Weekly journal-miner., 1909-05-12
EXPERT ENGINEERS, STANDARD AND OTHERWISE
(From Wednesdays Daay0

Some time ago, sad the prospect
 or to his burro, five were talking of
 experts and mining engineers, and now
 you seem to think you know all about
 them, for your interest is more cen.
 tered in that empty tomato can than
 in what I am saying. But I want to
 tell you that your knowledge of min
 ing engineers is about the size of a
 penny-ante, for never allowed you to
 keep much company with that class. I
 see that you think am only knocking
 from force of habit, but that is because
 your belly is full and you feel moro
 peaceful than you will in the morning
 when we start to hike up that steep
 canyon.
 "Just as there are burros and bur-
 rOs, so there are engineers and engi-
 neers. And the number of good ones
 among the engineers is far less than among the burros. But this is not a compliment to you, none whatever, for
 the engineer of today IS not in the same class as the one we saw down by the river some 12 years ago. The ma jority of modern experts are too much afraid of making mistakes and hurting their regulations, and so, many a good property has been turned down be- cause the metal was not coined on the dump and ready for shipment to the bank. Then, again, there are some who will give rosy report on any proposition if they are paid enough for the job, and this class is far worse than those who want a little mint with fence around 1t.
 "But I want to tell you, Old Long Ears, that the aforesaid specimens are archangels compared to some I know of. see you sitting up and taking notice, thinking I am going to describe a blood and thunder william. But nothing doing in the dime novel line; none watever. What I had in mind was the double-standard engineer-the kind of a fellow who will let you write your own report and then sign it. It makes me blush, and it would make you, too, if your brains were To- eated in the right place, to see what confidence people place in these so- called engineers reports. I know some parties, who, by the way, would look well on the inside of a penitentiary, l who sent ont high-prieed engineer to look over certain mining property. l Before writing his opinion he asked they wanted buying or sell l ng report. An honest bunch would l have cut him out right there, but this outfit told him to go as far as he liked, for they figured on selling to bunch | ,f suckers. The report, which was a masterpiece of imagination, was fixed ID in a leather-bound prospectus about the sizo of a full-grown ham. This work of art was used to separate many ! hard dollar from the easy mark, who 1ad far better put his money up in ,ame of three-eard monte.
 "However, you Missouri mockiag ,ird, you must not think that there is 10 value in a good engineers report, md that all of them are looking for he coin, regardless. But what you want is the straight dope, and sure its line of the engineers business what -ou want it for. When you pay a man twenty-five, fifty. and sometimes a hundred dollars or more a day for an ,xpert opinion, you naturally expect o get something for your money. Un- ess are very sure of your man, an ,ngineer's report is just like so much lard mazuma sunk in the river, and here you are. .''-Salt Lake Mining Review.