SCHOOL OF MINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13649, 17 January 1908, Page 6

SCHOOL OF MINES.

PRACTICAL WORK OF STUDENTS.

REDUCED PERIOD ADVOCATED.

At the meeting of tfie Auckland University College Council yesterday afternoon a letter was read from Professor Jarman, of the School of Mine*, drawing attention to tho regulations for the New Zealand mine managers' certificates, under which graduates and associates o£ the University School of Mines wore unduly handicapped, in that no allowance was made for the lime already spent, in obtaining a high technical training.

This training, the professor wrote, was of such a nature as to require she whole timo and energy of the student- -it was not gullicient- tor him to.do underground work in the, daytime and spend remnants of his energy in studies 111 the evening, as at the. gold fields' schools of mines. But., having spent, four years over thi# technical training, the graduate was still required to put in the. lull live year* of practical work to qualify lot .<• mine manager's certificate, which was equivalent, to saying that he was unable to learn the practical side, of his profession any more rapidly than a man with no such •raining, who had also never been in « mine 111 Ins life. He. contended that .4. graduate, or associate, by reason ot his nigh technical training (lour year? in one case ami three, in the other), could learn as much, if not more, of the pmtieal side of mining in three years than an ordinary person could in the five ye,ll* required by the Act. It, was of considerable importance that local graduates should take, their part in the underground development, of New Zealand mine,", but the oiled of the present regulations wan to i-ause many highly-;rained technical men to migrate to Australia and elsewhere, where the conditions wero le.ss onerous. Three years was the longest term of practical experience required by any of the, Australian States, and at an inter-State conference of delegates from the various boards of examiners, held in 1906, three years was held to be sufficient. Tho recommendations of such a conference should cany weight. Dunne, the recent visit of the Minister for Mines to Auckland the. writer, together with Mr, I'auine, had called upon him, and they had explained their view, which was that three years of practical experience should suffice for graduates or associates of a University School of Mines. This would mean a total of seven years' apprenticeship for the graduate and six for tho associate, instead of nine and eightyears respectively, as at present. There was, concluded Professor Jarman, considerable, opposition at Thame* and elsewhere against such a reform, and he therefore respectfully urged that a letter urging the Council's view of tho matter be sent to the Minister.

On the motion of Mr. Haunic it was decided to accede to the request of Professor Jiirman ana send a copy of his letter to the Minister, requesting that effect bo given to it.

THE CASE FURTHER. ARGUED. Sir, —-Mr. (Adams, in hi* iefclor in your i«« si.jo of .January .15, says that I uw no argument to defend tho contention that four years of technical training sliould bo held m «>quiv».len(. to two of underground work. My argument is that Mm training s-peomily tits a man for acquiring the practical sido of hi« profession, more rapidly than one who has no such training, and who lias also had no previous mining experience. It is open to anyone to obtain the certificate in five year*, but tho graduate has already spent four years in technical training, and no allowance is made for this, so that ho has to spend nine yearn in all. I rwiy that thr*x> years should fiuflioe, and 1 would point out that tho Australian lnter-Stato Conference of delegates from fcho various boards of examiners recommended that. three years should suffice. This wan in 1906. Mr. Adams says that "five years is not too long to develop in the average mining graduate that thorough understanding of mining conditions," etc. If this bo so, surely the man who is minus such a technical training should bo required to put in even more than fivo years- to arrive at the i-anio degreo of under- * standing. If five suffices for the ordinary, candidate, thon I contend that three should suffice for tho graduate or associate of a university school of mines, Tho present regulations discourage graduates from quaJt-. fying for tho position of underground matin. ' • -. gor, and a number go to Australia and ebowhere, where their technical training is better appreciated. The physical ineptness" of tho mining graduate has nothing to I do with the regulations under discussion, a* I no one has to undergo a medical examination. Those who are physically unfit would not be appointed manager l»y a board o! directors. I would remind 1 Mr. Adams, however, that undergraduate# and graduate* take a prominent part in representative sports. Sydney mining student* wero always to tho for© in representative sport*, and tho 'Varsity was generally represented in . the New South Writes teams?, and sometimes in Australian teams. In the average, their physique left nothing to Ik» desired. It is not necessary, however, for a man to bo a prize-winner with tho hammer and drillto make an efficient underground manager, but it if. necessary that ho should bo able i to direct the energies of bis men to the best I advantage, and I claim that three years of j underground experience in his case is equi- ! valent to five years for the man who does not possess the technical training of the j graduate. A. -Tabman, Professor of Mining Engineering. Auckland University College. *, .