certain honors, with the result that our hero found himself presently
seated opposite the president at a table in the latter's office, engaged
in working out calculations on his slide-rule--calculations beyond the
powers of the president, because he was not a heavy theoretician. This
call was a big advance indeed, for it marked him as a man of promise--a
"comer"--in the concern. The president liked the ease with which the
young engineer "got" him in the matter of the proposed changes, and
quite before either realized it both were talking freely, exchanging
ideas, in the field of turbine construction generally. The young man
unconsciously was driving home the fact that he was a capable engineer,
one who, while still lacking in broad experience, was nevertheless
possessed of the proper attitude toward engineering as a whole to compel
the interest and attention of his superior.

The young man eventually was sent out upon the road as an erecting man.
In this work he discovered certain operating faults in the design, and,
reporting these faults to the home office, observed that not a few were
remedied in subsequent designs. He moved about the country from place to
place, setting up and operating steam-turbines, until there came the
blissful day when he was called back to join the engineering staff in
work covering design. Laying aside his overalls, he emerged as a crisp
young engineer in a linen collar and nifty cravat--although not till
later did he don a cream-colored waistcoat--and thereafter his hours
were seven instead of nine. With a desk and a stenographer he entered
upon work of a somewhat statistical character. He followed the designs
of rival companies as best he could through their advertising and
articles covering their respective designs appearing in the technical
journals, and about this time also applied for admission, and was
granted it, in the foremost engineering society embracing his particular
branch of the profession. He was still making progress.

Likewise, he was rapidly becoming an expert in the field of
steam-turbines. His work in the shop, together with his experience on
the road, both as an erecting man and operating engineer, had eminently
fitted him for valuable service in the home office as an engineer
overseeing design. His work in charge of design, where his knowledge of
what had given service both good and bad in details of construction
while he was in the field, was extremely valuable to the