Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-03-14
DRAWING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Ia L. n Necessary Par, Of the t:'iuca-
tion-Not - Fad
Chicago Times Herald

tion--Not ~ Fad.
| Chicago Times-Herald
There is a curious ignorance shou
drawing. it's practicni value n the pro-
prlety OF having Il taught in the coin
mon schools.
1t Is believed honestly by we'll mean
ing and intelligent people VIII" happen
not to have been taught to draw or whd
fail seriously 90 consider it's reNl place
In education that druW inR ~ useless tor
practical purposes. thai IL ~apI,ertains
only 90 preparation for a career ~ the
fine arts.
While 10 draw H. an Indispensable for
the professional artist. il is by uo means
exclusively a part of AN artists 'duca-
ton. 1t Is a geccssarN part az the edu-
cation of the mass Of the people VINO are
t. make their bread In craftsmanship.
Drawing Is essential TO the making OF
pictures II H. quite AS essential To the
making OF designs and plans that have
nothing pictorial la their aim car charac-
ter.
The worker IN wood must be able to
draw. If his order be a get OF oiiice fit
tings. every inch of the order must he
covered fret in q sketch showing lineal-
Is the design 10 he follow . while the
genmctrlcal character OF the drawings
enable the master of the concern 10 eR-
innate the amount and kinds OF mate
rial. and the quantity M class of
to he required in the execution or the or
der Drawing H. Indispensable TO the
architect and the contractor.
Without the plans which only draw
ing makes the one could not present 10
the other the description or speciica-
tionS OF the task IA be- performed. nor
without the drawings furnished for his
mcn could the contractor form any idea
Of the chief elements IN his job-time.
skill. muney apparatus. superintend-
ence. What il true of artisanship In
wood is true Of the crafts that use brick.
stone. terra Gotta. IRON. the clays. The
simplest mantel cannot he ordered or
executed without minute drawings. A
cornice cannot be made without draw
ings. non "A wagon on carriage built. Elk
eCution of any order for machinery de-
mands exhaustive drawings as prelim-
inarieS.
The trade Of the gardener requires
ability To draw. This GLACIER must be
able to draw to carry on his business
from the merely commercial s.de. The
shoemaker, IL he have any pretension TO
be more than a cobbler, must be able To
draw; he must give the drawing To his
skilled workmen, who otherwise would
be comparatively helpless. The bronze
caster. the iron mSlder, the bridge
builder, the boatmaker, the harness
maker. the engine designer, the potter.
all these trades require drawing. The
tailor must give his men drawings az
well as measurements. Industrial n
mechanical drawing IN something, as
may easily be perceived, different from
pictorial drawing. although there must
be more or less of pictorial effect In ev-
cry drawing except the strictly geomet-
rical. not implying perspective.
The student 81 medicine Is required to
- 4. ~ A.. l.n 49, UNIa ..fasnuaantng ON ~
not succeed without drawing, The geol-
ngist would be crippled could he not use
the pencil. The surveyor is "A practical
man, but "a draw Is one OF his first quail
iiications. The engineer must learn
drawing as the foundation OF his pro-
fession. To make a map requires ability
To draw. The pattern maker must be
able 70 draw.
During the past twenty-five years
there has been an extraordinary devel-
Opment Of the arts ~ industrial design
in the United states. especially In textile
and metallic lines. II dates it's begin
ming and it's impulse at the Centennial
exposition. Philadelphia. American ed
ucators and craftsmen Of the higher
grade OF intelligence discovered there
that the reason we could not make ac-
ceptable wall paper. carpet. tapestry,
oil cloths. draperies. decorative brass
and iron work, etc, Ia this country. was
To be found in the despotically literary
training we CAV In our common schools.
As rapidly as American capital conferred
Itself in manufacturing of tasteful pro-
ducts. IL a 10 import designers. super
intendents. foremen. decorators and fin
ishers. Today, thanks to the teaching
Of drawing. there are native Americans
at the head OF many OF the great fac
tories. There is no finer silversmithing
or goldsmithing m anywhere In the
world today thar In the United States.
Drawing is it's basis.
is II not irrational to speak OF drawing
as a "fad?" Is II not a legitimate and
necessary part OF the training OF Amer
lean boys and girls who are to be the de-
We are not 10 ran LEX aftogetifer upon
imported skill? What grammar Is To
all literary occupations, what arithme-
tic IL to all counting house work. what
writing is 10 correspondence. what ex-
ercise II 10 mind and body, hat drawing
is 10 all practical arts and crafts.