foleeing te @ summary of paver by Mr. A, Ems, 13166, MOU rasA, read before the Engineering 'Soctety) of China on October' 10 the Lester School and Henry Lester Institute of Technlcat Education, The old order is being very quickly superseded and on every side modern tools, methods and materials are being. used alongside those which had their Dirth centuries ago, began the speaker.
If a comprehensive record of the methods and tools of Chinese car-entry were to be made, it should be done soon, before Western ideas spread to every' village in China. Such a'record should be made and some museum should collect samples of the various tools before these became obsolete and unobtainable, The training received by Chinese and English carpenters next compared, Mr. Emme the great advantage to the English carpenter of readily available technical education and access to technical Publications, In England after completing his general education, the apprentice was taken into a works and there received a tve years training in the various branches of carpentry. The youth was trained by selected men who were both good at their craft and good at imparting their knowledge, and during hig training he was gradually moved from branch to branch of the trade so that each branch was learned In logical sequence. A technical college was usually attended for -at least. three evenings per week for a course of from five to seven years duration, The Chinese apprentice's training, however, was different, It was only in the large cities where foreign in-Aluence was felt that he had the opportunity of learning his craft in all fis branches. Usually he was. apenticed to one craftsman, whose methods he slavishly followed throughout the whole of his training, This method of training tended to turn out 4 stereotyped craftsman, who although probably un expert on certain types of work, was limited in adaptability. Probably, however, his ignorance of science and mathematics was his! greatest handicap, although the Chi nese carpenter often displayed re~ markable ingenuity in solving prob-Jems by certain "rule-of-thumb" methods, some of which Mr. Emms Went on to describe. These methods were usually jealously guarded and handed down from father to son, Tools and Equipment 'The Chinese carpenter's tools and workshop equipment were "then escribed in detail and many iustrative slides were shown, Comparisons were drawn between' Chinese and foreign tools, equipment and method! of operation. In Chinese carpenters workshops power-driven machinery was conspicuous by its absence, while most English workshops usually possessed this, The Chinese bench Usually consisted of plank about six fect long mounted on a pair of trestles, If of the first-class variety, had fitted to it a. roughly made wooden vice, Most shops had only tone bench of this type, the other benches being equipped only with-a form of bench-slop. Much of the work had to be carried out at a slow speed owing to this shortage of sult able Altings for holding the work rigid.
The Chinese tool kit was limited, usually consisting of various types of planes, saws and chisels, and a few fools for setting out. Practically the entire tool kit was made by the carpenter himself and enlarged occasion demanded. Except wher foreign steel had been introduced the quality of the steel was poor. Fre nent sharpening was necessary and much time was wasted over this owing to the lack of proper. grind: stones and of stones, 'The tools were usually' sharpened by an apprentice stones of fairly fine grade lubricated with water, saw was made in four sizes varying {in length from 16 to 30 inches. "The saw frame, which was made of hard~ wood by the carpenter, was of the same design and construction as 9 {ype of saw known from the earliest times, many examples of which were to be found In European museums, Good rapid cutting and accurate rip saw work was turned out by the Chinese craftsman, "The proper way to speed up production was to Introduce mo selentifcally designed tools, and tech nical and craft education on sclentide ines, said. Mr, Emma. If this were done and Linked with the craftsman ship inherent in the Chinese, the. beautiful craftwork of the past could be retained and yet tumed out at the speed demanded by modern industry.
Utilized tu Chi The timbers principally used in China were—Imported Umbersi—teak, Ivan and oregon Pine and among native timbers ash, lime, oak, camphor, Kwangal pole and Foochow pine.
roocnow pine was used extenalvely for the making of coffins, A feature this timber was that it acted as a natural preservative'to the corpse.
'The Kiangsi authorities were fol; lowing @ wise practice In "Alling up" fe. planting new timber to replace every. tree felled. At Nanchang in Kinngel there' was a new timber somewhat resembling alder and ct Ted Foongmoo. Efforts were now being made to bring this timber down to Shanghai and use it for making plywood, for which it was eminently Suited. twas also excellent for Aooring and was expected to be sult able for railway sleepers No mention had been made of blackwood or redwood, as the supply of the timbers to which these nam were originally given was now 30 mall as to make their cost prohible tive, The timber commonly called blackwood was actually imported from British Borneo and its real name was ironwood, Yellow in colour it became black after soaking in water. Tt was used in the moking of funks and."
genuine blackwood" furniture, ynment had stated that preference will be given in all contracts {o firms using native timber. This would have a great effect on the Properly organized, many would be exploited, to the great benefit of China and the timber using world in general, China was at the p porting the bulk of her timber. This was totally unnecessary as she had more than sufficient timber for her needs standing idle within her conclusion, Mr, Emms emphasized the Importance of the: present period, which Was one of transition, Industry was rapidly scrapping. the tools and methods of the East in favour of those of the West.
Cumese in England have contributed £3,000 to the plane fund which will be presented to General Chiang Kei-shek. The remittances wore received in Nanking through the Chinese Embassy at London, Curse press reports received here state that a severe drought Is causing Widespread suffering to farmers and considerable damage to the crops of provinces in the interior. The area around western Hupeh is so dry that the ground is cracking and all the crops have withered, Sandpaper Use Unknown 'Various finishing tools and scrapers: were used, but in the interior of China sandpaper' or glass paper was uns known. Moulding planes were used both by foreign and Chinese cat enters. Chinese moulding planes were simply and strongly made and similar to those used in" England, Chinese mouldings were often beautlful in their simplicity. The Chinese carpenter made more use of his axe than the English craftsman, Often the workman was a true artist with his tool snd could out long lengths of timber to a line very quickly.
'The Chinese axe was slightly curved and was only sharpened on one side, while the English axe was perfectly straight and ground on both sides. 'The thick end was generally used by' the Chinese carpenter in place of a wooden mallet, but using' the steel head against a' wooden chisel was naturally detrimental. The Chinese 'HE wise woman does not exe periment when a troublesome corn makes her life a burden— she knows it can be removed quickly and safely with
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.