Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-01-28
TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
How the Workshop and the College Msy be
Married.
Contemporary Review.

Contemporary Review.
In endesYorfng 20 provide system CT
technical education for the whole country
it is necessary to begin with the primary
schools. Here the course Of edu-
cation should be directed to the
preparation Of boys for the workshop
instead Of the desk. Ffeehand and me-
chsnicsl drawing, the elements of men
suratioc and mechanics, and, IN the
higher standards, tie elements OF physi-
cal seen should be taught. The teach
ing OF geometry should have direct
| reference 10 Its application in the
| workshop, snd in arithmetic
should be taken 8trom work
shop problems instesd Of perpetu-
ally recurring TO the retail shopkeeper
for "bills Of parcels" following the
primary school should come the evening
apprenticeship school, wnere elementary
instruction in special trades should be
given, in accordance with the principles
specified above, in order to supplement
| the workshop practice of those
who have entered those trades.
These schools should be
under special technical committees,
but their conduct Is net properly part
Of the work of university college.
though in some cases 1t may be desirable
that university colleges should establish
them. The evening apprenticeship
school might very we'll be municipal
institution, supported b. borough rates
and under the general management of
! the corporation or other local authority,
| while eacn department should be superin-
| tended by its special com mittee repre-
senting the particular trade sud partly
elected by the members Ct that trade.
1t is the almost complete separation Of
our universities, our training colleges
and public schools from the world of
commerce aud manufacture that coesti-
tutes one of the weakest points In our ed
vocational system, and mskes it so diff
cult for cur schools and colleges TO pro-
vide the kind Of education (which
| the artisan, the manufacturer, or
the merchsnt considers most
valuable. The language of the
schools is different from that OF real life,
aud our tex books, AID too often our
lectures. are couched in this foreign
language. For instanc-, in teaching
mechanics to artisans, why should not
the illustration be drawn from
the workshop instead of in
PRODUCING all sorts Cot i'm
sginsry and impossible combinations
which lead the artisan mind to suppose
that the science taught exists only on
paper, and has no prsctlcsl bearings? Is
! it not time, for instance, TO discard the
classical "frst, second and third system
OF pulleys," and to Introduce into our
schools such tackle as is in use
in tie workshops of the
day. By allowing elementary
teachers to receive part Of their training
in university colleges this difficulty
would be to 8 considerable extent over
come In the college classes they would
study Size by side With young
engineers or manufacturers to whose re-
| quirements the teaching st the college
has been specially adapted. When
afterward they have to teach the same
classes OF students of an earlier age, the
teaching they will be able to give, first
hand aud not from textbooks, will be Of
q character that Will commend itself to
their pupils.
The proper technical work OF the uni
versity college lies in the training of the
workman (or premium apprentice to be-
come foreman or manager, and It should
be within the power of every skilled
workman to avail himself Of the foil ben
efiss of the technical department Of the
college 1t Is here that the universities can
render the greatest help to the nationsl
industries. IL Was the frequent inter
course between james Watt, the skilled
mechanic, and the professors and stu
dents Of the University Of Glasgow that
led to the development OF the steam en-
CINE, and it is by bringing science ia the
person Of university professors into
direct contact with industry as repre-.
sented by the most intelligent wOrkmeD
and foremen that we may look for the
grestest improvements in our manufac-
lures. The technical department of the
college should aim ct being more Ike G
laboratory than workshop. The purely
scientific instruction should be given
by the ordinary professors Of the college,
but the services OF the best specialists OBJ
tainable should be secured for the tech
nical teaching. In some districts, and in
| special trades, there can be found to-day
q constituency ready to profit By tecbni-
cal teaching OF the highest order, but gen
orally the university colleges must look
to the apprenticeship schools TO prepare
the students for their technical classes,
and in some Gases it may be desirable
that the college should start by itself
| establishing the apprenticeship school.
A Priest Discovers a mighty Explosive.
L