Oak Street UNCLASSIFIED REPORT OF M. E. WADSWORTH PRESIDENT OF THE MICHIGAN MINING SCHfifrt FOR, 1896 • •• • • ••• • • • • • • • • • • » • • • • • • • •# •• ••• • • • ••• • •••••• • c #• •• •• ••• • •• • •• • « • • • •*••••• # • • • • • *•••*•• • • •••• REPORT OF M. E. WADSWORTH PRESIDENT OF THE MICHIGAN MINING SCHOOL FOR 1896 p.4177 Exchange Newberry Library THE MICHIGAN MINING SCHOOL. [Reprinted from the annual report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the year 1896.] REPORT OF PRESIDENT. Hon. H. R. Pattengill, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Dear Sir —The tenth birthday of the Michigan Mining School was passed on September 15, 1896. During this brief time it has risen to a recognized position amongst the foremost engineering schools of the country, and obtained an international reputation. It was established by an act of the Legislature of Michigan, approved May 1, 1885, and opened for the admission of students September 15, 1896. It is located in a district in which mining is conducted on a larger scale than anywhere else in the world, and one which has the deepest shafts and the most powerful mining machinery used anywhere. In this respect its location is most fortunate, since nowhere in Michigan, outside of the Upper Peninsula, can the same practical instruction be given, even if the State spent millions on millions of dollars in a vain attempt to do this work elsewhere. Some of the shafts are nearly five thousand feet perpendicular and others over a mile in length on the incline. General information concerning the, mines and locality is given in the catalogue for 1894-1896 and it need not be repeated here. The school is also conveniently near the iron mining districts of Marquette, Menominee, and Gogebic. Houghton county is the third wealthiest county in the State, only Wayne and Kent paying higher taxes. The village of Houghton is the county seat and residence town of the county. Probably the greatest advantage next to its elective system and its location, is the fact that this is the only educational institution in the United States that concerns itself solely with the problems relating to the mineral wealth of the earth, and whose every energy is devoted to giving the best instruction possible for that purpose. Its location and equipment give it exceptional opportunities to impart instruction in mining and mining engineering, mineralogy, petrography, geology, mechanical engineering, shop practice, field and mine surveying, mineral chemistry, drafting, ore dressing, etc., etc. 4 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. The name “Michigan Mining School,” the phraseology of the act, the originally proposed two years’ course, and the prospectus issued in July, 1886, all show that the intention of its originators was to found an insti¬ tution for the training of miners and the lower grades of mining know¬ ledge. In the execution of this plan the principal, Albert Williams, Jr., opened the school in a suite of four rooms in Fireman’s Hall in Hough¬ ton, with the additional use of an undivided portion of the basement. Mr. Williams resigned at the end of the first year spent in charge of the institution and the present writer was chosen director of the school. During Mr. Williams’' administration, a small chemical laboratory was equipped and a small working library, small mineral collections, etc., obtained; but no course of instruction was regularly organized. The school has been dependent upon legislative appropriations, which have been as follows: Appropriations. 1885. 1887. 1889. 1891. 1893. 1895. Total. Current expenses__ $25,000 $17,500 75,000 $44,000 60,000 $57,600 15,000 $75,000 35,000 $80,000 $299,100 185,000 Permanent expenses.... Funds available and amounts disbursed yearly. Year. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. Available current funds___ $12,100 00 10,267 12 $16,082 29 15,944 89 2,800 00 749 78 $18,493 59 16,672 20 45,130 22 44,867 97 $25,405 16 19,680 27 44,462 25 39,000 07 $29,405 16 24,484 87 50,124 15 37,351 13 Disbursements current funds_ Available permanent funds___ Disbursements permanent funds_ Year. 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1,1896. Available current funds. Disbursements current funds_ Available permanent funds_ Disbursements permanent funds. $28,554 02 30,610 14 25,124 15 19,409 29 $37,369 99 33,452 63 8,714 86 4,849 14 $43,005 01 41,880 81 23,865 72 21,266 48 $40,494 74 40,261 37 17,499 24 17,287 17 $42,530 40 40,309 00 212 07 $44,857 14 40,792 42 Inventory of State property , Michigan Mining School. Inventory. 1890. 1894. 1895. 1896. State property_____ $153,328 37 $216,966 79 $225,019 03 $231,895 97 The property of the State acquired by gift and purchase consists of land, buildings, collections, equipment, library, etc., estimated at the fol¬ lowing amounts: V EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 5 INVENTORY, 1896. Administration . $494 25 Buildings . 89,623 56 Chemistry . 10,700 00 Civil Engineering. 4,812 50 Drawing. 1,750 00 Electrical Engineering.... 4,279 00 Heating and Lighting. 10,475 00 Geology . 4,608 14 Grounds and Water Supply. 23,213 17 Library . 26,540 34 Mathematics . 222 25 Mechanical Engineering. 17,077 00 Metallurgy. 2,775 00 Mineralogy . 15,287 82 Mining Engineering. ,2,570 00 Ore Dressing. 4,096 50 Physics. 8,809 44 Supplies . 