 numerable. However the most important are given as follows :— 
 
 1. Educational training which is necessary in order to perform 
 the given work. 
 
 2. Practical experience required in addition to the theoretical 
 training. 
 
 3. Responsibility of the position in connection with the value 
 and importance of the work. 
 
 4. Executive ability, or the possibility of becoming a future 
 executive. 
 
 5. Accuracy, speed and all-around effective economy of the 
 workman. 
 
 6. Length of time in the employer's service. 
 
 7. Potential value; that is, a draftsman may have minor duties 
 but retained and paid as an emergency expert. 
 
 8. Character and personal appearance. 
 
 9. Period of time in which a man may do effective work. 
 10. Special qualifications. 
 
 No fixed rule can be given to determine the just compensation 
 based on these conditions. Neither can the relative value of each 
 point be established except in the specific cases. But a few figures 
 will show that draftsmen have not been receiving their just dues. 
 
 EDUCATION. Like any other engineer a draftsman must 
 have a technical education. He must get it either in college or 
 spend an equal amount of time in home or night-school study. The 
 educational training of the average college graduate represents an 
 investment of about $8000, when taking into account the cost of tui- 
 
COMPENSATION. 69 
 
 tion plus the lost earnings during the time at school. This figure 
 is necessarily estimated because there is little reliable data on the 
 subject. When statements are made that a college education costs 
 one or two hundred or even one or two thousand dollars, it is ab- 
 surd. If the student instead of preparing for college had at the age 
 of sixteen taken up brick-laying he could have by the time of gradu- 
 ation easily averaged $1000 per year income or earned a total of 
 about $7000. This sum represents an economic loss as our man has 
 been a non-producer for about seven years. Now if this sum is not 
 considered and added to the cost of his education it is penalizing 
 him just that much over the tradesman. Some men may work their 
 way thru or even earn a surplus over the cost of tuition but on the 
 other hand many others will affirm that it cost them $5000 and over. 
 To say that an average college training in engineering represents 
 an investment of $8000 is not far from the truth. 
 
 EXPERIENCE. The practical experience required to do the 
 most ordinary drafting, even good tracing, takes from one to two 
 years. To become fairly competent in just one special branch of 
 engineering takes three to four years. To become an all-around 
 competent structural draftsman or machine draftsman takes from 
 six to ten years. It is necessary for a draftsman to send six months 
 to a year in the shop or on construction, or at least to be where he 
 can see his work constructed, before the experience can be called 
 really practical. Since this experience must be in addition to educa- 
 tional work when it is evident that a draftsman will be twenty-eight 
 or thirty years of age before he acquires the qualifications which go 
 to make up a "first class draftsman". For this highly trained and 
 specialized products of modern civilization, the actual pioneers of 
 industrial advancement, the employer offers the munificent sum of 
 $25 or perhaps $40 per week. Now with a steady income of $2000 per 
 annum a married man with a small family could by living very 
 economically save perhaps $480 per year which is just sufficient to 
 pay 6 per cent interest on the initial investment of $8000. The prin- 
 ciple remains unpaid. Without considering any points other than 
 educational training and experience a college traning then, so far as 
 drafting is concerned, is a total loss, because $2000 is above the 
 average draftsman's salary. 
 
70 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 The draftsman however must have the theoretical training so if 
 he does not go to college he must get it at night schools or by home 
 study. Undoubtedly he can get it cheaper this way than he can in 
 college. It may be that the colleges offer a broader education and 
 the night schools a more practical one, but it is not my intention to 
 discuss the advantages or disadvantages of either. The point I wish 
 to bring out forcibly is ; that the educational training, consisting of 
 higher arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, physis, 
 mechanics, and special engineering, must be mastered and six to ten 
 years practical experience acquired on top of this, before one may 
 qualify for a position as a "thoroughly experienced draftsman" as 
 the ads read. The employer makes the specifications and we must 
 meet them. Now since the theory and practice must be acquired 
 and at just a certain amount of effort, does it make very much dif- 
 ference where or how it is acquired? Is not the man who works all 
 day and studies night after night year in and year out just as de- 
 serving of the reward of a better position as the one who goes to 
 college? 
 
 TIME IN COLLEGE. This fact stands out that the night 
 school or home study man can acquire his education at a net cost 
 of a few hundred dollars at most while the education of the college 
 graduate represents a cost to the nation if not to himself of about 
 $8000. If I may venture a humble opinion : it is too much. There is 
 nothing regarding the fundamentals of engineering, being simply 
 truth, that can not be obtained outside of the college or any other 
 school. Educators tell us that certain studies are desirable to give 
 finish and round out the college man's viewpoint. But do they think 
 of the years of non-production right in the student's prime of life? 
 Is it not somewhat out of the natural order of things to expect a 
 man to produce nothing until well along in the twenties? Neither 
 can he support a family under the present rate of engineering in- 
 comes for some years after he leaves college unless he borrows 
 money. 
 
 INTENSE PRODUCTIVE AGE. We are now entering into 
 an age of intense productive effort and the workman's wages (we 
 hope, too, the draftsman's) are enormously increasing, not so much 
 to meet the higher cost of living but to pay for the cost of living 
 
COMPENSATION. 71 
 
 higher and better. Then it is well for students in engineering to 
 reduce the cost of education and get to producing something by the 
 time they take on the full measure of citizenship. Get the funda- 
 mentals and cut out the non-essentials, — the latter may be studied 
 at leisure. I cannot share the opinion of those who believe that the 
 college gives polish. The man who does not acquire his polish or 
 refinement under the home influence is not apt to get it at all. The 
 college course must be cut down to fundamentals and reduced in 
 time required. What is the sense of wasting three months in each 
 year on a vacation? We need more vacations after the commence- 
 ment and less before. The vacation as we know it now is only a 
 relic of by-gone days when the students had to go home in the sum- 
 mer to help on the farm. It wasn't a vacation in those days, it was 
 hard work. 
 
