Professor F. B. Crocker is the author of an article in a recent issue of the Saturday Evening Post, entitled: "The Young Man and the New Force." He discusses in a most interesting and suggestive manner the opportunities and the requirements in the field of electrical engineering. He points out that the profession is one in which young men are peculiarly numerous and predominant, and says that having personally followed the careers of several hundred men, in electricity he is "convinced that they have gone ahead more rapidly than would have been possible in any other line of human effort. One of the reasons for this is that the industry is so new and has expanded enormously, forcing men ahead. The other reason is the fact that electricity is a peculiar subject. In its pursuit general intelligence or knowledge is not sufficient for pronounced success. A man possessing special taste for it soon differentiates himself from the others working alongside who may not be endowed with the same advantages. Such a man will forge ahead of his fellows at a rate that is absolutely impossible in any other calling in the world. The successful electrical engineer has more than mere ability. He is gifted with special talent, like the successful artist or the musician. Electricity is, to my mind, the only mechanical pursuit that has 'soul.' The successful electrician is born. Many of the qualities that are his are intangible, just as the fine musician's qualities are. But there must also be tangible qualities, certain fixed mental traits. He must have great mental alertness; the ability to think quickly, to grasp a given situation at once. He must be of an analytical turn of mind - that is, able to reason from cause to effect, or vice versa. In electricity one thing follows from another with absolute certainty."

While admitting the fact that electricity is more or less of a marvel in spite of its exactitude, Professor Crocker criticises the popular idea that electricity remains unknowable. He contends rather that the proper attitude of the electrical worker is that of willingness to accept innovation, and not of prejudice against it. " It is the first duty of an electrical worker to fall in with rapid advances and radical departures. Therefore, a necessary qualification for the successful electrician is an interest in things that are new because they are neic. Any one with a strong conservative tendency would be at a disadvantage in the electrical field. This is probably the reason why Americans have got along faster than any other nation in the development and use of electricity. An American prefers a thing that is new, whereas a foreigner considers newness in itself an objection. The man who is interested in ancient literature, or in archaeology, cares little for electricity. This is a fact I have observed among my own friends. Those who have gone into electricity with the idea of saving themselves labor have made a great mistake, because electricity requires fully as much application and intensity of purpose as any other line of work."

" But though these men and many others have done exceedingly creditable work and now fill responsible positions, it is a fact that the pay is not as large in the technical branches as it is in the administrative departments. This is true, however, in all other human pursuits. The technical men in a railway, for example, receive much smaller salaries than the executive officers. The same is true in chemical industries, and in many other lines. There is no more responsible position, or one requiring more knowledge or skill, than that of captain of a transatlantic liner, and yet his pay is comparatively small. The presidents of the steamship companies, with nothing like such direct responsibility, receive salaries ten or twenty times greater than those of the captains of the vessels. By the technical man, $5,000 a year would be considered a very good and $10,000 an exceptionally large salary. There is one thing to be considered, however. In the logical development of the new business scheme that is •controlling all our great corporations, technical knowledge is beginning to be more and more to the advantage of the men who seek the great positions in these corporations. As the years go by, the demand will certainly become steadily greater for a class of men who combine executive ability with a thorough technical understanding of the work they are called on to supervise. Already we have a number of striking examples of technical men who have won great business positions."