Alameda High School - Acorn Yearbook (Alameda, CA)

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Manual Training

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Electric Wiring N HOPES of reaching boys who would not otherwise enter our High School, new and practical courses have been introduced. Among these is the course in Electric Wiring. Many boys after leaving Grammar School enter shops as apprentices to learn certain trades. Here. it is a case of the boy shifting for himself, because those about him have their own work to do and are not eager to stop and show a beginner methods that make for economy and good workmanship. So one purpose in having these different courses is that boys may gain a fair knowledge of a trade where there are people willing to show and help and to point out the right and wrong. Some pupils in our school are still unsettled as to future occupation. By having these practical courses introduced and accessible for experimentation they may find just what has been sought. The first term of the year might really be called House W iring. Novices have a regular scantling frame-work as seen in the picture, on which to do work just such as any regular electrician would do in wiring a house in course of construction. They are taught how to do knob and tube work in such a manner as to produce no fire hazard, how to splice and do the concealed work, how to install switches and fuse blocks with the necessary spacing and arrangement, as a part of the regular routine of work. These courses are given to prepare for a mechanic’s future rather than to give a complete train- ing within the time spent in school. After completing one term in Electric Wiring, a pupil is by no means trained to take a position as a full-fledged electrician; he is prepared to start at least half-way up the ladder instead of at its bottom. Each student is required to study the National Electric Code. a book published by a joint committee of the Fire Insurance Companies and Elec- trical Engineers for fire prevention and safety. This committee has studied incorrect house-wiring as a cause for fires and has compiled laws into one small book which is the final word for all electrical work. Students are re- quired to study these laws and then with them in mind to proceed to do their work. After finishing the required assignment they must use this book of laws to help them in inspecting all the work done by all members of the class. In the second term of work a decided advancement into the electrical field is made. Students are taught signaling, telegraph and wireless work and rewinding of motors, dynamos, and transformers. The class consists at present of fifteen students. When the course has had more publicity many boys who have not heretofore entered school will prob- ably enroll for this most practical course. —H. Weaver.

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Manual Training N ANUAL Training provides an experience not obtainable in other A» school subjects. Pupils are taught the name of every tool and the names of their principal parts, the manipulation of material with ease and economy, and to carry on necessary conversation on craftsmanship in proper technical terms. The art of modeling and turning is acquired; joinery is taught; and lastly, the pupil learns the classification and properties of the common woods. The Alameda High Manual Training Shop is modern and well equipped. The shop can accommodate twenty students per period of forty-five minutes. The building is well lighted and ventilated. In summer, with the windows open, the shop is a shaded work-house; while in winter the room is kept warm at no cost by the burning of refuse. Fourteen workbenches of hard Wisconsin maple are each fully equipped with useful tools consisting of a rapid acting vise and bench stop, a hammer, mallet, tack, sack, chisel, try square, rule, bench brush, spoke shave, block plane, and jack plane. Tools for general use are located around the shop in their respective places. The machinery, which consists of a band saw, a double arbor combination circular saw, and six lathes, is propelled by an electric-driven motor. These machines are great savers of work and time and are used constantly. The lathe is a tool which every student learns to use with skill. At first the novice turns out simple pattern exercises, but with practice he becomes experienced and more proficient. He is given a piece of mill lumber and told to square it to certain dimensions. Upon finishing this work, the pupil is allowed to design and make any article which he desires. Usually the first attempts are small articles such as stools, tabourets, and boxes. Soon the craftsmen take up the construction of larger and more elaborate pieces, such as tables, desks, chests, chairs, and many fine speci- mens of each have been made. The course in Manual Training is popular, as is evident from the num- ber enrolled in the four periods in which it is taught. Too much credit cannot be given to Mr. Phelps, the instructor, for his capability, his genial earnestness, and for his practical results. Taken as a whole, the course is intended to add to general human usefulness as well as to the dividends of a future employer. —Clyde Lamborn.