OTAGO SCHOOL OF MINES

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 38

OTAGO SCHOOL OF MINES

OPENING THE NEW BUILDING.

HISTORY OF THE INSTITUTION.

ADDRESS B

1Y MINISTER OF MINES,

On ±he 19t& lust, the raw School of ' Mines, situate on the University Heserve m ' Union street, was opened by the Hon. B. M'Kenzie, Minister of Mines. Although the *f tea-noon was wet, there was a large ' attendance of ladies and gentlemen, the number including members of the Legislature, members of the University Council, professors of the University, and other prominent citizens, as well as a strong detachment of students of the Mining School. The chair was taken by Mr T. K. Sidey, M.P-, a member of the council. Seats near the platform were occupied by the Hon. - B. M'Kenzie, the Hon. J. A. Millar (Minis- • ter of Railways), Professor Park (Director of i*e School of Mines), Professor Marshall, Mr Mason (Registrar of Otago University), ■ Mi* M'Kenzie, Miss Millar, and Miss \ Allison (Auckland). - Apologies for* «oa- " attendance were received 'from .Mi- Justice ' WiHiams (Chancellor), Mr" J", Allen, MJP. (Viee-chanoeliorj, the president of • the Trades and labour Council, and ot>tters.. Mr -Allen wrote: " It -is a great dasappOint- - meat to me not to be present at the open- " ing, as I had looked forward to the day for' some time. I hope you will have , a successful function, and that the Minister will see how absurd it is to ask the University to run so complete and effective a school at anything less than £750 per Annum, which we have generally received. ' The Government asked us originally to

establish the sohool. We have done our part well, and the school ■is a credit to -us and to New Zealand. Its record for Scholars and i&sl Exhibitions is phenomenal, and some day I hope to hear that one of our students has made a name for himself and for Otago University and

its School of Mines."

The Chairman, who was received with warm applause, said that owing' to the unavoidable absence of tfee Chancellor and also of the Viee-ch&noellor, the duty of presiding had fallen to him. He was deeply sensible of the honour, and he might explain that he accepted the position in • deference to the wishes of other councillors / -who, by leason of t-faeir longer service and their ability to do greater justice to the position, were more entitled to the honour sban himself. He extended a very cordial welcome to the Hon. Mr M'Kenzie, Minister of Mines. — (Applause.) They appreciated very highly his presence with them

to open the new building.

He felt sure

, that his presence at that function would • -enhance his interest in their school a«d hi«- sympathy with them in 'their work. —

(Applause.) They were fortunate in having

alsd with them another Minister of the ' Crown, their well-known and worthy fellow citizen, the Hon7 J. A. . Millar. — (Applause.) It was fitting that he should refer briefly to the history of the institution. - 'it was worthy of mention that the establishment of a mining school was contemplated from the founding of the University. At the first meeting of the council, in 1869, ' « letter was read from the then superintendent of the Province of Otago, tire lat». Mr James Macandrew, in which he expressed trie hope that the council would , make provision, inter alia, for a sdhooi of mines, and in furtherance of that object t.is Provincial Government made a grant of £300 to enable the University Council \o establish a chair which was called tue Chair of Natural Science. That ohair was c.ac of ths first four established, and it was tilled by the appointment of Professor THaok — (applause),— who entered upon his « uties less thr.n a Tear after the first three -< ofessors. Professor Black, in addition to subject of chemistry, taught physics, ; oology, metallurgy, and assaying, and ecology, and he continued to teach purely anining subjects long after the actual estab-. jJshnjeni of the school. It was not until ibe year 1878 that the establishment of the School of Mines as a separate faculty of ths University took place, and it was interesting- to note that just as-it was at tho euggestion of the Provincial Council that, the_ natural science chair was established, so it was at the request of the Government that the Otago School of Mines was estab-

