How many boys or girls of the present time possess anything like this sum of useful knowledge—useful for the conditions in which they live? There was a time when children had to learn in order to survive, and now that the necessity is removed and children are simply allowed to grow without purpose, the boy and girl inevitably lose one of the best elements in their training unless new opportunities are opened.
It is not difficult to see how the boy's interest in construction grows and expands; mere acquaintance with boys will furnish the data. At a comparatively early stage the youthful experiments are naturally sifted to a few specialties, which assume prominence either because of the boy's reading or the type of locality in which he lives. From time to time his interest may shift, investigating one subject after another, always seeking the unknown avocation. The process will probably lead in time to a more or less fitting selection of trade or profession. How else is the boy to find himself?
Copyright, 1909, by Cheshire L. Boone
A Real Derrick in Miniature, Operated by Means of a Waterwheel (at the right). The Lifting, Turning and Handling of the Bucket are Controlled by Levers Attached to Spools (in the middle section). This Sort of Thing is Part of Regular School Work
Waterwheels (lower illustrations) and Fan (upper illustration), made by Public School Pupils
After he has passed through the preliminary stages of mere play and haphazard amusement the boy becomes conscious of the mysterious, unusual forces of electricity; they hold even adult attention and wonder, but the boy, being more impressionable and confident, immediately forages for information, reads enormously, and experiments. He takes in the whole subject with a vim and sureness that is de facto evidence of its intrinsic worth for study purposes. And in a much shorter time than adults would require, he has mastered the fundamental laws and is eager to put this wonderful force to work, to make things move. He has the same attitude toward steam and gas engines, water motors, and studies them with the same intensity of purpose. Here are dynamic elements which appeal to the human appreciation of power and which may be harnessed, subdued. The idea is comparable to the ancient reverence for fire, water and the storm. Since modern science has organized engineering and mechanical knowledge and simplified it, the student can have at his disposal just the books and periodicals needed to unlock this storeroom of mystery; these publications were written for the purpose. But there are several other openings for creative effort which appeal no less strongly, and among which both the boy and girl may choose, with complete confidence that there will be ample room for initiative, ingenuity, and utilitarian bias.