Excerpt from A Practical Manual of Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting: With a Treatise on Acetylene and Oxygen Some ten years ago, the author started a welding shop, using the oxy-acetylene process. He hardly knew how to light the torch, much less its operation. In this respect he was on an equal footing with a few other venturesome individuals in this country who had embarked in the same business, regarding which practically nothing was known. It follows that there were many failures and disappointments. The author can well testify that "there is no royal road to learning," and yet in offering this treatise he is prompted by the belief that the man who goes ahead may smooth out some of the rough spots, and thereby assist those who come after. The book is sold at a price which precludes the possibility of profit to the author. You pay only for the printing and the paper - the subject-matter is gratis. Do not look a gift horse in the mouth too closely. About the...