Sighed. In 187? the •Government wrote recommending the establishment of the eehool and offering a subsidy of £500, which in later years wa6 increased to £750. The council readily aocepted the terms, and the first director of the schol entered upon 4iis duties in 1878. No historical reference ;wouJd "be complete that did' not mention the name of the first director, the late Professor Ulrich.— (Applause.) The ' 6ohool was fortunate in securing his sevices. The high level to which the reputation of the school had attained was in no small degree due to the labours of its first director. — (Applause.) He was a man with not only an Australian but a European reputation. Owing to his warm-heartedness and genial disposition he was beloved by "nis" Btud«its, and he possessed in a Bujh degree ,tfoe faculty of arousing in his students anenthusiasm for his subject. Under his able directorship * the school gradually grew, from an jrtfce.ndance very small at first — •the first 11 yea.rs only saw five students complete the full course — to an attendance of some 46 students at the time of his death. Deplorable as his loss was, there was a measure of satisfaction in the thought thai he lived to see much fruit from his labours and the success of the school established. It was not until 1887 that the sdhool was completely staffed, in which year ibree additional lecturers were appointed to take mining subjects, and in 1891 the school vras further strengthened by the appointment of a separate lecturer for metallurgy and assaying, Which had ujp till then been taken by Professor Black. After the. death of the fete Professor Ulrich, the school was reorganised, so far as the purely mining subjects were _ concerned,' these feeing in the year 1901 divided- between Pe^fessor Park, who was appointed director, and Professors Marshall and Waters.—^Applause.) ♦ Since that date the .staff had remained unchanged, and jit was right to say that under the able directorship of Professor Park, assisted by his distinguished ooUeasrues, the high stancburd of tihe sohool bad been well maintained. — (Applause.) Thai would be amply demonstrated by the results, w>hich he would leave to be given by Professor Park. It murht be Well to mention that the full course of the Mining Sdhool included many more Bubjeote than TJiosa taught by the pro-