 I wil not attempt then to establish a rate of pay for draftsmen 
 in order to charge off the principle and interest on the $8000 invest- 
 ment. But this training has a money value which must be reckoned 
 with, regardless of where it was obtained, so to me $5000 seems a 
 fair valuation. I will leave it to my critics to dispute this sum. 
 
 ABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY. The responsibility of 
 the work at hand is a most important factor in considering the com- 
 pensation of draftsmen. A man in charge of $25000 worth of work 
 should be rated higher than one in charge of $250, that is, in theory. 
 Actually this practice could not always be followed but the more 
 responsible work should go to the man with the higher rate of pay. 
 In detailing and checking, in all engineering in fact, accuracy is of 
 first importance. But if accuracy is not reckoned with speed, the 
 former may become so painfully acute that it would be uneconom- 
 ical. If a draftsman should fall below a certain level in his degree 
 of accuracy so as to be classed as careless, his career is doomed in 
 this work and plowing would be far better for him. The incompe- 
 tent must be weeded out or seek their level and the best men will 
 rise above them. 
 
 All other things being equal, senority should be given prefer- 
 ence for if the older men, in point of service, are not so recognized 
 then what hope have the younger ones? The effect is demoralizing. 
 When a man is promoted over men older in the service it must be 
 
72 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 for capabilities which are self-evident, in which case the older man 
 will realize and respect the other fellow. 
 
 FORTY YEAR DEAD LINE. A point usually overlooked, 
 (and there is little evidence that the others ever had much thought) 
 in the matter of draftsmen's compensation is the period of time dur- 
 ing which a man can find employment. Every one knows that if he 
 is out of w r ork at the age of forty he finds it almost impossible to 
 locate a position unless there is a great demand in his line. Like- 
 wise a draftsman at this age even tho he has been with a company 
 for some time usually finds that he is slipping down hill or losing 
 prestige about the office and the younger men getting the best 
 work, — unless per contra he is sufficiently above the average to 
 take the higher executive positions. In other words if a draftsman 
 is not in an executive position at forty, and off the board, he is very 
 likely to be ousted at the first opportunity. As only approximately 
 ten per cent can ever become executives, such as being in charge of 
 squads or departments or chief, then we have the fact facing every 
 draftsman that he must prove to be the one in ten or he is apt to 
 find himself walking the streets at forty or perhaps forty-five. 
 
 Now there is just one solution to this distressing problem. It is 
 that the rank and file or the ninety per cent must receive sufficient 
 compensation during the ten years between the ages of thirty and 
 forty to pay off the initial investment of $5000; to enable them to 
 live in circumstances commensurate with the position; and to pro- 
 vide for the years after forty. It is an unusual way to look at it, 
 you will say, but ask any draftsman in the forties, one who has 
 done good work and is still able to do it, but fell at the forty year 
 dead line. After sacrificing every thing for the love of engineer- 
 ing, he has to get along with a "job" now and then, sometimes at 
 $150 and sometimes it is only $80. He knows. He can tell you how 
 it is. Every young man should know NOW what he knows; then 
 more of them will take up farming first, instead of afterward. Get 
 out of the drafting-room before you are thirty or else see that your 
 compensation between thirty and forty is sufficient to stretch over 
 the future years of reduced income. They don't want you after 
 that. I know many draftsmen but of the few past forty scarcely any 
 are earning a decent living at the board. It is quite possible that 
 
COMPENSATION. 73 
 
 in time a change will come about regarding the age limit of drafts- 
 men as well as other workmen. While some men begin to deteri- 
 orate at forty it is by no means true of all of them. There is no 
 reason whatever for them to decline at forty or even sixty provided 
 they have lived orderly lives and have not had to work under tne 
 unsatisfactory conditions which wear away body and soul. 
 
 BASIC PRINCIPLES. The writer assisted in formulating a 
 set of principles on which to base a schedule of rates for various 
 grades of engineers. It is, I believe, the first attempt to create any 
 such set of standards and the majority of engineers look with horror 
 on the very idea, even though many of them are unable to buy two 
 suits of clothes a year on their present income simply because they 
 refuse to work together or to organize. This set of principles is 
 given with slight changes as it was originally reported to the Chi- 
 cago Chapter of the American Association of Engineers. 
 
 Every draftsman should study them carefully because they con- 
 tain the essence of the whole intricate problem of wage adjustment. 
 If all disputes are settled thru cooperation and if every draftsman 
 demonstrates his ability to perform service, just compensation will 
 be granted and permanently established. Draftsmen never have 
 made a united effort to show the employer or the public the value 
 of their work. 
 
 SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 1. That the profession of engineering, taken as a whole, is in- 
 sufficiently paid, or is not paid in proportion to the high degree of 
 responsibility entailed or the technical training required to perform 
 the work. 
 
 2. That the principle of a square deal for everybody should 
 underly all rules of compensation, and that technical men must de- 
 monstrate their worth both to their employers and to the public be- 
 fore they will receive the compensation due them. 
 
 3. That this demonstration should be made by individual sales- 
 manship and by proper methods of publicity, to establish coopera- 
 tion between employers and employees and to insure proper recog- 
 nition of the services of the engineer by the ( public. 
 
