, 1891-04-15

his swings were a good thing TO have iii
the family, and they began to enquire for
them. He started eight years'ago, and alone
did all the work of making ard selling tn IN.
Things with him are very different to-day.
lie has a shop two stories in height, AMI
machinery for SAVING, planning, boring,
mo Using, turning, aud saudpapering the
material entering into the construction of
these swings. III ihat shop forty men fud
constant elnploym Mt, anti, As I said bcfo e,
The OWNER is getting rich out Of it. Count
ing the wives and children Of lie woTkmen
i'll that shop, there is a population of nearly
or quite one hundred aud fifty making a
living out of one mans idea that Il baby
swing would sell. A baby swing is not
IA very big thing, but it is IN this ease big
enough to keep quite a little village busy
and comfortable.
a step ladder is a mighty handy thing to
have around the house. Five years ago
three men, by the closest kind OfScrapmg,
twisting and borrowing, managed to get
together five hundred dollars. They
Bought some lumber, rugged up a circular,
or buzz, Zip saw, and started in to make
step ladders. For two years it was a strug-
gle of the hardest kind sales had to be
made by personal canvass, prices obtained
permitted no margin of profit, and the ont
look was of such a aging nature that
their friends and %neighbors pitied them
first, then propheSicd dead failure, and
finally laughed atthcir folly i'll sticking by
a losing game. There cam a change, how
ever. 4 prominent hOuSe-furniShing goods
firm one day wrote them for prices on five
thousand ladders. The size of this pos.
Slble order very nearly took them off
their feet. They had sense enough, now
ever, to understand that this big house
would not give them the order unless prices
were made away. down, SO they sat down
and figured the thing over, and having de-
cided that matter, awaited the result, " hich
turned III their faVOur and they got the or.
der. Then they went to work each one
took his coat off and pitched in; they work
ed sixteen hours a day until that order was
filed, and it was filed OH time, and each
ladder vas honestly made. The only cx-
pcnse they realized was for lumber, screws,
and paint. They had done all The work
themselves. This was the turning point in
their business career, Within 81 month
from the delivery of these FIVE thousand
ladders they had contracted with the same
house for a monthly supply of two thousand
five hundred. They were on their feet now,
and began topush tlliugs. They are turn
ing out today, with ifteen men, ten thou.
sand step ladders each month, and have
been doing this for more than a year. A
pNNB hNaNfNA I'D " l llitEJ ONN AASON AAAA
are making money ont ofthem.
About fifteen years ago. in one Of the big
planning mills in Chicago, q strip Of board
catching, in some unaccountable manner, on
a buzz saw, was hurled with violence against
the leg of one Of the workmen, breaking it and
badly m~angling the flesh. The injury result
ed in incapacitating the man for performing
the labour required of him in the mill, and he
was compelled to seek other means of liveli-
hood. A man of fine mechanical attachments,
his endeavours very naturally sought outlet
in that direction, so he built after his OWL
ideas, a scroll saw foot power, and rugged up
a seat on it, as he was unable to stand for
any length of time, and began saving out and
putting together articles for household orna-
ment and utility. He regarded this as
simply a temporary means of making a living.
After q time he added to his scroll saw a light
boring attachment and then a little turning
lathe. Then he bought a cheap set OF ~carver's
tools. You see he was always looking out to
save labour and to combine originality in the
articles he turned out. Time ran along, and
almost before he knew it, he was getting
more orders than he could, alone, fill, SO he
hired a man to dress and prepare the materials,
lay out the patterns, and put the articles
together, Still his orders increased, and he
hired another and still another man. To-day
he has thirty men in his employment, and he
-. I 49, s--.c H.