THE CALUMET AND HECLA MINE 89 



and less enlightened methods would never have enabled 

 the company to handle so economically to-day such vast 

 quantities of lower grade rock as it is hoisting from the 

 deeper levels of the mine. 



The spirit of broad humanity with which Agassiz 

 cared for the welfare of some fifty thousand souls clus- 

 tered about the mine deserves special notice. Ever 

 mindful of the comfort and well-being of his employees, 

 his genuine interest in the community and the intelli- 

 gent measures he adopted for its prosperity resulted in 

 a model settlement. The cordial relations he established 

 between employer and employee might well serve as an 

 object lesson, in these troubled times, of what may be 

 accomplished when the workman is treated with under- 

 standing, sympathy, justice, and intelligent consider- 

 ation. 



Agassiz made it his personal interest to see that the 

 men were well paid, well housed, and provided with the 

 best of schools, libraries, hospitals, bath-houses, and 

 churches. Above all, he established especial provision 

 for a prompt and fair attention to all complaints. 



Some years ago the Governor of Michigan, in speak- 

 ing of the labor conditions in the state, said that there 

 was one man who had done more than all others for 

 humane and reasonable conditions of life among its 

 working-people, — Alexander Agassiz. 



We are accustomed to think of the man who devotes 

 himself to pure science as aloof from the world, with 

 but little interest or ability in the practical concerns of 

 our complex modern civilization. Such is perhaps espe- 

 cially true of the biologist, whom we imagine immersed 

 in his studies, surrounded by his specimens, and letting 

 this globe spin on as it will. Agassiz is a striking excep- 



