The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-05-06

was surprised at the wonderful way In
which thSse people handle all sorts Of metal
and machinery There is never a mistake.
and the men are on hand every time.
CHINESE INGENUITY.
What I saw to-day has removed from my
mind all doubt as 70 the ability Of the CHI
nese to construct and manage modern ma
chinery, and I question much whether they
have not the germs OF a creative ability.
which. under proper conditions, might pro-
cuce as great inventions to-day as the Chi
nese mind has done in the past The COM
pass, gunpowder and printing originated
here. and we may have a Chinese Edison
In the future. 1 asked questions OF Mr.. Cor
nish concerning this. as we walked through
the works. and he told me that several Of
the mechanics had improved upon the orig
iual models. which had been imported. and
] saw a machine for cutting steel which a
friend OF Il Hung Chang had adapted to
the making Of candlewicks. and which. by
his favor. he was running with the arsenal
power. Said Nr. Cornish:
The lack OF inventors IN China may come
from there being no patent law. These men
tell me they don't care TO work at getting
up new things. because their ~neighbors will
steal their ideas. Besides. you must remem-
Oct LndL the CnlutSc 1ullu HdS " yCdfS
run In other directions. Il mechanic Is not
OF much account here. and the man who
can write a three-line poem or can quote
Confucius would be thought more OF than
any inventor. Upper. the poet. had he been
born in China, would have outranked an
Edison, and the Hterati look down on such
work as beneath them"
I aid not nave time yesterday to visit the
powder works. where the Chinese are maxi
ing al sorts of powder. from the brown
~cocoanuts which are used for the heavy
guns to the small black grains which are
made for modern rifles, but 1 saw samples
Of the powder, and Mr.. Cornish says there
Is a chemist now on his way from Ger
many TO China, who will teach them how
10 make the smokeless powder, which has
been recently invented.
] asked as TO the hours Of work and the
g Of the men. Mr.. Cornish replied:
ut is a curious thing that we have an
eight-hour law in existence an these works
and our employees work fewer hours per-
haps than In any other native establish
ment in hin The men begin work at
730 a. m and work until 11:3O. Then they
have an hour for lunch and work on until
$50. In case of necessity, however, OF war
or otherwise. we could work them almost
Twice tnat long and we could add 10 the
force largely without much trouble. Our
mechanics get from three TO six Mexican
dollars a week, or from a dollar and a half
TO three dollars a week in your currency.
The very best Of the foreman receive as
high as agility dollars a month. and under
foremen get about thfrty-ive Mexican dol
lars a month. Our possible supply Of labor
Is. Of course, unlimited"
by the way," continued Mr.. Cornish, 81
suppose the eight-hour rule came from the
fact that this establishment was originally
organized by an American who came here
a score or more years ago and was en-
ployed by the Chinese to run it He ran 1t
80 well that he made a fortune out OF II,
and for this reason il was taken out OF his
hands. The Chinese don't object TO money
being made. provided they make it them
selves. and they saw that MIR. Falls was
getting rich very fast. They now handle
the thing themselves and If there are any
fat contracts or squeezes TO be made 1t Is
a Chsnaman who has charge OF them"
AT this moment one OF the officers Of a
Chinese naval vessel came in TO see about
getting two six-inch guns for his ship,
which was lying at the arsenal wharf. and
with him we took a trip over a Chinese
man-of-war. But Of this l will write In
another letter.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.