The Institute of Magallanes, Sibuyan

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Part of The Philippine Craftsman

Title: The Institute of Magallanes, Sibuyan
extracted text: INDUSTRIAL NOTES. THE INSTITUTE AT MAGALLANES, SIBUYAN. The subprovincial institute was held in Magallanes from June 12 to July 7, inclusive, in a camp under a grove of agoho trees, growing on a peninsula between the Magallanes river and the sea. The camp site, placed on a soil of sandy loam con stantly carpeted afresh with agoho needles, proved very healthful and was singularly free from mosquitos and other insect pests, while the constant fanning of the breezes from the sea or from Geting-Geting rising to a height of 6,000 feet directly be hind the camp made the sojourn under the groves peculiarity pleas ureable. Cholera appeared all around the place after camp had been estab lished but ten days and this neces sitated a close concentration on the premises. A wire fence was thrown across the peninsula and teachers mounted guard by night to keep out intruders, while details of the men teachers ran the ferry and did the work of sanitation because it was im possible to control absolutely the movements of hired servants. The girls for their part supervised the boiling of drinking water and the work of the servants of the mess contractor to see that disease could not attack from that quarter. The mess, girls’ dormitory, and social hall were in a large house of ma sonry, built by a Spanish develop ment company during the old regime. As it stands across the river from the main town with only servants’ quarters near it, its isolation was an easy matter. All the details for guard, ferrymen, sanitary inspectors, and mess supervisors were so made that no time was lost from class work and the only courses to suffer as a result of quarantine were gardening and housekeeping. The laboratories for these were outside the lines. The great benefits accruing from life in camp were: First, application to work. With nothing to distract the teacher his whole mind was on his task. Second, a sense of the value and the necessity of coopera tion. The teachers came into camp 84 individuals; they left a solid body. It took the individuals a day and a half to get into camp and a week to find themselves at home. At the close of the institute, the body broke camp and were on the steamer, bag and baggage, fifty minutes after dropping anchor, 300 yards from shore. Third, a sense of security in the presence of epidemics. The first ravages of cholera threw all into a panic, but when they saw that watchfulness and care were saving them while the outsiders were dying, they began to believe in themselves and in the efficacy of cleanliness and in the virtue of boiled water, all of which will bear fruit a hundred fold in years to come. Fourth, the indi viduals entered camp starched with formality and painfully conscious sex of sex. On the last night a casual wanderer would have been pardoned had he come upon a jolly band of boys and girls dancing about the camp fire and mistaken the assembly for an American college picnic. Fifth, the storing of health and energy aga.inst future demands. Pale, emaciated teachers or fat, puffy teachers who entered camp with the hue of hothouse plants are now browner, ruddier, healthier than 227 228 THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTSMAN they have ever been before. Men, who had never walked faster than the time of a dead march, ran on their municipal relay teams, and women, who had forgotten the de light of nimble feet, stopped up holes in indoor teams like real ball players. After quarantine lines were drawn, classes were held under the trees and favored by exceptionally fine weather, this arrangement was ideal. Class would remove suf ficiently far from class so that there was nothing to disturb the orderly conduct of each. This arrangement in methods classes compensated in a measure for the forced exclusion of real pupils whose places were neces sarily filled with unoccupied teachers. Socially, dances, literary enter tainments, sleight-of-hand perform ances, hypnotic exhibitions, and camp-fire frolics filled the evenings and a surprising amount of talent disclosed itself. Class work was continued on July 4 until 4 p. m., so as to be ready to catch the steamer arriving on the 7th, and after 4 p. m., a literary program was given, followed in the evening by a dance in the social hall. The field days for both women and men were days of unalloyed sport. All events were run with due regard to rules, so that the days were in structive as well as pleasureable. (J. C. E.) o THE DAVAO INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. The need of a school in which boys may be given at least an ele mentary training in blacksmithing, woodworking, and kindred trades has long been felt in the province of Davao. As the discontinuance of the Lais agricultural school project presented an opportunity for using the equipment and organization of that school to meet this need, in August, 1914, the teachers, thirty boys, and all equipment were brought to Davao. The provincial secretary-treasurer assigned the old scout quarters