University of Washington - Tyee Yearbook (Seattle, WA)

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campus at night, by secret paths hidden from the eye of man, and take to the trenches during the day. Chief of these is the mountain beaver, who mines the hillsides to provide a happy home for his beady-eyed family. This line of tenantry also included the shrews, mice and moles. More agreeable society for the human species is the presence of the chipmunks and squirrels that subsist upon the provender supplied by the hazel nuts and berries growing in the less frequented copses. Time was when the lordly elk and the black-tailed deer threaded their cautious way through the underbrush along the lakeside, and the black bear and slinking timber wolf terrified the lesser life dwelling in the great forest that covered the district out of which our campus was eventually carved. Men are still living who hunted the great game animals among the thickets bordering upon Union bay. Many changes have been wrought in the life of the campus through the advent and continued activities of man. Much of the original life has passed away, never to return. Many new forms have come in to replace those destroyed through changed conditions. The general tendency is, however, towards a constant reduction in the number of animal forms tenanting the area, and this will continue to manifest itself as the grounds are brought under the control of the landscape gardener, and as the area occupied by buildings increases. It is to be hoped that a few portions of the campus may be retained in a semi-wild state, so as to give those who follow us an idea of the marvelous beauty of the site of the Uni- versity as it came into our hands when the tract was secured from the state to serve as a setting for the then small institution. Some thought for the future of our animate neighbors, especially those of the more desirable type, will not be amiss, and our reward will come in the thanks of those who follow us in treading the campus byways.

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TECHNICAL TRAINING IN THE SERVICE OF THE STATE Henry K. Benson, Director of the Bureau of Industrial Re ch. 1 UBLIC interest has been greatly aroused by the tremendous results accruing from the application of science to the problems of industry and to the well being of nations. A recent editorial in the Independent ascribes to A Mistake in Chemistry the loss of thousands of lives. More frequently our failure to apply the discoveries of science or our neglect to make use of technical training has meant a great loss in trade and con- sequent dependence upon other and distant lands for the satisfaction of our daily needs. It is of interest, therefore, to briefly review the possibilities that lie in store for the tech- nically trained men and women of this state in the part that must be taken in the awakened response to a larger responsibility. We have in the past been chief ly engaged in the construction of the state ' s industrial framework — settlement, transportation, and the discovery of resources. Now it remains for us to fill in this framework with the more highly fabricated products of the manufac- turing and agricultural industries. An inventory of the resources of the state shows a great wealth of forest products — enough timber to last another century at the present rate of cutting. Each year, however, twice as much timber is cut as the lumber produced. In other words, half of it may be described as waste wood in the form of sawdust, slabs and logging waste. In other countries and in certain portions of this country this waste constitutes the raw material for the manufacture of other commodities, such as ethyl alcohol, paper, gas, and distillation products. The utilization of wood waste is a highly technical problem and calls for technically trained men whenever attempted. Great quantities of waste result from the operations of the fisheries industry and some progress has already been made in utilizing it for fertilizer and oil production, but the field is largely unoccupied. In the waters of Puget Sound and the North Pacific are immense beds of kelp from which more potash can be extracted than is imported from Germany in normal times. The process of commercial extraction is not only tech- nical but problematical. Great quantities of fuel in the beds of coal and mountain streams and lakes for water power constitute sources of power. It is doubtful if any better location can be found in the United States for the fixation of nitrogen than the Pacific Northwest. The initiation of this industry and its operation are dependent upon technical skill. The catalogue of technical possibilities might be greatly extended. In the conquest of great areas of logged-off lands and of arid deserts ; in the products of the mines, and in the utilization of natural resources lie great opportunities for the upbuilding of a great and diversified manufacturing industry. Its possibilities are greatly amplified when we consider that here also are certain gateways through which the products of Alaska and of the Orient enter for distribution throughout the country. To intercept many of the raw materials for use in manufacturing is not a commercial impossibility. The University of Washington is not only willing but eager to cooperate with the industries in the study of their problems. By this contact with the industries it is believed that not only can service be rendered to the industries themselves, but our University men can be trained to enter upon their technical careers more directly and more efficiently. 27