expenses; the ore has to be
dried either before or after crushing, and the efficiency of the
apparatus is still doubtful. It may be possible to save more fine dust
than by the wet methods, but this point remains unproved.

This subject is a very important one, and involves very great interests.
It is a singular fact that the mechanical treatment of ores, which is a
fundamental part of mining science and practice, is not taught in any of
the American mining schools. English scientific men occasionally point
to America as the land of sound and general scientific teaching, but we
fear that a nearer acquaintance with our schools would rob us of that
reputation. It is difficult to imagine a less complete system of
instruction than that in some of our technical schools, or a more
erratic sense of industrial needs than among some of our school
managers.

* * * * *

POLAR COLONIZATION.

Congress did not appropriate the $50,000 asked for by Capt. Howgate, but
from the peculiar state of politics in the last Congress this is not
thought to indicate an unfavorable reception of his scheme. The bill was
not reported from the naval committee. It will probably be brought up
next December. That will of course be too late to accomplish anything
this year, so that the summer is lost to the main expedition, but Capt.
Howgate now proposes to send out an agent to settle upon a site for the
proposed camp, engage Esquimaux, and make other preparations. In fact,
it is proposed to spend as much as $17,000 in preliminary work and
stores, and it is thought that this can be done without increasing the
ultimate cost of the expedition more than four thousand dollars. We
regret to see that the newspapers are apt to talk about "a dash to the
pole" when they speak of this scheme. It is to be hoped that no such
dash will be attempted. Capt. Howgate should start out with the fixed
determination of making no attempt whatever to reach the pole the first
year or two. The dashing style has been the only one used in the
centuries through which the history of Arctic exploration runs. What is
now of most importance is the inauguration of tentative methods. They
are pretty certain to win in the end, and the other method of management
is about as certain to fail.

The Government commission appointed to investigate the conduct of the
English expedition has reported that its failure was principally due to
the omission o