Not only has Wheeling High moved from its temporary quarters in an old building to a handsome new building, but its courses have been improved and new ones added. Two of these new ones quite often make themselves known to others besides the few who are taking them, the domestic science course - by the savory odors that float from its department - and the manual training course by the noises that issue from its rooms.
The latter is located in the north side of the basement of the north wing of the building, and occupies four rooms. These rooms, well heated and lighted, are connected by large double doorways.
The room to the extreme left, or near the front of the building, is the "Glue and Stock Room." In it, all the lumber is kept in a rack built for this purpose and having a capacity of about of about five thousand feet. All gluing is done in this room and the equipment includes glue pot, clamps, saw horses, and all things necessary to make a glue joint. Here is seen the first example of the boys' actual work. It is a cabinet of thirty lockers made entirely by the boys and for their own use.
The next room is the "Cabinet Shop and Tool Room." A marked feature is the shop checking system, by which all tools are checked up to the user. By doing this not a tool of any kind was lost last year. This room contains twelve double work benches equipped with Oliver quick-action vises. The tool room which is partitioned off from this room contains all the necessary hand tools for working wood.
The "Mill Room," from which the noises float, is the next to the right. It contains a Universal saw table, a single surface planer, which will handle all sizes of wood up to twenty-four by six inches; and a Universal automatic oil stone grinder, upon which all the tools are sharpened. Each of these machines has its five horsepower electric motor. All belts are enclosed and there are no overhead shaftings or belts.
The fourth room, which is at the extreme right or at the rear of the building, is the "Woodworking and Pattern Shop." This room was not equipped this year because its equipment was not needed. However, next year it will be equipped to accommodate the present Freshman class. The equipment will consist of seven twenty-four inch speed lathes, one thirty-six inch speed lathe with hand-feeding carriage and set over tail stock for taper turning, a band saw, a pattern-maker's bench, with four Abernathy pattern-maker's vises, a wood trimmer, a jointer and the necessary tools for pattern-making and wood-turning. Each of these machines will have its own electric motor of sufficient horsepower.
This year the mechanical drawing work was done under adverse circumstances, but next year a better showing is expected. There will be installed twenty-four individual adjustable drawing tables with a complete set of first-class instruments for each table and filing cases.
R. C. D. Jr., '13. |