 4. That while salesmanship may produce results in individual 
 cases, it is necessary to operate collectively for the rank and file of 
 
74 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 engineers and desirable that some form of grades for engineering 
 services be adopted with a minimum rate of pay for each grade. 
 
 5. That any rates suggested shall not be maximum standards 
 but rather indicate the rate of pay of anyone who can perform the 
 work and that individual effort should be encouraged to the full- 
 est extent and paid for accordingly. 
 
 6. That in the determination of a just compensation, considera- 
 tion shall be given to the effort or cost of the educational training, 
 the years and character of experience in the particular line, as well 
 as total years of experience; length of time in the employer's serv- 
 ice ; character and personality : degree of efficiency, and special 
 qualifications, permanency of the work and economic conditions. 
 
 7. That the uncontrolled law of supply and demand is not a 
 just method by which to determine the compensation for valuable 
 services. Therefore, steps should be taken to control its operation 
 so that it may not become oppressive, especially in the lower grades 
 of service. 
 
 STANDARDIZING CONDITIONS. It is important that 
 working conditions be standardized to a certain extent so that the 
 rate of pay recommended may apply to a uniform basis of opera- 
 tion. That is, if a salary of $2400 per year is on a basis of eight 
 hours per day, and if a company insists on their draftsmen working 
 ten hours per day, then draftsmen should in turn insist on pay for 
 two hours per day extra, plus extra for over-time, — other things 
 being equal. It is much to be regretted that we have to follow in 
 the footsteps of labor in this respect but when employing companies 
 as'k draftsmen to work over-time night after night with no extra 
 rate of pay or when they demand the best college graduates and 
 pay them $60 per month it is time to set standards of working con- 
 ditions. For these reasons I make specific recommendations for 
 draftsmen to consider and adopt as they see fit. 
 
 1. That the hours of employment ordinarily do not exceed eight 
 hours per day or forty-four hours per week. 
 
 2. That overtime be paid for at 50 per cent increase. 
 
 3. That positions of less than six months duration be classed 
 as "temporary" and be rated at 20 per cent to 50 per cent 
 higher than the minimum according to conditions. 
 
COMPENSATION. 75 
 
 4. That no one in charge of work shall receive less pay than 
 any one for whose work he is responsible. 
 
 5. That not less than one day for each month employed during 
 the year be granted for vacation, in addition to all national 
 holidays. 
 
 Bonus and piece work systems, group insurance schemes etc., 
 are sometimes good and sometimes quite the opposite. They are 
 frequently camouflaged methods of keeping salaries down. For 
 instance $1000 insurance on the group plan costs a company a very 
 little less than it does the individual. The insurance company 
 makes the concession in order to get new names on its books to ex- 
 ploit for new investment insurance on which they make more money. 
 Draftsmen are intelligent enough, or should be, to care for their own 
 welfare, insurance and investments, and they would be better satis- 
 fied to have the compensation they are entitled to without strings. 
 Since there is such wonderful development taking place in the 
 management of industries it is most important that draftsmen keep 
 in touch with the progress of events and see that tried and approved 
 methods are adopted in the drafting-rooms. The course seems to be 
 leading towards profit sharing schemes in which all employees share. 
 It is quite possible they will have to share in the losses as well as 
 the profits if the plan is to be a strictly cooperative one. 
 
 AVERAGE SCHEDULE. The following schedule of rates is 
 given only to indicate in a general way the salary which an average 
 draftsman should make and his bank balance at the end of each year : 
 AGE SALARY INDEBTEDNESS SAVINGS BALANCE 
 
 21 $1500 $5000 
 
 22 1800 4800 
 
 23 2100 4488 
 
 24 2400 4057 
 
 25 2700 3400 
 
 26 3000 2404 
 
 27 3300 1148 
 
 28 3600 ^— 
 
 29 3900 
 
 30 4200 
 
 (6% interest included.) 
 
 $500 
 
 —$4800 
 
 600 
 
 — 4488 
 
 700 
 
 — 4057 
 
 900 
 
 — 3400 
 
 1200 
 
 — 2404 
 
 1400 
 
 — 1148 
 
 1600 
 
 + 383 
 
 1800 
 
 + 2206 
 
 2100 
 
 + 4438 
 
 2400 
 
 + 7104 
 
76 
 
 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 At the age of thirty the draftsman is credited with about $7000 
 in the bank and from thirty to forty, even if his salary continues con- 
 stant, he will be able to save an additional $30000 more or less. If 
 he started to work without the initial indebtedness of $5000 then it 
 would be still better and he would be all the more deserving if he 
 had carved out his own education rather than have had it cut and 
 dried for him. Now being an average draftsman and reaching the 
 dead line of forty, he is able to continue the battle of life when the 
 company decides that younger men must take his place. All con- 
 nected with engineering must begin to think of the work of draft- 
 ing in different terms than they ever did before. Salaries of $5000 
 to $6000 will take the place of $2000 and $3000 ones. "Approximately 
 one hundred per cent increase is only a fair request which every able 
 draftsman should make. There is no class of men which is more 
 deserving of it. They can save their salaries many times over for 
 their companies if given proper supervision and greater responsibili- 
 ty for those competent. 
 
