The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1875-05-27
Wood-Carving for Schools.

w OOu Wig 4DI DGuOOlSs
The British government has recently
been making inquiries as to the timber
production and wood industries of Eu-
rope, and among other information has
been furnished with a very interesting
account of wood carving In Switzerland.
The report, after giving statements in
regard to the wood -caryers, speaks verv
highly of the art as a mode of cultiva-
ton, and remarks that the wood carving
is of considerable value as affording
training for other trades. The Ober-
land child, brought up in the midst of
an unceasing school of modelling and
design, acquires special qualifications
for making a ftrst-rate carpenter, lock-
smith, engraver, stone-cutter, decorative
painter, architect, etc. For this reason
Mr.. Jenner, who makes the report, sug-
gests that the introduction. OF wood
carving into the board schools of Lon
don might not be unattended with ben
eflcial effects, and that none the less
because the extra expense incurred for
the instruction of the children ought to
be repaid by their earnings after the
system has been few years in existence.
He saws: "Ihe intuitive love of every
Anglo-Saxon boy for cutting up wood
with a knife, which usually takes the
form of boat making in England, he
thinks might be easily turned to account
IN imparting the elements of the art.
As woOd-carving on a large scale is
greatly facilitated by the use of various
kinds of machinery, it might be posi-
BILE, when the system had reached a
Iiper development, to add a certain
amount OF mechanical knowledge to the
other requirements of the frequenters
of public schools. AS a branch of for
eign labor wood-caIving would appear
to be quite unexceptiOnable, .ecORomi-
cally speaking, in England. 1t need
encrOach upon no eXisting industry, and
would have little to fear from competi
tiOn for some years to come, thus being
secure of two of the first essentials for
the labor of criminals, non-interference
with honest labor, and a free field for
sufficient time to make the system work
in regular routine. The country might
thus by degrees be endowed with a new
branch of ind dstry, for which, owing to
our great mechanical skill and the espe-
cial facilities we possess for procuring
the most beautiful and the rarest woods
at comparatively low rates, Great Brit
ain would appear to be peculiarly fitted.
It is hardly too much to say that what
the zeal of one man, Christian Fischer,
of Brianz, was able to achieve for the
benefit of his fellow-citizens of the
OberIand in 1916, is not beyond the
powers of the thousands of highly quail
fled gentlemen who are striving to ad
vance the cause of education in Eng
land. At all events, as Mr.. Jenner
observes, there would be hut little harm
in trying the experiment IN one of the
refOrmatOries or prisons.
A Blunder of American Turfmen.
The New York World thinks that the
American turfmen are paying too much
regard to time and not enough to the
ability of the horse to carry weights.
1t thinks the weights ought to be raised.
It asks 'fAre we not following an iQ7li8
fatlEus In the matter of time? Do we
not give too much importance to the
fact of running a mile, less or more, as
the case may be, in just so many minutes
or seconds ? Do not breeders, knowing
that speed is looked upon as the acme
in hOrse-hesh, pay more attention to
the breeding of horses likely to run fast
than they do to the production of horses
able to carry weight and to go dis
tance Is not horse that is able to
carry from 120 to 140 pounds, say a
finiteIy better than horse that, with
10 pounds ~, will run mile IN 40
Can any reliance be placed on a horse
that is bred entirely for speed?
Owners and breeders must be con
vinced that nature intended horses to
be something else besides racing ma
chimes. The country Is rapidly accu-
mulating a class of horses that when
unable to run are only ft for the knack-
er-yard. No one will breed from them,
by reason of bad legs, broken wind or
other diseases that even the best horses
are heir to. We're they the reverse of
this their services as stations all over
the country would be invaluable.
The World adds: "What Is wanted
is a convention of breeders and owners
from all parts of the country who, in
deliberate debate, could exchange ideas
that would be productive of many re-
forms, and as body frame a code of
rules suitable for the whole country,
protective to one and all alike. The
initiative step for this, if made by the
American Jockey Club, would at once
insure its success.