. or 6 in. to the foot.

A large number of minutiae are omitted from general drawings, but in the
detailed ones that are sent into the shops nothing is apparently too
trivial for insertion. In this respect, however, there is much
difference observable in the practice of different firms, and in the
best practice of the present compared with that of former years. In the
detailed drawings issued by many firms now, every tiny element and
section is not only drawn to actual size, but also fully dimensioned,
and the material to be used is specified in every case. This practice
largely adds to the work of the drawing-office staff, but it pays.

The present tendency therefore is to throw more responsibility than of
old on the drawing-office staff, in harmony with the tendency towards
greater centralization of authority. Much of detail that was formerly
left to the decision of foremen and skilled hands is now determined by
the drawing-office staff. Heterogeneity in details is thus avoided, and
the drawings reflect accurately and fully the past as well as the
present practice of the firm. To so great an extent is this the case
that the preparation of the tools, appliances, templets, jigs and
fixtures used in the shops is often now not permitted to be undertaken
until proper drawings have been prepared for them, though formerly the
foreman's own hand sketches generally sufficed. The practice of turret
work has been contributory to this result. In many establishments now
the designing of shop tools and fixtures is done in a department of the
office specially set apart for that kind of work.

The growing specialization of the engineer's work is reflected in the
drawing office. Specialists are sought after, and receive the highest
rates of pay. A man is required to be an expert in some one branch, as
electric cranes or hydraulic machines, steel works plant, lathes, or
heavy or light machine tools. The days are past in which all-round men
were in request. In those firms which manufacture a large range of
machinery, the drawing-office staff is separated into departments, each
under its own chief, and there is seldom any transference of men from
one to another.

Although in the majority of instances designs and drawings are completed
before the manufacture is undertaken, exceptions to this rule occur in
connexion with the work of standardizing machines and motors, for
repetitive and interchangeable manufacture on a large scale. Here