M A R C H 1 9 4 0 ^ ^ ^ V O L U M E 30 No. 3 - Mines Magazine

104 The Mines Magazine
E. J. BROOK
The facts contained in the reports
of committees, treasurer's statement
and the tentative budget for 1940,
published in last month's issue of our
magazine, have more or less dictated
the policies of our organization for
the coming year. This information
was published in conformity with our
announced policy of keeping the membership
advised as to "what goes on"
at all times. Those who gave this
association business more than a
cursory examination were impressed
with two salient features, (1) a
deficit existing in the treasury, and
(2) a lack of internal strength.
Your representatives, the Executive
Committee, have been so impressed by
these two facts that we have
determined to concentrate all our re- -
sources and energies to solve these
problems as the major objective of the
Association for 1940. It is the inflexible
purpose of this administration
to endeavor to remedy these situations.
The deficit in the treasury was the
direct result of the heroic efforts of
former administrations to maintain
the alumni association during the first
dark years of the depression. It will
be necessary to exercise rigid economy
in the conduct of the business of your
association if we are to operate on a
balanced budget by the first of next
year. As the year unfolds, adjustments
in our budget may be necessary
to affect these economies. Our membership
will be informed of pur progress
toward financial stability by a
budgetary report of the status of our
treasury at the middle of tbe year and
President's cMessage
the final result will be indicated in the
yearly report.
The income of our association is
from two sources, membership dues
and revenue derived frora the sale of
advertising in Mines Magazine. If
our members would remit their dues
early in the year instead of procrastinating
until a dozen reminders have
been sent them, the work of your
officers and office force would be
greatly expedited. Our publications
committee have entered whole
heartedly into the task of increasing
both the quantity and quality of advertising
displayed in our publication.
Internal strength of any group such
as ours is measured by the proportion
of alumni association members to the
number of graduates, and by their interest,
activity, and the solidarity of
their support of the functions of the
organization. This internal strength
is the most important element in the
entire structure of our association,
and without it we cannot plan any
constructive program or engage in
any external activities. If the yard
sticks of internal strength mentioned
above are true, our organization falls
far short of the boast often made.
"We have one of the strongest alumni
organizations in the country".
President Roosevelt continually refers
to the "ill-fed, ill-housed, illclothed"
one-third of our nation. This
figure must be an accepted American
factor for the underprivileged, because,,
by a strange coincidence, onethird
of the graduates of the Colorado
School of Mines have shown no interest
in affiliating with our alumni
group. Certainly, this figure should
be much lower. "Mines Spirit" seems
to be, or was, a campus reality and a
myth after graduation.
Internal strength is fostered by the
personal contact of our members with
each other. This is difficult to obtain
because of the scattered geographical
distribution of our membership. To
endeavor to remedy this situation,
fifteen local sections, thirteen throughout
the United States and two in the
Philippine Islands were granted
charters. It was thought and planned
that these local sections should be
centers of alumni activity, personal
contact between members, and of real
service to the men in their districts.
They can, and should be of immense
benefit to the members. They have
proven to be so where resourceful,
energetic officers have provided the
leadership so necessary to weld an interested
membership into an effective
unit. It is the hope of this administration
to revive the interest and active,
participation in association work of
those local sections which exist in
name only. We further hope to
organize new sections where a
sufficient concentration of members in
strategic location warrants this action.
With local sections as spearheads of
our contact work our membership
committee is going to endeavor to
prove to the "underprivileged" onethird
of Mines Graduates, who are
not members of the association that
our organization merits their support.
That puts the burden of proof upon
us and we are prepared to accept that
responsibility.
Your officers, this year, expect to
concentrate on building internal
strength in the organization and placing
our organization on a strong
financial basis. These problems, while
perplexing, certainly require no
council of Solomons for solution.
