"But do they like to work?" asked Mr. Bridges, the civil engineer.
"They would work here from the time they get out of bed in the morning till dark if we would let them," replied Mr. Brookbine. "I don't know that they are particularly fond of the hard work of sawing and planing, though we do most of it by machinery. But in every job there is a great deal of variety; and this makes even the hard work easy. The boys are all the time studying out how to do it, and this affords them a sort of excitement which amounts to fascination."
"What are those trap-doors at the end of each bench?" asked Mr. Ritchie, the salesman.
"Those are a device of one of the boys," replied the master carpenter. "Captain Gildrock rightly insists that the shops shall be kept as neat as the parlor in the house. Formerly the shavings had to be taken up and put into barrels, which were conveyed to the engine-room, under the machine shop."
Mr. Brookbine pulled a small cord under the bench, which opened one of the trap-doors. Slipping the cord into a slot, a knot held the cover in place. Each student was provided with a long and a short handled dust brush, which were hung up at each end of the bench. He was required frequently to sweep his chips and shavings down the trap.
"Phil Gawner is the author of this device. He has also projected a wooden railroad, by which the shavings can be received into cars under the traps, and conveyed to the furnace-room. The boys are not mechanics enough yet to build the cars; but probably it will be done one of these days."
"What sort of a machine is that?" asked Mr. Flint, pointing to a piece of apparatus that hung upon the wall.
It was a square piece of plank eighteen inches across, in which a quarter of a circle had been cut out at one corner. In the middle of it another square piece of plank had been fastened, and on each side of the quarter circle were two wooden screws.
"That is an invention of Jim Alburgh. I call it an invention, though others may have used the same thing, for it is original with this student," replied Mr. Brookbine. "You see the frames containing the printed regulations of the school. The boys made these frames. They had a great deal of difficulty in holding the parts securely while they nailed the corners. Jim devised this apparatus. The two parts, when mitred, are screwed up in this thing, and held together as firmly as though they had grown into the position."
Some pieces of plain turning were shown to the visitors, but not much time had been devoted to the lathes. In this part of the shop were observed the same tendency to "improve things," and the same skill in remedying defects, inventing apparatus to secure facility or correctness in the work. One fellow had devised a plan to prevent a band from running off the speed-wheels; another had arranged a shelf to hold his tools while he was at work; and a third had adjusted a marker on his rest with which he could lay out the distances on his wood.