Feb. I, 1894.] THfe TROPICAL 
AGRICULTtjRlSt. 
559 
THE CEYLON TECHNICAL SCHOOL. 
Pressure on our space prevents our, edi- 
torially, doing much more than congratulate 
the Director of Public Instruction and the 
Principal of the new School on the very 
successful inauguration which J'ln. 19;h wit- 
nessed. Mr- Human has, simply, done wonders 
in the short time available to him. We 
had DO conception of what we were to see 
and were quite astonished at the varied, 
most suitable and complete arrangements in 
the different class-rooms — from the carpenter's 
benches through the engine-room and the 
machinery onwards to the lecture hall itself 
and all adapted out of the old St. Sebastian 
coffee store, with the very minimum of 
structural alterations. Verily Mr. Human — 
considering the men and material and means 
at his command — has proved himself " a 
genius" in his "infinite caj^acity for taking 
pains about the little things" which go to make 
up the Ceylon Technical School as it stands, 
a credit to the Colony and to all connected 
with it. If we are supposed to exaggerate, 
we can only say to the sceptical, — Go and 
see for yourselves : Mr. Human will be glad to 
welcome interested visitors and to give them the 
opportunity for seeing his pupils at work. But 
it ia not simply in outward matters that the 
Principal has worked wonders : he has already 
wrought a great change in the spirit of the 
young lads who have come under his influence, 
and an eaprit de-corjjs is established which 
promises well that the first year's class, at 
least, will result in a series of handicraftsmen 
of which any colony might be proud. Mr. 
Human is evidently a man after St. Paul's 
own heart in his love of good, honest work; 
for what has the great Apostle written in 
his letter to Titus: — "Let ours also learn 
to maintain good works ('profess honest trades,' 
as one old version has it) for necessary uses 
that they be not unfaithful", and again "If a 
man would not work, neither should he 
eat." It would have delighted Mr. E.us- 
,kin had he seen the rows of bright-faced 
intelligent-looking lads who faced their 
Technical Instructor yesterday, evidently 
with full faith in him and his mission in 
this Far Eastern land ; and many of them, 
we feel sure, will show the truth of Hugh 
Miller's saying — the result of much experience 
— that young men who work as skilled 
' handicraftsmen are far more likely— if they 
iio justice to their opportunities for observa- 
tion and reflection,— to develop mental power 
and ability all round, than those engaged 
in the mechanical and too often monotonous, 
deadening routine of office clerical work. All 
success then, we most heartily wish for the 
Ceylon Technical School and its Principal 
and his first year's list of pupils. 
OPENING OF THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL. 
The first Bession o( this Institute waa opened oa the 
l!)th; .Tanuary by Hia Exoellenoy the Lieut. -Gover- 
nor Sir E. Nuel Walker, in the preaeuce of a large 
galbetiog of ladies and gentlemen — inoluding 
Dr. Uopleaton, the Hona. W. VV. Mitchell 
KOd Si. K, {daobiide, Messrs. D. MAptell, Sweyoi- 
71 
General, P. D. Warren, P. Arunaohalam, John 
Ferguson, G. J. A. Skeen, H. Catlle, J. S. 
Drieberg, W. H. Wrightson, C. A. Lye, Rev. O.Koch, 
J. W. 0 De Soysa, I'. Ramanathan, G. Drieberg, 
A. E. Brown, W. Cantrell, H. Ewart, J. B. Cull, 
J. Harward, H. F. Tomalin, James Peris, 0. M. 
Fernando, W. H. Davies, Dr. J. Loos, T. E. do 
Sampayo, Tudor Rajakakse, W. O. De Silva^ 
Jayawarflene, Rev. De Winton, Mr. Beven, the Hon. 
Abdu! Bahiman, Revd. Fathers C.Collin and Davy, 
Mrs. Coploston, Mrs. W. W. Mitohell, Mrs. Human, 
Mrs Cull, Mrs. Warren, Mrs. H. L. Crawford, 
M!s3 Kendal Watson, Miss Vandort, Miss Loos and 
several others. 
The proceedings began by His Excellency 
the Lieut. -Governor calling upon the Superinten- 
dent to submit a short report. 
Ihe Superintendent's Report. 
Mr. Hduan, who was reoeived with applause, 
said, he had only a very briel statement to make 
as the institution had been in existence such a 
very short time and he bad no record to produce 
as to results. The first practical operations con- 
nected with the installation of the school were com- 
menced in the first week in July, last year. The 
machinery was received from England then. 
The first thing thay had to think of was to 
erect the machines and engine, and that work 
was done by Sinhalese almost entirely, more 
particularly by the foreman G. Silva and by 
Romulas Pieris, foreman carpenter of the estab- 
lishment, and he wished to say that great praise 
was due to tJiese men who worked under the 
supervision of Mr. Van Dort and worked extremely 
well under many disadvantages for they were short 
of appliances, and had no proper tackle. They 
had not had even a jack or pulley block to 
lift the weights with, and yet the machinery 
erected would, if examined and tested, be found 
to be truly and properly fixed. That work which ex- 
tended over about four months had to be supple- 
mented by the construction of other appliances, 
and in that very good help was rendered by a few 
volunteers who were going to be students of the 
school ; and such progress was made that the 
school was opened on the 10th November. They 
had 53 applications for admission inio the school. 
Fourteen of those had been admitted without 
examination, as they possessed cert fioates from 
the Cambridge University Board ; of the remaining 
39, 23 gave evidence of sufficient knowledge to 
admit them to the full course of instruction and 
11 were allowed to join in the 3nd division, so 
that they might have an opportunity of qualifying 
as soon as they could to begin the higher work. Forty- 
eight students, it would be seen, were thus on 
the roll when work was begun in November for the 
short course of six weeks. Of those 48, 46 had sent 
in declarations to the effect that they intended 
continuing their studies during the current year. 
Twenty-three applications had been made for 
admission this year, nineteen of which bad been 
accepted, 16 being admitted into the first and three 
into the iad division. They thus began the session 
of 1894 with a total of 66 on the register, 63 being 
in division 1 and 12 in division 3, (Applause). 
Applications had come in within the last few 
minutes, and also since the examination bad been 
held. Besides, provision was being made for a few 
students from the Royal College attending the 
classes tlitre so as to add to the course of the 
instrucUon they received at the College, workshop, 
practice and drawing. Arrangements wore also 
being made for students of the Institute to sltand 
workshops, mills and factories in the city, Mesere. 
Walker, Sons ii Oo. had expreaeed tbejr willing- 
