November 25, 1904.] 



SCIENCU. 



717 



ranks, technical education is not so es- 

 sential for the requirements to the posi- 

 tion of assayer, cyanide man, mill man 

 mechanical engineer, foreman, etc., are 

 more of a skilled artisan than that of an 

 engineer. A large portion of the men who 

 fill these ranks are of this type, and have 

 secured their training practically by way 

 of apprenticeship through the actual work. 

 These ranks, however, form the stepping 

 stones from which all men must rise to the 

 leading positions. It would be desirable 

 if, except for some eases as foreman, all 

 of this rank and file were men of the 

 highest technical attainments, as, ob- 

 viously, the men qualified to occupy su- 

 perior positions are more advantageous in 

 an inferior position than the man who has 

 at that point reached his limitations. 



From our experience and as indicated 

 by practise shown in the table above, there 

 can be no question as to our belief in the 

 value of technical education. Given men 

 of equal qualifications, the man of technical 

 training is bound to rise to the higher 

 position, because of his greater value to 

 his employer. 



A side issue in connection with the value 

 of technical training lies in the fact that 

 we have found, as a rule, men who have 

 been technically trained are men by virtue 

 of their education who are endowed with a 

 professional feeling which does not to the 

 same extent exist among those men who 

 have risen from the rank and file. They 

 are, therefore, more trustworthy and, es- 

 pecially in mining work, where such 

 premium for dishonesty exists, for this 

 qualification alone, they are bound to have 

 precedence. We do not by any means wish 

 to disparage the qualifications of many 

 men who have risen from the r-anks to 

 eminent positions, but our opinion may be 

 concentrated in the statement that even 

 these men would be better men had they re- 

 ceived a thorough technical training. 



As to the character of the training which 

 we should desire for men whom we would 

 employ, we can make the following obser- 

 vations : 



1. These men should receive a thor- 

 oughly broad gToundwork of education in 

 the humanities, as well as the sciences, 

 prior to their entrance to technical schools. 



2. Their technical training should ex- 

 tend over a period of at least four years, 

 as we believe that any period less than this 

 is quite insufficient in which to embrace the 

 purely theoretical groundwork of the en- 

 gineering profession which we should de- 

 sire in our employees. 



3. The character of this training should 

 be altogether theoretical, subject to the in- 

 tercalation of experience set out in para- 

 graph 5. Four years is too short a time 

 in which to embrace any 'practical' train- 

 ing within the working days of a technical 

 institution. Mining engineering requires 

 a broader training than any other engi- 

 neering branch, as it must embrace mechan- 

 ical, electrical and civil engineering, as 

 well as applied chemistry and mineralogy. 



4. The theoretical training during this 

 period should cover a thorough training in 

 pure science of mathematics, chemistry, 

 physics, geology and mineralogy and me- 

 chanics, with special instruction in the 

 applied branches of these sciences, as bear- 

 ing upon this special branch of engineer- 

 ing. It is our belief that especial stress 

 should be laid upon the purely scientific 

 portion of this training, as under the varied 

 conditions of each new problem this portion 

 is of more use than any knowledge of 

 special application. 



5. During the course of theoretical train- 

 ing, in which there must obviously, in any 

 educational institution, be certain vaca- 

 tions, as is done in American universities, 

 in the actual employment of going con- 

 cerns. Such employment should not be 

 undertaken with a view to the actual ex- 



