TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN AMERICA.
If there is one point more than another in which the exuberant youth and vitality of the American nation is visible it is in that of education, the provision for which is on a most generous scale, carried out with a determination at which the older countries of the Eastern Hemisphere have only arrived by slow degrees and painful experience. Of course the Americans, being young, and having come to the fore, so to speak, full-fledged, have been able to profit by the lessons which they have derived from their neighbors--though it is none the less to their credit that they have profited so well and so quickly. Technical and industrial education has received a more general recognition, and been developed more rapidly, than the general education of the country, partly for the reason that there is no uniform system of the latter throughout the States, but that each individual State and Territory does that which is right in its own eyes. The principal reason, however, is that to possess the knowledge, how to work is the first creed of the American, who considers that the right to obtain that knowledge is the birthright of every citizen, and especially when the manual labor has to be supplemented by a vigorous use of brains. The Americans as a rule do not like heavy or coarse manual labor, thinking it beneath them; and, indeed, when they can get Irish and Chinese to do it for them, perhaps they are not far wrong. But the idea of idleness and loafing is very far from the spirit of the country, and this is why we see the necessity for industrial education so vigorously recognized, both as a national duty, and by private individuals or communities of individuals.
From whatever source it is provided, technical education in the United States comes mainly within the scope of two classes of institutions, viz., agricultural and mechanical colleges; although the two are, as often as not, combined under one establishment, and particularly it forms the subject of a national grant. Indeed, it may be said that the scope of industrial education embraces three classes: the farmer, the mechanic, and the housekeeper; and in the far West we find that provision is made for the education of these three classes in the same schools, it being an accepted idea in the newer States that man and woman (the housekeeper) are coworkers, and are, therefore, entitled to equal and similar educational privileges. On the other hand, in the more conservative East and South, we find that the sexes are educated distinct from each other. In the East, there is generally, also, a separation of subjects. In Massachusetts, for instance, the colleges of agriculture and mechanics are separate affairs, the students being taught in different institutions, viz., the agricultural college and the institute of technology. In Missouri the separation is less defined, the School of Mines and Metallurgy being the, only part that is distinct from the other departments of the University.
One of the chief reasons for the necessity for hastening the extension of technical education in America was the almost entire disappearance of the apprenticeship system, which, in itself, is mainly due to the subdivision of labor so prevalent in the manufacture of everything, from pins to locomotives. The increased use of machinery, the character of which is such as often to put an end to small enterprises, has promoted this subdivision by accumulating workmen in large groups. The beginner, confining himself to one department, is soon able to earn wages, and so he usually continues as he begins. Mr. C.B. Stetson has written on this subject with great force and earnestness, and it will not be amiss to quote a sentence as to the advantages enjoyed by the technically workman. He says that "it is the rude or dexterous workman, rather than the really skilled one, who is supplanted by machinery. Skilled labor requires thinking; but a machine never thinks, never judges, never discriminates. Though its employment does, indeed, enable rude laborers to do many things now which formerly could only be done by dexterous workmen, it is clear that its use has decidedly increased the relative demand for skilled labor as compared with unskilled, and there is abundant room for an additional increase, if it is true, as declared by the most eminent authority, that the power now expended can be readily made to yield three or four times its present results, and ultimately ten or twenty times, when masters and workmen can be had with sufficient intelligence and skill for the direction and manipulation of the tools and machinery that would be invented."
The establishment of colleges and universities by the aid of national grants has depended very much for their character upon the industrial tendencies of the respective States, it being understood that the land grants have principally been given to those of the newer States and Territories which required development, although some of the institutions of the older States on the Atlantic seaboard have also been recipients of the same fund, which in itself only dates from an act of Congress in 1862. In California and Missouri, both States abounding in mineral resources, there are courses in mining and metallurgy provided in the institutions receiving national aid. In the great grain-producing sections of the Mississippi Valley the colleges are principally devoted to agriculture, whereas the characteristic feature of the Iowa and Kansas schools is the prominence given to industries.
