Industrial Training of the German People 



iii 



self-dumping carriers and steam hoists. 

 Wood fires are no longer used for thaw- 

 ing, the steam point being far more 

 efficient. 



During the night shift the steam 

 points are driven in the face of the drift, 

 and after ten hours' thawing the mate- 

 rial is extracted the following day by 

 steam hoist and self-dumping carrier. 



Already keen competition is lowering 

 the wage and reducing the cost of sup- 

 plies, and a reduction in cost of extrac- 

 tion and consequent greater profit is 

 the result. Machinery of the necessary 

 class, boilers, pumps, steam winches, 

 hoists, points, and miners' supplies of 



all kinds are entering the camp in large 

 quantities. As the cost of mining is 

 lowered, the area of workable ground 

 is increased. 



The building of better roads would 

 immensely aid the miner whose ground, 

 though not marvelously rich, still affords 

 good " pay " under more economic con- 

 ditions. It is probable the gold-produc- 

 ing field will grow, though the test of 

 time is the only reliable one. Certain 

 it is, however, that there exist hun- 

 dreds of square miles in this region that 

 have barely been scratched, and the 

 hopes and spirits, at least, of the camp 

 are high. 



THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING OF THE 

 GERMAN PEOPLE 



ONE of the most important gov- 

 ernment publications in some 

 time has been issued by the 

 Bureau of Statistics of the Department 

 of Commerce and Eabor. It is entitled 

 "Industrial Education and Industrial 

 Conditions in Germany," and contains 

 a number of special reports by our con- 

 suls in Germany, which give an ex- 

 cellent and thoughtful appreciation of 

 the rapid growth and prosperity of the 

 German Empire. This progress is due 

 mainly to the thorough training which 

 the German workmen and working 

 women, of high and low degree, have re- 

 ceived in the German technical schools, 

 which since the union of the German 

 states, in 1870, have been fostered 

 everywhere by principalities, cities, as- 

 sociations, and private benefactors. 



These schools are open, not to a class 

 or to a country, but to the world. In 

 their halls rich and poor meet on equal 

 terms as learners. They require com- 

 paratively little money, but educate 

 thousands of hands and heads. They 

 throb with the life about them, and 



grow with the world without. They 

 are the most powerful weapons of 

 German industry. They are the iron- 

 clads of commerce. 



A very large majority of the students 

 who attend the trade schools of Ger- 

 many have had more or less preliminary 

 training and practical experience in the 

 trades in which they desire to perfect 

 themselves. 



Almost all trade schools have special 

 workshops or factories associated with 

 the school building. 



In them are found the most modern 

 machines, the latest inventions, and the 

 most practical methods. Every move- 

 ment of the student is guarded, every 

 act is followed, every mistake is cor- 

 rected as soon as it happens by teachers 

 who have had good preparatory train- 

 ing, who, in most cases, come directly 

 from their trade and who are fresh and 

 up to date in their practice. 



How different the situation of the 

 young apprentice in his father's factory. 

 He may be alone at his machine for 

 hours at a time. He may commit a 



