S

HALL a young man who is ambitious to rise to a high position in the railroad world devote four of his early years to the business of acquiring a thorough technical education? Or shall he rather enter railroad work as early in life as possible, and become a student in the great school of experience?

It would seem, at first glance, as if James T. Harahan, Second Vice-President of the great Illinois Central system, furnished in his own career a sufficient answer to the double-barreled inquiry. For Mr. Harahan became a railroad man at the age of seventeen, and he has been at it ever since. He matriculated at the university of sharp eyes and hard knocks before he had had much education of any kind whatsoever. That he is to-day a man of good general information and of wide culture-to say nothing of his occupying one of the highest positions as a technical railroad man proof of the fact that some men, at least, are able to educate themselves while they pull in the harness.

-is

Shall one say, then, that a youth is foolish to spend his time in technical study? Shall one advise him to jump right into the work and depend on what he can pick up? Mr. Harahan's career would seem to point in that direction. One may consider it settled, then.

But just as one has made up his mind on the subject, Mr. Harahan himself, by a strange paradox, knocks the argument into a cocked hat. For, when he had a son of his own to put into railroad work, the first thing he did was to send the boy to a technical school, where he remained until a degree as Civil Engineer was granted him. To-day that boy is the General Manager of the Illinois Central. So, in the one family, may be found ar

guments which are equally strong on both sides of the disputed question. Leave it to Mr. Harahan himself, and he will probably advise that the ambitious youth get a good technical education as foundation for what he must learn in actual practice.

In still another direction the career of James T. Harahan is somewhat puzzling. He furnishes the strongest possible evidence that the old proverb which declares that a "rolling stone gathers no moss" does not apply to the railroad business. Few men in any line of work have held so many different important positions in such a comparatively short space of time. Since the Civil War he has changed his position, on an average, once in two years. Sometimes these changes have been so rapid as to be confusingly kaleidoscopic. For instance, between October, 1888, and November, 1890, he served, respectively, as Assistant General Manager of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, as General Manager of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, as General Manager of the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas Railway, and as Second Vice-President of the Illinois Central Railroad Company. Once on an average of every six months he made a change, but-and this is the important pointevery change was a distinct step up

wards.

Mr. Harahan had made many changes because, chiefly, of one exceedingly significant fact. He has always made it a point, while filling any position, to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the duties of the position immediately above it. This keynote to his character is well illustrated in an incident which occurred early in his life as a railroad man. He was serving as roadmaster on a certain division. In that capacity he had nothing

them were well up on their own duties. But when he came to talk to the roadmaster, he discovered that Harahan knew not only all about the roadbed, track, and right of way, but that he was also familiar with all the details of traffic on the division. He went away, saying He went away, saying nothing; but not long afterward Mr. Harahan was surprised to receive a telegram asking him to take the superintendency of the road. That-speaking broadly and generally-has been the process ever since.

When the Civil War broke out, Mr. Harahan was only seventeen years old,

the army railroad service, young Harahan was naturally among those selected. For some time he worked as fireman, as engineer, as conductor, and as roadmaster on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, under conditions which were calculated to try to the utmost the temper and the resources of a man. Mosby, the Confederate guerrilla chief, was operating along the line of the railroad; and it was exceedingly doubtful, every time a train went out, whether its crew would ever reach its destination. It was one of Mosby's amusements to remove rails, to put obstructions on the tracks, to do

all manner of things, with the purpose of impeding the passage of supplies for the Federal army. A railroad man who could successfully meet and cope with such conditions would hardly be likely to be daunted by anything he could possibly meet with in times of peace.

In that hardest of all possible schools, Mr. Harahan learned the railroad business-literally from the ground up. And there can be no possible question, that, for a complete and thorough training, no possible course of instruction could be better. To-day the Second Vice-President of the Illinois Central system knows how to fire an engine as well as how to direct the policies of the great road he serves. He knows-because he had the knowledge pounded into him-all about how to keep a roadbed in repair; he is quick to decide, in case of an accident, who is at fault, because he carries in his memory an exact list of the duties of every member of the operating force. It is small use to attempt to deceive a man like that. As a matter of fact, no one ever tries that game.

On the other hand, Mr. Harahan keeps largely for the same reasons-in close personal touch with men of all grades along the whole Illinois Central system. He can pick up a section foreman anywhere along the system, give him

a seat in his private car, and in half an hour's talk learn more about actual conditions than would be possible in a week to an official who had no intimate knowledge of the duties and difficulties of such a minor servant of the company.

The lesson of his career is, fortunately, a very plain and simple one. When he was a fireman he learned the trade of the engineer so thoroughly that the railroad company simply could not afford to keep a first-class engine-driver on the other side of the cab. When he became master of the throttle, he studied the roadbed and right of way so thoroughly that a railroad manager, with an eye to the highest efficiency, was forced to promote him again.

No sensible and progressive business concern of any kind can afford to let a first-class department manager, for instance, waste his time in acting as a shipping clerk. That's the lesson Harahan has to teach.

When a young man in a subordinate position shows ability and knowledge to fill one higher up, promotion is bound to come his way. And let no one deceive himself with the delusion that he will not get a chance to show such ability and knowledge, if they are among his possessions! Good men are too scarce for that.

be remembered that many pen drawings are reproduced much smaller than the originals, and consequently the lines appear much finer than in the drawing itself. There are two pens that can be recommended, shown herewith.

Years of experience prove them to be perfectly satisfactory. Occasionally a finer pen is needed, such as Gillott No. 303. The Esterbrook No. 14, a large pen, is necessary in making the blacker portions of a drawing. The Gillott No. 404 is used for general work in the same drawing.

Ink is not of so much importance as pens. The various prepared India inks put up in bottles are all that can be desired. They are more convenient than ink that must be rubbed up, and they have the advantage of always being properly black. Some ordinary writing inks serve the purpose very well if reproduction is not an object; but if reproduction is desired, India ink, being black, is preferred.

In the matter of paper, the very best surface is a hard Bristol board. The softer kinds of Bristol board should be avoided, as they will not stand erasure. Most of the drawing papers do very well. Whatman's hot-pressed paper is very satisfactory. An excellent drawing surface is obtained by mounting a smooth

STEEL PENS.

a-Esterbrook Bank Pen, No. 14. b-Gillott, No. 404.

rendering is quicker, and permits of softer tones and more sketchy effects; brush rendering is by washes either in color or in India ink, and produces an entirely different effect from pen or pencil work.

In pen rendering, the tendency of beginners is to use too fine a pen. It must

FIG. 1. GOOD QUALITY OF LINE.

FIG. 3. VERTICAL LINE METHOD.

be done feelingly, gracefully, positively. Usually a slight curve is advisable, and, if long lines are used, a quaver or tremble adds much to the result. Each line of a shadow should have a slight pressure of the pen at the lower end (Fig. F). This produces a dark edge in the group of lines that make the shadow, giving definiteness to the shadow and contrast to the white light below it.

The combination of individual lines produces what we may term a method. The individual line may be good, but