The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-06-15
MINING EXPERIMENT STATION
SHOULD COME TO IDAHO.


the federal government proposed to
estab an experimental station I'M
der the supervision of the bureau of
mines at some point In the northwest,
steps were taken by the Idaho Min
Ing association and men who were
actively engaged in the mining indus
try to bring the station to this state.
Senator Brady and other members Of
the Idaho delegation in congress are
urging the claims of Idaho upon the
secretary OF the interior. who is au-
thoriZed to designate the locations OF
the three stations to be established
this year, and representative mining
men of the Occur d'Alene district are
on record In favor of locating 1t in
conjunction with the school OF mines
at Moscow. The station will be de-
signed to serve the states of Montana,
Idaho, Washington and Oregon un-
til such time as provision is made for
other stations 1t seems to be the
policy of the department to locate
these stations in connection with the
state school of mines, and for that
reason efforts of the mining men of
Idaho are directed in favor of Mos
COW.
1t is well known by all who have
given attention to the subject that in
addition to the efforts being made to
bring the station to Idaho, an active
campaign Is also being made by
Butte, Spokane and Seattle to bring
1t to those cities. We say that these
facts are well known, and yet re-
cent editorial in the Spokesman RE-
view totally ignores Idaho as an APP
plicant for the station in its eagerness
to make a showing In fav of the
capital of the finland empire" 1t
refers to Butte and Seattle along with
Spokane as among points under con-
sideration." thereby implying that so
far as Idaho and her claims for. the
station are concerned, they are not
worthy of consideration. This is al
together characteristic of that paper
In all matters In which the interests
of that city and this state conflict.
The substance of the argument ad-
vanced by the Spokesman Review is
found in this sentence:
"If the director of the bureau will
consult map of the northwest, he
will find that the area within a radius
of $50 miles of Apokane includes a
mineral region which, in the diversity
Of its richness N mines, both devel-
oped and potential, is without equal"
We trust the director of the bureau
of mines, or rather the secretary of
the interior, who will render the final
decision, will act upon the suggestion
of the Spokane paper and consult the
map. He will find the area included
in a circle having Spokane as the
center and with radius of $50 miles
win include such a mining region as
claimed, but he will hardly regard 1t
as an argument in favor of placing
the experimental station in that city
He win find that fully one third of the
area included in the circle is in Brit
ish Columbia and Alberta and must
therefore be eliminated so far as the
Spokane argument for the station is
concerned. He will find that another
third of the area takes In most of the
state Of Washington, extending west
to include Seattle, and the northeast
ern part of Oregon, combining to
form a magnificent section, rich In
natural resources, but unfortunately
lacking in mineral wealth sufficient to
base an argument in support of a
station for experimental work in min
ing.
The remaining third of the area |
within the circle is composed of nor
thern Idaho and western Montana.
almost to Helena, narrowly
Butte and does include Ana
conda, and reaches almost to Challis,
in Custer county. Idaho. This third
Of the circle has within its borders
about 95 per cent of the mines, de
veloped and potential" which Spo-
kane claims within the radius named.
From this 1t is plain that the mining
sections which radiate from Spokane
are practically all located in Idaho and
while the balance of the cir
Gle within the 250-mile radius is made
IT'D of territory outside the United