Their solution, however, demands
aggressive action along organized lines
not the pursuit of a cynically shiftless
course on a "cruise to nowhere." Your
officers are going to put forth every
effort to make this association mean
more than a luncheon club, a beer
bust, or a magazine once a month to
you. In the final analysis, however,
this association will be and can be
what you, as the members, wish it to
be. The amount of service it can be
to you is dependent upon the amount
of service you offer the organization!
It's activity depends upon your activity!
The final success or failure
of our program lies with ydu!
^Manila
to
zNew York
by way of Slieet scene in Singapore.
Singapore ^ C o l o m b o
After four years spent in the
Philippine Islands, it came tirae for
myself and family to return to the
States. On the way over we had
made stops at Honolulu and in Japan
and China too. We now decided to
satisfy a long-standing desire to see
more of the world by returning home
via Europe.
Our bookings were made on the
President Garfield, a round-the-world
boat, to Naples, Italy. We left
Manila late afternoon July 11 in a
typhoon. Needless to say, we were
very glad to get out of the Islands
before the heavy rains started.
Four and a half days out of Manila
we dropped anchor at Singapore—the
British strong hold in the Far East.
Singapore is an island 27 miles long
and 14 miles wide, located just off
the southern tip of the Malay
Peninsula, 1° 20' north of the Equator,
and is connected to the mainland
by a causeway. The city of a half
million people by the same name is
clean, beautiful and very modern. The
large stores remind one of the U. S. A.
Singapore is known as the crossroads
of the world, and in the crescent
harbor one will see ships from all
ports of the world as well as a conglomeration
of vivid colored Oriental
boats. On a drive around the island
one passes miles of beautiful rubber
trees, tropical foliage, and may visit
the Botanical Gardens where you will
find nearly every variety of palm tree
as well as wonderful collections of
lilies and orchids. The high light of
the drive is the experience of having
the wild, long-tailed monkeys come
* Address delivered before the February 16th
Meeting of the Colorado Local Section.
/ Bombay ^ Cairo ^ Naples ^ Paris
By CARL L DISMANT. '31
Bed Cliff, Colorado
down for bananas and peanuts when
you blow the car horn. There are
many Indian and Chinese temples
to see. A stop at the Palace
of Johore on the main land will fill
your mind with a memory of beautiful
treasures never to be forgotten. A
complete table service for 100 is of
solid gold, which will set the mind
of many a "Miner" to work calculating
the value of such a spectacle.
The greater part of the world's tin
and rubber comes from Singapore.
Our next port was Penang which
is a hilly island two and a half miles
off the west coast of the Malay
Peninsula, and approximately 400
miles northwest of Singapore. Penang
also is a British crown colony. The
island is a series of valleys and hills
of different heights which are covered
with jungle. The city is situated
between the hills and the ocean on a
more or less flat promontory. Penang
has many beautiful and well kept
stores and office buildings, but the
large residential section of attractive
stone homes surrounded by colorful
gardens filled with tropical foliage
and plants of every description, set off
by a background of the evergreen
jungle covered hills, makes it an exquisite
sight.
We watched the natives (mostly
Chinese, Malays, and Tomils) load
many bars of tin and some rubber into
the holds of the President Garfield
bound for Egypt, Europe, and the
United States.
On the morning of July 24, or
thirteen days out of Manila, we
arrived at Colombo, Ceylon. Ceylon
is a large island in the Indian Ocean
off the southern most part of India.
At one time it had been under the
rule of the Portuguese, and the city of
Colombo was named after Christopher
Columbus. Later it fell under Dutch
rule but in 1802 it was raade a crown
colony of Great Britain.
As we dropped anchor in the
artificial harbor possibly three miles
from shore, many barges loaded with
tea, rice, cocoanuts, cinnamon, cardamon,
areca nuts, cocoa, tobacco, rubber,
and jewels were pulled along
side of our boat to be loaded and sent
to the markets of the United States.
Each of these barges was covered with
# Hubber trees in Singapore.