2,062 00 $231,895 97 INCOME. Outside of the State appropriation, the Michigan Mining School has a small and variable income from supplies furnished the students, from payments made by students for use and damage of apparatus, from labora¬ tory fees, etc. This amounts to between $1,000 and $2,500 each year. The students’ deposits of $25 each, amounting to some $2,000 to $2,500 yearly, which sum lies untouched for two or three years on the average, is of no benefit to the Mining School, even to tide it over temporary financial difficulties, since this is always placed in the hands of the treas¬ urer as a personal or private deposit for which he is accountable to no one except to the individual students. At present, then, outside of the biennial appropriations, there seems to be no way open for the Mining School to obtain even part of a suitable income to enable its work to be properly carried on outside of these: (a) private beneficence; (b) the passage of a bill, now before congress, to aid schools of mines by part of the income derived from the sales of public lands; (c) a one-twentieth mill tax; (d) incidental, tuition, and laboratory fees. The last one (d) only will be discussed here. If the State is willing properly to equip the Mining School for its work and then wait a reason¬ able length of time for the school to recover from the effects of charging these fees, no objection is seen to this proposition. The first and imme¬ diate effect will be to diminish the number of students in attendance. This diminished attendance could be overcome in a few years, even with heavy fees, if the president of the school could carry out his plans for the school’s development without hindrance, so far as the school funds will permit. The course of education is so well known that, if an insti¬ tution will only prepare itself to give the best, most thorough, and most practical education of its kind, it will have all the students it can prop erly accommodate, if it is given the time and opportunity to make itself known. 2 6 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. Owing to the great size and reputation of the State University, its scale of fees give the bounds to the other State institutions; but they are so low, that the University’s scale would yield but little income to the Mining School. It would be better if the maximum allowed by law was charged Michigan students, and for those outside of the State from |150 to $200 per year, besides the matriculation fees. This implies that the State give the equipment now asked for, since otherwise these fees could not be honorably demanded. EDUCATIONAL POLICY. At the time the present president took charge of the educational side of the Michigan Mining School, there was no educational policy devel¬ oped, nor course of instruction laid out, beyond the statement that the course should be two years in length. At that time there were only two distinct State mining schools in operation, besides the Michigan Mining School, neither of which confined itself to mining engineering sub¬ jects. The Colorado State School of Mines was established in 1874, and in 1887-88 it had in all its courses 45 students. The Missouri School of Mines, founded in 1873, with its preparatory and all its other depart¬ ments, had that same year (1887-88) 46 students. There were numerous departments of mines in connection with various state and other univer¬ sities and colleges, but the number of students of mining in all of these, except Columbia and Lehigh, were much less than those previously given for Colorado and Missouri. Columbia had, in 1887-88, 51 students in mining; and Lehigh, 56. The way was dark and forbidding, and the remains of past failures could be seen everywhere. In truth, no state school of mines that was ever organized in the United States could, by any exertion of imagination, be called successful up to that time. Suc¬ cess could not be hoped for except through the rigid adherence of prin¬ ciples to be laid down then and steadily carried out, and by an organi¬ zation effected that should attempt to save the good and remove the evils of other institutions. The main principles then formulated for the reorganization of the school were as follows: 1. To keep the school a special one for giving instruction in all branches relating to the development of the mineral wealth of the State and Nation. 2. To give the very best, most practical, and highest education in this field that it was possible to reach, with the means at command. 3. That the instruction should always be by the laboratory and field methods, or by a true union of theoretical and practical instruction. 4. That the school should in its earlier days put every dollar obtain¬ able into equipment and collections for teaching purposes, and nothing be spent for show, until the departments were in a condition to do their proper and designated work. 5. That special opportunities should be given to men of mature or advanced age who were engaged in practical work, and who wished to obtain an education to aid them in their work. 6. That the catalogues and other publications should state, so far as known, the exact truth about the school and its instruction. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 7 7. That no one should be appointed an officer in the school or be retained therein, for any other reason than his fitness for the place and his capabilities for doing his work. 8. That students in the school must work or leave and that no dis¬ tinction should be made on account of any one’s wordly wealth or honor, or birthplace—the criterion should be always to perform his duties. Also that quality and thoroughness should be the aim, and not mere numbers of students. 9. The institution should be managed upon business principles, in which the professors were to be allowed to conduct their departments according to their own individualities. They were to be held responsible for producing the required results, but not for their manner of bringing about these results. They were to have entire choice of, and control over, their subordinates, who were to be solely responsible to them. 10. That the professors should be given by the president every aid and assistance possible in developing their departments, and supported in enforcing proper discipline. 