 OFFICE ORGANIZATION. I have outlined a tentative or- 
 ganization for an engineering office of fifty men with salaries based 
 on an intimate knowledge of existing requirements and responsibil- 
 ities of the average organization. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF AN ENGINEERING OFFICE. 
 Salaries and ages about as follows: 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 3 
 
 Chief engineer 
 
 Office 
 
 Designing " 
 tt it 
 
 Estimating " 
 Squad 
 Engineers 
 
 40--50 
 
 $12000 
 
 35—45 
 
 9000 
 
 35—45 
 
 7200 
 
 30—35 
 
 6000 
 
 30—35 
 
 6000 
 
 30—40 
 
 5200—6000 
 
 35—40 
 
 4800—5200 
 
 30—35 
 
 4200—4800 
 
 25—30 
 
 2700—4200 
 
 20—25 
 
 1200—2700 
 
 18—20 
 
 1020—1200 
 
 16—18 
 
 900—1020 
 
COMPENSATION. 77 
 
 We will assume that a student graduates at twenty one, starts 
 to work well grounded in the fundamentals of engineering and has 
 sufficient practical experience in the art of drawing to be able to pro- 
 duce almost at once. His salary would be $1500 per year to start. 
 Increases, it will be noted, are at the uniform rate of $300 per year 
 for ten years, until the age of thirty, when an income is reached 
 which enables a draftsman to save for his later years. If he does 
 not seem to be able to develop properly within a year or so under 
 proper supervision, his increases should cease. He then will un- 
 derstand that he is not suited to drafting and he should be placed 
 elsewhere with the company. Between the ages of thirty and forty 
 the increases will be much less except for the few men who are 
 capable of taking on the responsibility of executives with titled po- 
 sitions. The line of succession and promotion must be well defined 
 and under stood by all. Note that there are no draftsmen in the 
 organization. 
 
 Drafting, tracing, detailing, checking, estimating, designing, is 
 the work of engineers and if the draftsmen ever hope to command 
 respect commensurate with the dignity of their calling — engineer- 
 ing, — they must use no word denoting the positions except 
 "engineer". 
 
 THE TENDENCIES TO KEEP SALARIES DOWN. There 
 are a number of things which tend to kep down the salaries of drafts- 
 men. Some have been mentioned in other chapters but it will only 
 accent then to repeat a few. "Going the rounds" looking for work, 
 writing letters indiscriminately, in search of positions, speaking con- 
 tinually of "jobs" and "wages" and unsatisfactory working condi- 
 tions. Rise above the conditions and talk of positions and salaries, 
 and decent living. Think of the just compensation and not "more 
 money or strikes". Establish some schedule of prices and uphold it. 
 Do not take any salary less than what you are worth. 
 
 UNION METHODS. The trade unions have long been active 
 in securing higher wages and they have not always stood upon the 
 order of their methods. Frequently they have been most destructive 
 but no more so than the means which have been used against them. 
 On the whole the unions, as typified by the American Federation of 
 Labor, are a great and powerful constructive agency. The standard 
 
78 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 wages they adopt is the simplest way to handle the situation and the 
 labor leaders have not concerned themselves very much about the 
 right or wrong of this detail but have allowed the other fellow to do 
 the worrying. A change is coming about in union wage methods 
 and even now considerable unrest exists among the better element 
 in the unions, because they are forced to work to this standard wage, 
 receiving the same pay as the low grade workman. 
 
 They are not content with this equality of wages, which paradox- 
 ical as it may seen, is not equal rights at all, for it is not just. Evi- 
 dence of the fact that trades people are giving more intelligent con- 
 sideration to the wage problem may be found in England and in 
 some of the British possessions as well as in the United States. Laws 
 are being passed requiring the payment of minimum wages for all 
 classes so that they may at least live respectably. Union leaders 
 have been talking about minimum wages, implying that a higher 
 rate will have to be paid to those who do more work, and differ- 
 ing from the present standard scale which is virtually a maximum 
 rate. 
 
 This is a most hopeful sign of the times because it means that 
 labor, although not aware of it, is groping in the dark for scientific 
 or engineering management. Engineers must be trained to deter- 
 mine who are the capable workmen and deserving of wages above 
 the minimum. 
 
 So draftsmen who are joining the union can best help them- 
 selves and the other union men by assisting in bringing about this 
 change from flat standard wages to minimum standards. The adop- 
 tion of any sort of standard salaries for draftsmen is at best but a 
 compromise between the union method and the individual method of 
 selling services. The immediate aim is to stop the exploitation of 
 draftsmen. To insist on a just compensation will certainly tend to 
 create deeper respect for the work of drafting and both the compen- 
 sation and the respect are now at low ebb. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 ORGANIZATION. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ORGANIZATION. 
 
 ORGANIZATION NECESSARY. Several times in this book 
 and many times elsewhere I have said that draftsmen must have an 
 organization. It is absolutely necessary. Practically nothing is ac- 
 complished in this age without an organization. In industry, in war, 
 in peace in politics, and in religion, little is accomplished without 
 organized effort. The working man has, to a large extent, come into 
 his own thru his organizations, the unions. The trade unions are on 
 the whole for a good purpose and are necessary at the present time 
 as a protection to the laborers and tradesmen. They are also re- 
 sponsible for many evil deeds committed in an endeavor to right 
 fancied or actual wrongs altho on the other hand they are probably 
 guilty of no more crime than the "capitalists" have been in the 
 past. 
 
 CAPITAL AND LABOR. It is not necessary to discuss capital 
 and labor in dealing with our problem except to say that there is 
 in reality only room for one class of people in the United States of 
 America, and that the so-called classes are rapidly finding it out. 
 One writer has said that there are 30000 companies which have some 
 kind of welfare work established among their employees. A really 
 deep and sincere effort is being made, by a large and growing num- 
 ber of industrial managers, to treat employees justly. There will 
 undoubtedly be war in some form or other until human beings 
 eliminate the desire to possess something which does not rightly be- 
 long to them. Selfishness is the chief sin which prevents us all from 
 living in harmony. The proper place for the technical man is between 
 Capital d.nd Labor, directing and uniting both. 
 
