EVENING SCHOOLS AND SCHOLARSHIPS. 333 



May. Each apprentice is required to attend the school two half-days each week during the 

 school session for three yearly sessions, unless excused by the supervisor or on account 

 of taking equivalent subjects in which instruction is given. Teachers are appointed under 

 the supervisor of appreiatices to give instruction and to prepare reports. For attendance 

 on the school sessions the apprentices are paid at the regular rates. 



At one yard the classroom work is conducted through government aid under the Smith- 

 Hughes Act. Under this act several teachers are obtained from the city high school, and 

 classes are conducted in the plant during Saturday mornings. The salaries of the teachers are 

 paid out of the fund provided by the act. It is reported that this arrangement has worked 

 satisfactorily and that all of the teachers and apprentices take a great interest in the work. 

 An objection to this procedure has been raised on the ground that the control passes from 

 the yard. 



At another yard the classroom work is conducted by the Division of University Exten- 

 sion, State Department of Education. Apprentice classes are held, on the apprentices' time, 

 from four o'clock to six p.m. No expense for instructors is borne by the company, which, 

 however, provides the building, light, heat, etc. Apprentices under this course are credited 

 with two hours on their apprenticeship for each hour of classroom work. On completion 

 of the course an additional bonus of one hour per week is allowed for good attendance 

 and apphcation. A similar arrangement is also in vogue in another yard of this corporation 

 in a vocational night school with corresponding credits. 



The one constant problem confronting the yards in connection with apprenticeship work 

 is that of maintaining the interest and devotion of the boys. It is more difficult to hold the 

 enthusiasm of the boys where studies are taken outside of the working hours than where 

 the school work is a part of the daily or weekly shop schedule. Some of the more ambi- 

 tious boys will, in addition to their apprenticeship work, voluntarily join, at their own ex- 

 pense, night school classes, but the number of such boys is small. 



Drawing-room apprentices are selected from shop apprentices after having had at least 

 two years' practical experience. Competitive examinations are held in selecting these can- 

 didates, who must have had two years of high school work. 



Pay of Apprentices. — This varies in the different yards, ranging, as compared with first- 

 class journeyman wages, from about 30 per cent for the first six months to 80 or 90 per 

 cent for the last six months. It is usual to increase the pay on the completion of each six- 

 month period so that for a four-year course there are eight grades. At some yards the pay 

 ratio is higher at the beginning and less at completion than given above. 



It is advisable, and most companies so provide, that the pay is subject to change as 

 the rates of journeymen in the trades are varied. Several companies provide that no boy 

 under nineteen years of age, or some other specified age, shall receive, in any department, a 

 rate higher than he would receive as an apprentice in that department. This requirement 

 was important during the war period in order to prevent dissatisfaction among the 

 apprentices. 



Pay for lost time is not usually allowed, except in special cases recommended by the 

 foreman and the head of the department. Overtime is usually paid at the same proportional 

 rate as is paid other workmen, but only the straight time worked is allowed to apply on the 

 apprentice term. Some companies reserve the right to pay an apprentice on piece work, con- 

 tract or on a premium scale of wages, and the hours worked, so paid for, are counted in the 

 ntimber of hours constituting a year or half year. 



