Carpenter

a worker in timber. Originally the term was connected with the making of carriages, but is now applied to one who works at the construction of wooden buildings, as houses, ships, bridges, and inside woodwork. The occupation is one that requires a true eye and hand, combined with no small degree of intelligence. Before the day of the sawmill the carpenter was obliged, of course, to obtain his own lumber from trees. People still living can remember a time when a carpenter planed his own lumber for flooring, made his own doors, casings, and even window sashes. With the advent of planing mills, sash and door factories, and machine-made moldings, the house carpenter is relieved of all this work, but it can hardly be said that woodwork requires any less skill. There are about 600,000 carpenters and joiners in the United States, with an average income of about $600 per year.