11- companies may have gone their way. If you study our record of growth, you will realize how fundamental a part construction know-how has played in enabling us to enter other fields. Mining for our own account was merely the application of technical knowledge and equipment acquired over the years as a contract miner to something we owned rather than merely hiring our services out to others. Our real estate ventures started with the recognition that the role of the entrepreneur, combined with construction skill, offered more profit potential than that of the building contractor who confined himself to fighting it out with his competitors at the bidding table for the right to build something for someone else who saw the opportunity and was smart enough to seize it. Even our entry into ocean shipping was stimulated by the contractor's simple approach to a materials handling problem and our recognition that the general cargo vessels then available were not the most efficient tools that could be designed to handle the relatively new traffic in imported bulk commodities that had sprung up after World War II. Frankly, we found ourselves frustrated by the fact that, like contractors everywhere, we were able to use our tools only at the time of someone else's choosing. We were impatient with merely playing a part in executing someone else's plans. We aspired to a more creative role, to being the playwright, the stage designer, the producer, the director, and not merely one of the actors or the stagehands. We were discontent with just reinvesting our funds in construction assets which almost never appreciated in value above their original cost but, on the contrary, declined rapidly in value after the date of purchase. We convinced ourselves that the real rewards went to the creators and not the caretakers, and we have dedicated our efforts accordingly.