We need not devote attention to the aims and arrangements of the agricultural colleges proper, but will pass at once to those which deal with the mechanical arts, dealing first of all with those that are assisted by the national land grant. Taking them alphabetically, we have first the State Agricultural College of Colorado, in the mechanical and drawing department of which shops for bench work in wood and iron and for forging have been recently erected, this institution being one of the newest in America. In the Illinois Industrial University the student of mechanical engineering receives practice in five shops devoted to pattern-making, blacksmithing, moulding and founding, benchwork for iron, and machine tool-work for iron. In the first shop the practice consists of planing, chiseling, turning, and the preparation of patterns for casting. The ordinary blacksmithing operations take place in the second shop, and those of casting in the third. In the fourth there is, first of all, a course of freehand benchwork, and afterward the fitting of parts is undertaken. In the fifth shop all the fundamental operations on iron by machinery are practiced, the actual work being carefully outlined beforehand by drawings. This department of the University consists, in point of fact, of three separate schools, destined to qualify the student for every kind of engineering--mining, railway, mechanical, and architectural. In addition to the shops and machine rooms, there are well furnished cabinets of geological and mineralogical specimens, chemical laboratories for assaying and metallurgy, stamp mill, furnaces, etc., and, in fact, every known vehicle for practical instruction. The school of architecture prepares students for the building profession. Among the subjects in this branch are office work and shop practice, constructing joints in carpentry and joinery, cabinet making and turning, together with modeling in clay. The courses in mathematics, mechanics and physics are the same as those in the engineering school; but the technical studies embrace drawing from casts, wood, stone, brick, and iron construction, turners' work, slating, plastering, painting, and plumbing, architectural drawing and designing, the history and aesthetics of architecture, estimates, agreements specification, heating, lighting, draining, and ventilation. The student's work from scale drawing occupies three terms, carpentry and joinery being taught in the first year, turning and cabinet making in the second, metal and stone work in the third. A more condensed course, known as the builder's course, is given to those who can only stop one year. The machine shop has a steam engine of 16 horse power, two engines and three plain lathes, a planer, a large drill press, a pattern shop, a blacksmith's shop, all of the machinery having been built on the spot. The carpenter's shop is likewise supplied with necessary machine tools, such as saws, planers, tenoning machine, whittlers, etc., the power being furnished by the machine shop. At the date of the last University report, there were 41 students in the courses of mechanical engineering, 41 in those of civil engineering, 3 in mining engineering, and 14 in architecture. Tuition is free in all the University classes, though each student has to pay a matriculation fee of $10, and the incidental expenses amount to about $23 annually. He is charged for material used or apparatus broken, but not for the ordinary wear and tear of instruments. It should be mentioned that the endowment of the Illinois Industrial University is from scrip received from the Government for 480,000 acres of land, of which 454,460 have been sold for $319,178. The real estate of the University, partly made up by donations and partly by appropriations made in successive sessions by the State of Illinois, is estimated at $450,000.
The Purdue University in Indiana, named after its founder, who gave $150,000, which was supplemented by another $50,000 from the State and a bond grant of 390,000 acres, also provides a very complete mechanical course, with shop instruction, divided as follows:
Bench working in wood for 12 weeks, or 120 hours.
Wood-turning " 4 " " 40 "
Pattern-making " 12 " " 120 "
Vise-work in iron " 10 " " 100 "
Forging in iron and steel " 18 " " 180 "
Machine tool-work in iron " 20 " " 200 "
The course in carpentry and joinery embraces: 1. Exercising in sawing and planing to dimensions. 2 Application, or box nailed together. 3 Mortise and tenon joints; a plain mortise and tenon; an open dovetailed mortise and tenon (dovetailed halving); a dovetailed keyed mortise and tenon. 4. Splices. 5. Common dovetailing. 6. Lap dovetailing and rabbeting. 7. Blind or secret dovetail. 8. Miter-box. 9. Carpenter's trestle. 10. Panel door. 11. Roof truss. 12. Section of king-post truss roof. 13. Drawing model.
The course in wood turning includes: 1. Elementary principles: first, straight turning; second, cutting in; third, convex curves with the chisel; fourth, compound curves formed with the gouge. 2. File and chisel handles. 3. Mallets. 4. Picture frames (chuck work). 5. Card receiver (chuck work). 6. Watch safe (chuck work). 7. Ball.
In the pattern-making course the student is supposed to have some skill in bench and lathe work, which will be increased; the direct object being to teach what forms of pattern are in general necessary, and how they must be constructed in order to get a perfect mould from them. The character of the work differs each year. For instance, for the last year, besides simpler patterns easily drawn from the sand, such as glands, ball-cranks, etc., there were a series of flanged pipe-joints for 2½ in. pipes, including the necessary core boxes; also pulley patterns from 6 in. to 10 in. diameter, built in segments for strength, and to prevent warping and shrinkage; and, lastly, a complete set of patterns for a three horse-power horizontal steam engine, all made from drawings of the finished piece. In the vise work in iron, the chief requirements are these: 1, given a block of cast iron 4 in. by 2 in. by 1½ in. in thickness, to reduce the thickness ¼ in. by chipping, and then finishing with the file; 2, to file a round hole square; 3, to file a round hole into elliptical; 4, given a 3 in. cube of wrought iron, to cut a spline 3 in. by 3/8 in. by ¼ in., and second, when the under side is a one half round hollow--these two cuts involve the use of the cope chisel and the round nose chisel, and are examples of very difficult chipping; 5, round tiling or hand-vise work; 6, scraping; 7, special examples of fitting. In the forging classes are elementary processes, driving, bending, and upsetting; courses in welding; miscellaneous forging; steel forging, including hardening and tempering in all its details.
