Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1920-01-04
ROOM IN IDAHO
FOR SCIENTIFIC
PROSPECT WORK
Opportunity for Profession Of
Prospect Engineering De-
voted to Work Of Discover
Ing and Locating Minerals.
UNIVERSITY HAS COURSE
Realises Importance Of Work
and Seeks to Dignity Pros
pecting ~ Making 1t q Dis
tinct Profession.

II prospecting a business, a profes-
sion, an art or O recreation? Perhaps
1t partakes little Of all Of these char
acteristics, but it has an individuality
Of its own which gives II not, inartis-
tic distinctivencss. Mining Is q mat
ter-of-fact business thar lends itself
neither to romance nor sentimentality,
in spite Of the delightful stories told
by the moving pictures, and the marvc-
lous flights of fancy of those who draw
pictures OF mining camps from their
eastern viewpoint. The gentlemen Of
imaginative turn Of mind who some
times writes prospectuses may seek to
cover the mining business with the
glamour of golden profits that are too
often more fanciful than real. But we
all know that mining itself is hard
pursuit in which imagination has little
play and which il constantly down to
the hard pan Of dollars and cents.
But mining had to have some ideals,
some phases apart from the strictly
business side and yet with a dash of
the practical, and that Is why the pros
pector has always played such a pic
turesque part in the history of the
great industry Of the west. 1t is his
figure that the artist draws, and his
thoughts and emotions, aspirations and
dreams that the poet sings.
Prospecting is an instinct, not bus
mess. The man who comes to the hills
does so in response to a call--the call
Of the wild, so to speak,--to the life
that Is near nature, and to the rainbow
dream of the future. The old type that
left cities and the farms for the track
less west Is now all gone and pros
pecting since the days Of the railroad
Is largely an incidental matter in the
life of the practical mining man. Why
should one go into the mountains with
q N hAr ma oh. h -
promising sections in n Pullman car. or
carry frying pan and side of bacon
in the tonneah of flivver?
MUST HAVE KNOWLEDGE
After all. this search for Indications
of ore, for traces of veins, for mineral
possibilities OF any description, must
be based on a knowledge of geology
or mineralogy. The old prospector fol-
lowed few well known rules. He knew
his blossom rock" and his outcrop. He
spent much Of his time in panning
gulches for placer Indications, and he
was more frequently in the early day
resorts where men do congregate to
interest the tenderfoot in his claim
or to secure the much coveted grub
stake to develop his ground or to en-
gage in further prospecting. One would
like to see more young mon take up the
business Of prospecting and give to 1t
the necessary standing and RESPONSE
bility as distinct and definite line OF
endeayor. Why should there not be a
profession known as prospect engi-
neering" devoted to the work of dis
covering and locating mineral ground?
The mining department Of our state
university realized the Importance of
this work by offering course of in
struction in. prospecting, designed to
equip the student with the elementary
and specialized knowledge necessary to
know some Of the secrets Of the hills
We find men who devote themselves
to the work OF developing and operating
mines. others who plan or manage all
kinds Of ore dressing plants. These
men take the proposition after the ore
has been discovered. Why not lift
prospecting out of the clouds OF myth
and mere picturesqueness and dignity
it as a distinct profession?
Idaho and the west is plated and
mapped and its geology Is an open book
through the work of the federal and
state surveys. It's mountains have
been walked over and its canyons ex-
plored. Is there anything left for the
would-be discoverer to discover? The
men who are most familiar with the
hills and gulches say yes. The ex-
perts say yes. There is room for the
rcientific prospector; for a new pro-
"a etov, IN the yraat