Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-01-29
MECHANICS INSTITUTE.
IT'S PLANS AND PURPOSES.
The Old and the New fpssI,stc-- sems Que-
ries Answered and Valuable Information
Given.


Council circles as 10 what is meant by
a Mechanics Institute, will you kindly
favor your readers with some light on
the subject. What is taught in such an
institution What is its object?
II is stated there was such an institu-
tion in this city before the war. Please
give some account Of what it was and
what il did. And whether II was pub
lie institution, or was in any way aided
by the city. And, If am not tedious,
some examples OF such institutions in
other cities, and oblige FRIEND.
AN ANSWER BY A MEMBER OF THE
INSTITUTE.
The communication OF your corre-
spondent touches on subject which
has already received the editorial COM
ments Of your paper. The value Of q
well-established and well-regulated me-
chanics' institute for the improvement
Of our mechanics and the manufacturing
classes cannot be too highly estimated.
EVERYTHING now is measured by the
standard of the telegraph, and men can
not be content to rest in the ruts Of old
ideas. Once every mans carriage was
made like his neighbor's, and the same
model did for all. Now each man pur-
sues his own fancy, and aesthetics is
combined with mechanics. Let us cite
an instance A gentleman who had ira
yelled abroad entered carriage-shop
in this city and asked the pro-
prietor to make for him vehicle which
he had seen in England, describing it as
so-and-so. This was embarrassing.
The carriage-maker had no such model
and could not make it himself. He
could not give a satisfactory reply, and
some northern man would have gotten
the customer, when his son, who hap
pened to have Just returned from me-
chanics' institute in the North, readily
solved the difficulty by sketching the
vehicle on piece of paper. Thisillus-
trates the advantages of such an insti-
tuition as the one made the subject of
the inquiries of "A Friend" Educa-
ton is necessary for competition, and
the development in all things must come
from imparting the proper stimulus.
The constitution and plan of govern
ment adopted few days since by the
gentlemen interested in the establish
ment of a mechanics institute in this
city will serve to answer the inquiries
Of !" A Friend" more in detail. In its
eighth article we read that the institute
designs to provide san annual eXhibi-
ton of the productions of American
skill and industry, to be held in the
city Of Richmond, independently or in
competition with some other society or
association, as the board of managers
may deem proper; second, to afford rea-
sonable facilities for the examination
and trial of such new inventions or i'm
proyements as may be submitted
third, to establish a system Of pop
ular lectures on subjects connected
as far as practicable with manufacturing
mechanics and the collateral sciences
fourth, to form a library, reading-room.
a cabinet of minerals and models, and
mechanical apparatus; fifth, to estab-
lish and foster a school for instruction
in drawing, bookkeeping, mathematics,
chemistry, and mechanics" This con-
stitution is based upon rules prevailing
at the maryland Mechanics Insti-
tute," at Baltimore the "Ohio Me-
chanics' Institute" at Cincinnati; the
sCooper's Union" at New York, and
upon the constitution Of the old Vir-
ginia Mechanics Institute, which was
so prominent feature in this city be-
fore the war.
The old Virginia Mechanics Institute
was chartered in the year 1856. [See
Acts of Assembly, 1886, p. 246.l
At this time there was no regular public
school system and the institution was a
private corporation. BY the terms of
its charter it was allowed to hold three
acres Of land and personal property to
an amount not exceeding three hundred
thousand dollars. The city gave it a
lot on Ninth street, facing Bank street.
On this lot the managers erected hand
some structure, containing rooms for
school and halls for exhibition purposes,
furnished with all the necessary appa-
ratus and facilities. Every year
the Institute held a fair, which was
very popular, and furnished hand
some revenue. During these fairs lee
lures were delivered by distinguished
men. The school attached to the
Institute numbered three or four hun
dred scholars. Nearly every ambitious
young mechanic in the city belonged to
it. The value of its diploma is attested
by the success of our townsmen Will
liam +. Simons and George p. Stacy,
who. with others, were worthy gradu-
ates of the institution. War came, and
the building was destroyed in the great
fire in 1865. During the war the build
ing was used by the War and Navy De-
paItmentS Of the Confederate States.
The Patent Office was also there, and
the models Of the Institute, of which
there was a handsome display, formed
the nucleus of the Patent-Oflice exhibit.
Since that time a regular educational
system has been established in this
State. The representatives Of the peo-
pie know the fact that the people will
never grumble when money is spent in
the great cause of education. The an
nual appropriations to our colleges have
been doubled and trebled. Schools for
the colored people have been provided.
Recently college, with the handsome
appropriation of 100000 annually, has
been erected at Petersburg. The work.
ing mechanics seem alone to have been
overlooked. Virginia is more and more
assuming the character of manufac-
turing State. and we must, sooner or
later, provide facilities for those engaged
in the industrial pursuits. What
object, therefore, is more deserving of
State, city, or private charity than
centre for the industrial energies of the
State; place where all the mineral re-
sources Of the Commonwealth may al
ways be ON exhibition and inventors