doin College in 1865 and was graduated in the regular course in 1869. From his sixteenth year, during his preparation for and throughout his life at college, he taught from one to three terms a year in the public and high schools of Maine and New Hampshire, maintaining, withal a good rank in his class at Bowdoin.

After graduation he taught for four years in the graded schools and academies of Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1873 he went to Harvard University in order to pursue graduate studies in the natural and physical sciences. In the same year he was elected Professor of Chemistry at the Boston Dental College, which chair he resigned in 1874, to accept an instructorship in mathematics and mineralogy at Harvard. He spent the summer of that year engaged upon the geological survey of New Hampshire.

In 1872 he received the degree of A. M. from Bowdoin College, and also from Harvard University in 1874 for work done and examinations passed in mineralogy. In 1879 he received the degree of Ph. D., from Harvard, presenting a thesis on "The Classification of Rocks." In 1884-5 Dr. Wadsworth spent much of his time in England and on the Continent in studying the advanced modern methods of petrographical research with Prof. H. Rosenbusch, and in visiting the various universities, thus familiarizing himself with the methods of instruction and becoming personally acquainted with the leading men in his specialties. He was the first to give instruction in microscopic lithology in the United States, so far as known, beginning with a course in Harvard University. In 1885 he was elected Professor of Mineralogy and Geology at Colby University, a chair then but recently established; and during the following two years he was engaged in developing this department and in revising the course of study in the University. In 1886-87 he served as assistant geologist in the Minnesota Geological Survey, and published a report on the lithology of a part of the state.

He was elected to his present position in 1887, at which time the Mining School was so poorly equipped that not even a course of study had been planned. Under his management the school has been fully organized, buildings erected, and an excellent equipment procured. Dr. Wadsworth found in this work most congenial employment, and, organizing the school on a new and independent plan, has seen the institution emerge from obscurity into prominence. Last year more students were graduated from this school than from any other similar institution in the country, and since 1890 it has had the largest number of under-graduates pursuing that course of any institution in the country.

In May, 1888, Dr. Wadsworth was appointed State Geologist of Michigan, which position he held until 1893; and in addition to his duties as Director of the Mining School, he also holds the chair of Mineralogy, Petrography, and Geology. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and a member of the Geological Society of America, of the American Society of Naturalists, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the Boston Society of Natural History, and many other scientific bodies. He is one of the editors of the American Geologist and has published many valuable articles,-studies in petrography, geology, ore-deposits, meteorites, and educational subjects, in all of which he has shown himself an original and independent thinker.

As an educator he is widely known. In 1895 he prepared and introduced into the Mining School a complete system of elective studies, which was unanimously adopted by the Faculty and the Board, and has been found very successful in practice. This is a pioneer experiment, being the first full elective course ever adopted by any engineering school in the United States.

Personally Dr. Wadsworth is of a frank, open nature, with an uncompromising hatred of all shams. He is possessed of notable powers of organization, and his perseverance enables him successfully to carry out the undertakings he attempts. His habits are methodical, as behooves a man of scientific attainments, while the fact that he is a strict disciplinarian and yet very popular, attests to his justice and goodness of heart.

14

THE MICHIGAN MINING SCHOOL.

BY M. E. WADSWORTH.

The Michigan Mining School was established as the fourth and last of the institutions of Michigan which are devoted to higher education. From the moment of its inception its single object has been to send out men who are qualified to take active part in the development of the mineral wealth of our State and Nation, and any subject of study which is essential to this end will not be found wanting in its courses of instruction.

The school has been singularly happy in its location. It is an axiom of modern education that any school which is to obtain the greatest return for the money and energy spent in establishing it, must be situated in a region which shall from its very nature serve, free of all expense, as a part of the real equipment of that school. This can be so only when the district presents for the daily observation of the student the most extensive and "up-to-date" practical applications of the subjects which are taught in the school.

