The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-05
NEW SYSTEM NEEDED
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION DISCUSSED
BY COMMITTEE OF TEACH
ERS' ASSOCIATION
QUESTION OF sELF-sUPPoRT
DIR. Smith Offers Suggestion as TO
Method to BE AdOpted-J. ID.
Bond and Others
Speak.


State Teachers association a week ago in
the parlors of the Commercial club yes
terday afternoon.
DR.. Smith, of the Peoples church, as
chairman of the committee, presided, and
j. C. Bryant, principal of the Madison
school, and secretary Of the Minnesota
educational association, was appointed
| secretary.
The meeting was opened by DR.. Smith
calling upon S. H. Comings, to explain
the plan of Industrial training suggested
by him. Mr.. Comings said that more
intelligent system of training was want
ed among the workers. Mr.. Comings
| thought that the industrial schools might
be made self supporting by the work of
/ the pupils. There would be no added bur-
/ den of taxation if boys and girls were
/ able to make their own living practically
/ from the ages of fourteen to twenty-five.
DR. Smith interrupted here to ask what
! Mr.. Comings proposed in regard to estab-
! fishing these schools, and whether he
meant that the state should establish
| one or two such experimental schools and
! find out if they would be self-supporI,
! ing.
Prof. Weitbrecht. of thu Mechanics
j Arts High school, said the children at his
! school Were mostly Of the high school
! age, and that they could not support
!
an academic education. The pupils in
the Mechanics Arts school were young and
immature both physically and mentally,
and though taught to make tables and
! do blacksmithing, etc, sufficient speed
was not attained to make them efficient
wage earning mechanics. He added that
| they could of course, turn out fine car
| penters, etc, but that was not the aim
! of the school, which was to give an all
round good mechanical training, and at
! the same time teach the child mathemat
| les, English, ETC. The child needed time
| to play in order to make him self-sup-
| porting, and at the same time to con-
| tinue his scholastic training he would
necessarily have to work twelve or
more hours to the detriment of his well
being in every sense. But how this would
| be with older pupils he was not prepared
| to say.
j. w. Olsen, state superintendent of
! schools, said when manual training would
be introduced it would probably be in the
! city schools first, in some of the smaller
! cities, perhaps, such as st. Cloud, Wi
| mona, Faribault, and MankatO, ETC., and
! that the country schools would finally
work it out in agricultural and other IN
1 dustral training. He said that in the
| cities mentioned there was a strong senti-
ment among schooImen IN favor of man.
ual training. But he thought it would be
! inexpedient to insist upon it's introduction
! in the rural schools just yet. He thought
more could be done for this cause by
making it possible in some way that the
! boy who desired to obtain manual train
ing might do so.
Mrs La Penotiere Speaks.
The chairman then called upon Mrs.
! La Penotiere, president of the State
| Federation of Clubs, for a few words.
| She began by saying that naturally she
| was more interested in the subject OF
| domestic science, that science which was
so needed to train the girls of today. for
! the homekeepers and makers of the fu-
tUre. And that she hoped to see them
receive this training in the public schools.
| She was interested in the boys. too. of
! course, but the girls more nearly con-
| cerned her. Miss Sarah Brooks super
| visor Of the primary work in the public
| schools, was the next speaker. She eX-
planned that the little work of the sort
! done in the kindergartenS was not so
| much to make things, as to train the
| hand and the mental faculties to co-ordi-
| nate. She said that so far as she was
| concerned, she knew how she would have
| welcomed the opportunity to obtain in
dustrial training when she was a country
girl, struggling to get an education, and
! that she thought some sort of state school
! where the country boy or girl would
have such an opportunity would be glad
| ly welcomed by many of these children.
/ J. d. Bond, assistant superintendent of
| the city schools, remarked that he had
recently been discussing the matter with
| another superintendent, who had sug-
gested that one of these industrial schools
should be established in each county
| One, for example, in each high school,
| where the farmers boys, by paying a
! small sum, could attend, and that in ad-
| dition to some state aid, there should
| be some profit made from the sale Of
! the products of the industry of the chill
| dren, so that the school would be sup
| ported partly by state aid, partly by the
! tuition fees and partly by the profits from
| the industries.
DR.. Smiths Views
DIR. Smith said lat there were two
| important questions to be dealt with:
! First, what can be done under the pres
| ent conditions to bring manual training
| into the grades; and into the high schools
| manual training, domestic science and ag-
! riculture. Secondarily, what can be done
| in the way Of special school. some
/ thing, perhaps, after the idea suggested
/ by A. b. St1ckney, who advocated what
! he called a new academy, giving a prac-
| teal training. In brief he said that the
| theory advanced by Mr. Stickney was
| some sort of agricultural school where
| in the winter theories would be discussed
ana eacn pupil might be given an acre
| of land, on which during the summer he
| could try those theories that seemed best
! to him, the scholar to be entirely re-
sponsible for the success or failure, and
| to profit or lose by the results. AT the
| present time, when so many towns were
! endeaVoring to secure the state training
school for girls, he ventured to say that
| the towns would find it more profitable
| if they would expend the same amount
/ of money and energy upon establishing
| some sort Of industrial school than they
| would from securing the girls school.
/ He paid a tribute to the so-called fresh
| water colleges which permitted their
pupils to select those studies they pre-
ferred, and which he asserted had done
a grand work for the country in so do
ing
| He thought these new industrial schools
should be neither school, college nor high
school, but should fill a new place en-
tirely. He considered that there We're
three ways in which this matter could
be arranged, either by individual own
ership or by a number of individuals in
the same community joining together to
establish such a school, or the plant
might be established by the locality and
be under the supervision of the regents