been stored or kept for any length of time in any place unprotected from the weather.

Stock material should be ordered to such specifications as will permit of its employment in connection with the usual class of work going through the shop. Each metal section should be kept by itself ; and the various lengths thereof should be stored in separate piles. The storage ground should be divided into various areas; and records should be kept of the location of the materials in these areas. It is only in this way that the Contracting Department would be warranted in promising early shipment, in order to secure orders at favorable prices. It is essential for the satisfactory and economical running of the shop that both stock materials and contract materials can be delivered promptly to the machines as soon as it is decided to call for them.

In the case of special material for contracts, just as soon as it is received from the mills it should be stored in the units in which it is later to be brought into the shop, the said units being the metal called for by a bill of material, or shown on a drawing, or indicated by some combination of these methods. A record should be kept of its location, so that, when the templets are completed and the shop is ready to take up the work, it can be delivered in complete units; and it should then be carried through the shop in such units. Too much stress can hardly be laid upon the desirability of bringing in material complete in units, as the lack of any portion thereof would hold up in the shop a large part of the balance of the material of this particular unit; and this material would clog up the shop and either prevent other material from going through or allow it to pass only at additional cost.

Supply of Labor

For several years past the supply of suitable labor for fabricating shops has been limited; and there is no reason to assume that there will soon be any improvement in this respect-in fact the evidence at the present time is to the effect that the difficulties will be aggravated rather than ameliorated; and this condition must receive due thought in considering shop economics. The character of the shop and the way in which the work goes through it have an important bearing upon the securing of a sufficient force of capable employees.

It is of the utmost importance that a permanent force of well-trained workmen be established. Every legitimate effort should be made to retain the services of capable and efficient workmen, because the breaking in of each new man costs, in various ways, considerable money. There is an immense difference between both the quality and the quantity of the daily accomplishment of the trained workman and that of one who is not experienced. As one walks through a bridge shop, even on a short visit, by watching for a few minutes the men at work he can readily distinguish between those who are experienced and those who are not; and when a new