The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-12-07

Greatest Agricultural and Indus
trial College i'm the South-It
Different departments and thci
Equipment and Methods OF Teach
ing.
TO the Editor of The News and Courier:
Believing that the people Of tn,
State will be glad to know how Glenn
son College is equipped for the worl
OF industrial education, and how thi
equipment Of teaching force, buildng
and apparatus are employed, | very
gladly comply with your request Il
write for The News and Courier al
outline sketch Of Clemson and the work
OF training our youth into lines which
will tit them for maximum usefulness
in the battle Of life under the new
alignment of its industrial activities.
You have done much through the
columns of your journal, which you
have conducted upon such an elevated
plane as to command the respect Of all
Intelligent readers, to convey correct
Impressions OF Clemson and its work.
DEPARTMENT. OF MECHANICS.
This department Is composed Of six
divisions, embracing the school OF
physics wood shop work, machine
shop work, forge and foundry, electri,
Cal engineering, and drawing and
of a competent instructor, under the
general direction OF the head OF the
department., who is chief engineer de-
tailed from the naval service for this
work.
The work in this department pro.
ceeds hand in hand with that in the
agricultural department. The students
are given such instruction ia theory
and such practical work as will be
hnn Hf,in nj 10, IN, liz t. e.,
but especially SO II they decide to be-
come farmers.
In the division of physics they arc
taught the laws of nature which have
special bearing upon the operations Of
the agriculturista and mechanic. They
learn how the forces Of nature may be
measured, turned to useful account
and controlled to what purpose each
form is best adapted, and the best
water power they find in streams, or
the coal which is brought from q dis
tance and has to be handled with
economy. They learn how heat, light
and electricity may be transferred at
will, and made more obedient than
any hired labor and far more reliable.
In the division Of drawing, the student
is taught the language Of engineer
ing" He learns how to express him
self brie fly and effectively by sketches
and working, drawing in man
uer in which he can be understood,
not merely at home, but in any
part of the civilized world, for draw
ing is the only appr ach to universal
language since the time Of the building
OF the Tower of Babel.
The course begins with free hand
drawing Of sketches Of simple models
to give facility Of execution to the
muscles Of the hands and teach the eye
to judge and estimate dimensions and
proportions. Then instruments are
taken up an d exact working drawings
are produced, and tracings and blue
prints are made ready for use in the
shops. Later on original designs Of
simpler forms Of machinery are
moulded out. and the patterns, cast
ings and completed machines made
from them and used in the depart
ment as part Of the working plant
The students seem fully alive to the
Importance OF this branch, and recently
IL has been found necessary to greatly
enlarge the draughting rooms, adding
nearly 80 per cent more space, in order
to accommodate the numerous applicants
for instruction.
In the division of woodwork the
student gets an excellent introduction
to the use OF mis- brains and hands at
the same time. From the nature Of
the material the work is clean and
light, improvement is rapid, and the
beginner thereby encouraged to un-
dertake more difficult manual labor.
The training OF the hand and eye ac-
quired in the free hand dra wing serves
him in GOOD stead here, and assists
him greatly in producing work that is
pleasing in appearance, as well as
adapted to its purposes. This work is
very attractive to the students, and
many of them spend considerable
part Of their leisure hours working at
the benches and lathes.
The foundry is well equipped, and
there the students are shown how
moulds are made from patterns and
The castings in brass and iron pro-
duced. He learns quick what very
few people ever knOw-how various
articles in daily use are produced, and
why some are so much more expensive
than others Of similar general appear
ance. Here the student assists In MAX
ing castings for machinery to be built
and used in the shops. 1t has been
found that iron castings made here
are sounder and better than those
bought from dealers.
In the forge shop series OF graded
exercises in forging and Welding are
gone through with, the system being
arranged to give facility to the use OF
all the mere common tools. The
ability to measure and Judge dimen-
sions by the eye acquired In the draw
ing room comes in again here, and
greatly expedites the work of bring.
ing down masses Of hot metal to the
required shapes ard sizes, ready for
use In the machine shops. There are
eighteen forges, with sets Of tools com
plete.
The machine shop is well equipped
with twelve benches, with sets Of tools,
latbes and other machines, such as
shapers, drill, presses, etc. AS in
work with forge and foundry the
student Is required to produce set OF
finished pieces Of metal working from
drawings. The exercises are graded,
and are such as are found by ex-
perience in the best technical schools,
to be adapted to giving the most per-
feet facility in the use of tools. No
attempt is made to train students to be
machinists. When it Is considered
that it takes an apprentice five years,
working ten hours day, to develop
into q machinist; that the student
only works seven hours day for five
days In the, week, and half OF his time
is taken up with theoretical studies
that In the time allotted to practica