I lessors he had mentioned. Professors Shand, Bkck, Malcolm, Richards, Benham, and Colquhoun were all on the Mining School staff, making a complete staff of no tecs than eight professors. Now, he would say a few words regarding the building. For the first 11 years of its existence, there was no special building for the school ; but at the close of the exhibition in^ the year 1890 a portion of the exhibition building was secured, and separate accommodation was provided for the Mining School, at a 1 cost to the council of over £1000. In the following year a considerable sum was spent in equipment. The condition of the Duilding, however, gradually became so dilapidated and past repair that a new one became a matter of urgent necessity. Phis was recognised by the Government, and in 1907 a sum of £4000 was placed on the Estimates for the purpose. On that sum being foand insufficient after tenders had been invited, the Government . generously increased the amount to £5000. It was 'hoped that that sum would have left something over for .equipment, but it was now found that every penny of the amount would be absorbed by the building. The expensive -foundations had tafcea fully £300 more than was expected. A sum of from £800 to £1000 was required to adequately equip _the school. He felt sure they would all agree that the building was not by any means an expensive one, but that good value had^beer* got for the £5000. — (Ap- - plaiise.) it was a handsome building' that; reflected much, credit on the architect, Mr Anscombe. — (Applause.) During' the few years preceding 1907 a critical period in the history of the school was reached. When the Government, propounded a university specialisation scheme a suggestion was mad© that the Otago School of Mines should be closed in favour of one to be established in Auckland. ; There were not wanting some in jjPunedin. and even on the Umversity Council itself, who favoured the proposal. The Dnnedin and Otago members of Parliament, however, unitedly resisted the proposal. — (Applause.) When one considered the high value that the diplomas of the school had gained as the result of years of hard work, was it not folly from a Dominion standpoint to throw away such an asset and all the years that had been spent in building up the school, to say nothing of the suitability of this district owing to the great value and variety of its mineral resources? It was no exageration to say that the associateship of the Otago School of Mines was better known outside of New Zealand than the degrees of -the New Zealand University. — (Applause.) And the Otago University was known beyond these shores, not by its Medical School or its Arts School, but by its School of Mines. — (Applause.) Let them remember that two out of the three Rhodes scholars from Otago were graduates of the Mining School and that four Exhibition Research scholars, were also graduates of the school. — (Applause.) The graduates held important and responsible, positions as mining engineers and mine managers throughout the whole , world. — (Applause.) At the last Mining Conference at Chicago the Otago School of Mines was placed among ths four great mining schools of tie English* speaking world, and the London Mining .Journal, the leading mining journal of the Empire, in a. recent article on " MiningEducation in the British Empire," selected the Otago School of Mines as typical of the best colonial mining schools for comparison with the Royal School of Mince, London, the premier mining achodi in Great Britain, and it was acknowledged that in the matter of practical work and instruction the Otago School of Mines was far in advance of the Royal School of Mines. — (Applause.) In the face of such testimony one might well marvel at the suggestion to close that school and start a new one elsewhere in the Dominion. To his mind the greatest significance of the opening* of the new that day was that it accorded tangible proof of the decision of the Government that the school was to remain in Dunedin for all time. — ■ (Applause.) He reiterated what he had stated on many platforms, that the Government had been good friends to their University; but he did trust that, while it gave the new school, the Government would not lessen the facilities for carrying it on, that it would not give with the one hand and take away with the other, but that it would permanently renew the £250 prant which had been piven to them sines 1801, but which had been withheld last year. — (Applause.) That matter, and alto the equipment, had already bsen mentioned to the Minister by a deputation that day, and he would not- refer to them further than to say that they would all be pleased to learn thai; the Minister had expressed himself as personally favourable to granting these requests. — (Applause.) There was only one further reference he felt tempted to mak£ He had been informed that at the time the Government made the .request to Otago to establish a mining school a eimilaj- request on similar terms was made to Canterbury. Canterbury did not accept the terms; Otago did. It reminded him of what had taken place lately with respect to a proposed new departure ; but •he did not desire to refer to it further than as an illustration that they should not lightly throw away opportunities. Had the council declined to establish the Mining School, the history of the Otago University would have been much poorer than it was that day. It would have been bereft of many achievements that had brought it honour and distinction. The talk of closing the school had prejudicialy affected the attenda.nce, but this year there was an encouraging increase. Distinguished as the past record had been, he trusted that with tho new building an even greater future lay before the Otago School of Mines.— (Applause.) The Hon Mr M'Kenzie said it afforded him great pleasure to be present and to have been asked to t.'oc'are the school open. The M.ning School of Otago had been an institution of great benefit to the young people of this country evar since it had first started. Young men who here passed through the examinations and got this Mining School's -certificates had the insurance that they could be fairly certain of employment in any mining venture in the world. He knew o£ no higher or more useful certificate 'than that of the Otago Mining Sebool.-^{Applause.) The school had been started in New Zealand in 1875, mainly by reason of the efforts of the gentleman who had represented Westland in Parliament. Ever since that time this school had been steadily forging ahead and improving, till to-day it stood :is the best mininj? school in the Southern Hemisphere. As to this new building, he rr.ust say he was" pleased with it. He had been over the old building-, and his hearers, on seeing the present school, would have an opportunity of com-

