Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades - Mechanic Yearbook (Media, PA)

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24 THE MECHANIC H12 trade of carpentry is FOP one of the foundation Q stones of the trade world. .0 Many other trades are ' based upon it and for that reason it is essential that any one intending to follow the building trade in any of its nu- merous branches should have a working knowledge of carpentry. The object of the vlyilllZlIllSOIl training is to develop good car- penters with enough theoretical knowledge to enable them to rise above the ranks of their trade. The theoretical and practical parts of the course are co-ordinated as much as possible, so that the stu- dent is doing with his hands in the shop that which he is learning in the classroom. The shop work of the Fresh- man year includes the making of fifty-seven exercises in joinery, and of much small furniture, such as desks, settees, etc. In the jun- Qllarpentrp V 'l 'i- 'l NS ior year the worl: is mostly that Instructor in cliarge of lbelmrlinent of Ut' keeping, the plant in repair and at U2 ' l','. - - W H making new small equipment. At the end of the year the juniors erect a hip and valley, shinglcd roof as an exercise for Commencement. During the Senior year the time of the student is mostly taken up with the erection of new buildings, including the manufacture of the millwork. The Commencement exercise for the Seniors consists of the building and finishing of the lower floor of a frame dwelling. The Seniors study strength of materials at night for the last ten months of their course. The Class of 1918, under the able direction of Mr. Collins, helped in the erection of a number of buildings on the school grounds during the last year. Among them were an addition to the engine room, a pump house and sev- eral garages. lYe also helped, while we were juniors, to put up the foundry. O-ur only regret i-s that we graduate too soon to take part in the construction of the Alumni Building. XVe feel particularly fortunate inlearning our trade under the direction of such an able instructor as Mr. Collins, whose previous experience as a construction superintendent well fitted him for his task. As we say farewell to old lYilliamson we extend our heartiest thanks to all the members of the Faculty, who have helped us during our stay here. XY. BOYD ALEXANDER.

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WILLIAMSON SCHOOL 23 Zgnnklapmg ,U c HE average person's idea of a bricklayer is that he 'iS is a man who can simply spread mortar and lay bricks. This, however, is ' - only a small portion of the trade. The real bricklayer is the full-Hedged mechanic whose technical knowledge enables him to meet and solve those innumer- able perplexing problems which his daily work is bound to bring. This knowledge, as well as the skill in practical trade work, is what XVilliamson aims to give. The Iirst step in our trade was to make us acquainted with the various tools. A trowel was giv- en to each of us, and we were taught to spread mortar with the least number of motions possible. Various walls were then built, ranging in thickness from four to twenty-five inches. JOSEPH H. SHISLER. Our second year's work consist- Instructor in charge of Bricklaying ed in Constructing Walls Contain, D ' r r. . . . . GDM men mg designs. also all the different kinds of arches to be met with in the building field. Reinforced concrete, telegraph poles, and fence posts were also constructed, giving us practice in placing reinforcing rods. In our Senior year, an addition to the power plant and two pump houses were built, experience in setting water tables, copings and concrete arch keys being obtained on these jobs. Boiler setting was taken up in an exercise for that purpose, while lining the cupola at the new foundry and repairing the boilers in the power plant gave us experience in firebricks. Instruction was given us concerning limes, cements, sands, and various materials connected with the trade, also instructions concerning excavating and estimating. Experience with the builder's level was obtained in laying out the various new buildings. Our last exercises consisted of two long walls built two stories high, representing the liner classes of brickworkg as, fancy cornices, arches, and designs. ' On behalf of the bricklaying class of 1918 I extend our thanks to our instructors, Mr. Joseph H. Ellis, Mr. Paul P. Sultzbach, and Mr. Joseph Shisler, for their efforts in fitting us for the building industries. FORREST XV. NACE.

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WILLIAMSON SCHOOL 25 fbperating ffngineering C. HEN we first arrived at XYilIiamson and were 3525 asked what course we had selected, many of its fffpsd F6 C1 quite proudly and inno- cently replied, Electri- cal Operating Engineering, and thought it sounded quite nice. However, it did not take us long to discover that when the Chief said, I have a little job for you, it was time to take OIT neckties and collars and get ready fo:- work. We believe that we can claim, without anyone's disputing us, that we have had more actual con- struction work than any other class in the last ten or Fifteen years. In our Freshman year, we acted as helpers in the erection of a new power transmission line to the farm. In our .lunior year. the first deep well was drilled and we helped to V. 1.f-noi' arm' put in the well-casing and pump, Assistant Ilireetor and Instructor i11 l0g'CtI1t'l' VVItl1 the HCCCSSZITV charge of Ibepartment of Uperatiiifz' - ' I'llI2,'III6t'l'lllf.Z', lug- 'I'he second deep well was drill- ed in our Senior year, and besides installing the pump and casing, we were given practice in laying bell and spigot pipe from this pump to the reservoir. In this year also a new engine was purchased and the erection of it and its accessories was made by the Class. The new engine was made by the Ball Engine Co. and is single--cylinder, double acting, I2 x IZ in. slide valve. It is direct-connected to a 435 ampere, IIS volt, compound wound D. C. generator. Besides our special work, the usual time was alloted for boiler and engine room duty and practice. I. C. S. Textbooks on Steam, Swope's Elements of Electricity, and Oudin's I'oIyphase Systems were used in class and these texts were supplemented by the taking of indicator cards, Hue-gas analyses, boiler trials. coal and oil testing, armature winding, etc. IYe, the engineers of 1918, wish to express our appreciation to our Chief, Mr. Y. L. Rupp, for his untiring efforts to so prepare us that we may take our places in the industrial world as full-fledged journeymen. F. B. NVEAR.