 DRAFTSMEN'S UNIONS. Draftsmen have because of condi- 
 tions already described, become easy prey for the unionizing move- 
 ment. A number of unions have been formed and become affiliated 
 with the American Federation of Labor, but just how many is not 
 
82 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 easily ascertained. One cannot condemn draftsmen for joining 
 unions when engineers themselves and others advise it. Consider 
 such a case as the Engineering Department of the City of Chicago. 
 When these engineers asked for an increase in the civil service rate, 
 they were told by the Council Committee "to go form a union and 
 demand the increase, otherwise it would not go thru." Can these 
 men be censored for doing it; especially since the rates have not 
 been increased in twenty-one years? Trade unions have, on the other 
 hand, obtained increases time and again. 
 
 ENGINEERS' ADVICE. The only cause for engineers to ad- 
 vise draftsmen to join unions is ignorance of the fundamental causes 
 of unrest. They know little about unions and less about organiza- 
 tions in general. Why do draftsmen join unions and what do they 
 expect to gain? The underlying cause of unrest is the wrongs which 
 have been inflicted upon draftsmen but the surface cause of the 
 union tendencies is low salaries. 
 
 These wrongs may be summed up largely in the one great crime 
 of the profession ; the humiliation of engineers by engineers. Thou- 
 sands of draftsmen, particularly the younger ones, are today work- 
 ing under most unsatisfactory conditions. If a man objects to them 
 he is usually fired; therefore he seeks to unite his efforts in order to 
 right his wrongs. "The union men are getting the money, so let's 
 join the union", indicates the general thought or lack of thought. 
 So draftsmen are thinking that the unions will get them more money 
 and that this will make up for the other conditions. 
 
 THE MISCONCEPTION. Will the unions get the draftsmen 
 more money? Very likely they will, but how much? Will an organiza- 
 tion composed of laborers and tradesmen work very hard to get 
 draftsmen more than they make themselves? I hardly think so and 
 yet none will deny that the class of work is deserving of better com- 
 pensation than that of the tradesmen, generally speaking. Then what 
 about strikes? Will intelligent draftsman enjoy the idea of being 
 called out by some walking delegate in support of a hod-carrier's de- 
 mand for more money? I think not, but the possibility ought to be 
 considered. 
 
 NOTHING GAINED. Draftsmen gain nothing by joining 
 unions allied with the trades because they possess in themselves al: 
 
ORGANIZATION. 83 
 
 the power requisite to make demands or threats if they so desire in 
 order to gain "more money", without allying with the trades to 
 which they do not belong. In allying with the trades they only give 
 away the power they possess and become the tools of the unions. 
 The unions want draftsmen and are seeking other unorganized pro- 
 fessions because it gives them more power. Power is what they want 
 and it is just as well to curb their ambitions somewhat before they 
 upset the economic balance of the country. So I repeat, — drafts- 
 men gain nothing by joining a union ; they relinquish what power 
 they already possess; they give up their chance of advancement be- 
 cause union men as a rule are not apt to receive the promotions. 
 They place themselves on a lower plane of intelligence and every 
 one in his heart really considers those who are more intelligent as 
 his superiors. The different degrees of intelligence should represent 
 the only classes and every incentive and help given to those who de- 
 sire to reach a higher class. 
 
 STANDARD WAGES. The unions have always stood for stand- 
 ard wages which while being a protection to the incompetent, is 
 discouraging to the better class of workmen. Draftsmen have en- 
 deavored to get away from the standard wage which is a cause of 
 much discontent and under which they are at present reluctantly 
 working. Frequently draftsmen with widely different capabilities are 
 compelled to work side by side at practically the same rate of pay. 
 One man can easily prove that he does twice the work of another 
 but finds it absolutely impossible to get more than a few dollars per 
 month higher pay. The unions wil not lift draftsmen out of this 
 rut; but will only anchor them deeper in it. 
 
 ENGINEERING SOCIETIES. Most all of the several hun- 
 dred engineering societies and clubs are open to draftsmen but the 
 benefits derived are of a technical or educational nature and with a 
 few exceptions the business and welfare side is entirely out of their 
 line. In :ther words they are not real organizations from which the 
 members receive any material benefits or protection such as a union 
 or a business man's association offers. 
 
 A few societies furnish employment service in a desultory way 
 and sometimes they attempt to have a license law passed. The 
 
84 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 draftsmen gets precious little that he needs in return for the dues 
 he pays and as for the educational advantages, they may be had with- 
 out joining a society. Then again a draftsman unless he can show 
 some engineering title other than "only a draftsman" is ignored in 
 most engineering assemblies. 
 
 The writer will undoubtedly be severely critized for thus con- 
 demning the engineering societies but he is quite able to meet it 
 with facts which will verify any statements made. The attitude 
 which the engineers in general and the societies in particular hold 
 toward draftsmen is a hypocritical one and most unjust. This con- 
 dition is undergoing a change however which has been brought 
 about by the efforts of the younger men, and what is true today may 
 not be true tomorrow. The change will be for the better and will 
 take into account the interests of the younger men. When the at- 
 titude does change every draftsman should join some society which 
 is advancing technical knowledge. 
 