11. That the school was to be conducted for the benefit of the students and for the State and Nation, and not for the particular advantage of the town in which it happened to be located, nor for any special clique, in the belief that in serving the State best, the town would in the end be more benefited than by any other policy. So far as allowed by the Executive Committee and the Board of Con¬ trol, these principles have been put into execution. The result has been eminently satisfactory, since no school in America has had in its Course in Mining Engineering any such rapid rise and development as this insti¬ tution which is now generally known as the Freiberg of America. All credit is due to the professors and their assistants who, working under these principles, have so nobly aided in building up this strong and flourishing college; to the Board of Control who have assisted and sus¬ tained them; and to the noble State that has furnished the means to build an istitution of which the State and Nation may most justly be proud. The application of these principles has had this effect, that the presi¬ dent feels that the work he undertook to do has been more than accom¬ plished. The result already reached is far beyond his expectations and exceeds any hopes or dreams he dared indulge in, when he took charge of the institution; and he is now ready and willing to lay down the constantly increasing burden and care, if it is desired. The courses of study have been extended from two to three and four years, and finally changed to a free elective system. In this the Mining School has been the pioneer engineering school in America, and the change has proved to be beneficial in every way. The instruction has been constantly strengthened and increased. STUDENTS. Since 1890 the Michigan Mining School has had the largest number of mining engineering students in America, so far as known, and has ranked with the great colleges of mines the world over. 8 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. It has had a very large number of practical men of various ages, rang¬ ing from 25 to 60, who have desired to increase their earning power by pursuing studies at the school. At the present day there are over twenty-five such students enrolled. Year. 1886-87. 1887-88. 1888-89. 1889-90. 1890-91. 1891-92. 1892-93. 1893-94. 1894-95. 1895-96. To Feb. 10, 1897. Total number of students enrolled 23 29 40 35 61 78 101 82 94 94 124 New students enrolled. 23 15 16 15 46 40 45 17 49 44 64 Graduates. 7 6 5 4 0 8 17 22 18 Total87 RESIDENCE OF STUDENTS BY COUNTRIES AND STATES. Alabama ... British Columbia . California . Colorado ... District of Columbia . Germany .. Illinois . Massachusetts . Mexico . Michigan: Upper Peninsula . Lower Peninsula . Montana . New Hampshire New York. Ontario . Pennsylvania . . Scotland . South Africa . . South Dakota . .. Texas . Utah . Wisconsin . 1 2 2 2 1 1 10 1 3 53 17 70 3 1 4 .. 6 2 1 1 1 1 4 7 124 RESIDENCE OF ALL STUDENTS WHEN ENTERING, BY COUNTRIES AND STATES. Alabama . 2 California . .. ✓ . 3 Canada: British Columbia . 2 Nova Scotia . 1 Ontario . 11 14 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 9 V; - ' ' 7 ' ■■- • - ■ - ' # * . Colorado . 6 Cuba. 1 District of Columbia. 1 England. 3 Germany. 2 Idaho. 1 Illinois . 19 Indiana. 1 Japan. 1 Kansas . 1 Massachusetts . 2 Mexico . 4 Michigan: Upper Peninsula . 178 Lower Peninsula. . 68 246 Minnesota. 2 Mississippi. 1 Missouri . 1 Montana .. 6 New Hampshire . 1 New Jersey. 1 New York. 10 Ohio. 4 Oregon. 1 Pennsylvania . 7 Peru. 1 Scotland. 1 South Africa. 1 South Dakota. 1 Texas . 2 Utah . 5 Virginia. 1 West Virginia. 1 Wisconsin. 21 Wyoming. 1 376 February 10, 1897. DIFFICULTIES. One of the most serious difficulties that the Michigan Mining School meets is the constant effort of teachers in the public and private schools to keep their pupils from entering it. Numerous cases have been reported to the president of unwarranted and unjustifiable interference by entreaties, misrepresentations, and various other means known to teachers to prevent pupils from entering this institution. This takes place in villages and in cities, in the Lower and Upper Peninsulas alike; but no matter where they are located, it has been found that the teachers who are reported as doing this are, without a single exception, graduates of one school only. Among the other difficulties the .Michigan Mining School has had to contend with is its distance from large cities; its extreme northern locality; the fact that it is not situated on one of the great lines of travel, and hence is much less known than it otherwise would be; the general ignorance and misinformation in the southern portion of the State and usually throughout the country, regarding the northern peninsula of 3 10 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. Michigan, its people, its climate, and its resources. In this respect prob¬ ably no one of the higher educational institutions is more disadvantage* ously situated than this, although the School, far more than any other factor during the past few years, has been the means of dissipating much of the ignorance concerning this part of the country, and making it more widely and favorably known amongst a large class of people who are not naturally and directly reached by its vast mining operations. Every member of the faculty is a specialist in his line, an original investigator, and has published more or less in his department, while all, except one, have been connected with leading colleges and universities as teachers prior to taking up their labors here. Owing to the school continuing in session for the entire year, except seven weeks, or from ten to fifteen weeks more than most schools, the work of the instructors