to the school for use as a dormitory, class room, and shop. The work of re pairing the old building and'arrang ing things to suit the needs of the school was immediately begun. Gar dens 1 hectare in extent were planted to cowpeas, sweet potatoes, mongos and beans. Academic classes were held in the afternoon, the entire morning being devoted to repairs and gardening. When the repairs had been com pleted and the garden work was well advanced, shopwork was begun. New pupils were enrolled from dif ferent parts of the province until the number of boys was fifty. Many applicants for admission had to be turned away because of lack of room and equipment. Through an arrangement with the provincial secretary-treasurer a num ber of expert carpenters and cabinet makers were secured for work in the shop. On each job, from two to five boys were assigned as helpers to the carpenters in charge. At first the boys were allowed to do only such work as sandpapering, and sawing and planing boards; but as they became more expert, they were ad vanced. A number of valuable ar ticles have been completed under this system during the short time the school has been in Davao, among, which are three large office desks, two 20-foot dories, and a kitchen cabinet. Blacksmithing and repairs to ma chinery are done under the immediate supervision of the principal of the school. Ten boys have been turning out a large number of bolos, rubber tapping knives, and hemp-stripping knives. These boys help the prin cipal repair motors, dynamos, and pumps. One very difficult piece of work was accomplished, the straight ening of the twisted crank shaft in the constabulary launch. From twelve to fifteen boys were INDUSTRIAL NOTES 229 assigned to gardening. Their veg etables were the wonder of the town, and the average cost per boy for food and clothing has been materially reduced. Two boys were apprenticed to the tailor who makes the clothing for the school and they will be able to do all of the school’s tailoring. An expert rattan furniture maker was employed and all boys not in shopwork devote a part of each day to making furniture for the dor mitory. It is hoped that within a short time the school will be in a position to accept orders for chairs, for which there is a great demand in the province. The enrollment includes repre sentatives from five pagan tribes. Practically all are in the first or second academic grades. Every pupil enrolled must live in the dormitory, his food and clothing being furnished by the school. There is no regular vacation; but from time to time, at the discretion of the principal, each boy is allowed to spend a few days with his parents. Seldom does a boy fail to return to school at the appointed time. Each boy is examined regularly at the hospital and given treatment if necessary. It has been found that 33} per cent of the Mandayans and Mansacas, and 10 per cent of all others are infected with elephantia sis; 50 per cent have an enlarged spleen; and nearly all are infected with malaria. Hospital treatment under the direction of a physician is provided for all such cases. Many have skin diseases when they first come to the school, but these diseases soon disappear. With adequate equipment and en larged dormitory accommodations, the Davao Industrial School will soon begin to meet the local demand for trained blacksmiths, machinists, car penters, boat-builders, and furniture makers. While these boys are re ceiving their training, they will be putting on the market a large number of articles for which there is an almost unlimited demand. (H. C. S.) PIG-CLUB RESULTS IN THE UNITED STATES. The following account is taken from the weekly news letter of the United States Department of Agri culture : “The pig-club work has been car ried on by the Bureau of Animal Industry of this department during the past year in cooperation with the State Agricultural Colleges of Ala bama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mas sachusetts, Nebraska, North Caro lina, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas. Pig clubs were organized among the farm children and proved a means of arousing further interest in live stock, and at the same time furnished profitable and instructive work to the members. “The economic objects of the pig clubs are: To teach the members how to raise better swine cheaply; to give the members a means of earning profits; and to afford the members a practical insight into the business side of farming. Indirectly, the improvement of the swine of the country and the general introduction of better and cheaper swine-raising methods are purposed. “Each pig-club member is required to keep a record of his pig-feeding work and report this at the end of the State contest. Many unusually successful records have been made. These are not typical of the work, but rather represent its possibilities. A summary and the averages of the work of many members give a better indication of the value of the pig club work. “In the 13 States named, 11,632 members were enrolled last year in the pig clubs. Not all were active members, but most of these raised
Date: 1916
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