New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1929-02-18
Wide WORLD field
FOR HOOVER SKILL
Monuments to Ability Scattered
From California to TuriStln

Washington. Feb. IL N1Froln
California to the border nj Turkes-
tan. Herbert Hoover's skill a. 4
technician and coordinator has left
Its mark. Today. both at home and
in the far hunE centers Of civiliza-
ton. = multitude Of projects bear
evidence of his handiwork.
Hoover's career ~ 4 mining engi-
neer dates back to 1897. A gold
boom was sweeping Australia. Only
. short while out OF Stanford uni
versity. he was afforded his first big
opportunity. An English syndicate
wanted 4 young man capable OF in
stalting California methods Of min
ing into their properties. From then
on his record was one Of achieve
ment. extending from the equator to
the arctic.
This Arst big job in the desert
wastes Of Australia attracted the at
tention Of his profession. Over stu
pendous odds. he determined metal
lurgical methods, designed equip
ment and planned development with
such skill ~ to arouse praise from
his superiors.
He turned to China. That great
empire was just beginning to stir
from its long period of lethargy.
and its leaders were dreaming OF es-
tabiishing 4 modern industrial state.
As part Of this program a bureau
Of mines was tablished and Hoo
yer. now -, selected as Its head. His
task was TO survey the mining posi-
bilities of the empire. The Boxer
uprising, however. soon brought an
end to this work.
After the crisis Of the rebellion
Hoover cast his lot with a coal
mining company in China. and sue
cessfuliy aided in its reorganization.
Later he became chief engineer of
the concern, a position he held I'M
til Belgian interests gained control
and he resigned.
Hoover's position as one OF the
foremost mining engineers of the
world was by this time secure. Up
to this time his fame rested on the
fact that he was an expert tech
nician. Henceforth he was to be
known as a coordinator, an admin
eliminator OF waste and folly. He be-
came a pivot man and leader to a
group Of engineers who worked in
ternationally.
His headquarters were in London,
but he mostly was anywhere else IN
the world. He maintained offices in
New York and San Francisco.
He was back again in Australia
soon. Broken Hill claimed his atten-
ton. From the mining Of lead and
silver in this region the problem of
what to do with the refuse arose.
Low grade ore abounded here as
we'll. but the lead and silver would
be improbable unless some utiliza-
ton Of the by-product could be
found. After months Of experiment
an9 ,dtsa appointment. process to
use 1t was found. Since then divi-
dends have poured from those
dumps In the form Of zinc.
Kyshtim. on the slope OF the Cral
mountains between Russia and 81
IBERIA, was his next demonstration.
Valuable iron and copper deposits
were here. but the archaic methods
employed had failed to make them
pay. Hoover and his associates
moved In and American methods
were substituted. Not only did cop
per and iron pour from this area,
but sulphuric acid. distilled turpen-
tine and acetone ~ well. Hoover had
kept his eye on the by-product.
From Kyshtim he moved to the
wild Altai region on the border OF
Turkestan. Here he discovered and
opened up = treasure Of base metals,
sinc in particular.
From frigid Russia Hoover moved
into the torrid Malayan peninsular
Thirty miles above Mandalay lies
. valuable deposit Of metals. both
base and precious. The problem
here preconcerned both chemistry
and engineering and took years to
solve. It finally was mastered.