It is worth mentioning that in the industrial art school of the Purdue University there were 13 of the fair sex as students, besides one in the chemical school, and two going through the mechanical courses just detailed, showing that the scope of woman's industry is less limited in America than in England. The Iowa State Agricultural College has also two departments of mechanical and civil engineering, the former including a special course of architecture. The workshop practice, which occupies three forenoons of 2½ hours each per week, is, however, of more general character, and is not pursued with such a regard to any special calling as in the case of the Purdue University.
The Kansas State Agricultural College has a course of carpentry, though designed rather more to meet the everyday necessities of a farmer's life. In fact, all the students are obliged to attend these classes, and take the same first lessons in sawing, planing, lumber dressing, making mortises, tenons, and joints, and in general use of tools--just the kind of instruction that every English lad should have before he is shipped off to the Colonies. This farmer's course in the Kansas College provides for a general training in mechanical handiwork, but facilities are given also to those who wish to follow out the trade, and special instruction is provided in the whole range of work, from framing to stair-building, as also in iron work, such as ordinary forging, filing, tempering, etc. Of the students attending this college, 75 percent, are from farmers' homes, and the majority of the remainder from the families of mechanics and tradesmen.
The State College of Maine provides courses for both civil and mechanical engineers, and has two shops equipped according to the Russian system. Forge and vise work are taught in them, though it is not the object of the college so much to teach the details of any one trade as to qualify students by general knowledge to undertake any of them afterward. A much more complete and thorough technical education is given in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston, where there are distinct classes for civil, mechanical, mining, geological, and architectural engineering. The following are the particulars of the instruction in the architectural branch, which commences in the student's second year, with Greek, Roman, and Mediæval architectural history, the Orders and their applications, drawing, sketching, and tracing, analytic geometry, differential calculus, physics, descriptive geometry, botany, and physical geography. In the third year the course is extended to the theory of decoration, color, form, and proportion; conventionalism, symbolism, the decorative arts, stained glass, fresco painting, tiles, terra-cotta, original designs, specifications, integral calculus, strength of materials, dynamics, bridges and roofs, stereotomy. In the fourth year the student is turned out a finished architect, after a course of the history of ornament, the theory of architecture, stability of structure, flow of gases, shopwork (carpentry), etc.
The number of students in this very comprehensive Institute of Technology was, by the latest report, 390, of whom 138 were undergoing special courses, 39 were in the schools of mechanical art, and 49 in the Lowell School of Practical Design. Tuition is charged at the rate of 200 dols. for the institute proper, and 150 dols. for the mechanical schools, the average expenses per student being about 254 dols. There are 10 free scholarships, of which two are given for mechanical art. The Lowell School has been established by the trustee of the Lowell Institute to afford free technical education, under the auspices of the Institute of Technology, to both sexes--a large number of young women availing themselves of it in connection with their factory work at Lowell. The courses include practical designs for manufactures, and the art of making patterns for prints, delaines, silks, paperhangings, carpets, oilcloth, etc., and the school is amply provided with pattern looms. Indeed, the whole of the appliances for practical teaching at the Institute are on such a complete scale that at the risk of being a little tedious it is as well to enumerate them. They comprise laboratories devoted to chemistry, mineralogy, metallurgy, and industrial chemistry; there are also microscopic, spectroscopic, and organic laboratories. In other branches there are laboratories and museums of steam engineering, mining, and metallurgy, biology and architecture, together with an observatory, much used in connection with geodesy and practical astronomy. The steam engineering laboratory provides practice in testing, adjusting, and managing steam machinery. The appliances in connection with mining and metallurgy include a five-stamp battery, Blake crusher, automatic machine jigs, an engine pulverizer, a Root and a Sturtevant blower, with blast reverberating, wasting, cupellation, and fusion furnaces, and all other means for reducing ores. The architectural museum contains many thousand casts, models, photographs, and drawings. The shops for handwork are large and well arranged, and include a vise-shop, forge shop, machine, tool, and lathe shops, foundry, rooms for pattern making, weaving, and other industrial institutions. The vise-shop contains four heavy benches, with 32 vises attached, giving a capacity for teaching 128 students the course every ten weeks, or 640 in a year of fifty weeks. The forge-shop has eight forges. The foundry has 16 moulding benches, an oven for core baking, and a blast furnace of one-half ton capacity. The pattern-weaving room is provided with five looms, one of them in 20-harness, and 4-shuttle looms, and another an improved Jacquard pattern loom. It may safely be said that there is nor an establishment in the world better equipped for industrial and technical education than this Institute of Massachusetts.--London Building News.
IVORY GETTING SCARCE.--The stock of ivory in London is estimated at about forty tons in dealers' private warehouses, whereas formerly they usually held about one hundred tons. One fourth of all imported into England goes to the Sheffield cutlers. No really satisfactory substitute for ivory has been found, and millions await the discoverer of one. The existing substitutes will not take the needed polish.