72 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 1907 



cially in the reproduction, without pattern, of leaves of trees. 

 Technically, scroll work is known as fret sawing. Paper 

 knives with fancy handles, paper racks, match boxes, and 

 ornate, but still useful, baskets are constructed with the aid of 

 the fret saw and glue pot. Not 30 per cent, of the pupils who 



sorts, they know little of the working principles thereof. 

 This fact is the basis of the newest departure in the manual 

 training course in the New York schools. The pupils are 

 taken by teachers In classes to the homes of the machinery 

 used to supply heat, light, etc., in the school buildings them- 

 selves, and the working of this ma- 

 chinery is explained by the men in 

 whose charge it has been placed. 



In the machine shop work, and In 

 the forge rooms, as much care Is 

 taken by the Instructors In superin- 

 tending the work as if the task in 

 hand was being accomplished purely 

 for commercial purposes. The re- 

 sult of this Is that the training the 



Young Pupils in Venetian Iron Work 



take up scroll work in the school fol- 

 low it afterward, but there are any 

 number of homes that testify to the 

 utility of the knowledge gained. 



Applied mechanics are next in fa- 

 vor. This includes work in the ma- 

 chine shop or forge room. The con- 

 stant supplanting of steam by electricity in manufactories is 

 recognized In the method of equipping the manual training 

 departments of the up-to-date public schools. This is notice- 

 able In the absence of belting in the majority of machine 

 shops. The individual motor furnishes the power. All 

 these facts the pupil learns, as well as how to operate the 

 electrical machinery. Indeed, in several instances the very 

 dynamos used to generate the electricity that furnishes the 

 moti\'e power in the school shops have been constructed 

 almost wholly by students. 



Although most young people are familiar with the gen- 

 eral appearance of boilers, pumps, and machinery of various 



A Lesson in Scroll Work or Fret-sawing 



pupil receives Is far superior to that ordinarily experienced 

 by the apprentice. 



It has been said of the present generation of working me- 

 chanics that It lacks thoroughness and a knowledge of the 

 best application of principles. The chief aim of the manual 

 training school is to remedy any such defect by thoroughly 

 grounding the pupil In whatever line of mechanics he 

 may elect. 



How well that Ideal has been attained is testified to by the 

 thousands of men and women who have been taught to use 

 their hands and by the simpler and more beautiful objects of 

 handicraft that are to be found In the homes even of the poor. 



Learning the Principles of a Boiler's Operation 



A Lesson in the Construction and Operation of a Pump 



