The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-10-09
MANAGEMENT OF MINES.

The impression prevails to some
extent that mining and the manage
ment of mines are synonymous
terms, that is to say, if man is q
good miner he is necessarily a COM
petent menager. Men have COM
mended themselves to the recogni-
ton of capital for employment as ex-
perts. engineers and conductors OF
great and small properties, upon the
ground that they have had ten, fif-
teen and twenty years practical ex-
perience as miners. 1t is just as
wise to accept this theory, as it
would be to assume as an undeniable
fact. that a good printer is fitted for
editorial control of the paper upon
which he is type-Setter; an expert
machineSt to take charge of large
manufacturing establishment, or a
polite and competent clerk to run
a dry goods house which is doing a
trade amounting to millions. A
man may be a capital worker under
ground, understanding the whole
routine of sinking, drifting, timber
ing, ETC., yet be wholly incompetent
to assume the direction of the prop
erty in its business arrangements.
The fact is proved by experience
in every country, that entirely effici-
ent managers of mines are rare, but
there is an abundance of skilled
workmen. A crew of fifty or one
hundred miners may not contain one
man who is fit to be entrusted with
the general direction of the whole
work. A majority of the most sue
ceSsful conductors in the country
were not bred to the business in
which they ere engaged. Again
han may know how TO drill, blast
and timber yet be utterly ignorant
Of the technical eccentricities of the
ore vein. The most expert directors
of the Leadville mines are just begin
ming to understand the little seams
and threads which frequently lead
to large bodies of mineral. Many
have exhausted the resources, the
patience and confidence of their
principals by sinking and drifting
in barren ground, when a thorough
comprehension of geological condi-
tons would have led them long ago
to profitable results.
Not long ago one Of our mining
exchanges published, ill-advisedly,
a furious TRADE againsts the whole
profession Of experts and in cOnclu-
sion advised everybody who wanted
to know the truth ofthings to en-
ploy practical miners who were skill
led in the business and whose judg-
ment must therefore be .lnfallible.
No greater fallacy could have been
While it is true that
many protesting a thorough knoWl- |
edge of mining geology are pro-
foundry ignorant and their opinions
it is nevertheless an eX-
allied profession requiring lifetime
Of close attention, careful research |
and methOdical examination of ma
lures choicest secrets. Such men |
are Invaluable to the workers of |
mines. They may discover at a
glance what will save many times
the amount of the fee charged plac-
ing the workmen upon the proper
course of development. The mis-
lakes of mining have cost millions.
We are reaching better, because a
'urer plane of action by the aid of
geological study and investigation.
The cost of underground operations
S very much less than five or ten
years ago, because we are, with |
enabled to apply the
,ules of economy to all branches Of
his industry. Good management is
he first step towards success. No
natter how large the vein or how |
rich its ores, it can soon be exhausted |
oy extravaganza and lack of proper
system.