Mechanical and electrical engineering can be most advantageously studied only in a locality containing machine works, manufactures, mills, lighting and power plants; and civil engineering can be most thoroughly acquired in a school which has in its immediate vicinity numerous examples of modern constructions in the form of bridges, railways, and their appurtenances, large buildings and establishments which design and produce the material for them. Similarly, mining engineering can be most efficiently taught only in a district containing numerous mines which are worked on the largest scale and in which scientific and economical considerations are given full sway.

From this point of view the Michigan Mining School has, more than any other school of mines in America, been fortunate in its location. Within a radius of eleven miles from its doors are situated several of the largest, deepest, and most successful mines in the world. The most powerful and stupendous machinery ever employed in mining is here in constant use and always open to the inspection of the student. The aggregate horse power of the engines used by only two of these mining companies exceeds the grand total of all the engines used in the gold and silver mines in the United States in the halcyon days of 1889; or far more than double all those employed in the grandest spectacle this earth has ever seen-the World's Fair in 1893.

The mines of the Marquette, Menominee, and Gogebic iron ranges are within a few hours ride of the school, and furnish a most efficient means of illustrating a large part of its teachings. The output of the various mines and other mineral industries in the Upped Peninsula is so enormous that its yearly value is about $70,000,000, ranking Michigan, among the States of the Union, second only to Pennsylvania in the value of its mineral products.

The further development of this vast industry requires men who are thoroughly trained for this special work, and to meet this requirement the Michigan Mining School was established. It was fortunate for the school that its founders realized at the start that, to fulfill its mission, it must not waste its energies in the vain attempt to teach branches foreign to the object of the institution, and which were already well taught by other schools maintained by the State. In consequence they determined that this school should confine is attention wholly to mining and the subjects relating thereto: hence the course is designed to teach the student to conduct explorations in the forest and field; to distinguish the useful minerals and rocks; to understand the geological principles that govern the formation and association of useful mineral products, and to determine approximately their values; to study ores, building stones, limes, mortars, cements, coal, salt, gypsum, petroleum, natural gas, clays, fertilizers, gems, and useful vegetable products; to survey, map, and lay out the ground, the railroads, tramways, and towns; to select or design hoisting, transportation, power, and light plants; to design the mills, furnaces, docks, dams, bridges, shaft, and rock houses, and other structures; to determine in each case which is the most suitable method for opening and conducting a quarry or mine, and of timbering, ventilating, and draining it; to assay, concentrate, and smelt ores; to investigate the strength and other properties of engineering materials, that designs may be intelligently worked out; to make working drawings to illustrate fully these designs; to understand the most

economical methods of generating and using steam; to study in detail engines, pumps, boilers, and other machinery, and the methods of operating, testing, and repairing them; to master the principles of electricity and its generation, storage, transmission, and use as an illuminant and source of motive power; to study hydraulics, and its various application in civil affairs and hydraulic mining; to understand mine management and accounts; in short, to train men to be of real use in any line of work connected with the winning and reduction of mineral products. Such work naturally arranges itself along various clearly defined lines in each of which the training may proceed to almost any length; hence the branches of study which here most naturally resolve themselves into specialties are drawing, chemistry, metallurgy, mechanical, civil, electrical, and mining engineering, ore dressing, and geology.

The range of subjects bearing on the mineral industry is extremely wide; and this, coupled with the fact that all men are endowed with a natural aptitude for some lines of work, while wholly unfitted for others, and the further fact that circumstances beyond control frequently force men into particular occupations and deprive them of the opportunity to prosecute a full course of training,-all conspire to demonstrate the correctness of the modern educational view, viz., that a rigid set course of instruction in higher education is now out of date, and that the student must have some liberty in selecting the studies which are to enable him to cope with his life work. This fact has been long recognized here; and the Mining School has squarely met the issue by adopting an elective system so designed that, while the student is allowed to choose the main lines of his work, he is compelled by the proper sequence of studies to take up such subjects as are essential to a broad and thorough engineering training. Further, in the effort to save the valuable time of young men, the school work is continued during forty-five weeks a year instead of thirty to thirty-six, as in most institutions. This enables the student who wishes to do so, to accomplish as much in three years as elsewhere he would ordinarily do in four. The Mining School was established by an act of the Legislature approved May 1, 1885, and was opened for the reception of students on September 15, 1886. Its inception, establishment, and to a great extent its appropriations, have been due to the foresight, energy, and executive ability of Hon. Jay A. Hubbell of Houghton, who has spared no labor in endeavoring to accomplish everything essential to the success and prosperity of the institution.

