PROBLEMS IN TRAINING MINING ENGINEERS 655 



reflection, but action also. And the sense of power that comes with 

 the successful exercise of the creative faculties in the engineering 

 arts is one of the purest and keenest pleasures of which our nature is 

 capable. 



The greatest service those in charge of the higher technical branches 

 of the mining school can render their students is to show them how 

 to apply their scientific knowledge to such practical problems as come 

 before them. He who can do this for his students, and can give them 

 a taste of that sense of power that comes from a mastery of the forces 

 of nature, can trust them to go the rest of the road without a finger- 

 post to point the way. 



Personal Contact with Working-Conditions 



I have said that the mining engineer should learn to see clearly 

 the problems that he must solve; that he must be familiar with the 

 materials and the forces, not only of nature, but of human nature, with 

 which he must work. How shall he gain this knowledge? There is 

 only one way: To become familiar with them by actual contact. 



Should this experience come before, during, or after the college 

 course? It is most useful when it comes in all three ways. But coming 

 only after the college course, it is altogether too late. Before that 

 course, it can be usually gained only at the sacrifice of that general 

 training, particularly in the languages and the humanities, that is so 

 important to us all; and, moreover, before college-age the student is 

 usually physically too immature to undertake such work. For these 

 reasons it is usually best to let this experience begin with entrance 

 into the mining-school. In each college year, as commonly arranged, 

 from three to four months are given to vacations, which, occurring 

 at regular periods in summer and winter, are admirably adapted to 

 a progressive course of practical work in surveying, mining, and 

 metallurgy, in which the student can familiarize himself with practi- 

 cal conditions in different localities. For the reasons already given, 

 this work should begin with the school course, and be carried on 

 progressively, at regular intervals, with the theoretical work. It is 

 thus practicable for the student to gain nearly a year of experience 

 in a considerable range of methods. He is thus in a position to deter- 

 mine his own fitness for the work; to learn the branches for which he 

 is best adapted, and for which there is most demand; and to make 

 acquaintances that will be useful to him afterwards. If he shows 

 aptitude for the work, he is reasonably certain of finding the place 

 for which he is suited; and if he does not, he can adjust himself to 

 some other calling without further waste of time. 



The importance of this training for the mining engineer is greater 

 than in any other branch of engineering; for the conditions that 



