The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-02-27
MECHANICAL SCHOOLS.

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MECHANICAL SCHOOLS.
Are you trying to make every boy
carpenter p is the question general,
put by every one in first coming in con
tact with this branch of education. Few
seem to understand how well the car
penter trade is adapted to the teaching
of all the fundamental principles of mr.
chanics and the fine arts. To illustrate:
If a boy expects to be a carpenter,
mason, plumber. stone-cutter, archi &c
artist. painter. sign-wrlter, blacksmith
machinist, surveyor, or tn follow a. yother
trade or art, he must first learn with hls
ewes and with his hands tn max
straight lines, perfect angles true curueS
and accurate measurements These tn
carpenter must learn and they are fun
damental to all the trades, arts and many
of the sciences A skillful use of the
hammer IL mt cessary 10 many OF the aris
and trades.
When one understands sharpening
carpenters tools so each will stand h
strain, and can set their edges right '
the cutting to turn the chips or shaw
Ings properly and cut clear without
clogglng or j4mming, and require th'
least muscular force to do the work and
to the best advantage to the surface be-
ing worked, he has thereby mastereo
fundamental principles useful to nearly
all the trades and arts.
There is no trade that embraces mot
of the foundation principles of mechan
ics, necessary to all the arts, trades and
sciences, than does the carpenters 'rad2,
besides being clean, healthy, and re
curing reasonable amount of varied
exercises. The odors of the dlffrren
woods are also healtbgiving, The gym
nasium hardly offers better opportuni.
ties for physical training.
A skillf surgeon once said he had
learned the carpenters trade before 60
ing TO college, and that IN his practice
what he had learned in the carpenter
shop was quite as important To his sur
gerry as what he learned al college. FL
knew what kind of tools would best d"
the work required, and how to Keep
them in perfect order. and how to NOV
them exactly where and as he desired.
with the least effort, and least chance OF
accident.
The mechanical school is equally ben
eficial to the dentist and the jewelrr.
People who object to thus kind o'
schooling cannot be aware of lis import
ance to the pupils.
1t is raised as an objection, that a.
nearly all wood working is now done bN
machinery, it Is therefore a waste Of
me to learn much handicraft; but thi
objection il not well founded. A knowi
edge of handIcraft is the best possible
knowledge to have to enable one II
readily understand the operation of ma
chnery. A machine is only substitute
for hand work. and to understand the
substitute nothing is better than +
knowledge OF the principle the machin'
is substilu ed for. Such studen
knows where the machine needs to be-
strong and where il can afford to be
weak. Opponents do not realize that
the object is 10 make the boy master
of Fundamental principles that nine
tenths Of the boys will have use for dur
ing their whole lives, whether ma
chinery is used by them or not.
This school has another importan'
Effect. The mere fact that boy con
structs something himself does more
than anything else can to give the boy
an interest in all kinds of constructions
he meets with in the outside world, thus
making the outside world his lifelong
teacher. In this respect the school is OF
most importance in rounding out the
education of its graduates. 1t is more
than amusing to hear certain teacher
IN one of our advanced mechanical
schools rel te the objections raised by
certain parents against this branch OF
schnoling. They say they want their
children "to get up in the world, and
learn something, and not be working
They seem to think to work and to learn
is a contradiction of terms, and that GER
tainly both cannot be Jone at the same
time. They seem to think If their child
rem ever learn anything of a trade thl'
will prevent their afterwards learning \
profession. This prt judice, narrow and
i'll. .fuunded as it il, has been the mus'
diff ult to deal with, and has caused
the greatest Withholding of votes wher
an appropriation for this branch o
schooling is called for. They canno
: understand that it is not york but !
studv. and not le'rnIng a sp, clal trade
but general principles But the boys al
. like this branch and rush to the wOrl
. room even before the time, and whel
let in work like little beavers | Il onl'
: necessary to let a boy construct some
, thing and his heart Is IN The work d
. once.
The teachers have needed great dea
e of education in this respect, for they a
J. start out by teaching abstract ideas an
, principles connected with nothing tang
bic to the boy, thus Furnishing him a
completely as though be was cOnsigne
y to his fret lesson in grammar; anu a
u early experience in that respect wi
=, illustrate the c,se.
e' Browns grammar gave me my fir
experience, and learned some of i
70 iinpling long before / discovered thu
! The book was intended to convey idea
s' Il love, thou love, he loves; plural, "
e. love, you love, they love. | see, tho
J. see, hp see; plural, we see, you see. the
y see." This, to my young mind, wi
III good enough to sing or whistle, but VIII
=, did it mean any way? Who is dor
'u all this loving, and whom does he low
-, and when did it happen, and where
Nobody knows and the book doesn't t.
ne bur keeps jingling right along; and Il
e worst part of 1t is, the boy can't arranl
~ this Jingle 20 please his own aTs, for Il
~ teacher insists that he must repeat Il
u words Just as they are arranged in q
book. My conclusion was that "unly
ID. girl could do that; no boy could LEA
"a, to repeat the words just as they are a
no ranged in the book, My conclusion W
" that " only girl could do that; no b.
hu could learn to repeat mere words tn
w don't tell anything
~ One day, after nv usual failure in t
en- grammar recitation the teacher left I
'lu on the recitation seat, saying shou
Use ait there until had learned the delft
tion of both the noun and Uerb b. &
eu with the noun hy first counting 1
60 words on nv fingers ~ read them ov'
OF thus: "A noun is a name of any prrso
place or thing that can be known
zen mentioned Seventeen words He
'eu could remember so many words as h
and get them al 10 come righ ExI
,ur rienca had taught me that the teact
ew would tolerate no mixing. II said II
uy word noun (whatever 1t might me
# SAID the ,un first then said -.
ted next, even II | got all tn" Ihprs right
re their places. he wuu dn't have It.
couldn't see why he NE be 70 part'C
lar about which came first or last, If
ng, remembered 10 speak every one thu
ing was there. But there was seventr
ten words and had TO M ser them l III
tried saying them over quickly,
lat. whole lot right over and over to see
nee wouldn't get IN the habit of saying tn,
rad Just as they were arranged. | Easily
lnd msmhered that "A" came fir,t. th
bon "noun" was second and us was tn
but every time looked of he book
ing forgot which word came next. / 8
yed thai the next word was "a and W,
rae, dprpd Why u didn't 20 on with "a no
ia" like the first three, for II II was liz
ing that way could ca'cn the jing e; 81
In TO siring on 30 maDv. who Guilt lea