None of these evenings could rival the results reported when Jim and his male office confreres felt it their collective duty to go to the baseball game on opening day and, strangely enough, felt duty-bound afterward to return to the office. In the absence of their supervisors the more adventuresome of the female employees did not feel duty-bound to stay at their desks but they did struggle back about the time the boys arrived. Neither group felt that play should be halted simply because the field seemed wet from liquids already consumed. So the game went into overtime. Another quality needed is the ability to think fast and recover from an awkward situation. Jim was about to leave Navajo for Australia for the first time and was taking his successor Bill Grant around to meet the customers. With Chuck Dietrich they decided a little foreign experience would be desirable so they adjourned from Albuquerque to a watering hole in Juarez, Mexico. Seated next to them was the Alabama football team, some with wives a sort of unusual way to train for the Sun Bowl. One of these wives was dazzling and caught the admiring gaze of the Utah group. As this beauty was passing by their table, Jim is reputed to have said: "You are really smashing!" Suddenly he became aware of the towering presence of her 27 5 pound husband, so Jim quickly added: "You're pretty nice too!" After this they all became fast friends. But tact and charm are not in themselves sufficient to run a large mining enterprise. A knowledge of equipment operation is a valuable asset. Jim Curry, Sr. was quick to recognize this and once in a while entrusted Jim with the family car. You should also remember that Jim, Jr. and Barbara were high school sweethearts. But on this particular occasion Jim took out the family car and a girl other than Barbara. Showing an unusual interest in nocturnal agriculture they ended up so mired in the mud in a remote field that it took a tractor the next morning to rescue the car. Jim has also handled foreign equipment with equally impressive results. Traveling in England with Barbara and friends, they rented a car in Oxford and Jim insisted that he was the best qualified to drive. They were soon pulled over in a road block, and the British Bobbie suggested that Jim should turn on the lights. Jim was quick to comply - no lights but the hood popped up (or as the English would say - "the bonnet.") The Bobbie then suggested he try the turn signals. This time Jim responded by turning on the windshield wipers. Of course, nobody is perfect. If Jim has a flaw, it is his fascination with any dessert topped with whipped cream. Over the years he has designed artful ways to see that his dinner companion reacts appropriately to his questions. "My whipped cream smells sour. Does yours?" As she bends over to take a sniff, bang - Jim pushes her head into the strawberry shortcake. Or: "My, feel the heat coming from this chocolate cream pie!" Bang, her hand is slapped into its midst. Some of the long-suffering evened the 2