In 1886 Albert Williams, Jr., a graduate of the College of New Jersey, was elected as principal and had charge of the school until he resigned during the summer of 1887, when Dr. Wadsworth, the present Director, was chosen.

The first classes were taught in rooms located on the top floor and in the basement of the "Fire Engine House" of the village of Houghton. Four additional rooms in the Odd Fellows Building were secured in September, 1887; but the continued growth of the school made it neccessary to vacate the latter quarters during the summer of 1888, and to replace them by others obtained in the Roller Rink Building, now the Armory Opera House. In May, 1889, the school was moved into the building now known as Science Hall. This Hall was erected by the State on land donated by Judge Hubbell, but it was even then well known that the building was too small for the necessary work of the school. In 1890 ore-dressing works were constructed and there was added in 1892 a small structure containing a furnace for roasting ores. As the school grew faster than its most sanguine friends had any reason to hope, further buildings became necessary, and during 1894-95 the State erected another large one to accommodate the departments of drawing, and mechanical and electrical engineering, and the offices and lecture rooms of the department of civil and mining engineering. The equipment of the institution has also been increased so far as its funds have permitted, and the total school property, as inventoried in August last, amounted to $216,966.79.

In 1886, a course of instruction of two years' duration was announced, but was not prepared; indeed, the educational side of the school was not regularly organized until the school year 1887-88. Since then the curriculum has been steadily broadened and perfected in detail. In 1889 a three-year course was adopted, and in 1893 this was changed to four years. The full elective system went into successful operation in 1895, and has thus proven entirely satisfactory to instructors and students alike.

The number of new students who entered, the total enrollment, and the number of graduates sent out for each year of the school's existence, are as follows:

1886-7. 1887-8. 1888-9. 1889-90. 1890-1. 1891-2. 1892-3. 1893-4. 1894-5.

23
23

999

16

15

46

40

35

61

6

5

4

40

78

101

0

18

These students were from twenty-four different states of the Union and from the following foreign countries: Canada, Cuba, England, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Brunswick, Peru, and the South African Republic. The large majority of the students came from Michigan, as would naturally be expected from the magnitude of the mining interests of our State.

The Board of Control is now composed of the following members:

Each of these gentlemen has rendered frequent and valuable services; Mr. Kidder has been a member of the Board since its inception; Mr. Longyear stands next in length of membership and is closely followed by Mr. Hubbell. The generous donations of Mr. Hubbell have already been referred to, and in addition to these Mr. Longyear has made liberal contributions of money, machinery, and other material required by the school.

No Mining School in America has ever had such a phenomenal growth as this one, whether viewed from the standpoint of attendance of students in mining engineering, in the thorough and practical nature of the education given, or in the standing the school has won at home and abroad. Since 1890 is has been recognized as one of the leading institutions of its kind in the world, and it will ever strive to retain this position by hard work and true merit, if those for whose benefit it was established will do their duty toward it.

DENISON C. THOMAS, A. M., PH. D.

PRESIDENT OF ADRIAN COLLEGE.

