PROBLEMS IN TRAINING MINING ENGINEERS 661 



adjusts those questions of supply and demand that are so hard to 

 settle. 



In spite of its many imperfections, the system is beginning to 

 bear fruit. The opposition to college men is growing gradually less. 

 It is found that most of them are in earnest, and are willing and 

 able to work, and that some of them have ability. Before the term 

 of work is over a man is frequently told: "When you have fin- 

 ished college, I may have something for you to do." Many a man 

 has dropped in this way into just the place for which he was adapted. 



In short, if the college man can overcome the prejudice against 

 him that often exists all too justly among men of affairs, by show- 

 ing that he really is a man, modest, willing, and capable, his edu- 

 cation will have its chance to count in the end, as it does more 

 easily at the beginning, under Old- World conditions. The only 

 chance to make his start that the American mining student has, is 

 to meet the practical man on his own ground. He can always do 

 this if he has the courage to break the ice. It is better and easier 

 for him to do this before he graduates than afterwards. 



Physical and Moral Soundness and the Cooperative Spirit 



Experience on these lines has emphasized the importance to 

 the mining student of a sound and, if possible, a robust physique. 

 By this I do not mean heavy muscles merely, but essential sound- 

 ness of the vital organs, particularly those of digestion, circulation, 

 and breathing, and also the senses of sight and hearing. Import- 

 ant as these possessions are to all, to the mining engineer they 

 are indispensable. An early physical examination by an experi- 

 enced physician should reject all defective candidates as rigorously 

 as is done in the army and navy. This should be followed by a 

 thorough physical training, whose aim should be the production 

 of a sound and healthy man. Some instruction in the fundament- 

 als of hygiene, the precautions necessary in the use of food and 

 water, the precautions to be taken in malarial regions and some 

 knowledge of the "first aid to the injured/' are very useful to men 

 who must often serve as leaders of a forlorn hope in a strange land. 



Even more important than physical soundness is moral soundness. 

 It is absolutely necessary that mining engineers not only see the 

 truth, but speak it. Scientific training, when thorough, always de- 

 velops one important moral trait. It helps to elevate the love of 

 truth into a religion. This is its greatest moral service to society. 



In this connection we are all under indebtedness to the late Mr. 

 A. M. Wellington for his able articles on "The Ideal Engineering 

 School." 1 



1 Engineering News, 1S93. 