paring the two, and in so doing would soon realise the great advancement that haH been made. The sum of £13,300 had been granted during the last few years, and Mr Sidey had spoken of the lack of equipment. Notwithstanding the grants which had already been made for the building, he quite recognised that the present equipment was insufficient. It would be a great mistake for the Government to grant them a sum of £5000 to put up a building if they had no equipment to fit it up with. He wished it understood that in this matter he was only expressing his own view, but he musf say that he certainly considered that the Government should come to their assistance and provide the wherewithal for the purchase of equipment. It was possible that the Government might be able to give them a special grant. Although realising the amounts already given towards this Mining School, he knew of smaller schools whose equipment was far ahead of this one. He had always taken the warmest interest in the mining industry and, therefore, :t went without saying that he took a warm interest in this Mining School. Mining was one of the niosfc important industries, and deserved every oacouragement. One of the best means and ways of doing this would be to assist the Schools of Mines, and in so doinsr giving to the country and to the world a class of men possessing a thorough technical knowledge He. Would point out tnat this School of Mines was one of the best advertisements the- mining industry of . VTr \Sr "^ had > er h ad. In conclusion, hi MtfFu - agam s *** the pleasure ;„ ♦! *.* hel ? e D res ent> and hoped that m the future the school would cortinue the S° 'pat? W H Cb I V in declirfncr" fh H V 1? i d - great P leas "re in now The £„ t& UiI W open --(Ar-plause.) me Hon. Mr Millar, who was greeted , with hearty applause, said that, speafXS „ who^hT^™ °r( the Cit y an P d as °on 2 who had known Dunedin and its affairs the history of the School of Minee-ite annt hilation almost at one time through lacHf funds and the attempt that was made later on to take it to the North Island— he was . h°ft f T ? Ud ° f the fact that his colfeajul 5m \ y 6pe^ d a buJ l<Kng that, «Mr Sidey had stated, meant thi 'nermZmt Placing of the School of Minei I^^ • [Applause.) The record of the school 'in he old building showed that some of those who had worked in it were now occupying high positions m mining affairs outeide our shores, and, knowing the distincton that the Possession of a diploma of the Ota R o benool of Mines brought to its holder it would he considered, have been a national C<! i™ ™' f t J he , sch <>ol had been done away with. That diploma was recognised all over he world, and a school of mines established m any other centre of the Dominion would nave required years before it could have been worke4 up to the excellent position occupted by the Otago School.— (Applause.) Some time ago he werifc fpnrough the old building, and when he saw the rain actually coming into it it was a marvel to him how the students carried on their work. It must have been very depressing to them to work in such unfavourable surroundings, yet many of them had won great success in their profession. And as successful results have been achieved under these adverse conditions, what might the students of the future be expected to do in the new building?— (Applause.) Indeed, he hoped that some day they would see a student of the school occupying the chair of director of the School of Mines. — (Applause.) Considering the advantages given to acquire all the requisite knowledge, and the fact that other countries recognised the *value of the diplomas of the school, not to mention the ability possessed by the students, why should we be blind to the qualifications that othefs could sco in our students? — (Applause.) The time must come, he thought, when men trained in local institutions would be chosen to fill the professoi'ial chairs in our universities. — (Applause.) So far as the finances were con-cern-ed, his colleague had made a rash promise. — (Laughter.) He was grlad Mr M'Kenzie had qualified it by saying- that individually he was in favour of the requests laid before him. Individually, he (Mr Millar) was also in favour of them. — (Applause.) In the world of eci-ence thero wa.s constant change going 1 on. Improved machinery and new methods were being brought out, and if the students in a mining school were to keep up to date it was ' only right they -should have the most recent I appliances as they appeared in the scientific world. — (Apnlause.) Year by year, he thought, it would, be found necessary to receive funda from one source or another to fully equip the school. Hie colleague had wild that during 24 years the Government had given £13.000 to the Otago University. But the people of Dunedin had given a great deal more than that out of their own I pockets. — (Applause.) Whenever an appeal had been made on behalf of the University the oeople of Otago, throughout its lenprth and breadth, had found the means required to enable the institution to pret out of its trouble. — (Applause.) The council, he undergood, now desired to wipe out the few remaininsf debentures, so that it might be in n. position to roy that the University was free of debt. He sincerely trusted that that time would not be long in coming After that, the council' would have a clear course, and in the future it would be able to do even better work than it had done in tho paftt — (Applau<3.) He thanked the University authorities for extending an invitation to him to be present. Professor Park said that tho history of the Otago School of Mines had been so clearly and =o well traced by the chairman that he would content himself with a brief statement of what they had done, and what they intended to do. Since 1887 the Lniversity Council had granted 142 associate diplomas — 34 in mining;. 43 in metallurgy, and 15 in geology. Besides these there had been issued 30 certificates ac mine and land surveyors, and 72 as metallurgists, chemist*, and assavers. In the past 10 years the Otago School of Mines had provided New Zealand with two university professors. The Hon. Mr Millar had expressed a hope that the school would evolve occupants of professorial chairs. He would now see that the Mining School had already done so. He had used the term " provided New Zealand " advisedly. Only -one-third of the Sohool of Mines' students were employed in New Zealand, and the remainder were employed abroad. He believed that the latter positions were the most lucrative. The school had also provided New Zealand with five Sir George Grey scholars, seven directors of mining schools, one geological inspector of mines, four exhibition scholars, one New Zealand Government research scholar, and two Rhodes scholars. Beside 6

