The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1907-12-21
HISTORY AND GROWTH OF THE
STATE SCHOOL OF MINES
AT GOLDEN.
ITS VALUABLE WORK
ESTABLISHED BY THE WISDOM
AND FORESIGHT OF COLO
RADIO PIONEERS.

iio >Ni'i atlp SNtllooi VI hiAlNS Hd'i
Its origin in the needs of practical
mines. writes President Victor C. Aid
erson in a sketch contributed to Mn
ing Science. AS cary as 1864 tonly
Few years after the discovery Of gold
In Colorado) the miners of Gilpin
county set aside portion of tao re
ceipts coming from the sale and Tc-
ccrding OF mining claims towards the
support OF school of mines. Very
little Is known of the school in thOsn
days: it may have been a school OF in
ctIuction or it may have been public
assay office. However, the seed was
sown and a harvest resulted. When in
1868 Bishop Randall, of the protestant
Episcopal church, inaugurated his uni
versity at Golden, a School of Mines
was an integral part OF the institu,i ion.
This continued in successful operation
until. in 1874. it was transferred 10
the territory, and the territorial legis-
lature appropriated $1,000 for its sup
port. Hon. c. C. Welch introduced the
bill organizing the school.
With the year 1874, then. began the
School of Mines as we now know K
The first board OF trustees contained
men who have since become well
known in the history of Colorado
Hon. w. A. Loveland, Senator Nathan
lei p. Hill, Capt. e. l.. Berthoud. Alp
heus Wright, c. c. Davis, w w. Ware
and Capt. James T. Smith, who has
held the office of secretary of the
board continuously since that time
and has signed every diploma the
school has ever issued. The school
remained under the jurisdiction of the
territory until the state of Colorado
was admitted in 1876, when the new
state government took it over and ii
became the Colorado School of Mines
The year 1879 was a critical one in the
history of the school, for in that year
the Nth of-a-mill tax for the @egular
support OF the school was established,
the first building was erected and the
agitation to remove the school TO
Boulder was begun. The mill tax has,
since that time, been in continuous
and successful operation: the Ouild-
inss and grounds have increased In
value from the original appropriation
Of $500 in 1879 to $550,000 in 1907,
but the removal OF the school has
never gone beyond the point of acade-
mic discussion.
In 1882 the attendance had grown to
DutH al tAlSHl that IHolt { Iooiil was
needed and a second building was
erected at a cost of $l4,500 This was
followed by third in 1890. These
three are now connected and rs one
building are devoted almost exclusive
ly to the department of chemistry. A
third building. called the Hall Of En-
Glnecring, erected in 1894, and origin
ally devoted to various uses, is nov oc-
cGpied wholly by the department OF
physics. Building Jagged for aon,e
years till in 1902 the assay laboratory
was completed. This is now regarded
as the best arranged and equipped la
bcratory of any School of Mines in this
country, or the world 1t accommodates
30 students at one time and is SO ar
ranged that each man works as indie
pcndently as If his furnace We're The
only one in the laboratory. In 1905
the heating. lighting and power plant
was donated $4,000 by Mr.. Winfield
Scott Stratton, and completed for the
special use Of the departments of min
ing and metallurgy. This building
represents the latest engineer
ing ideas Of a power plant
for an engineering school, uniting, us
1t does under one roof, the regular
power plant and the laboratories OF
the school naturally associated vsitn it,
In 1906 Simon Guggenheim hall, the
gift OF Senator Simon Gugg gganhcim
was completed and formally dedicated.
1t contains the administration offices,
the library, the department of geology
and mineralogy, lecture rooms for
mathematics, and the auditorium
There is now under construction 2 new
gymnasium and club house, winch
will contain not only a well equipped
gymnasium but offices for the athlete
manager, large club room. lockers,
shower baths, bowling alleys and
swimming pool. During the past sum
mer an important innovation was made
by the equipment of an actual mine on
the side of Mt Zion. one half mile
west of the school. Here tunnel
house has been erected, forses, drliis
and all necessary tools supplied, and
the work of driving tunnel in o the
mountain actually begun electricity
and air are supplied from the power
plant of the school. 1t is believed
that the school in the United States
to have mine of its own for the prac
tical instruction of its students in
actual mining operation.
study of the successive catalogues
OF the school shows exceedingly inter
estins lines of development In the
early days, the School of Mines ofGar-
ed the only instruction In applied
science in this part of the country. Tho
school was small and individual in
structors followed their personal
whims. Prof. Arthur Lakes. for ex.
ample, taught painting to class of
young ladies'. Students were admit
ted to take such special courses as
they desired. At one time electrical
engineering was included in the cur
riculum. All this variation was prob
ably wise at the time, but one persist
ent force is evident throughout the en-
tire history of the school-the use OF
the mines. mills and smelters Of the
state as the outside to-be- visited La.