Free Woodcutter's Revival by Jerry Slauter Page A

miners put a lot of weight into the fact that Raymond acted with a calm and cool head in the cave-in.
    In reality, were these men potentially placing their health, safety and very lives into the hands of anybody who was a leader, either designated by the ownership or not? It could have been that the miners perceived that nobody, regardless of title was a boss in Mr. Thomas’ organization except Mr. Thomas.
    Mr. Thomas instructed Raymond to work along-side the other miners for a while. His first supervisory task was to verify the working time of the miners and watch to make sure they were meeting quotas. Raymond, in his naïveté, thought any progress into those rocky caverns was tremendous. The miners knew how much conditions could vary between solid rock that had formed into one huge mass and the veins which were loosely packed rubble between two mammoth shelves. The silver was more difficult to break out of the solid rock and more likely to be found in the looser rubble. They had to break and blast through the solid masses to get to the veins.
    The miners knew what Raymond was assigned to do. He was surprised how much they began to discuss working conditions and compensation with him. He actually began to feel as if he could make a difference. He could be a voice to Mr. Thomas so their concerns could be heard by ownership.
    The miners had seen others come and go while attempting to “grow” into leadership roles. They knew Raymond would be asked to repeat everything he heard them mention. The miners were aware that the quickest way to express their concerns to Mr. Thomas was to allow Raymond to overhear them. They realized Raymond would repeat their concerns, but were unaware of his sincere motives for doing so.
    They also knew how to “snow” the inexperienced foreman by loading some extra rubble into the carts before they passed by his scrutiny. They were not dishonest. They believed in giving a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. They also knew how to survive with an unreasonable boss who might measure the wrong criteria for progress, assign capricious and arbitrary standards, and would not listen to reason.
    They knew Mr. Thomas was more inclined to measure performance in terms of demonstrating honor toward him than actual rocks moved or silver extracted. He also tended to try to find underlings who would show him outward signs of honor and who would expect the same in return from the other miners.
    Although Raymond only knew Mr. Peters for a short period of time, he was aware he had some huge shoes to fill. Raymond often, in filling the time of tedium and boredom with some mental stimulation, compared himself to Mr. Peters. He knew Mr. Peters was one-of-a-kind, because he truly cared for the well being of the men and their families. Although Mr. Peters never attempted to offer opposition in the form of confrontation or public debate, Mr. Thomas was careful to avoid any open verbal encounters with Mr. Peters.
    The miners had trusted Mr. Peters, as they knew he was genuine. Possibly, if he had attempted to resist Mr. Thomas’ bull-headed ways in front of the miners, they would have suspected that he was posturing his resistance to gain their respect and trust. He would also have not lasted long if he attempted to make a habit of confronting Mr. Thomas in public. The miners missed Mr. Peters. Although Mr. Thomas would never admit it, his organization was better off with Mr. Peters than without him. Mr. Peters did not have to demand work from the miners. He knew how to encourage them even with the paltry amount they earned in actual pay or benefits.
    With the sudden departure of Mr. Peters, Mr. Thomas seized on the chance to use the incident to accomplish some major organizational changes. With the appointment of Raymond, he had some duplicity of purpose. He felt as if he had an ace up his sleeve with a new leader, as he could introduce the “new method,” train the new