is greatly increased. It would be a great gain to the Mining School if the members of its faculty could be relieved of a large amount of drudgery that they now have to do, but which could just as well be done by assistants at a moderate cost, thus enabling the instructor to have some opportunity to keep up with the progress in his department, and to publish needed text books and original investiga¬ tions. Every one of them has almost double the work done by the aver¬ age professors in any college or university in the land. They are inter¬ ested and willing, but it is a most short-sighted policy on the part of the School to allow such a burden to borne by them. The work done here now is done at the pace that kills—no man can stand it for many years and keep up at all with the times; the inevitable results are mental stagnation, breaking down, and death. There is great need of special works adapted to the wants of this insti¬ tution in chemistry, metallurgy, mechanical, electrical and mining engin¬ eering. mathematics, physics, mineralogy, petrography and economic geology. Unless the instructors can soon find time to complete and publish their work in these directions, much loss of credit for the school is likely to ensue. Especially is this liable to prove to be the case, when the graduates are sending back word of the especial practical value the notes given them here have been in their work. Some men are liable to appropriate anything of this kind that they can obtain and to publish it without any acknowledgment of the source from which the material was obtained. The school has already suffered in this way through the publication of appropriated material as his own, by a former instructor, for use amongst the students of the institution with which he is now connected. The conditions in this institution are so unlike those of any other in this country that each instructor is obliged to rearrange his work, and prepare in part, or as a w^hole, his own text books, which have to be largely original. There are two special reasons why this must be done. First, because all the other schools are giving instruction in other courses, hence their publications usually look towards training men in other lines, as well as in mining engineering; second, because most of the books are too theoretical, wanting in the practical applications of the principles that they inculcate, while in the majority of cases they are padded with material that is of no use to an engineer. In no way can the school become so well known or so widely adver¬ tised as by the publication of original wmrk and text books by the EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, 11 instructors, and whatever they can do in that way redounds far more to the credit and good of the School and the State, than it does to the instructor. In spite of all the difficulties much preparatory work has been done; as for instance the printed or mimeographed notes issued for the stu¬ dents in chemistry, mechanical engineering, mathematics, physics, petrography, and crystallography, while in every department more or less.original matter is freely given to the students. The issue of suitable text books would also save considerable yearly expense in giving instruction, as well as economize the time of the students. ATHLETICS. The president wishes to call special attention to a subject that he has written about in all his past reports. It is a need that the State will not be likely to fill, but it is none the less real, and one that ought to appeal strongly to the benevolent public, —the need of a gymnasium, reading room, amusement room, etc., united under one roof. The morals of our young men need it. The question of pleasant physical exercise during the long winters is a vital one in the case of all brain workers; and unless there is some healthful and moral physical relaxation to remove the heavy strain of the mental work, vicious and evil practices are almost sure to result. In no way can the Christian public do more to lead the students aright, than by seeing that their bodies are sufficiently sound to rein¬ force the moral side of their natures. Disease entered the world directly after the evil one, as the result of his work; then should not health every¬ where be sought as one of the most valuable adjuncts of the moral side of a man? Almost all of our cases of discipline occur during the winter season and after the students have been worn by their long confinement. Self preservation ought to urge the faculties of every institution in the land to uphold athletic sports of every kind, as one of the best, cheapest, and easiest means of saving the lives of the teachers and exorcising the demons from the student body politic. If anyone doubts it, let him for a moment compare the contemptible and disgraceful acts of students throughout this land thirty, forty, or fifty years ago with the usually more manly side now exhibited, owing to the introduction of athletics. The old system allowed a man of the highest moral type, when he was outside of the college walls, to glory in being a cheat, sneak, and scoundrel when inside those walls. If anyone doubts this, let him listen to the reminiscences of the old time graduate. It would be far, far better for the morals of the world, and there would be far less need of prisons and insane asylums, if the life saving powers of suitable outlets for the physical energies were fully recognized by the pulpit, press, and public. Gymnasiums are cheaper than prisons, reform¬ atories, and asylums; and it is better to guide man’s energies towards the right than to let them turn towards the wrong for want of other escape. Athletic sports are the safety valves of our educational institutions. Verv truly vours, M. E. WADSWORTH. I " / ✓ \ ■ ■< 1 • • / v = •V V I