Читать книгу The Young Mechanic - James Lukin - Страница 4

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Of all people in the world who must not be neglected are, first and foremost, “Our Boys,” and, of all boys, mechanical boys deserve a very high place in our estimation. Whatever others may be, these, at any rate, are possessed of sound heads, and willing hands. Therefore, to help these to carry out their designs, appears to be a special duty of those who, once mechanical boys themselves, have lived to become the progenitors of others. In fulfilment of this very duty I have taken up the pen, and with special reference to young mechanics, but without entirely forgetting those of maturer growth, I have thrown together a few hints upon that absorbing question, “How to make and how to use?” In doing this, I have endeavoured to carry out the plan of small beginnings, going from the simplest and easiest to the more complicated and difficult work, although here and there, of sheer necessity, a somewhat different order has been observed. The workshops of King’s College School prove the capabilities of boys to do high-class mechanical work when their efforts are rightly directed by a master’s hand. Where the latter cannot be obtained, guide-books must, however insufficiently, take his place; but whether instruction in mechanical art be oral or otherwise, practice and perseverance are the secrets of success.

“Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam,

Multa tulit fecitque puer; sudavit et alsit.”