The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1894-01-18

Il
/ By she way, these almost invariably have
been By retiring presidents, there IL no
precedent for q newly sieoted president or
one continuing In Office. 10 make an ad-
dTeas), ] found several expressions common
TO then ALL such as, ENGINEERS must as
aert themaelves." The ubiio are iguoraut
Of What an enRinees IT," I'VE must instruct
the public" I'VE must band ourselves
togsthsr." I'VE must asseft our prsfoga-
tiVss," etc., etc. ] am not 40 sure OF this.
/ often recall q rsmark OF we'll known
railroad president when one has stated 20
hin a casa o an opinion in snIphatio terms.
well does the other fellow sAyf" What
does the public say Of the enzineersf How
does the public know that an engineer. OF
society Of engineers, knows anything about
what ths pubic are interested inf Why do
enRineers kick because they afe not more
often oonsuIted7 IL seems 10 me that abe
cause lies in themselves primarily. En-
RineeFs habitually Aet AZ II their special
knowledge and taiainR was trade
secret. They seem TO Keep
themselves aloof as caste by them
selves, and seldom take any rATt In the
ubiie discussions on any questions Of
wo ks 10 DO undertaken either by states or
municipalities. We all know that few of
as are srators. but all Of us can write clear
ami convincing Arguments and statements
upon any subject that involves engineering
questions aud when they do this their
papers have great weight In the comma
My ana are IreolN QuOteQ IN publo meet
ings and on the street corners; bot this 10
very seldom done. Engineers separate
{. ensslves In this respect from other citi-
zsns and wait for somebody 20 come along
and opsn their mouths and set thsir hands
and brains al work by means of large fee.
In n discussion before the Boston Society
Of Engineers. (you who read the Journal
rsmsmber what refer to- M. G. W. Ellis
hit tue nail PRETTY squarsly on the head in
his paper. The RelS.ion % the Engineer
TO the Public" II the engineers Von't
discuss public questions in the newspapers
OF in public meetings as other citizens do,
let them do IL in the society. The Mon
tana society IL open for the fullest and
frseat discussion Of any subject Of tntsrest
to the public Of Montana, and know by
NV own experience that the public OF Mon
tana, the men who have made the ststa
what il lie In thirtY years. men who have
developed these mines built these smeltsrs
and mines aud reduction woi ks. and who
| Lave made these beautiful cities where bat
twenty five years ago the q wero but barren
hillsides aud valleys an Rulchss, these
/ men are not ignorant of what civil en-
eineer is. but on the contrary, when any
| question OF public interest Arises they look
| 10 them, hoping to DC informed about the
engineering Law. The Montana Society of
/ Civil Engineers 10 respected by the public.
and only last winter whom an important
/ question was before the legislature. dozens
/ OF its members asked me. "What does the
/ Montana society of Engineers think of this
/ proposed lawl" Already one or two laws
/ have been passed solely on account Of their
being recommended By our society,
and one Of your committees now
has IN hand an amendment 60
the Law relating 20 county surveyors, which
will doubtless be passed BY the next legis-
lature. trust that the members OF our
sooietv will make themselves felt 10 the
community by showing their knowledge
science and PRACTICAL good sense by full
discussion by papers OF otherWise in our
meetings tho coming year"
The secTetafy's report showed that the
society now has thirty nine active membs 3,
one honorary member and eight associate
membefs. IL was voted that the society.
through its officers. request the honorable
commissioner Of the general land Office to
continue the practice which has been IN
vogue for the past few years allowing
deputy mineral surveyors to hold commits
slona IN more than one state OF survey dis
tTiet.
Mr.. Knight suggested that there should
be a summer meeting of the society al
Butte, and arrangements will be made TO
hold suoh meeting thsre the coming sum
mer. Mr. Knight also stated that there
were siTiy-Lvs men in Butte eligible as
members. many OF whom would be glad TO
join If they knew Of the sseisty and its
work.
AT the evening session Mr.. John Heron
presented paper entitled, Conduct OF
Repair Work in Railway Emergency Cases"
Mr.. HERON illustrated several temporary
bridges used by him in washonts on the
Montana Central railway.
The society then entered upen disous-
sion of certain questions relating 10 the
measurement of water under the state stat
utes. IL was generally conceded that this
statute was very indefinite. and that differ
ent engineers could secure results varvtng
al least 30 per cent In the amount of water
measured b. employing different methods.
all of which would comply with the woi d.
ina Of the statute.
Aftr the discussion lasting an hour
p esident A. NJ. RyOn. of the stats co lsge
OF agriculture and mechanic arta. formerly
professor of civil engineering OF the col
lege Of Montana, was APP ointsd n commit
tee OF one 60 make experiments and TO re-
port to ths society some more satisfactory
method Of measuring water than that pro-
yided for in the statute.
Mr.. Goodale, superintendent OF the Gan
Qon mine 40 Butte. then addressed the so
cisty in regard TO the matter OF the coTro-
sion Of iron pumrs aud columns caused by
the presence OF suiphuTie acid In the water
pumped from the Butte mines. He stated
that in the Canyon mine there 10 consider
able vatsf constantly lesohinG down
through the old slopes. aud in 80 doing 10
seems TO become impreRnAted more or less
with sulphurio acid, which acts on the col
umns and pumps.
There IL quite a diffe enos in the char
aetsr of she waite In the different parts OF
the mine. The silver mines DO not have
water that 10 pafticul arly Troublesome. hot
In the coppeT mines there Is n great deal OF
trouble. In the Canyon mine we have very
Troublesome and corr osive water. Four
years ago IL was not causing any IA ticular
trouble. We often used IL for boiler feed.
bot found that lie action on the mud ums
made 10 necessary for Us 10 dts ontlnue US
ing ID for that uurpose. 10 was still giving
us no trouble in the pumps aud columns.
bot a. time went on and the mine VA
opened up there was more OF this low
grade ore for the water to leoch through,
until the present year has brought u face
60 face with the necessity OF uaing some
thing besides iron for the utnns.
Two and q half yeas ago We tut Ia a
seven Inch columu 90 th ow thia water TO
the surface. and TO- while &c showed no
particular corrosive aotioa, but during the
iast spring a cor osivs action ON she 4 on
was very apparent; aud the surprising
thing about 10 is that this Action Ghowa frst
a. the tor OF the colnmn. AZ u went on.
more leaks occur ed, until one leucth OF
pipe consisting OF hftstn feet had thirt en-
clamps. | was fully determined thst We
meet use something besides iron. but Just
what oaght TO be used IL q serious question.
q he. e is one copper column IN the mines in
iiutte. but coppet 10 40 expensive that u l.
almost out OF the question for us 90 thiuk
OF Duplicating that column. There "a ulao
brass column hvs inches IN d..
annette, bot 1 understand there IL
10 probable ttat We will have TO coms down
NW.srs -