Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-11-12
MANUAL TRAINING.
WaAT The NEWLY-ELECTED SIEOOL BOARD
MEMBERS
Have 70 Say About 1.-THE Preporderancs Of Opinion
Very Much in lis FayOy-Visws Of
the Gentlemen.

The REGISTER this morning presents
To its readers the views of the gentle
men, elected to the Board of Education,
a week ago, upon the very important
subject of manual training in the
schools. 1t will be noticed that there
is very considerable preponderance Of
sentiment in favor OF this addition to
our public school system, and as the
gentlemen whose views are here pre-
Sented are fresh from the people, =
they may, without doing violence to the
probabilities, be said to closely reflect
public opinion.
Here is what they say
The REGISTER reporter called upon
DR.. c. L. Ulrich, and found him buSily
engaged in his Office on upper Main
street. Most aSSuredly," said the doc
tor, Il am heartily in favor of man.
ual training school in this city. As was
long ago learned by the ancient Greeks,
perfectly active mind cannot exist
without good health and sound body.
Have been teacher and principal OF diff
ferent schools in Kentucky and Ten
neSSee for nearly sixteen years, and
during that experience al
ways combined, where practical.
the physical with the mental train
ing. Scholars, under the old
regime, sit cOnfnedly in their seats too
long, cultivate lounging habits, contract
weak lungs, and get round shouldered.
And during the Schoo! rcceSSeS, that
come only at intervals, the pent-up en-
ergy resolves itself into violent exercise,
a Spasm0dic exercise that rather retardS
than develops the system. For day
session of six hours | believe one or one
and half hours ought TO be spent in
physical OF manual training. In the
course OF year you'll find the mental
activity has increased. y scholar,
fresh from physical exercise, can
enter school room and do
more mental work in ten minutes than
another scholar can do in twenty. Why,
the ancient Greeks spent One-half their
time i'm physical culture, and yet they
were Il superior intellectual race, and
their writings to-day are in the front
rank of literature. ! believe all the
schools should have a system OF general
physical exercise, with the special
training as pertains to trade vacations
confined to the higher schools. Schools
in the lower and intermediate grades
should conform only to Il general sys-
TEN. rs the introduction OF any special
branch Of occupation in these grades
6 81 int a
against their natural bias. Girls, De-
lieye, should be equally well trained in
the mechanical part OF domestic life. |
hope tO.see this system brought about. y
DR.. John l.. Dickey was also seen
10y the reporter. The doctor. while al
ways pleasantly communicative, said he
had given but little thought to the sub
iect, yet. nevertheless. he advanced
several ideas well worthy of considera-
ton. The doctor said that so far as he
was acquainted with the subject, 1t met
with his unQueStioned approval. The
doctor was of the opinion that the more
you educate the hand the better will be
the head. He believed that in the man
ual system the fact that the practical is
combined with the theoretical would be
a great saving Of time for the student,
and the sooner he would be-
come Self-SuStaining man OF
trade" The doctor was Of the
opinion that all children had some
special talent, which under the old
system remains undeveloped. "A great
many boys have talent for industrial
drawing, others have an aptitude for
constructive WORK, others for trades of
various kinds. Now if these talents
could all be brought to the surface and
developed in early life, | believe a
grand work would be accomplished"
!. A. Miller was also seen. but SAID
he would prefer TO reserve his opinion
until the members OF the Board were
formally uShcred into Office.
Dr. Campbell-"I have not given the
subject thought. and would not like
to express an opinion until | have care
fully considered it,"
GuStaVe II. Medick-"I had not taken
any interest in educational matters
prior to the election. but | am strongly
in favor of any system which trains the
hand as well rs the brain. You may
say that am in favor of manual train
ing. | would favor that system which
secures the best results. consistent with
economy"
\. J. Schultze-''I am strongly in
favor Of manual training in our pubic
schools. My idea is to have manual
training in every grade in our public
school system, provided il can be Sc
cured NJ a reasonable cost. | do not en-
dorSe the idea of a separate school, for
many pupils then could not avail them
selves Of the opportunity to secure the
benefit Of manual training"
:. :. Rloch-..I am heartily in favor
of manual training. | believe In cen
trail grammar school, in combination
with a manual training school. 1t
would be more economical, and more
practical than rs the schools are run at
present. II would crown our
school system. Ii Is just what
has been needed for a long time. Cities
with one-half and onc-fourth our popu-
lation have central grammar schools.
This would enable educators to pur-
chase one good apparatus, that would
bee of some benefit and use for practical
education, where they now have six or
seven poor ones. The particular adj
vantage Ia a central grammar school Is
that the senior classes would receive
more attention, at less cost TO the city.
As 10 manual training schools. | feel
that il the Board Of Education would
appoint a committee to look into the
feasibility OF adding 10 our public
school system, they would be unanl-
nous in working for its adoption. There
is no city where manual training has
been started, and properly taught, but
that the results have been surprisingly
successful"
An effort was made to see Mr.. NJ.
Hubbard. member-elect from Madison,
but ii was not successful.