9- experience and know-how we have acquired in this field. The manufacture of land led us into hydraulic dredging, and we have available to us two of the most modern, powerful dredges in the world. We expect to use these dredges primarily in contract work, utilizing them on our own land projects when they might otherwise be idle. In this way we hope to minimize the idle time cost which is the principal problem to be overcome in contract dredging. To date our dredging operations have lost money, and our 1960 results are badly depressed by a dredging contract with the Corps of Engineers on the Delaware River, However, the District Engineer has found that "changed conditions" exist, and this means that we are entitled to "equitable relief", but so far we can't agree on what constitutes "equity". Since we never anticipate any relief that we may receive from pending claims, we continue to record losses based on the original contract price. Thus far all of my remarks have been directed to the earning power of activities added to our company in the last decade. These assets enabled us to report a consolidated profit of $4,400,000 in the first half of this fiscal year, the highest level in our history, and only the Iron Springs Mine contributed to profits in 1949, when its earning power was about a fifth of the present rate. Our straight contract construction, virtually the sole source of our livelihood for the first 50 years of our corporate existence, made a small contribution to profits in 1959, lost money in the first half of 1960, and may or may not overcome this deficit in the last half of the year. Contract construction has not recorded satisfactory profits for the past several years. Perhaps this is a result of management preoccupation