Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1907-06-12

Il - ~
The story of mans quest of the precious
metals secreted in natures treasure vaults
must ever form one of the most fascinating
chapters of the worlds romantic history.
Perhaps the earliest reference to mining is
that contained in Holy Writ
| ''Surely there is vein for the silver and
place for the gold where they find it. Iron
is taken out of the earth and brass is molten
out of stone. .....As for the earth, out of it
cometh bread, and under it is turned up, as
| it were, fire. The stones of it are the places
of saphires, and it hath dust of gold. There
is path (down under the earth) which no
hath not SEEN The lions whelps have not
trodden it nor the fierce lion passed by it.
He, (the miner,) putteth forth his hand upon
the rock, he overturneth the mountains by the
roots. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks,
and his eye seeth every precious thing. He
bindeth the floods from overlooking, and the
thing that is hid he bringeth forth to light"
job, Chap. XVIII.
The desire of every man to secure the ne
cessities and enjoy the Injuries of life with
minimum amount of physical exertion, has
been recognized as an inherent trait ever
since the gardens of Paradise to our lone an
cestor. And when man began to feel the
weight of the sentence that he earn his dali
| ly bread by the sweat Of his face, his activ-
tiles gave rise to the truism of later crea-
ton, that necessity is the mother of inven-
! tion.
In the tillage of the soil in that primitive
day, he discovered the necessity for certain
implements which would lessen the severity
and quantity Of his manual labor. These
instruments could only be made of material
yielded from the depth of the SOIL In the
preparation of his food, which he must now
provide, his good wife began to yearn for the
utensils which might expedite her work and
mitigate the attendant seventies. These
also must be made of materials which come
from the earth's interior.
| AS he began to associate with others of
his kind, he recognized the universal exist
ence of wants similar to his own. To supply
these presented another opportunity for les
sening his exertions. He would make in
struments for others to work with. His van
| ity grew and he sought to employ some of
the more precious Of earth's hidden treasures
for the adornment of his person.
AS the human family grew and it's wants
multiplied, natural result was the classifi-
which, though widely diversified in charac-
ter. have for their primary object the salts
faction of some human needs. Some would
SOW and some would reap some would herd
and some would fish. Still others would
delve into Mother Earth for the substances
out Of which were made the sword and the
spear Of the warrior, the plowshare of the
husbandman, the shekels and talents used for
barter, the brazen images Of the pagan tenn
Pile, the silver and golden vessels of the taber-
nacle, the jewels for the queens crown, and
multiplicity of the articles which alone en-
abled man to advance from his primitive
| state.
The human family increased, civilization
| kept on apace, nations were formed, dynas-
| ties established and social and commercial
intercourse became necessity. The donkey,
the camel, the oX-cart and even the sailing
vessel must now be superseded by quicker
and more convenient methods of transporta-
| ton; knowledge must be disseminated;
manufactures must be erected to fill the in
creasing wants of mankind; new appliances,
processes and improved machinery must be
given the farmer and miner to secure a
greater production from the only creative in
dustries; and still the end is not yet. The
great advancement in the arts of peace car
ried along with it by some mysterious in
fuence a corresponding tendency on the part
of opposing factions of the human race to
engage in mortal combat.
Ponderous battleships and gigantic arma-
ments capable of dealing death to whole regi-
ments in one instant, must be constructed to
preserve the peace of nations.
To all Of the foregoing our twentieth CEN
tury civilization presents feeble sequel
Throughout this period mans brain contin-
ued active until today his developed ideas
represent the limited express of seventy five
miles an hour; the ocean steamship carrying
20, 600 tons of freight and going from New
York to Liverpool in five days; the cylinder
press and the linotype which do the work of
an army of printers; the cable, telegraph and
telephone, which transmit thought with
lightning-like rapidity to the furthermost
corners of the earth; the electric arc which
dispels the blackness of midnight; all of
which have been made possible alone by the
material coming from our mines. -.
We are living at present in a distinctly
metallic age, which at the same time meas
ures the highest stage of civilization ever at
tanned by man. 1t is not idle to assert that
the development of man from his primitive
state to his present condition was brought
about largely through the influence of met
ais Certain it is that modern industrial
progress is dependent upon the output of our
mines, and continued increase in the pro-
duction of the metals is essential to the sta
bility of our commercial system. Twentieth