DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 203 



than they were; to make it possible for them to have a larger 

 view of their own trade; and to give them, so far as it was 

 possible in a brief time, that mental alertness that would make 

 it easier for them, if changing conditions threw them out of 

 the employment they were in, to adapt themselves to some new 

 form of wage earning. These schools soon felt the need of 

 longer time than could be given on Sunday and so meetings 

 were extended into the evenings of the week and they became 

 night schools. In hundreds of cities of Europe these schools 

 have done much to help men and women into a better under- 

 standing of their vocation, and have made it possible for them 

 to be worth more to their employers and therefore to receive 

 larger wages. 



In this country we have w^ithin the last half dozen years, 

 seen the rise of what is known as ''short unit" schools. These 

 schools have generally been under the direction of the Young 

 Men's Christian Association or some other philanthropic organ- 

 ization. Their purpose has been to help men in the most direct 

 way possible. As I have already indicated, the industrial world 

 is constantly changing. A new invention at once transforms 

 a whole industry, and develops the need of a new kind of 

 workman. For instance, the invention and wide use of the 

 player piano has created a great need for piano tuners who can 

 tune the new sort of instrument. The piano tuner who was 

 thoroughly acquainted with the anatomy of an ordinary piano 

 found that when he opened up a player piano the anatomy was 

 so different that he was simply staggered. It was only the 

 unusual tuner who could adapt himself to the work of tuning 

 this new type of piano. Some months ago a ''short unit" school 

 for tuners of player pianos was held in New York City. I 

 have forgotten the exact number but it seems to me there were 

 60 to 70 who responded to the invitation to come to this school 

 for eight or ten lessons. The player piano manufacturers were 

 all intensely interested because the success of their instruments 

 depended largely upon their being kept in tune, so these manu- 

 facturers brought their pianos into the hall where the school 

 was to be held. They were all opened up and somebody was 

 there who could explain the anatomy of the new type of instru- 

 ment, and then a man who knew how was there and in a few 

 lessons these men were equipped with the power to do the thing 



