The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-26

pass as dull In the ordinary studies of the school, displays in the shop some of the finest qualities of mind and hand, that can turn a lot of unrelated fragments of wood or metal into thing of beauty and utility.
 technological institutions is the utter de- struction of the old-time folly that de- spised manual labor as badge of slavery. Today thousands of gentle-born youths throughout the south are issuing annually from our technical institutions to put their hand manfully to any honest work whereby a livelihood may be gained. One of the most hopeful sights of the time Is 100 or more southern youths, in shirt sleeves and blue overalls, skillfully ma nipulating some complex machine and shaping up some finished product of their own skill and ingenuity. These youths are not of the lxid-glove and silk-stocking set of parasites. They are not too fine for any form of honest work and are quail filed to take useful places in the indus trial world rather than swell the throng of useless and unhappy applicants in the overcrowded and underpaid positions in stores and counting houses where a gen. orally poor living may be obtained with out soiling one's fingers
 A Distinct Vitalizing Power Beyond all question, throughout our southern states these technocongacal stu- dents have been a distinctly vitalizing power to every practical trade. science and art Forty years ago there was scarcely young man in the state of Georgia or Alabama, in polite society, who had any knowledge whatsoever of engines and machinery, their structure, the meth ods of operation and the principles that govern them. Within this period it has been my privilege to see many thousands of young men instructed in the practical a nd fad to tft,Ixr fIa iva power of their states many thousandfold- For instance, the greatest hydro electric development in the south was conceived and carried to a successful issue by a young technical student, who secured his knowledge of the transmission of electri- cal energy in the college lecture room. The opportunity for training given him by his state resulted in the investment of millions of foreign capital and in the po- tential development of other millions in home industries. This Is the rich incre- ment that comes to a commonwealth for money invested in brains. Another strix- ing instance is that of the successful man. agement of the largest steel producing plant in the entire south by young man trained in the chemical and metallurgi- cal departments of a southern technologi- cal school There Is, perhaps. no greater need in the industrial life of the south than this mechanical sense, this ability
 
 tricity instead of mere human energy. The great prizes of modern industrial life are rewards of efficiency-and efficiency means the maximum production with the maximum amount of output; which, in turn, means the maximum amount of me- chanical force and technique with the minimum amount of crude muscle. Perhaps one of the most satisfactory evidences of the business quality of tech nical training is afforded by the great de- mand in al quarters for men technical education. For many years there has been recrimination between the business world and the educational world; but the l gulf between the two today has been bridged by the technical school. The I young man trained therein, when he steps beyond the threshold. has certain amount of skill to sell, and the demand Is far greater than the supply. The abil- ity of a young man to capitalize his edu- cation, while it Is not the sole end of edu- cation, is 8 highly valuable end. Thou l sands of young men who have gone out | from southern technical schools are today engaged in developing the material re- sources of the south.
 1 Agriculture
 | And not only have the mechanical and industrial trades felt the quickening in- l fluence of technical education, but agri- Iculture, as well in all of it's departments. has felt the same tremendous uplift. It
 would be a sad fact. indeed if men were not able to master the forces that govern plant life and that govern the production
 of animals. Without such ability the limit of population and of physical sus- tenance would soon be reached. But the
 mastery of these forces is today an ac- complished fact. Agriculture has estab- lished itself as a science. Book farming is no longer sneered at, and there has been universal recognition by the farm ing interests throughout the south of the direct practical value of the results of the colleges of agriculture and of exper-
 iment stations. Within the last few years
 there has been a remarkable growth in the demand for young men trained in scientific agriculture, and many of the
 most talented mature and serious youth
 of the country are now entering into this
 field of education. The testing and breed
 ing of seeds (cotton, corn, oats and all
 staple crops); the testing of fertilizers un- der thousands of varying conditions; the
 analysis of commercial fertilizers; the ] promotion of profitable production of beef pork, poultry and sheep; the conservation
 of soils; improved methods of cultivation drainage; the use of improved farm i'm