The eighth president of Adrian College was born in Millcreek Township, Erie Co., Pa. His early life was passed amid the duties of the farm, where he acquired the robust strength of body which stood him in good stead in his after years of arduous mental toil. He attended the common schools of his native county and soon began the profession to which the best years of his life were destined to be devoted, teaching for two winters in Erie County at the towns of Springfield and Fairview. He made a thorough preparation for college in Girard Academy, and, taking advanced standing, entered Brown University, where he completed the Sophomore year. In 1859, with the expectation of engaging in the legal profession, he joined the law school at Ann Arbor and continued there for one year; but at the expiration of that time, feeling dissatisfied with the incomplete condition of his literary course, he decided to matriculate at Adrian College. He was confirmed in this decision by the advice of Dr. Asa Mahan, then president of Adrian, an instructor of profound

sagacity of mind and sanctity of life, and one who was destined to exert a strong influence upon the life and character of the young student. In 1861 he graduated in the Scientific Course, representing his class as valedictorian on Commencement Day. Continuing at Adrian another year, he took the Classical degree.

A tour abroad, in Germany, France, and England, broadened his views and gave permanence and finish to the studies he had already mastered. During 1863 he was associated with the corps of instructors of Adrian College as assistant in mathematics. A call was given him, in 1866, to the Chair of Mathematics in Marshall College, Henry, Ill.; but it was declined, as he still hesitated to make teaching his life work.

For a period of six years (1867-73) he was employed as a mechanical engineer and draughtsman; but in 1874 the die was cast for pedagogical work, and he accepted the principalship of the Fairview schools, Pa. In 1878 came an unsolicited call to superintend the schools of Union City, and during the years 1880-92 he acted as principal of the Mansfield State Normal School. It was during these years that he made the enviable reputation that goes with indomitable courage and unflagging zeal. When he began his labors at Mansfield, the outlook was certainly discouraging and unfriendly. The school was deficient in buildings, furniture, and 'all the paraphernalia necessary successfully to conduct work by modern methods. As a result the attendance was far below the average, and the support from patrons feeble and lukewarm. Today the Normal School of Mansfield is the most flourishing in the state, and takes rank with any of its class in the country, thanks to Dr. Thomas, who successfully lobbied appropriation after appropriation through the legislature at Harrisburg, by means of which he erected magnificent buildings for the school and thoroughly equipped it with the most modern appliances for all branches of study.

The honorary degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Lafayette (Pa.) College in 1884, and the degree of Ph. D. by Heidelburg (O.) University in 1888.

During the summer of 1893 he was called to the Presidency of Adrian College, the trustees of this institution feeling deeply that, in the condition of the school at that time, a man of Dr. Thomas' energy and sagacity would be its surest guaranty to advancement and success. He was loath to accept, having other and brighter prospects in view, but loyalty to Alma Mater finally prevailed. It is barest justice to say that, during the short time he has been presiding at Adrian, the outlook has wonderfully improved. Dr. Thomas saw at once that the college needed more buildings and greater facilities for carrying on the best work by the most modern methods. The result is evidenced in a large, three-storied building, Metcalf Hall, named after the principal donor, Mr. David Metcalf of Adrian, an honored trustee of the college and a merchant of sterling business worth in the city.

Always busy, always on the move, Dr. Thomas does not stop when one improvement is completed. Scarcely has one venture been put through and proven before he leaves it for something new. The college has been fitted out with a spick and span steam plant, most effective and economical in its working. With Dr. Thomas at the head, Adrian College is rapidly advancing to the front and keeping pace is rapidly advancing to the front and keeping pace in modern improvements with in modern improvements with that high standard of scholastic excellence with which it has always been credited.

ADRIAN COLLEGE.

This college, located at Adrian, the county seat of Lenawee County, was organized under the auspices of the Wesleyan Methodist connection March 22, 1859, in accordance with the provisions of an act passed by the Legislature entitled: "An Act to Provide for the Incorporation of Institutions of Learning." It is one of the recognized institutions of the Methodist Protestant church, having been transferred Feb. 28, 1868, in due and legal form by the trustees then in possession, to a new Board of Trustees, nominated by and representing a corporation known as the "Collegiate Association of the Methodist Protestant Church." This body, in taking possession of the college and its appurtenances, assumed all the financial liabilities of the insti