The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-06-15
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGINEER
ING In THE SOUTHERN
MOUNTAINg

Iubuntdil itbivho oh' '"'s''h hrn-
thousand blacks. In only six coun-
ties do the blacks exceed one thous-
and and in twelve they are less than
one hundred.
In drawing conclusions, however,
IL must be borne in mind that there
are many cultured, rich and educated
people in the mountains. These
have come in either through tho
agency OF the lumber OF mining in
dustries or as social workers. Il is
sufficient 10 say that here and there
will be found little hamlets where
the leaven Of social uplift is at work
and the cause OF humanity Is ad-
vancing. One county In western
Virginia possesses four elegant
county high schools and has in ad-
dition bonded itself for si,OO0OOO for
macadam pixies.
What then is the field Of engineer
ing education in such region9 The
discussion appears 10 fall into two
parts; namely. the strictly engineer
ing field and the educational and so
cial horizon. The latter will be
treated first.
No one notices with more gratiil-
cation than the technical school
graduate himself the fact that the
old time conception OF the engineer.
is passing and that whereas he WI
formerly supposed TO be but heart
less automaton whose vocabulary
consisted largely OF cuss words and
formulate, he is now expected TO con-
duct himself as a refined, scientif-
cally trained gentleman--none the
less an engineer but in addition a so
cial or community physician, who
seeks 10 obtain civic improvement
in all directions by the judicious
performance Of his speciality and the
tactful utilization OF his leisure.
This is a new function OF the en-
gineer. but one which may expand
to its maximum usefulness in Appa-
lachia. The land and the people cry
out for aid-for leadership-for ad-
wee. Such can only be given by
him whose heart is big and who has
sufficient culture To see many things
outside his narrow sphere and pos
sesses in addition the ability TO rem
edy conditions with tact and fore
sight when such will produce better
results than the application OF the
invariable laws OF his profession.
Upon entering some localities the
technical graduate will find himself
the only being in village OF several
hundred souls who has attended
school more than a year. Under
such circumstances he will do one
Of two things depending upon his
UNDERGRADUATE mode Of life. Either
he will be n recluse with the cxcep-
ton OF n few saloon brawls for ex-
citement or he will be factor for
higher civic and educational ideals.
The mountain people are not read
ers and they do not know how U
play. Instead they rehearse in the
store, the barroom, even at the fire.
side in the presence OF the toddling
children the shooting escapades OF
the feud and the still. Concerted
community action for local i'm
provement is unknown, the only in
centive 10 social Intercourse in the
intolerant sectarian church, the rank
partisan political rally or the inane
party where until recently kissing
games are the fashion for all ages.
The new and welcome type OF engi-
neer may here function, not neces-
sarily as a missionary but at least
as a Christian gentleman.
But what specific things are there
in this section" the reader reflects.
TO even call the engineer, much less
10 establish a technical school?" A
glance at present conditions reveals
not only the future possibilities OF
this great field but gives crying evi-
ueUCe also OF tut thtiit uboeheo "
scientific practice in the past What
would the sanitary engineer say con-
corning a rural hotel which Is so
built that the toilets lin reality the
old-fashioned privy) are directly
over a slow moving and shallow
creek which is forded in two places
by main streets Of the village. At
this stream the pigs, sheep and
horses and in fact all live st2o
drink freely and later in the
tumn butchering season become sta
pie articles OF food. Bridges are
few and no one cares for the con-
dition of the highway. Many
country roads follow the bed OF
stream for miles over the slate lay
ers that rise and fall in step forma-
ton frequently as much as fifteen
inches at a time. Obviously such
road is useless during the rainy
i