To all,
From a couple of e-mails I received, I fear that some of my
comments re lodges may have been misunderstood. I had no intention of
"putting down" engineers or geologists. If I owned a large mine, I
would certainly choose a good engineer to be superintendent, and I would
expect him to choose a staff of other good engineers and good
geologists. I would, however, expect him to respect the good tradesmen
(miners, machinists, etc.) and consult them often. I would also expect
him to select his mine foremen and shift bosses from among the good
tradesmen. I have seen both poor engineers and poor miners make some
very costly mistakes.
I was merely replying to an inquiry that showed much lack of
knowledge about the social structure of mining towns. Even in a very
large mine, upper management would consist of no more than 10 men (I do
not consider junior engineers or geologists to be upper management, nor
do I consider mine foremen to be upper management). The greatest part
of the population will naturally be labourers and tradesmen (machinists,
carpenters, miners, timbermen, etc.). The town leaders will, therefore,
generally be from the tradesman group (with a few businessmen mixed in).
I was certainly seeking more respect for miners and other
tradesmen, who if they are skilled at their trade form the backbone of
any industry.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|