Daily inter mountain., 1900-11-12

FIRST REPORT
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF
TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL OF
MINES.
PROF. LEONARD MAKES
SOME SUGGESTIONS.
Preparations Should Be Made for the
Purchase of Apparatus for the
Various Glasses.

The board of trustees of the school Of
mines held a meeting Saturday night and
the first annual report of President Leon
ard was received. 1t shows that there
has been some misunderstanding in re-
gard to the amounts charged to the diff
ferent funds and Prof. Leonard suggests
the remedy. He says that the classes are
doing good work and making diligent use
of the opportunities afforded them. The
report in full is as follows:
"'The work "f equipment has now been
so far completed and the end of the
states fiscal year is SO near ri hand that
it appears desirable to make a brief
statement of the work done and the ex-
pense incurred.
"All our warrants from Helena have
been drawn against the maintenance
fund which amounted to $25,2 200 for the
year ending Ncv. 80, 1900. All item, Of
expense of whatever character have been
charged UP to this fund. 1t has been
necessary to make considerable outlays
on the grounds and for repairs to the
building, which are not properly charge
able to maintenance, but rather to the
building fund, of which there should now
be several thousand dollars in the state
treasury An examination of the bills
already approved and fair estimate of
the expenditures up to the close of the
fiscal year show tl-at if these repairs
and improvements to building and
grounds are to be added to that for
maintenance and equippment, the total
amount will probably exceed the appro-
priation for maintenance by few hun
dred dollars.
fact the board Should not Immediately
complete the formalities necessary to tile
sale of the full amount of the bonds au-
thorized by law to be sold on building
fund account, 50 that there may be funds
on hand to meet this outlay on building
and grounds.
THE annual report is by law required
to be handed in Dec. 10. Owing ID the
system adopted with reference to bills
that have been approved by the board,
according to which these bills have been
forwarded to the state board of eXam'n-
ers a Helena it is evident that the ma
terials for an itemized report are not now
in our hands. 1t is my present intention
to be in Helena for two or three days
about the time of the next meeting of
the state board of examiners, and at
that time l will endeavor to either se-
cure the loan of these audited bills for
the use of the board in making out it's
report or if this cannot be done, make
such copious notes of them as may an
swer the purpose.
ITO prevent the recurrence of such diff
ficulty in the future permit me to sug-
gest that after the close of this year
every bill shall be made out in duplicate,
one copy of which, with the approval of
the board endorsed thereon, shall be for
warded to the examining board at Helena
and the other shall be kept on file in the
office of the board of trustees.
'tSince the last meeting of the board it
became evident that we could not heat
the chemical laboratory with our fur
naces. After pushing them to the limit
the room was SO uncomfortable that on
two occasions the pupils had to be ex-
cused from their work therein. To rem
edy this defect I have purchased a large
| stove at an expense of $53 and placed it
| in the laboratory with excellent results.
| There is every reason to suppose that we
| shall have no further difficulty on this
| score, and that by this arrangement the
| saving of expense for fuel will in a very
| short time repay the outlay for the stove
| The furnaces seem to be sufficient for the
! hea ting Of the other rooms of the build
| ing. There are many things that we very
| much need for the proper conduct of the
I school of mines. We have thus far made
| no purchases of apparatus for the engi-
! neering classes. Their work in the course
will not commence till next spring, and
| the fund at our disposal has been used
for securing such appliances as We're i'm
mediately needed. Not less than 81 coo
| is required for the proper equipment for
this work. The department of geology
| and nineralogy has in like manner been
restricted to the purchase Of such things
| as were required for present uses. 1t is
evident that with moderate outlay
there is a prospect of building up here a
geological and meteorological cabinet that
will very soon take high rank amongst
! the scientific collections of the country
The outlay will consist almost entirely of
freight on specimens donated by the peo-
| pie of the state and of the northwest,
and of the expense of building cases for
the reception and proper care of the val
uabe collections that will thus be Of
fered.
1--WE have to report that our classes
are doing very good work and making
diligent use of the opportunities here at
forded. The report of donations will be
made from time to time by the professors
into whose hands they come. On Nov II
the United States district court terlnn-
| ates it's lease OF the rooms in which the
board has been holding its meetings. II
will therefore be necessary to take meas
ures to secure other headquarters for the
| board.
'The rate charged by the electric light
and power company for the currents used
to work the fans attached to the heating
plant is somewhat larger than anticipat-
ed. When is was proposed to use motor
to drive our machinery rate of cents
was offered. with the diminished use OF
| current resulting from the Introduction
of gas engine the rate has been raised