0.—3

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in point of such success, I can mention that of Edward Paterson, who only left New Zealand for the Transvaal in August of last year, and, after being in well-paid employment nearly from the date of his arrival there, was offered and holds now a responsible position at a salary of £600 per annum, with free residence. There are other two of our past students in good positions in the Transvaal, and a number well placed in Victoria, Tasmania (the Government Geologist and Inspector of Mines), and Western Australia; but only three have so far found employment in New Zealand. And here I may be permitted to quote, as pertinent to the subject, portion of a small article headed " On matters relating to the School of Mines," which I wrote for the commemoration number of the " Otago University .Review" of 1893. It is as follows: "On glancing at the educational results of the teaching in the School of Mines one is struck by the fact that most of the past students who have succeeded in attaining to good responsible positions did so outside of New Zealand, thus favouring the opinion the writer has occasionally heard expressed : ' That State support to the School of Mines is of questionable utility if, after receiving their education at comparatively small expense to them, students leave our shores and use their knowledge for the benefit of other countries which have spent nothing in training them.' At first sight this may seem a formidable indictment; but, based as it is upon a rather one-sided, if not selfish view of the raison d'etre of professional schools, it quite ignores the main principle upon which such schools are nowadays established in all civilised countries. This principle is to afford parents opportunity to have their sons trained in professions promising them a satisfactory status and income in after life. If their own country offers openings in this respect, no doubt the young men remain ; but if it does not, they are obliged to try and are prepared to try their fortune in other countries, and so stands the case with our past mining students. All would gladly stay in New Zealand if suitable positions, with some promise of advancement, were available; but this, unfortunately, is the case to but a very limited number." So far the article. What requires to be added is that openings such as mentioned, are, from experience, most likely to occur at the Thames and Eeefton mining districts, and there the students trained at the Thames and Eeefton Schools of Mines have naturally the advantage of early information in applying for them. A few months ago, as reported to the Council, the representative of the Cassel Gold Extraction Company (owners of the patent-rights in this colony of the McArthur-Forrest cyanide gold-ex-traction process), resident in Auckland, made a present to our school of the apparatus and chemicals left behind by the officer of the company, to whom the Council had granted room and facilities in our laboratory for executing assays and trials by the cyanide process of auriferous material from Otago mines. Two of our advanced students took advantage of the necessaries thus available, and experimented with the process on auriferous tailings, though on a very small scale, under the guidance of Mr. Wilkinson, who had never himself, however, worked or seen the process worked on a large scale. It, therefore, much enhances his qualifications, and is greatly to the advantage of the school, that Mr. P. Fitzgerald, whom the Council have temporarily appointed in Mr. Wilkinson's place, thoroughly understands the working of the process on the large scale, having learnt it at the Premier Mine, Wakatipu district, under the instruction of the Cassel Company before-mentioned. According to Mr. Fitzgerald's estimate, it would only require an outlay of about £20 towards the purchase and erection of some larger apparatus, and providing a stock of necessary chemicals to permit the treatment by the process of samples up to 4cwt. of auriferous tailings ; and, in view of the fact that this process of gold extraction is doubtless the most important and successful one introduced into practice in recent times, and should, therefore, be especially well taught, both theoretically and practically, in a mining school of a gold-mining country, I take the liberty of strongly recommending this expenditure, considering that it might be made up in time by judicious charges for treatment of such larger samples. Another reason for my recommendation is that the results of the treatment by the process of comparatively large weights of material would be more reliable in estimating the percentage of gold extractable on a large scale, and therefore more satisfactory to miners sending samples, than those yielded by small trials, or by fire-assays of minute weights, hitherto resorted to. Next, we have the example of the Thames School of Mines, where the process is excellently well taught by the treatment of still larger samples than above specified, and forms, I am told, a special attraction to students. The Cassel Company having the patent-rights of the process in this colony, as before-mentioned, our school would require the permission of the representative of the company to work the process on the scale proposed; and, as such permission has been granted to the Thames School of Mines, and might, in our case, turn out very profitable to the company in leading to the introduction of the process on some of our gold-mines, I do not anticipate a refusal of it. The severing of his connection with our school of Mr. D. Wilkinson is much to be regretted, as we lost in him a highly qualified and practically accomplished teacher of his profession. The work done for the public since the close of session 1893 by Mr. Wilkinson, and after his departure by Mr. P. Fitzgerald, in assays, and by myself in determinations of minerals and rocks, was as follows :—• Charged for at Fixed Bates. (Work done by Mr. Wilkinson.) April 4th.—Assay of quartz tailings for gold; for Mr. James Allen, M.H.E., Dunedin. April 5th. —Assay of amalgam for gold ; for Mr. James Allen, M.H.E., Dunedin. April 5th. —Assay of blanketings for gold ; for Messrs. Hamilton and McKerrow, Dunedin. April 6th. —Assay of tailings for gold; for Messrs. Hamilton and McKerrow, Dunedin. April 7th and 8th.—Seven assays for gold, of seven samples of quartz from Wilson's Eiver, West Coast; from Mr. E. B. Williams, Invercargill. April 28th.—Three assays of three samples of tailings for gold ; for Mr. James Trent, Christchurch. May 4th.—Assay of sample of quartz for gold; for Mr. James Trent, Christchurch.