either the mining engineer nor the civil engineer nor the electrical
engineer can always do without the services of the mechanical engineer.
No other branch so overlaps the other branches as does mechanical
engineering. The work of the mechanical engineer is seen in almost every
piece of construction reared by the civil man, just as it is seen in
every bit of construction work of the mining and the electrical
engineers. At first glance this may not appear to be true, but a close
analysis of different jobs will bring out the truth of this statement.

Thus mechanical engineering offers largest and quickest returns. It does
this for another reason. Because of this very overlapping upon the
other three branches, for every position open in the electrical field,
or the mining or the civil field, there are a dozen vacancies in the
mechanical field. It cannot but be otherwise. Not one of the other
branches but what has need at times for--as I have stated--a mechanical
engineer. The casings and base-plates and supports of motors, for
instance, while the motor itself--its windings and the like--is the work
of the electrical engineer, are due to the designing genius of some
mechanical man. Likewise, in the mining field, where shaking screens, to
name only one of the many mechanical units necessary in mining
operations, are an essential factor--units operated with pulleys and
belts and cams and levers--all the province of the mechanical
engineer--the mechanical man finds his uses. So in civil work,
especially in dam construction where gates are necessary; and in
chemical engineering--to drop into a minor branch--where tanks and vats
and ovens and stirring paddles and the like are used. No matter in which
branch a man may go, always he will find evidence of the presence some
time of the mechanical engineer. The mechanical engineer dominates all
the other branches, as has been said before. He is given second place
in the order of the branches merely because the civil engineer happened
to be the first and oldest kind of engineer to be given recognition as a
profession. This man made himself a professional man, just as did the
early practitioners of medicine--concocters of herbs in the beginning.

The proper selection will depend upon the young man's predilections and
tastes. If he selects wisely, following out his predilections and tastes
with a degree of accuracy, he cannot go wrong. He cannot go far wrong
even if he doesn't follow o