West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-02-19
a POPULAR INSTITUTION.
The Chicago Manual Training school aud
its Growing Popularity

us 'fhNlnS Ahnuldfiiyi
Manual training ha, laid hold upon
the imagination Of the American people.
The register of the Chicago Manual
Training School contains the names of
visitor, from all parts of this country.
from Canada, and from England. On
last conmcnccmcnt-dav seven hundred
person, visited the school. passing
through tnc several laboratories and
witnessing the exercises. II i, true,
many of those visitors were relations
and per ,OnJl friend, Of students: but re-
lalions and personal friends of student, of
school, OF the old rCgiHts visit them very
frequently Many of the visitors Of
manual training schools are women
hey are enthusiasts ON the subject OF
the new education. Their comprchen-
sion OF il is clearer than that of men.
This is doubtless because they are
possessed OF "a higher degree of intui-
ton, are moro Imaginative, more un-
selfish and less ambitious. and have
less aversion TO labor. Froebcl found
women better adapted To the work of
teaching than men. The kindergarten
and manual training are identical in
principal; but the kindergarten has
struggled long. and as vet un-ucccss-
fully. except i'm few Instances. for adj
mission to the schools. while manual
training. a thing of Yesterday in
lt~ educational aspect, has con-
quered all the educational out
posts, and now waits only the formal
surrender of the garrison of the citadel.
II possesses the fascination of the con-
crete a. opposed to the drowsv effect
II abstract speculation. The Manual
Training School building itself power
fully attracts the healthy active boy.
Smoke issues from the tall chimney that
rises high above the roof and the hum
of machinery is heard. and the heavy
ihud of the slcdgc resembling on the
anvil makes music i'm the ear.
The interior is more attractive still.
The rhythmic motion OF the polished
CorlisS engine responds to the now
throbbing heart of the expected lad.
The shaftng i'm the wood-turning labora-
tory speaks of mystery. It is a labv-
rinth of belts, large and small, of
wheels big and little, Of pullevs and
latheS. student moves n lever few
inches and the breath OF life is brcathed
INTO the complicated mass of machinery.
from the engine far away come the cur
rents of its power The whir of steam
driven machines >alutcs the ear, and
the class OF twcnty-fOuT students take
their places at the lathcs. So i'm the
laboratory of forging the furnace fires
give back an answering glow to the
gov of the visiting lad flushed cheeks.
All this Is in very sharp contrast to the
monotony OF the rccitation-room of the
old rcgiDic The superiority of the new
over the old education consists largely
In the fact that it altcrnates the purely
mental with the mental and manual cX
Crcise combined
During the pauscs of labor i'm the
laboratories of the Manual Training
school the well equipped instructor de
llvers series of brief lectures on sub
iects growing logically out of the exer-
ciscS In the drawing-room he sketches
i'm bold outline the biographies of the
great masters of the graphic art. I'm
the laboratory of carpentry he disuses
the natural history of certain trees. and
considers the qualities of woods. their
adaptability and various uses. In the
Wood-turning laboratory the subject of
the history of turncry is found to be
not less delightful than exhaustiblc. and
the manipulatons of the iron and steel
laboratories are closely allied TO all the
great events of the worlds history. The
moulding and casting laboratory is
richly suggestive OF subjects for discus
sion. CbUTicS H. H03a. IN burners lf0o-
U.U1C