 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERS. There is one 
 body in which can be found considerable hope for draftsmen, viz., 
 the American Association of Engineers. The writer has been an 
 active member of this Association since its inception and can say that 
 it is organized on the right lines to meet the needs of the entire 
 engineering field. Its objects "are to raise the standard of ethics of 
 the engineering profession and to promote the economic and social 
 welfare of engineers". It is strictly a business organization and 
 technical subjects are left to the older societies. Draftsmen are ad- 
 mitted to membership in three grades and the qualifications for each 
 grade are as follows : 
 
 "A Certified member must be a graduate engineer with two 
 years' experience or he must have had seven years' experience, 
 including three years in responsible charge of engineering work. 
 Due credit is given for responsible drafting work. 
 
 A Junior member must be a graduate engineer or have one 
 or more years' technical training and two years' practical engin- 
 eering experience; or have five years' practical experience." 
 
 A candidate-Junior member shall have had one or more 
 years' practical engineering experience or one or more years' 
 training in a recognized technical engineering college." 
 
ORGANIZATION. 85 
 
 It certainly is some improvement on the "holier-than-thou" at- 
 titude taken by the older engineering societies. It is only another 
 short step to a realization that everyone engaged in technical en- 
 gineering has the right to call himself an engineer. 
 
 This Association has carried on an aggressive campaign against 
 the employment agencies and has established its own service bureau 
 through which hundreds of draftsmen have received assistance. It 
 has taken a decided stand for increased compensation for all techni- 
 cal men. It has entered a feeble protest against the unsatisfactory 
 working conditions prevailing throughout the engineering field but 
 this protest will undoubtedly become stronger as the organization 
 grows. It has become interested in politics in a non-partisan way, 
 a step which is most necessary for technical men to take. The rea- 
 son government by the people has to a certain extent failed is be- 
 cause the better class of people fail in their civic duty. 
 
 In any organization of engineers or draftsmen, and I contend 
 that they are as one, the fundamental principle must be unselfish, 
 otherwise there will be an endless amount of discord and eventual- 
 ly destruction. This is not saying that the organization should not 
 seek higher pay for draftsmen (which taken by itself, is selfish) but 
 that the organization must not seek it unless the draftsmen are worth 
 it. To fight for ones' just rights is not considered selfish. The or- 
 ganization must promote and support worthy objects and the mem- 
 bers must give of their time to help in these things without asking 
 something in return. "Virtue hath its own reward" and if one free- 
 ly gives, he will certainly receive, else the Savior's words do not 
 hold good today. 
 
 The back-bone of an organization is in its officers and care- 
 ful judgment must be exercised in their selection. The real work 
 is usually done in the various committees. In committee work the 
 best method to pursue is probably to appoint one man as chairman 
 and hold him responsible for the work assigned. He may select 
 his own assistants as he sees fit. Center the responsibility in one 
 person. If an organization is to succed it must give good service to 
 the members who support it, and every member must in turn sup- 
 port the activities of the organization. The employment bureau for 
 
86 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 example will depend upon the individual members to furnish it with 
 reports regarding vacancies and any other information necessary to 
 a mutual benefit association. The funds to support a mutual em- 
 ployment bureau should properly be paid regularly as dues, which 
 relieves the burden of having to pay for service when least able to 
 do so, or in other words when out of work. Is it not clearly shown 
 that to be successful any organization of technical men must in- 
 clude the entire profession? Otherwise there will not be unity of 
 action nor effective purpose. 
 
 WASTEFUL HABITS. A few figures will suffice to show that 
 money is being expended to no good purpose, sufficient to support 
 an organization which would answer the needs of the entire engineer- 
 ing profession. 
 
 For instance the daily papers and technical magazines of the 
 United States are carrying "Situation Wanted" ads to the value of 
 approximately $100,000 per year which sum is paid out of the meager 
 salaries of the technical men. 
 
 Draftsmen are paying a considerable share of this as well the 
 employment agency fees. The numerous local engineering clubs 
 and societies provide another opening into which engineers are pour- 
 ing an astonishing sum of money. Out of some three hundred en- 
 gineering bodies there are but a very few which are doing any 
 earthly good, either for their members or for the welfare of the 
 community. Perhaps draftsmen ae paying only a small percentage 
 of these dues because they are "only draftsmen" and are not espe- 
 cially desirable, but the fact remains that engineers are wasting this 
 money. It should be put to some good purpose and the most im 
 portant thing is to build up an organization both for the commercial 
 interests of the engineer and for the unselfish interests of benefiting 
 the public. 
 
 A summary of this waste amounts to the enormous total of 
 approximately $1,000,000 per year as follows: — 
 
 Wasted in employment agencies fees $500,000 
 
 Wasted in want ads 100.000 
 
 Wasted in useless engineering societies 400,000 
 
 Total $1,000,000 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 PATENTS. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PATENTS. 
 
 Almost every draftsman at some period in his life longs to in- 
 vent an article or machine which is patentable. There seems to be 
 a sort of honor attached to one who has invented a device and the 
 patent papers are as a certificate of merit in acknowledgement of 
 the so-called creation. It would be presuming to say that drafts- 
 men take out the majority of patents granted. It is more likely that 
 it is only a small percentage, but it is not presuming to say that they 
 have invented a great many things which others got patented. 
 Furthermore if the truth were known, I am of the opinion that there 
 is a very small percentage of all the patented inventions which were 
 not either invented, improved or developed by draftsmen, not to 
 mention the making of the patent drawings. It is seldom that the 
 draftsman ever profits by his inventive skill or genius: almost in- 
 variably it seems that some one with more business ability and less 
 principle relieves him of the burden of wealth. For this reason it is 
 most vital that the draftsman becomes familiar with the best method 
 of procedure when he reaches that stage of his career wherein it 
 seems that he must invent something. 
 
