The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-08-30

put on exhibition at the rooms of the school
board. conversation with Professor Grant,
to whose earnest efforts and constant attendance
much of the good done is due, reveals the fact
that such a school might be made self-supporting
i'll the summer months if not throughout the
year.
1t is a question whether such schools can be
legally constituted and supported out of
public funds. The Gregg fund of $4,000,
devoted to general education has ac-
cumulated an interest fund of some $4,000.
and yields annually 5000. No court has
as yet decided the limits within which tuition
must be confined in the public schools The
present work does not differ in scope or charac-
ter from that done by pupils in chemical and
physical laboratories, and such are common in
all tirst-class high-schools.
The school board has not as yet committed
itself to the teaching of the principles that I'M
derle the mechanic arts-as the use of wood
and iron aud stone-working tools-as q regular
part of the high-school course. The board has,
however, furnished a room and built the
benches. The salary of Professor Goss the cost
oftools and material will be paid out of the So
tuition fund collected from the forty-eight stu
dents That, with the right kind of teacher,
such schools may be successfully conducted is
one of the facts established beyond doubt. The
attendance was prompt, the classes were full,
| and several applicants turned away; the pupils
| enjoyed the work-they had paid for it in part
felt responsible for their work and not for their
! per cents, and went to it as cheerfully as to
| base ball. The question before the board and
! the people is, now, what shall do With it'll
Shall we open fall class in one of the old build
| ings and teach the use of tools to those having
the requisite strength desiring to do SO, and
willing to pay for tho use of tools and material,
or shall we have simply a summer school like
the present, or shall we let tho matter go by de.
FAULT
Prof. Goss says that by this summers work he
has learned several things, rather confirmed
pre-existing views: That only boys of high.
school age or strength can all the bench-toOls
| to advantage; the course has to be modified fol
the light-weights. Also that brain is necessary
as well as brawn-in short that the sharpest and
brightest boys do the best work. He believes
that such work has a high educational value
aside from ability; it trains the eye and hand it
is both mental and muscular exercise at once
Moreover, that the use of tools can be taught
girls to the benefit of their health and general
usefulness and intelligence. Probably the great
est difficulty in operating such schools will be in
| getting competent teachers; they should be
graduates of technical schools should be prac
tical and natural mechanics and should more
| over be apt to teach.
Prof. Goss has these requisites and his school
was success Whether competent teacher at
a salary within the compass of the board can be
secured, hereafter remains to be tested when
the verdict of the people and the school board is
received. Any one wishing to the work OF
the classes must call at the high.school between
8 and s O'Clock to-day or Friday, as the hammer
drops and the first successful effort in this city
toward industrial training in school GLASSES
closes tomorrow with the close of the wooden
school.