Real Gratitude — Guilty Man Happy With Not-Guilty Verdict

1914

When Blaine was a young lawyer and cases were few, he was asked to defend a poverty-stricken tramp accused of stealing a watch. He pleaded with all the ardor at his command, drawing so pathetic a picture with such convincing energy that at the close of his argument the court was in tears and even the tramp wept. The jury deliberated a few minutes and returned the verdict "not guilty." Then the tramp drew himself up, tears streaming down his face as he looked at the future "plumed knight" and said: "Sir, I have never heard so grand a plea. I have not cried before since I was a child. I have no money with which to reward you, but (drawing a package from the depths of his ragged clothes), here's the watch; take it and welcome." — Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph.


New Idea for Belting

Those who buy belting for machinery will not have to worry about the price of leather in the years to come if a certain sort of belting which is being manufactured by a firm in Connecticut proves to be a success. The new product is called flexible steel belting and is really a step further than the chain and sprocket idea. The belting is made in a complicated series of links and can be used on all pulleys of from two inches in diameter to the largest size. It has been designed especially for service where atmospheric conditions are bad for leather and rubber belts.

Advice Worth Reading, Heeding for Good Business, Success

1878

It is easier to be a good business man than a poor one. Half the energy displayed in keeping ahead that is required to catch up when behind will save credit, give more time to business, and add to the profit and reputation of your work. Honor your engagements. If you promise to meet a man, or do a certain thing at a certain moment, be ready at the appointed time.

If you go out on business, attend promptly to the matter in hand, and then as promptly go ahead on your own business. Do not stop to tell stories in business hours. If you have a place of business, be found there when wanted. No man can get rich by sitting around stores and saloons. If you have to labor for a living, remember that one hour in the morning is better than two at night.

If you employ others, be on hand to see that they attend to their duties, and to direct with regularity, promptness and liberality. Do not meddle with any business you know nothing of. Time is money. Never use quick words, or allow yourself to make hasty or ungentlemanly remarks to those in your employ, for to do so lessens their respect for you and your influence over them.

Help yourself and others will help you. Be faithful over interests confided to your keeping, and in all good time your responsibilities will be increased. Do not be in too great haste to get rich. Do not build until you have arranged and laid a good foundation. Do not — as you hope to work for success — spend time in idleness. If your time is your own, business will suffer if you do; if it is given to another for pay, it belongs to him, and you have no more right to steal it than you have money.

Be obliging. Strive to avoid harsh words and personalities. Do not kick every stone in the path; many miles can be made in a day by going steadily on. Pay as you go. A man of honor respects his word as he does his bond. Ask but never beg. Help others when you are able; but never give when you cannot afford to, simply because it is fashionable. Learn to say "no." No necessity for snapping it out; but say it firmly and respectfully.

Have but few confidants, and the fewer the better. Use your own brains rather than those of others. Learn to think and act for yourself. Be vigilant. Keep ahead rather than behind the times.

Words of Wisdom – Look For Happiness in Useful Work

1878

It is but poor eloquence which only shows that the orator can talk.

If what is said be not to the purpose a single word is already too much.

As nothing truly valuable can be obtained without industry, so there can be no persevering industry without a deep sense of the value of time.

The most common error of men and women is that of looking for happiness somewhere outside of useful work. It has never yet been found when thus sought, and never will be while the world stands; and the sooner the truth is learned, the better for everyone. If you doubt the proposition, go around among your friends and acquaintances and select those who have the most enjoyment through life. Are they idlers and pleasure-seekers, or are the earnest workers? We know what your answer will be. Of the miserable human beings it has been our fortune or misfortune to know, those were the most wretched who had retired from useful employment in order to enjoy themselves.

Truth will never die; the stars will grow dim, the sun will pale his glory, but truth will be ever young. Integrity, uprightness, honesty, love, goodness, these are all imperishable. No grave can ever entomb these immortal principles. They have been in prison, but they have been freer than before; those who enshrined them in their hearts have been burned at the stake, but out of their ashes other witnesses have arisen. No sea can drown, no storm can wreck, no abyss can swallow up the everlasting truth. You cannot kill goodness and integrity and righteousness; the way that is consistent with these must be a way everlasting.

Making Clothespins – From Log to Packing Box

1914

CLOTHESPIN MACHINES.

What Happens When a Log of Wood Starts Through Them.

Making clothespins is an industry that nets handsome returns to many American factories. At Martinsville, Ind., there is a factory which has a capacity of more than 200,000 clothespins a day.

A rough log started through the mill comes out as hundreds of the shapely little wooden pins familiar to the back yard. The logs are cut into blocks about sixteen inches long, which a headlong saw cuts into boards about five-eighths of an inch thick. A gang of saws cuts these boards into strips five-eighths of an inch square and each long enough to make four pins. These strips are placed on an automatic trimmer and cut to the required length. They are then conveyed to the automatic lathes, seven in number, each with a capacity of four dozen a minute. From the lathes the pins drop to the slotting machines and from these to the dryroom. where all moisture is removed. Next they go to the polishing cylinders, which are filled about half full of pins, chips and sawdust. The cylinders revolve slowly for four hours, after which the pins drop into chutes to be conveyed to the packing room. Each lathe has a capacity of 2,400 dozen pins a day. — St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

What It Takes to Build a Railroad: A Lot!

1916

What It Means When the Contractors Begin Operation

With the right of way established, a great army of men enter into the field. The company does not build its own road. It is turned over to contractors and is usually let in sections of from 200 to 300 miles.

The contractor must live up to certain specifications, just as though he were building a house, and he furnishes everything — men, teams, machinery, food and material. Few people realize what this means. A contractor must be very near to a king.

For instance, there is the Hazelton section in the mountains. It is less than 200 miles in length. Before a single shovel or pick was engaged in the building of this section the contractors had to equip themselves with a fleet of steamboats at a cost of $200,000. They had to build scores of camps at from $2,000 to $4,000 a camp. Each of these centers had to be stocked with provisions, supplies and materials almost before a builder was brought in. Before these contractors moved a shovelful of earth or fired a single blast they had spent over $6,000,000.

Each contractor's camp is like a small city, with its stores, hospital, scores of sleeping shacks, kitchens, dining rooms, warehouses and barns.— James Oliver Gurwood in Leslie's.

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 29, 1916, page 7.

Man's Tomato Vines Resemble Jack's Bean Stalk

Irvington, Indiana, 1918

WHAT MIGHT HE HAVE DONE HAD HE KNOWN TOMATOES?

Although a Novice, W. M. Young Declares Vines Resembled "Jack's Bean Stalk"

W. M. Young, 28 Colorado avenue, Irvington, is wondering how large a tomato crop in the rear of his home would have been last summer had he been an expert agriculturist rather than a novice at the game.

Young, who is a busy man as traffic manager for the Nordyke & Marmon automobile and milling machine plant, sought some pastime as a relief from his "grind" at the office — a regular "nightmare" of less than car loads, differentials, freight tariffs, lost shipments and overcharges.

A kind neighbor found a solution. It was gardening. Tomato seeds were supplied and early last spring Young got busy with the spade. He kept busy and cared for the tender plants in the same gentle manner that an experienced farmer does his crops.

The vines continued to grow until they took on astounding proportions. Some of the vines climbed to a height of six feet, and Young says some of the tomatoes were "nearly" as large as red toy balloons. The season's yield from twenty-one vines was six bushels.

Young is planning to establish even a better record next summer and his entire back yard will be transformed into a garden for the exclusive development of a tomato crop.

—The Indianapolis Sunday Star, Indianapolis, November 23, 1918, page 4.