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Lumber Used in Manual Training 



One of the most impressive features of the address of Irving K. 

 Pond a Chicago architect, before the National Lumber Manufac- 

 turers ' Association on the subject of ' ' The Merchandising of Lumber, ' ' 

 was the suggestion of the possibUities of manual training in develop- 

 ing love and familiarity with wood among the boys of the country. 

 As Mr. Pond put it, "Stop to think of the ultimate result— a nation 

 of wood users could be developed in ten years if the millions of 

 boys and girls could use a hammer and saw with reasonable dexterity. 

 The time to instill this instinct into the child is between the ages of 

 six and twelve, not after entering the high school." 



The tendency of educational opinion is definitely in the direction 

 of making school work more practicable, and this tendency undoubtedly 

 favors a movement such as that suggested by ilr. Pond. Educators have 

 found that the public is correctly demanding training that has a direct 

 relationship to life, and cannot be defended merely on the ground 

 that it is mental gymnastics. The old division between the "aca- 

 demic" and the "manual students" is being wiped out, for every- 

 where the effort is being made to give every student a chance to 

 work with his hands and to become practically, instead of merely 

 theoretically, efiScient. 



The way conditions are changing is indicated by the situation in 

 a middle western city of 250,000. Ten years ago the only work of 

 a manual training nature was given in a high school devoted ex.lu 

 sively to that subject; or, more exactly, it was the only institution 

 where manual training was taught. A little later on the high school 

 where academic subjects only were taught developed a demand for 

 l)ractieal work, and a manual training course, involving woodwork- 

 ing, was instituted there. It has since been extended and enlarged. 

 In fact, the two schools, which formerly were as far apart in their 

 ideas and ideals as the poles, have now become so nearly alike that 

 a new building now in course of construction is to house a con- 

 solidated school. Everybody, in other words, wants manual training. 

 Xor is this all. The same city now has a "prevocational •' scliool 

 where boys and girls who cannot attend the high schools spend the 

 last two years of their school courses in learning practical thinjis. 

 such as woodworking, printing, etc. The prevocational idea has been 

 in evidence for only a short time, but the great demand for the 

 extension of the course has already resulted in an agre<'nient to un 

 dertake the work next year on a much larger scale. There are plans 

 being made for "continuation schools," where boys and girls who 

 are forced to go to work before completing their education may re- 

 turn one or two afternoons a week for the purpose of acquiring 

 practical training that will make them more efficient in their daily 

 emplojTnent, Manual training and domestic science, also, are being 

 introduced into the ward schools, the seventh and eight grade pupils, 

 as well as the high school students, now having an opportunity to 

 acquire some of this practical equipment which has been denied to 

 them for so long. 



And this is just one typical American city whose experience shows 



that educational forces all over the country are working in favor of 



training of a kind which means more working in wood and more con 



sumption of wood. The suggestion that lumbermen should co-operate 



in every possible way to increase the number and scope of manual 



training courses is certainly in line with the logic of the situation. 



While most of the training being offered through the medium of 



the public schools is not intended to be vocational, in the sense 



that it is to fit the student for earning a living in that kind of work, 



it has a direct connection with trade instruction, and in many cases 



takes the place of the apprenticeship which formerly was necessary. 



In many cities manual training schools have developed into trade 



schools where the practical ideas have been emphasized and pointed 



in the direction of wage-earning, so that in addition to giving the 



students the working knowledge which is valuable to anyone in any 



walk of life, the schools are contributing a bif quota of trained 



mechanics to the never too crowded ranks of artisans of all kinds, 



and especially workers in wood. 



That manual training may profitably be extended to the lower 



— .•?2— 



grades is indicated by the e.\celleut results which have been secured 

 where the younger boys are shown how to use tools and given prac- 

 tical work to do. A recent issue of the Manual Training Magazine 

 contained a description of the work of fifth grade boys, eleven or 

 twelve years old, in the Newman Manual Training School at New 

 Orleans, showing the work of these boys in building greenhouses and 

 other structures requiring considerable practical knowledge. 



The big idea in connection with manual training, from the standpoint 

 of the lumber trade, is getting the youth of the country interested 

 in wood, familiar with it, and fond of seeing its various applications. 

 In other words, encouraging sentiment in favor of wood is a con- 

 sideration of prime importance. But while this is probably the chief 

 benefit that is to be gained, by making this "a nation of wood-users," 

 the actual consumption of wood in the work of the schools is not to 

 be disregarded. The business is liandled chiefly through retailers, and 

 is too small and contains too many details to appeal to the whole- 

 sale hardwood dealer; but it is worth noting that the sum total of 

 wood used is far from insignificant. 



The Louisville, Ky., board of education, which is now taking bids on 

 sup|)lies for the next school year, found it necessary to devote three 

 pages of its list to the lumber items, which included some surprisingly 

 large figures. There were five items of yellow poplar, amounting in 

 all to 26,500 feet; a lot of short dimension stuff, including 2,122 pieces 

 of yellow pine, 150 packages of basswood, 500 packages of cotton- 

 wood or lyun, and a large variety of other stuff which was not identified 

 except by samples. Red gum was also inccluded in the list of dimen- 

 sion stock wanted. Several thousand feet of quartered oak, plain 

 (lak, mahogany shorts, maple, walnut, chestnut, etc., were called for, 

 ••ind the sum total, while not attractive as a sales proposition, was 

 impressive in showing the amount of wood actually being used in 

 the manual training work of the schools. 



One of the interesting features of the lumber bu.siuess at present 

 is the effort being made to i-all the attention of consumers to the 

 ((ualities of various woods, and to point out their special adaptability 

 to the several uses for which they are particularly suited. It seems 

 strange, from one standpoint, that this should be necessary, and that 

 .Americans should have gotten so far from the land that they are 

 ill .•ilmcst total ignorance of the characteristics of the woods which 

 were worked in by almost every householder a few generations ago. 

 Hut this is the case, and the necessity of such information is self- 

 evident. If the instruction in manual training were as general as 

 it promises to become, such efforts would not only be met with a 

 greater degree of responsiveness, but would bring far greater results, 

 because they would be considered by consumers who were in a posi- 

 tion to appreciate the arguments made in favor of this or that wood. 

 Walnut manufacturers are just now calling attention of manu- 

 facturers, architects and the public, in a limited way, to the desirable 

 features of this wood. But it is fair to assume that the boys who 

 work in walnut in the manual training schools will he able to learn a 

 great deal about the good qualities of this wood without being told; 

 and the same is true of every other wood which is used in the shops 

 of the manual training schools. 



H.iRDWOOD Record reported some time ago the fact that a leading 

 mahogany concern is making a special concession to manual training 

 institutions for the purpose of getting those schools to increase their 

 use and consumption of mahogany. This was not because the com- 

 pany regarded the business as desirable in the sense that it would 

 make a profit on each sale; on the other hand, the chances are that 

 considered in this way the trade involved a loss. But those who are 

 managing the affairs of this company realized that if they could get 

 the boys used to handling mahogany, they would make mahogany 

 "fans" and boosters by the thousands; and that their appreciation 

 of its beauty and workability and finish would result in their decid- 

 ing to own as much mahogany furniture, then and later, as they 

 could. 



The possibilities of manual training and practical instruction in 

 woodworking have only begun to be realized and developed; and if.^ 



