Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-05-21
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TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

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TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
THE INTEREST THAT rs BEING MANIFEST
ED IN ENGLAND.
The importance of technical schools has
not yet been fully appreciated by the peo,,
pie of the South. The rapid development
of the industrial interests of this section has
so absorbed public attention that the neces-
sity for giving the rising generation the
best advantages of technical education has
scarcely been realized except by few in
dividuals here and there. 1t ought to be
one of the most gratifying features of the
South'S progress in manufactures, that IL
opens up source of profitable employment
to the thousands of young men who have
heretofore been almost necessarily forced
either to adopt some profession already over
crowded or else emigrate to some place
where there is wider diversity of occupa-
tion open to all who are willing to labor.
For the young men who did not desire to
study law or medicine, and had not the
capital to engage in merchandising, the
South has been sadly lacking in opportuni-
ties for employment that gave promise of
success. With the decided change in the
industrial interests of the Southern States,
the building of manufacturing enterprises of
all kinds, the opening Of mines and the
construction of railroads, the South Is rapid
ly becoming one of the most inviting places
in the world for those who have had the
benefit of good technical training. 1t is
essentially important to permanent success
and growth of manufactures in the South
that Southern people themselves should be
thoroughly fitted to improve their oppor-
tunities in this line and that strong man.
ufacturing sentiment be inculcated in the
rising generation. This can best be done
by thorough technical schools, and what
ever may be the necessities for econOmizing
in the expenditure of money by the South
ern States, there should be no false economy
in refusing to establish and support techni-
cal schools, we'll equipped and taught by
the most competent teachers to be secured.
In report upon technical education in
England, by Consul Shaw, of Manchester, it
is said:
"An increasing activity is being mani
tested in behalf of technical education in
this country, and great reliance is felt in
the work this new system will be able to
accomplish in the near future. The aim is
to combine skill in manipulating raw mate
rials with thorough scientific knowledge
of chemistry and of all raw products from
which manufactures are here turned out.
Germany has taken the lead in calling to
the aid Of her manufacturers rare knoWl-
edge of chemistry, and this has enabled
them to turn out the best products at the
least cost, aided by the discoveries of their
chemical experts in compromising colors
and securing advantageous results at small
cost. New discoveries made from time to
time in coloring mixtures have afforded spe-
cial advantages to their textile industries,
and the range and beauty of their colors are
the admiration and envy Of the world.
A thorough scientific knowledge of chem
istry is an almost invaluable necessity in all
large textile manufacturing establishments.
The day has gone by when a mere routine
knowledge of delicate and difficult combina-
tions can safely be trusted, in competition
with the best technical development possible
under the new system. Amanufacturer from
New England State only recently in
formed me that he became convinced few
years ago that his bill for indigo was far too
large. The result of his inquiries led him
to send abroad for a skilled dyer, who had
been carefully educated in one of the best
technical and chemical schools in Germany
and England 'and' said he, lin the first year
he reduced my indigo coloring account from
$50, 900 to $780, OOOO.' This striking case illus
trates very forcibly the improved methods
of dyeing over the old system. 1t was not
because his long time dyer was not as eff
cent as one could be with limited and i'm
perfect knowledge Of chemistry, but for the
reason that the new one was master of the
latest methods of his art. One hoped for
reform in this technical system of educating
young men in such way is to make them
feel an interest in combining manual labor
with scientific instruction. 1t is of great
Importance to develop a sentiment among
students in favor Of honest toll, combined
with the desire Orimprovementin in all things
entering into the manufactures in which
special interest is taken. Wrong ideas about
the dignity of labor work great evil at pres
ent. Young men seek to lind out a way to
earn alvelihood without entering the work
shop or the factory, in the too often mistak
en- belief that the store, the counting house,
or some profession offer more digni1ed occu-
patiOns. The result is an over crowded and
poorly paid class and no end of sad failures,
owing to temptations bred of extravaganza
and false views of life and its true aims.
Technical education presents a wide and
rare field for practical instruction of a most
useful kind, and in the highest sense ed
ucates students to be of commanding use
fulness in all the manufacturing centres"
In England, evening schools for the arti-
sans and working classes are said to be
great boon, and their results have been re-
markably satisfactory. y.-BahinaOre MaNyac-
f,uers' Rec0rd.
For WANT OF A IATCH-An old STEP