Benson Polytechnic High School - BluePrint Yearbook (Portland, OR)

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24 The POLY TECH GAS ENGINE AND AUTOMOBILE DEPARTMENT The Gas Engine and Automobile Department This shop course was inaugurated last term in the new school with Mr. Stair as the instructor. The equipment first con- sisted of a VVinton Six, Oldsmobile Eight and a two-cycle and a four-cycle engine, constructed by the machine shop students of the school. The students as a whole knew little about gas engines. so the work started from the very beginning. The work was divided between the shop work and the text book so as to familiarize themselves with the things that they were studying. They first took up valve tim- ing and carburetion, and a great deal of work was done timing the different mo- tors and adjusting the Carburetors. Later in the term the Winton engine and trans- mission was completely dissembled and reassembled. This consisted of quite a hit of work and a thorough knowledge of the engine parts. This term a ten h. p. semi-Diesel engine, four-cycle Buick en- gine, Stearns-Knight, Pope-Hartford, VVarren-Detroit and Ford automobiles were added to the equipment. These dif- ferent types of engines were studied and then thoroughly cleaned and put in per- fect running order. By studying aero- plane engines the students have kept in touch with the latest designs and engi- neering feats in gas engine construction. Efficiency in the shop has been put on a working basis both in the tool room and in the distribution of the work among the students. Frequent trips have been made to the different shops and the latest shop methods and practise studied. A great deal of review work is now being carried and a slight preparation for the study of the different ignition and electric sys- tems by the older students for next term.

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The POLY TECH 23 The Architectural Department The architectural department is at this time one of the active departments of the school. The students are studying all work pertaining to architecture, such as the varieties and grades of materials of which a building is constructed. Five of the architectural students vis- ited the Oregon-Portland cement mill at Oswego on May 7. The head chemist, Mr. Woodward, showed these students through. the plant and explained the proc- ess of the manufacture of Portland ce- ment. Each of the students wrote an article on the manufacture of this product. At the suggestion of the school li- brarian, this department is designing posters for the various departments of the school, showing the activities of each. Another feature of the work is a cab- inet being designed by one of the stu- dents. This cabinet is constructed so that two locks, by an ingenious device, control the locking of the twenty-four drawers. The person in charge of the cabinet unlocks these drawers and the students take them out, the lock is then locked again and when the drawers are pushed into place they lock automatically. lt is interesting to learn of the prog- ress of some of the graduates of this department. Ralph Frederick, one of the first to graduate, is now chief draftsman in the office of Widden 81 Lewis. Clay- ton Baldwin, a graduate of June, 1916, is instructor in the department of archi- tecture at the University of Oregon. Raymond Hill is in the marines division at the officers' training camp. Raymond Clifford is chief draftsman for Stokes 8: Zeller, architects. Vernon Williams is instructor in chemistry and drawing in the Albany High School. Clifford Men- denhall is assistant to the chief designer of ships at the Foundation Ship Co. A patriotic body of students of this cle- partment have organized to carry on the war work of the school. The name given to this organization is the T Square Club. The Four Year Technical Course The grammar school graduate who has not made up his mind as to which voca- tion he will follow faces a problem, the solution of which is of vital importance to him. That solution, however, is found in the Technical Course offered by the Benson Polytechnical High School. The Technical Course has been ar- ranged especially for the boy who has no idea of the particular vocation to which he is adapted or may like. The first two years it arranges for correlated shop work and the last two years in the shop which he has selected for his future Work. The correlated shop work consists' of one term of twenty periods per week each in the Foundry, Pattern, Blacksmith and Machine shops. This offers an oppor- tunity for the undecided student to select some mechanical line of work which he likes and upon which he can major the last two years of his course. It further equips him with a general mechanical knowledge of great value in these days when men adapted to general mechanical work are so much in demand. i The last two years of shop work con- sist of whatever course the student may select from the following: Cabinet Making. Carpentry. Advanced Pattern Making. Plumbing and Gas Fitting Operating Steam Engineering Mechanical Drawing Advanced Machine Shop. Advanced Machine Blacksmithing Advanced Foundry. Sheet Metal Working Gas Engine and Automobile Work. Architectural Drawing. Electrical Construction. Since the technical course calls for four years of work, it allows sufficient time to secure a full high school course in neces- sary academic work such as English, Mathematics, Drawing, and Applied Science. Because of this fact and the training in general mechanical work, the graduates of this course are accredited for entrance into the Engineering Courses at the Oregon Agricultural College.

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The POLY TECH 25 i PLU M RING D EPARTMENT p Plumbing Department Perhaps the most important thing with which the plumber should be fortified is a proper knowledge of soil and waste pipe ventilation. Other things connected with the plumbing fixtures of a house are secondary and mechanical. To know how to prevent sewer and waste pipe gases from entering the house through the plumbing fixtures under the varying con- ditions, requires a high degree of scien- tific knowledge. The conveying of fresh water to and through a house for do- mestic use is a comparatively simple mat- ter, but the conveying away from a house, or the disposal of the waste and unclean water without producing unhealthful con- ditions is quite another thing, and not by any means a simple matter. The reason for this is that as soon as water is made foul by any matter it begins to undergo chemical changes, as such matter decom- poses, and then something more than un- clean water must be conveyed from the premises. The plumbing department of the school has received much new equipment. The shop is in the two-story building, enabling the students to set up modern plumbing fixtures. The students of this department have connected up the air system throughout the school. They have done much repair work for the school. They are now mak- ing tests with water pressures. The senior students of the electrical de- partment and the architectial draftsmen are now spending one period a day in the plumbing shop estimating, putting in stove coils, soldering and wiping joints.