The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1898-11-25
REPORTING ON MINES.
some Mistakes OF Experts shown
Proper Care Not Taken.

'"P'f 'Ate NOT Taken.
Heading mining reports Of number.
Fss graduates uf mining srhnuls hi.-
raised query whether there ought NOT
be established In those schools a pFu-
Iessurship on mine cxnminatious
Knowing. too, " graduate who has
gwen more than one falsp certificate
of assay or analysis. naturally raises
another query whether a professor Of
ethics might not also be advantageous.
~ added To the faculty. Probably the
reason both are not already estnb.
lished N because II Is impossible for u
school TO usurp the powers Of the Al.
mighty and furnish brains or integrity
where he has been misery In bcstow.
Ing them.
Report after report reads "thc ore as.
says" NJ much per ton. They assume
that their dlctum will he accepted
without question. We begin To doubt
whether any man Of experience would
give two cents u carload FOR such re-.
ports. made by men with whom he II
unncqualntcd. ~ reports. sooner ~
later get Into the hands " men who
are not acquainted with the one who
lnnde them. and are consequently
Judged from what they say aud omit
To say, common prudence would sug.
gesi that they omit nothing essential to
establish their accuracy.
To Illustrate tn what we refer may
De quoted one personal experience. An
engineer, who ought to know how 10
make mine examination. gave us u
report on n Mine In which he stated
the ore contained an average value OF
enough to make Il n desirable PROPOSE.
non. To Know whether II was worth
Wnllc looking ~ u We questioned him
with the following results:
bow do you know the ore averages
-- per tonT
II sampled H."
How did you sample ~"
mine"
what do you mean 10y all OVER
Were they at stated distances npnrtY'
mo. | took sixteen samples. nll
from the drifts"
samplcsY'
Yes. the owner"
The conversation drew out what the
report should have shown. ~ well ~
the fact that the examination and the
Judgment based upon II were worth.
less.
Samples should be- taken from or.
bodies nt regular distances. In all
openings, nnd the nearer together the
better n mine sampled every nfty feet,
or hit ana miss nj any catch distance.
IL mls-samplcd. Il * ~ convenient To
sample only where the vein can be
easily reached. II II 80 much easier To
accept the word OF mine owner or
foreman or workman about some fact
than TO determine the fact Tor ones
SELF, that u n often done. II II 80
much more convenient 10 accept the ns-
rstnncc OF the owner or some man In
Ills employ than to have one who N Ia
your own employ and eau be- trusted.
thnt u IN often done. In fact, II II NO
very easy 10 slight the work. aud very
lnborious. costly and sometimes dan.
gcrous 60 do II thoroughly NJ II should
be done, that II N sighted. II II call
Ing things by pretty hard name. but
a Just one. when we say that the great
majority Of mine examinations are dis.
honest. because not thoroughly aud
carefully done. The report. too. usu.
ally bears on It's face the evidence of
the fact. II does not tell how the sam
pies were taken. whether an Interested
party aided In taking them. or the size
of the samples, aud all of these are Inn
pOrtant facts. There are men who do
such careful and conscientious work
that we know when they say an ore
body Will average certain value that
they base the statement ON such work.
hut these men arr not 10 abundant M
mining experts, "who ARE ns thick In
this country Ms ilddlcrs In hell" me-
cordlng 10 Bob IngcrsOll. WHOSE expert.
cnce with them was disastrous.
An intelligent, honest report. made
for general consumption" should tell
how every fact was determined. 80 that
men may Judge for themselves whether
II was well done and reliable. Mining
Reporter