, 1876-08-06
SHOP-W0RK INSTRUCTION,

ID again that their time will come it they pei
Y sist
~ sHoP-woRK INSTRUCTION.
= There is no doubt that the mechanical art
and skilled labor Of this country are at seri
d ous disadvantage, because of the lack 0
: systematic and scientific training in earl,
i life. The old apprentice system did not af
9 ford this to the desired extent, from the fac
8 that the youth who entered mechanical works
to learn his trade was generally employed te
do the carrying, sweeping, and other IN
skilled labor necessary to be done, and had
, to depend entirely upon his own energy and
aptitude for acquiring partial knowledge Of
the trade to which he proposed to devote
himself. But the Trades Union organize
tions throughout the country, having arrayed
themselves against the apprentice system, on
the ground that it is opposed to tho interests
Of foreign workmen coming to this country,
the American youth have been deprived even
of this partial aid to skilled labor This dep
rivation, and the general neglect to teach
the American youth trades, is one Of the
most dangerous conditions of the time it
inevitably leads to IN enlargement of the
clerklng classes, the unemployed classes,
and the INDECENT and vicious classes. It
| likewise depreciates the character and value
Of skilled labor and mechanical productions.
Mr: RuNK1E, the President Of the Massa-
| chusetts Institute Of Technology, thinks he
has discovered the remedy in the shop-work !
system Of instruction which has been
adopted at the Imperial Technical Schools of |
st. Petersburg and Moscow, and advises that |
this Russian system be adopted in the Massa-
chusetts Institute and other chronological in
stitutions in this country. He says that the
exhibit at the Centennial Exposition of the
collections of tools and samples OF shop-work
done by the Russian studenfs shows that
the system has achieved magnificent
results. The St. Petersburg institute
has now 500 students, and that at
Moscow probably as many more. These
schools have the usual curriculum of studies
essential to scientific education, but in ad-
dltlon thereto they have the mechanical de-
partments for special instruction in the sew
eral trades of engineering, building, carpen- .
ter and joiner work, iron forging, etc. The
course OF instruction at st. Petersburg en-
braces five years, and during that time the c
students are employed some 64s hours each P
IN actual manual labor in the various shops 8
md mills belonging to the institute, begin u
ing at the simpler work and gradually pass :
ng to the more complicated Nr RuSK1r. =,
n his report, describes the system as fol-
ows:
The ideas involved in the system arc first tn 81
nti1ely separate the instruction shops from the IS
oasf,aciao7 shops: second, to do each kind OF 10
18th as many places and seta Of TOOLS and thus ac1
as many pupils as teacher can in Il
at the sane IN te and fourth to graduate
'me scale. that Of difficulty being probably the
t,1 est IN practice It will be seen, them that tie
roolem thns far is simply Of systematic In ins
ruction given by an expert In each shop. and ~. ~
wing the same end in view Instruction n any acf
her subject Or department. The aim Is to eiye ILL
Efficient skill in each specially in the shortest Dos ~
Ole time, and to give the instruction TO as many
W securing the greatest economy Of time and slil
erefore money, to both teacher and pupil Al
he student has finished his course in the ser-
u construction shop, which may still be- used cen
aPly for Instruction, as in the St. Petersburg 600
rs being made simply to give variety to the H. or,
1cEon; the machines and tools made being J pos
d at the end Of the year II wanted. @ it 81
1t it shall be decided to act upon President
'SK1Es recommendation and add iustruc-
shops to the Massachusetts, Institute. ea1
experiment will be watched with the s nes
atest interest and, if it prove successful. for
nay become q part of the instruction Of var
er similar institutions in the United
tes- He proposes to start with two Al
IS course, for admission to which the latu
didates must pass examination in arith. day.
nc, geography, English grammar, English Tss' AGO.
American history, and algebra through 'eA
pie equations. The studies of the fret A,
rs course, he suggests, shall be algebra. road
'e geometry, rhetoric, and composition. past
drawing; the second year advanced ber 9
les in the same direction, with French "oui
ID; and during the entire course devo- tr
OF twelve hours every week to practica, noeit
'-work under the supervision of skilled as q
:uctors Nort7
'e Chicago Tines, assailing the reso1u. -
proposed to the Board of Trade bv Mr. At
iH1. used this language: being
Thefeases state certain things that are not Demo
III tne hrst place. they state by imn1icst;nn house
ns s3lveF dollar was fnlt lecaltender rom mataa
~ ; 20 ~ py virtue OF Congressional enactment
~ not tfte Congress never assumed r. ,naEa
aue SoId dollar or the silver dollar a la@.3 VIC