these a score and a half of their graduates ] were employed in New Zealand as mine manageis, battery managers, mine surveyors, mining geologists, assayers, and cyaniders, the majority of the last at Waihi. In the past decade they had supplied Australia with a State mining engineer, a State director of general technical, and a State director of mining schools;, Queensland with a State inspector of mines, and the other States of the Commonwealth with many directors of mining schools. _ Their graduates were practising as mining engineers and mine managers in Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland, Canada, England, and South Africa. Altogether in the past 10 years 88 responsible appointments had been secured by their old students, excluding from this list such positions a» assayers, cyaniders, mine draughtsmen, and surveyors. The total value of the minerals raised in New Zealand last year amounted to nearly £4,000,000, and the expenditure on all the mining schools was equal to nearly b per cent, of the mineral production — comparatively a mere bagatelle. The question : the people and the Government would ask, and had a right to know, was how the mining schools justified their existence. . He had no hesitation in saying that they bad not justified their existence once, but many times over. The benefit to the^ country from" mining schools had always been direct and immediate. Through the operations of the cyanide process the mining schools had added rr.ill:ons - to the wealth of the State. The K.C.N. was a different process, requiring the highest technical skill. Its practical demonstration first took place < in New 'Zealand. The mine-owners first ' expressed their willingness to install the ' process if the mining schools could supply the men to work the process. The mining schools^ were put on their trial; called upon to ju6tffy their existence. They responded loyally. They not' only provided men to work the process in New Zealand, but sent men' to operate the process in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, and even America. In the past 15 years the cyanide process had recovered over 10 millions worth of gold from worthless tailings and from ore that could not be profitably* worked by any other process, and in doing so seven millions sterling had been spent and circulated in wages, stores, and mine supplies. Political economists said that mining was the most profitable industry the people of a State could engage in, whether as coal miners, iron, lead," or gold mining, and of these gold mining was the most profitable. The gold miner added to the gold reserve of the State and. competed with no one. What eke had made the phe* nornenal prosperity of Dunedin in the " W's" and " 70's," and Auckland so prosperous at the present time? To foster gold mining was the work of a statesman. All would join in the chairman's regret at the absence of the Vice-chancellor (Mr Allen), who, had always identified himself with the interests of the Mining School. It 'was. however, a pleasure to see Professor Black, the father of New Zealand .mining schools, present. Thsy were proud of their new building, and hoped that when it was adequately equipped better work would be done than in the past. As to the building, he did not mind saying that they deserved it. — (Oncers.) Professor Black in a characteristic sent and at seeing "two big strong Scots Ministers of the Crown" present also. While *W w<we „» the field there was no i?rV f th ! M i ninff i cho ° l Soing to the rS *i? W At tO M€ss «Sidey, Allen, Millar, and the Otago members that they owed their success. Mr Donald Reid had also been a champion in thei* interests. They were still alive, and would go on and prosper. What about that building across the water— the Dental School. That was entirely due to Mr Sidey. Mr Sidey had had the ear of Mr Seddon.— (Laughter.) H« could talk to him in a way that he could understand. It had taken him three years to paw the way for this Dental School, and had afeo afforded an opening for other things Now they should have a School of Agriculture. The Veterinary College would be here in a year from now. Professor Ulack concluded by naming the professors who could fill the chahvj of the Agricultural College, when it came, and by stating that they had good Scotch support all round them. He proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr S.idey for having so ably presided, and to the two strong Scots Ministers oP the Crown. "Stand up,'* he said, "with musical honours !" Thescf last having been capped with a haka from the back benches Mr Sidey stating that Professor Black had forestalled him in proposing a vote of thanks to the Ministers, referred to Professor Black as the " father of all the mining schools " in the Dominion except Auckland's, and brought the proceedings to a close.