The following was written by Del Jones' grandfather, Charles F. Thomas, Jr., who owned a coal mine in Colorado and supervised tunnel work on the Aqueduct And Hoover and Coulee dams.
“There are sometimes when I wonder,”
Said the lanky engineer,
“Why those guys up in the headings
Have a job and labor here.
For they sure have missed their calling
Driving tunnel on a line.”
“If it wasn't for my transit,
And me shooting line and grade,
They would wander through the mountains
Here and there without my aid,
And they'd pass the other heading
Somewhere east or west of here.”
“But with level and with transit
And a backsight and a rod,
I strive to keep the tunnel straight
I'm a sort of human god.
But it keeps our pencils busy
Helping miners hold their jobs.”
