On constant speed machine tools a good motor, close to the work, speeds up production and cuts transmission costs G-E Type KT high speed efficient. G-E Type MT motor driving heavy Wheel Lathe. This motor allows automatic slow down for cutting hard spots in metal. Put G-E Motors Next to the Work Mechanically and electrically G-E motors are dependable. Their efficiency and high powerfactor combined with simplicity of construction have made them standard equipment on many constant speed machine tools in progressive shops. Write the nearest G-E office for bulletins and engineering advice of G-E machine tool specialists. General Electric General Office Company Sales Offices in 43B-605D OF THE ASSOCIATED ENGINEERING SOCIETIES OF ST. LOUIS MARCH, 1923 $87,372,500 A tidy sum-to be de- The proper expenditure It's up to the engineers. The Engineers' Club of St. Louis The Associated Engineering Societies of St. Louis 3817 Olive St. Miss C. B. Adams, Secretary Office Hours, 9:00 to 5:00 Daily Edwin H. Conrades, Pres. Wm. F. Gould, Secy. & Asst. Treas. Edmund C. Donk, Vice-Pres. Geo. C. Bogue, Treas. & Asst. Secy. GOOD COAL FOR EVERY PURPOSE BY THE TON OR CAR LOAD Backed by 58 years of dependable service 2 MINES MARYVILLE THERMAL MAIN 3700 DONK BROS. COAL & COKE CO. 14 RETAIL YARDS ST. LOUIS EAST ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS COUNTY STOCK EXCHANGE BLDG., ST. LOUIS, MO. CENTRAL 3605 Edwin H. Conrades, President 0. S. Conrades, Vice-President F. W. Risque, Secretary-Treasurer ST. LOUIS MATERIAL & SUPPLY CO. We are PRODUCERS of washed SAND and GRAVEL, WHOLESALERS and RETAILERS of full line of BUILDING MATERIAL with exclusive connections and seven retail yards and a delivery system that insures service. 314 Fourth St. ST. LOUIS OF THE ASSOCIATED ENGINEERING SOCIETIES Vol. II OF ST. LOUIS A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Interests of the Engineering Profession in St. Louis ST. LOUIS, MO., MARCH, 1923 THE YOUNG MAN AND HIS VOCATION. By C. E. SMITH, Consulting Engineer, St. Louis, Mo. No. 3 Last Saturday I secured a new book entitled, "The Young Man and Civil Engineering," written by George F. Swain, LL.D., former President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which had more than usual interest for me, as I studied under Prof. Swain for four years at Boston Tech. I took the book home, intending to read it from time to time. The following day, Sunday, I became so thoroughly absorbed in it that I read the entire 200 pages that day, and intend to read it again. A noteworthy book. After reading it I turned to the preface to learn what brought forth that volume, and found a prospectus by the editor, E. Hershey Sneath, Ph.D., LL.D., Yale University, reading as follows: "One of the most important decisions a young man is called upon to make relates to the determination of his life-work. It is fraught with serious consequence for him. It involves the possibilities of success and failure. The social order is such that he can best realize his ends by the pursuit of a vocation. It unifies his purposes and endeavors making them count for most in the struggle for existence and for material welfare. It furnishes steady employment at a definite task as against changeable effort and an unstable task. This makes for superior skill and greater efficiency, which result in a larger gain to himself and in a more genuine contribution to the economic world. "But a man's vocation relates to a much wider sphere than the economic. It is intimately associated with the totality of his interests. It is in a very real sense the center of most of his relations in life. His intellectual interests are seriously dependent upon his vocational career. Not only does the attainment of skill and efficiency call for the acquisition of knowledge and development of judgment, but the leisure. that is so essential to the pursuit of those intellectual ends which are a necessary part of his general culture is, in turn, dependent, to a considerable extent, upon the skill and efficiency that he acquires in his vocation. Entered as second-class matter. February 11, 1916, at the post-office at St. Louis, Mo., under the Act of August 24. 1912. Acceptance for mailing at the special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized August 23, 1918. "Nor are his social interests less dependent upon his life-work. Men pursuing the same calling constitute in a peculiar sense a great fraternity or brotherhood bound together by common interests and aims. These condition much of his social development. His wider social relationships also are dependent, in a large measure, on the success that he attains in his chosen field of labor. "Even his moral and spiritual interests are vitally centered in his vocation. The development of will, the steadying of purpose, the unfolding of ideals, the cultivation of vocational virtues, such as industry. fidelity, order, honesty, prudence, thrift, patience, persistence, courage. self-reliance, etc.-all of this makes tremendously for his moral and spiritual development. The vocationless man, no matter to what class he belongs, suffers a great moral and spiritual disadvantage. His life lacks idealization and is therefore wanting in unity and high moralization. His changeable task, with its changeable efforts, does not afford so good an opportunity for the development of the economic and social virtues as that afforded the man who pursues a definite life-work. It lacks also that discipline-not only mental, but moral-which the attainment of vocational skill and efficiency involves. "But notwithstanding the important issues involved in a man's vocational career, little has been done in a practical or systematic way to help our college young men to a wise decision in the determination of their life-work. Commendable efforts are being put forth in our public schools in this direction, but very little, indeed, has been done in this respect in the sphere of higher education. To anyone familiar with the struggles of the average college student in his efforts to settle this weighty question for himself, the perplexities, embarrassment, ond apparent helplessness are pathetic. This is due largely to his ignorance. of the nature of the professions and other vocations which appeal most strongly to the college man. Consequently, he does not know how to estimate his fitness for them. He cannot advise to any extent with his father, because he represents only one vocation. Neither can he advise advantageously with his instructor, for he, too, is familiar with the nature of only one profession. "For this reason, a series of books, dealing with the leading vocations, and prepared by men of large ability and experience, capable of giving wise counsel, is a desideratum. Such men are competent to explain the nature and divisions of the particular vocations which they represent, the personal and educational qualifications necessary for a successful pursuit of the same, the advantages and disadvantages, the difficulties and temptations, the opportunities and ideals; thus, in an adequate way, enabling the student to estimate his own fitness for them. They are also able to make valuable suggestions relating to the man's work after he enters upon his vocation. "Fortunately, in the present series, the Editor has been able to secure the services of some of the most eminent experts in the country to prepare the respective volumes-men of large knowledge and experience, who have attained wide recognition and genuine success in their 'callings.' It is a pleasure to be able to place at the command of the |