504 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



displayed with such prodigality in the construction of cheaper houses 

 does something to prejudice one against the lathe. The forms turned 

 out in the schools are not all beautiful, but they might be. They 

 consist of rings, balls, vases, tumblers, balustrades, dumb-bells, In- 

 dian clubs, and the like, and are very sound and true in the matter 

 of workmanship. 



The manual work for girls during the first year usually includes 

 joinery and sewing. The homely arts of mending and darning are 

 taught, and also the more scientific processes of draughting patterns 

 and cutting out garments. 



The second year's work in wood may cover two terms in pattern 

 making and one in carving. The main tools are the saw, plane, chisel, 

 gouge, lathe, sandpaper, and gluepot. The work in pattern making 

 is wonderfully nice and exact, and makes other wood work seem 

 rough by contrast. Pattern makers as a class know this, and show a 

 becoming appreciation of their own work. They quite look down 

 on less exact workers. I have often wondered that, with their im- 

 mense skill in wood and varnish, they do not turn to some more prof- 

 itable and artistic work — such, perhaps, as violin making. The art of 

 Stradivarius and Guarneri and Amati might prove recoverable. 

 The present work in pattern making is very technical, and can not 

 be other than an industrial abstraction, since the patterns are only 

 used for forming the molds into which the molten lead and iron are 

 afterward to be cast. 



The wood carving is more human and more artistic. It used to 

 be very elaborate and in very high relief; but this meant that the 

 teacher had to do too much of it. It is now less ambitious and truer. 

 The articles are smaller, and the carving is in lower relief. The 

 so-called chip carving, borrowed from sloyd, has been introduced 

 with advantage. It is effective artistically and is well within the 

 boys' capacity. The regular wood work ends with the second year. 

 In sloyd schools, wood is the material most used, and I think that it 

 will occupy a larger place in the manual training school proper as 

 the educational idea prevails. 



The girls, meanwhile, during this second year, have also been 

 taking wood carving, and have been extending their knowledge of 

 sewing by fitting garments as well as cutting them out, by using 

 the machine, and by instruction in the selection of materials. 



The work in metal is limited, of course, to the boys. It is more 

 varied and elaborate, and from an indusrtial point of view also more 

 important. It is not, however, so attractive as the wood work. The 

 noises are more trying — the anvil chorus is only one out of many 

 possible sounds. JSTor are the odors of the metals agreeable. The 

 pictures of mine and furnace that they bring up are not pleasant. 



