The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-05-02

CURRENT COMMENT.
DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES.

lEEaaNt-E. M-rMaLl
DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES.
There is $4,000 left with which to run
the school during the ensuing year. Mr..
Duck gets $4,000, DR.. Bailey $4,000,
Mr.. Conant $4,000, and DR.. Headden
$4,000. Nine into four, no times,
and not much over. Somebody has
got to "absquatulate," and just
what to do is aquestior that puzzles the
new board, who are making many inquiries
of leading persons as to what should be
done. Of course, the Deadwood people
think the school might have been located
right in the heart of the mines, at Lend
City, if you please, where practical ex-
amples in mining could be had, and where
miners could have attended at night and
had the benefit of it's instruction, but the
Pioneer is not disposed to talk about what
"might have BEEN" The school is at
Rapid and is an accomplished fact. There
let it stay, and also let the old time jeal-
ousy between Rapid and Deadwood over
the matter die. The "fool friends and no.
fool enemies" of the school, to quote a
recent writer, nave we'll nigh destroyed it.
Upon the part of the latter, this is neither
| kind nor wise. The school can and has
welded much influence for the good of the
whole Hills. Unquestionably, through its
agency was shown the proper methods OF
concentrating the tin ores of the southern
Hills and the smelling, without lead or
copper, of the silicious ores of the north
ern Hills. If it had done nothing else,
this alone would have justified its exist
ence. But it did more. 1t organized and
carried forward a geological survey which
received the higest co~mmendation in both
this country and Europe, where every
university and technical school, without
exception, secured a copy. This drew the
attention of the scientific public to the
school and incidentally to the Hills
Through the existence of the school forty
thousand acres of land was secured to the
people of South Dakota with which tc
establish a fund for the technical educa.
ton of our children and children's children
for all time.
1t is not pretended that mistakes may
not have been made in the management
of the school. It is human to err. But
let US hope that all mistakes were of the
head and not of the heart, and rejoice that
there is one place at least where a poor
student may receive an engineers educa-
ton absolutely without cost-the only
whole world, for the Dakota school of
mines makes no charge FOR instruction, or
used, to anyone. Some things
nave been stated about the management
of the school of mines that are not true, as
for instance that the board refused to let
certain experiments in ryritic smelling
be made there. During the experiment,
the board permitted the use of apparatus
and chemicals whenever asked for, and the
smelter has at the present time apparatus
belonging to the school. and if favor in
other directions We're hot granted, let it &C
as having 'shappened before the war;
! This is an era of peace and prosperity.
'He~ e~eHaeitiou- to close the school doe
not seem to the Pioneer to be wise.
d should be kept open, at least the chemic'
J. and assay department. One good ma
can attend to all. Let the board sele'
d someone, a technical man of establishe
3 reputation in whom the public has flu
confidence and leave the school in h
~ charge until the regular term, and pla'
:. the price of assays. tests, ETC., at me
nominal rates-say twenty-five cents eae
..' for scores of miners now prospecti1
are too poor to pay $500. now charge
y and thus popularize the school by makir
it useful to the public.-The Pioneer.