TECHNICAL WORK

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2147, 13 May 1914, Page 10

TECHNICAL WORK

mm. difficulties NEW BUILDINGS NEEDED A NKHT INSPECTION ..Technical instruction under difficulties aptly describes the stuto of affairs at the Wellington Technical School. Cramped for room, and working under conditions altogether unsuitable as-tW arc, the student* nevertheless turn out work that reflects the. hiehest credit on instructors and students alike. The. Technical. Education' Board' bus long urged that, suitable buildings' should 'be 'erected, and a ■ further effort is to be made during the .'■present year to hove aii adequate sum placed' oh.. the Estimates lor; this purpose. The present congested state Leads to'.some oil contrivances to snif ends. For instance, instruction in dressmaking-is'' given in a room originally, intended and. fitted up ;as a- plumbing; room ; while' the cook-ery-classes arc conducted '\n a tin "on. loan," from the City Council. "■ ■Last flight several members of theTechnical Education Board, isamoly, Mr. D. Robertson, the chairman, aiid Messrs. W. H. Field, G. Frost, and W. Allah-were conducted round the selifittl class-rooms by Mr. '.AV.- S. La. Trob'e, Director of the Technical School, so that they could the more readily see. the necessity for further accommodation. The first class-visited was that for instruction in machine drawing. Some eighty students are. on the roll for tilo night classes, which are conducted on two nights in the week, while thirty-fivo students obtain instruction during the day. The room was never intended for such -work, for. the lighting is altogether bad. ,At night the students havo to cramp and crouch into all sorts of positions to get the electric light into range on their drawing blocks, while during the 'day conditions are just as had, for the lighting is provided only through windows owning on to a 16ft. passage-way, Rooms eii Loan. And the peculiflr thing is that, for an important class like this, n good permanent room cannot be provided in the main Technical School, but tho students have to work in a room. lent on suffranco- from the Education Department, which body itself feels the need of the room for an educational museum. .Tip. young .men attending turn out excellent work, for one- drawing, of a triple expansion engine, executed by Mr.. Jas. Milne, a young mail of 20 years, shewed the most painstaking care. Attording to Mr. Robertson it was a most difficult piece of work, but accurately drawn, and tho construction of tho engine could at once be proceeded with- from the plan and figures supplied. . ... Next a room, was visited which really belongs- to. the . Industrial Association, hilt is Vised by ilie Technical Sc-liool for a class-room for elementary plumbing, where, about. 44 ~ apprentice's to' tile plumbing trade ate. receiving instruction that, will better fit them to .advance iii' thoir. 'profession.. The 'class fbi;, electric' light.'ahd.po.wer shojild he partly held in, the class-room, and. partly. in the. laboratory, hut'tlsc.lo.tfev. is not sufficiently commodious to allow this course to he followed, Thus, many students are deterred from attending, and others again lose heart in their work. Art Reonis Anywhere. .But perhaps the. worst off are. the largo number of students attending for. art instruction. What inspiration call be gained from n roughly-curtained off recess, in a badly ventilated room, is difficult, to cbiwoivo. Yet to this expediency aro tho insttrietprs forced. And it is the advanced class for modelling from life that has to put up with this shift. For the model tlm position is not nice—to say the least, for withm ten feet are other classes, divided only from, tho life room by a cam-as screen. So it is throughout the quartet's devoted to art instruction. Tite room's should be the- best lighted and'bcc.ventilated, in a modern, technical school. And so,.usually, they are, but it is not so in Wellington. In the casting and modelling room no. provision is made for the Storing of ciay, or the safe keeping of paftlylinished studies, a a ml the result,'it is stated, is. that often a valuable piece of work is irretrievably ruined. The students still battle on, and the increasing numbers 'applying- for admission but emphasise tho necessity for doing something for tho young men ami women of Wellington. Leaving the. main Technical. School building, which is situated in the block of buildings comprising the Wellington Education Board's offices and the Public .Library, Mr. La Trohe piloted tlio members- of the hoard across the street, aiid through an ill-fit section, to where an anything but ornate tin' structure has been, erected, as the workshop's, .where practical'work is carried otit.' Plight, of the dressmakers, ■Here, with the roar of. tinsmithing and plumbing, and the. ceaseless ruiilblcAof engines, is.housed the dressmaking class. Sonjc. forty yoaiig. girls, • employed, mostly/in shops, in the town, are ea'gerly seeking to better their position. And to receive their education th'c'y havo.togo ihfo.a bare, brick-lined and whitewashed barn, .which, .was intended for,, and would,suit',; practical plumbing classes. The' heating arrangements consif.t only of one stove, and when sotit.h.e'rlies blow they force, their waj under the, eaves, bringing with them a fa^ir' quantity of Wellington's ample rainfall. The engineering work's are better, off. and-, at .one'.time we're amply supplied with .all necessary .i»in.chitiery." Now the machinery has crowded the'room used, r.ud cries aro coming from the', instructors that more students than .can he attended to in the.restricted space are coming._ In the. same, toilding'is given instruction in carpentry, metal atitf jewellery work, etc., awl' remarkable progress is shown by students, £'4'0,0d0 NecsSsafy. Mr. La Trdbo and.Mr. Kohertsen emphasised tlw necessity .for something being done, in the near future. Manv students were kept awav, while oilier/ were, not getting tlio instruction thev were entitled to, thrtrasli iWe of circumstances. It is felt that £40,000' is' necessary to ercet up-to-date, buildings, suitably equipped. Wellington is worse off for technical buildings thim manv of the provincial towns., Mr. La. Trobo thinks that £70,000 ouchfc to he spent to keep'this City in tin? forefront of education. He instanced the fact that Manchester, with a population of SOO.000, could spend half a million of niotie'v on technical instruction. Wellington should therefore he provided wiih°the sum he mentioned. It was not so .nitich the question now, he said, of not being able to cram the students in. but of giving them fitting instruction when they were crammed in. Cooking In a tin Shed, The delegation finished up its tour bv wending its way through an ill-lit, ami muddy yard, to where tJiu aforesaid tin shed, lent by the Corporation, was used as a cookery room. Outside the structure presented a dismal, and disheartening appearance, but matters were much bettor inside, where the Walls and roof were lined with white enamelled boards; while the lighting was all that could be desired. , Miss Rennre, the chief cookery instructor, and Miss Jess, the assistant instructor, , with half-a-dozen willing assistants, had laid, out an excellent supper, cooked during the day by tho. school. girls attending this invjtdf*,

taut class, and ranging from oyster soup to forced eggs in aspic. After the members had freely partaken Mr, Robertson moved a hearty vote, of thanks to Miss HeJillie ■ and :her assistants. 41iss Bonnie's work, .ho said, was well knmvn, ami appreciated, by all the. members of thf board,-and half the pomilation of Wellington. She Was doing a work which would near goad fruits'in the future. Other .members spoke in'.similar terms, and Miss ltennie .responded.