Show T I. I THIS SCHOOLROOM IS 1400 FEET L UNDERGROUND 1 Vocational Education Is Applied Ap Ap- Applied Applied Ap- Ap S plied to Work of Metal Mining By fly Associated Press MOSCOW Ida April 16 J A A schoolroom schoolroom school school- Ch ol- ol room 1400 MOO feet underground In th the Morning mine at nt Mullan Ida In which r returned soldiers are nrc being taught the theart theart 1 art and practice of or mining lea zinc lead 1 ore ure is one of or the latest educational Innovations In In- In notations nO of ot the University of ot Idaho This work vork which has been inaugurates Inaugurated by b- tho the School of or Mines nt itt tho un uni ei vor- vor I fit fity Is so far tar as Is known knon the first attempt to apply aPPl to actual underground mining mini work ork the tho new system stem of ot vocational voca toca e education provided for or by th the r Smith Smith-Hughe HugheA net act and find tho the experiment c. Is being watched with Interest bv by ml ml- ners and mine operators operator alike throughout through through- h- h out the tho Western states Th The schoolroom Is raT underground round i and It Is d devoid of ot blackboards hooks books An and benches Pupils and teacher alike are ue dressed in fn overalls and mining I boots and the school l equipment conI consists con con- I I. I slats of rock drills driven by compressed com corn pressed 1 3 ed air or machines g as the they are t generally termed in mining parlance I steel or drill bits for these machine picks shovels timber dynamite cap caps i and nd fuso and all tho the other paraphernalia nalla nalia of ot those who go down donn to the mine mint In skips Ii The teacher Is Lieutenant Frank II Skeels officer of ot engineers of ot the f United States army rt recently released from service for tor this work ork Before goi goIng going go go- i in ing Into tho the army LI Lieutenant Skeels 1 I I had been a a. mine manager manaher and mine superintendent to which position he lie had risen after aCter spending all his life lICo since boyhood In and about the mines j i of ot the Coeur dAleno district ADM ADMISSION Admission to the tho school Is obtained by application to tho the federal employment employment employ employ- i ment agent at al Wallace an and preference Is given sen to r returned t soldiers who are Ore young joung enough and bright enough to heI bot ho he t I te teachers chers Ii 1 The Tho work In hand Is what is Ie mown known as drifting that Is driving Jn a 1 horizontal f gallery or working lengthwise of ot the vein The pupils operate the rock drills in turn learning the intricacies r f of the drift ro m studying the num- num 4 her of or holes necessary to break breal out f the predetermined section of roc rock 1 the angles at which they must be driven en I to make tho the greatest greatest progress with the least amount of ot drilling and tho the smallest small small- est cat possible supply of or dynamite In f addition the placement of ot timber to support a weak wall or a rock and all the tho various kinks of or the underground underground under under- ground trade are taught and taught by making the student do them In actual 1 workmanlike fashion to pa pass s the scrutiny scrutiny tin tiny of ot a dogmatic mine forman torman an and 1 a lynx eyed ered safety engineer FAIR COMPENSATION There is Js the more prosaic Work ork of mucking or shoveling and of the the broken ore or waste to the tho shaft or dumping place The fellows who attend the school receive fair compensation atlon for tor their time limo ns the tho school Is Js carrying on drift work l ll b y contract and payment is made per foot tool advance Whatever cr Is left lett over after aCter paying for explosives and other supplies is divided dl pro rata among the tho themen themen thomen men the salary of tho the instructor being paid JoIntly by the tho state of Idaho an and the federal government o Whilo at th the present ent time there Is a aI I school choal In one mine only It is expected that within the next month or two schools will be organized at each or of orthe orthe the other four tour or five gig big properties In the Coeur dAlene Alene district Like ever every ery other novel el enterprise tho the school has of course had to overcome o er come ome a good deal of or skepticism and passive e opposition on the part of or some of ot those who should be most concerned In Its establishment but hut this Is gradually gradually grad grad- fading out a as the practicability of the scheme is being demonstrated said paid Dean Denn F F. A. A Thomson of or the university university uni uni- school of or mines miner Applications for enrollment far exceed the present capacity of or the school J |