Son Philip, by George Manville Fenn.
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Philip is the son of an old mine-owner. His father and mother would
have liked him to become something other than an overseer in their mine,
but it is what Philip wants to be.
Some of the men are engaging in dangerous practices, and deeply resent
it when Philip pulls them up over them. One of them swears that he will
put his mark on Philip.
Under Philip's guidance the mine begins to run well, but still some of
the men are resentful of not being allowed to smoke even though there is
gas in the mine.
At this point there are a couple of those George Manville Fenn
situations, which find you wondering "how ever will Philip get out of
this?"
And so the book ends, with Philip running a really successful mine, with
a good accident record. How does he do it?
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