 Nothing should be done to discourage our creative geniuses, nor 
 do I wish to do so, but if the young men would only observe the 
 very simple rules regarding the obtaining of patents and learn what 
 a patent is and .the value of it, then they would save themselves 
 much time, trouble and expense. They will also prevent any incom- 
 petent or unscrupulous patent sharks, who prey on just such un- 
 sophisicated youths, from obtaining a means of livlihood, and there 
 will be less "paper" patents, (i. e. patents with worthless claims) 
 by many thousands. Every one with a new idea is shy and suspicious 
 that it will be stolen. This is wrong because it in turn arouses a 
 suspicious interest which invites the very disaster the inventor is 
 trying to avoid. 
 
90 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 Never keep the idea secret for this reason: If some one, unbe- 
 known, should steal it and take out a patent claiming it as his own, 
 you have absolutely no chance to realize on your invention because 
 no proof exists, that is, no witnesses to testify, that you are the 
 lawful inventor. Even if another actually invents the same thing 
 and gets it patented while you are "keeping yours secret" he be- 
 comes the patentee in the eyes of the law. If you have made a sketch 
 of your idea or invention and have it witnessed and dated, then you 
 can prove your claim according to its date. In making a sketch or 
 description of the idea, have one or more relatives or friends each 
 write on it, "I understand this invention", then sign it and give the 
 date. Make them understand it if you can. Preserve this paper and 
 if your friends can be trusted to verify their signatures, it will hold 
 perfectly good in court, even tho another patents the same thing 
 and establishes a business on the invention. 
 
 Keep a complete chronological record of all development work 
 and study because it may be necessary to prove that "diligence" or 
 continued effort has been proceeding. Keep a file of letters received 
 and carbon copies on the same kind of letter head as the letter sent 
 out. If any machine is built, have its operation witnessed and re- 
 cord the names of at least some of the witnesses and dates. Proof, 
 proof, proof is what a court requires if perchance the case is ever 
 taken to court, but if all these precautions were taken fewer cases 
 would ever get into court. In case of any supposed interference the 
 case must be filed as soon as possible. Never make a joint applica- 
 tion for a patent or own one jointly with another if it is possible to 
 avoid it. The main reason is that when two own a patent jointly, 
 either one may sell or manufacture the article regardless of the 
 wishes of the other, unless very particular care is excercised in 
 drawing up agreements, all of which is an endless source of trouble 
 and expense. 
 
 Bear in mind tfyat if an article is on the market for two years 
 or more no valid patent can be issued covering it thereafter. When 
 a draftsman makes an invention in line with his work there are cer- 
 tain rights which he has, provided he does not previously sign over 
 all such rights to his employers. This is a legitimate procedure for 
 an employer to take to protect himself. If he is employing men to 
 
PATENTS. 91 
 
 develop or invent machines or processes for him, he has a right to 
 insist that they agree to assign them when they materialize. On 
 the other hand when a draftsman is employed to do a regular line 
 of work and then perchance discovers an improvement which is 
 valuable or patentable he has a perfect right to realize on his dis- 
 covery. The precautions necessary are that he must not do any of 
 tne development in the office or at any time when the employer has 
 a claim on his time. Hence proof must be obtained of this during 
 any period of development. If the invention is protected in this way 
 then by far the best thing to do is to take it up with the employer 
 who will be more than apt to duly recompense the inventor. In one 
 case $100 cash would represent a sufficient reward, then again, 
 $10,000 would not be too much. If the invention must needs be 
 tried out then it is only fair that the inventor and his employer co- 
 operate, each realizing the proper value of the efforts of the other. 
 
 Probably the greatest mistake, or rather misunderstanding, is 
 in regard to the value of a patent. Many patents are not worth the 
 sealing wax on them. Even some in which millions of dollars have 
 been invested. Why? Because the claims have never been tested in 
 court, and the value of a patent depends upon the validity and scope 
 of the claims. When Uncle Sam grants a patent, all he says is this, 
 "I have examined my records and so far as I can find you are the 
 original inventor of this device and so I take great pleasure in is- 
 suing you patent papers on which you will see my great seal, and 
 attached is a ibeautiful piece of red ribbon." Sam is a good old fel- 
 low but very careless with his diplomas. He doesn't give you a 
 word of warning about the thousand and one pitfalls which are in 
 your pathway nor does he offer much assistance when you fall into 
 one, because he is too busy issuing patent papers to others. Every 
 inventor should understand that his patent, even when granted with 
 Uncle Sam's signature, is not a guarantee that the claims are valid 
 until they are tried in the courts. It is evident that since Uncle 
 Sam shifts the responsibility to the patent attorney it becomes highly 
 important that the attorney presents such claims to the best of his 
 ability. It is his jo'b and not Uncle Sam's, and if he is competent 
 the case is less liable to get into court. To throw the patent into 
 litigation is a costly procedure and one which unfortunately the 
 
92 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 average inventor has little chance of winning against a corporation 
 with unlimited means. Our patent laws are not so unsatisfactory as 
 our courts which are often inexperienced or incompetent to decide 
 the technical questions arising. 
 
