Douglas Island news., 1906-01-24
FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT

life so exacting or hazardous that the above caption does not in some degree or at some time find just application to the men engaged therein. This truth presents one phase of problem which is one of the most important and interesting in psychology, viz, the formation of habit and the ultimate slavery thereto; and without entering into an elaboration of the methods by which it has been proved that we are creatures of and slaves to habit, we may safely state that in large degree the road to success is paved with good habits. By this latter remark is not meant moral habits. though their value is not minimized, but for example, hab- Its of accuracy, habits of prudence and habits of industry.
 Naturally enough we find the need of these habits in those whose work De- cessitates travelling practically the same paths day after day. No one will undertake to controVert the statement that the ability to make one days work new, thought be old and well known, is rare and we'll worth cultivating. The faculty of keeping out of rut is the very quintessence of success and safety in routine work. It lends new interest and reveals new possibilities. It is the salvation not only of the character of the work, but of the individual.
 The mining industry seems to com prise an unusually large number of occupations to which the foregoing re- marks apply with peculiar force. In fact it would be difficult to call to mind single vocation connected with mining in which the cultivation of the best habits is not almost an essential. Beginning with prospecting and ending with refining, the necessity of avoiding ruts and being alert is paramount. In this connection it would be interesting and instructive to be able to review at 8 glance all of the mistakes and acci- dents occurring in single day in all the industries allied to mining. We believe that, excepting those accidents that are generally conceded to be be- pond human control, all others would be attributable either to the exercise of some perverse practice, or to the temporary relaxation of customary vigilance.
 The moral, physical and financial consequences of these errors are as di verse as the mistakes themselves, and it is almost impossible to classify them as of positive, comparative and super lative importance. The time, energy and money annually wasted on fruit less prospecting and useless assaying represent the results of ignorant and sometimes perverse practices. 1r the aggregate these mistakes must reach an enormous amount Financially, and yet such is the assurance of the aver age prospector that he is not prone to profit by the mistakes of the past, and scorns the suggestions of those whose learning is not of bis brand and which is not acquired after the manner with which he is familiar. 1t is evident that we cannot compare the effects of the mistakes of prospecting with those made in the laboratory or in the mine, and yet it is equally evident that they are none the less real and vital.
 There is tendency to classify errors such as we have referred to, according to the extent of their influence as measured by the number of people af- fected or magnitude of the interests in- volved. For example, the loss of a single life caused by the careless hand ling of explosives, is by common con- sent considered of less consequence thsn the derangement of a metallurgi- cal process due to faulty calculation or analysis. In the former case the consequences are meted out to the of- fending person only, while in the lat ter, interests other than those of the individual are made to pay the penal ty of his carelessness. The two cases are widely different and yet it would not require an involved demonstration to show that they are effects of the same cause, viz, carlessness bred by extended familiarity with the work in hand. The chemist, metallurgist, as- ssyer, engineer, miner and laborer are all amsnable to this failing, and find it necessary to exert their best efforts to avoid falling under its magic spell.