 It might be said right here that frequently the greatest protec- 
 tion which a patent gives one is that the public in general is ignorant 
 of the fact that a patent grants so little. Altho I condemn certain 
 legal procedure, the established laws however, and even customs, 
 can not be revised in a day, so I advise every one who has an idea 
 which he thinks is of value, to seek a patent attorney. As soon as 
 the idea is in such shape to present, look for a reputable attorney, 
 not one who advertises all kinds of inducements and benefits, but 
 one if possible who comes well recommended and whose reputation 
 is beyond question. See him personally if possible, and ask him if 
 he thinks the idea is patentable. The answer may be "No", in which 
 case all expense is saved. If the attorney cannot tell offhand that 
 that the idea is not patentable he will advise a preliminary search 
 for similar ideas which have been patented. The cost of this will be 
 ordinarily about $10.00. Copies can be had of similar patented ideas 
 for a few cents apiece and every inventor should procure them be- 
 fore proceeding with his own, for he will frequently find that some 
 one else has entirely covered the ground. If a library is handy where 
 the Patent Record is on file, one may find valuable information him- 
 self regarding similar ideas and possibly save all further search and 
 endeavor. However unless one is familiar with patent procedure it 
 is always best to consult an attorney, but do not look for the cheap- 
 est one to be had. Cheap professional service is poor economy. 
 
 It is undoubtedly a joy to feel that you have created or in- 
 vented something which no one in the whole world, past or present, 
 ever thought of before and I hesitate to take this joy out of any 
 one's life. However it is far better to get down on the earth at once 
 than to go through long months or years of tinkering and experi- 
 menting, becoming so absorbed in the work that you get into a dis- 
 agreeable, unreasoning, melancholy state which is only a mild form 
 of insanity. This is why inventors have the reputation of being more 
 or less crazy, because the condition has grown on them and they get 
 
PATENTS 93 
 
 so impregnated with the belief that their own idea is going to revo- 
 lutionize industry and is worth billions, that it is well nigh impos- 
 sible to reason with them. So avoid this condition by seeking the 
 advice and confidence of others, particularly a competent patent 
 attorney. 
 
 After finding out that the idea is patentable it is advisable to 
 obtain if possible some knowledge about the salalbility of the patent. 
 That is, it may be possible to determine at this time that even if the 
 patent were procured it would not be practicable to manufacture the 
 device. Perhaps it would be too costly to make and sell at a profit, 
 or it might have no commercial worth at all. 
 
 Patents cost about $100 (minimum) of which the government 
 gets $35. A draftsman is not able to save anything by making his 
 own patent drawings unless he has learned how they must be made, 
 then it is a matter between him and his attorney. After a thorough 
 search is made and the attorney advises that he thinks a patent may 
 be secured, bear in mind that he can never give yon an absolutely 
 positive answer in the matter. Consult the attorney on the possibil- 
 ity of having the claims of the patent granted and the advisability 
 of proceeding. Remember tho, it is his business to get patents as 
 well as advise, and he could not reasonably be expected to discour- 
 age an inventor when there was one chance in a thousand of obtain- 
 ing a patent for him. The inventor must decide for himself whether 
 he wants the patent or not, how badly he wants it and how much 
 money he is willing to spend to get it. 
 
 Now, after a patent is obtained, comes the hardest part of all, — 
 that of realizing on the investment. It is safe to say that no one 
 will ever be found who believes in the invention to the same extent 
 as the inventor. Before an individual or a corporation agrees to 
 manufacture a device, they want to be reasonably sure of a profit on 
 their investment. The average inventor is most unreasonable in his 
 demands which in turn discourages the right type of manufacturer, 
 throwing the inventoir into the hands of the unscrupulous, who im- 
 mediately proceed to fleece the unwary inventor by promising great 
 things for him but performing little and that illegally. The next 
 thing the inventor knows is bankruptcy and some one else in un- 
 hampered possession of his invention. 
 
94 THE DRAFTSMAN. 
 
 The inventor must beware also of granting the exclusive rights 
 to manufacture on a royalty basis without stipulating a certain 
 minimum output, because there are thousands of inventions now 
 locked up in the vaults of corporations which will never see the light 
 of day because of omitting this clause. It is much more desirable at 
 times for a corporation to prevent an article from being manufac- 
 tured even tho the patent has to be bought at a considerable sum, 
 than to manufacture it. The reason is that it entails a large ex- 
 pense to change over to the new device, so they prefer to go along in 
 the old established rut. 
 
 We pride ourselves on the inventive genius of the American 
 people and how little the people in general realize that there are 
 numerous inventions perfected today which if put on the market 
 would revolutionize many lines of industry. This statement is not 
 based on hearsay but on actual knowledge of a score of inventions 
 which are unknown except to a few, because the inventor is so un- 
 reasonable in his demands that manufacturers will not deal with 
 him, or because a corporation is able to prevent the manufacture 
 either by controlling the invention under contract or by monopoliz- 
 ing the entire field in that line. In this nefarious work Ave can take 
 no pride. 
 
 Inventors, — "Watch your step." 
 
 It is a fact that America has produced many noted inventors 
 who have had to go to a foreign country in order to receive apprecia- 
 tion for their discoveries. It is time for us to stop boasting of the 
 things we do and take stock of the things we leave for others to do. 
 One way to make things more encouraging for inventors would be 
 to create a "Foundation," to investigate and develop new inventions. 
 The idea may sound impractical, but on second thought it is no 
 more so than the great funds which are already created for the 
 development of educational and medical research work. Why not a 
 fund to develop inventions? It is easy to conceive of the difficulties 
 in the way of this scheme but think of the possibilities. Think also 
 of the humiliation which an American inventor must feel when he is 
 driven to Europe to get money to develop his idea, — and this the 
 richest nation in the world ! 
 
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