The times., 1901-06-24
The Tricks of Machinery.

A jeweler, in anrecentiy puDllsheu
| newspaper interview, stated some
rather interesting things regarding
watches and thair idiosyncrasies. He
explained that the machinery OF
watch is so delicate that it is almost
human in its sensitiveness; and he as
serted that people should be cautious
about laying watch. warm from con-
tact with the human body, suddenly
down on a cold windowsill as the Ie-
suit of the chill would be something
very like pneumonia. The metal pivots
shrink with the cold. and the wheels
cannot move. a sudden jar will stop a
watch; and, according to this jeweler,
even personal magnetism will somehow
affect it.
The marvclously swift development
of intricate mechanisms, which has
taken place during the last seventy
FIVE years. has had considerable in
fuence in one way and another upon
the people who use the machinery. 1t
has tended to make the intelligent more
acute, and in some cases the stupid
person more careless and dull. The
machine requires. for mere tendance,
comparatively little care and intelli-
gence. Handwork, on the contrary
must be done carefully and deftly if it
is to be done well. A woman incapable
of doing fine embroidery or hemstitch-
ing can run a sewing machine. a man
who could not, even after years of
training, become a fine shoemaker or
weaver can. under the supervision of
another person. tend a machine in
factory But this does not prove that
intelligence is not required for really
good work with machines. On the con-
trary, the mechanic of today needs all
the skill and brains that his grand
father had, with some scientific train
ing added thereto. He must not only
know how TO do the work, but take
the best care of the machine which
does the work.
This is one reason why some of the
best mechanics and most intelligent
men of the country come from the
farms, and why the American farmer
is. as a 1ule, SC different from Millets
Man With the Hoe" The American
farmer has fog two generations owned
machines for use on his farms, and the
personal interest which he has in their
efficiency makes him wise in the care
of them. 1t is not uncommon, on New
England farm, to find the farmer also
Il blacksmith and a carpenter, that
he may know how TO. repair his tools
when they get out of order, without
losing time by going 70 the nearest vii
lage Moreover, he knows when any
thing is cut of order. whether by nat
ural wear or the careiessness of
helper He does not need to be told.
He has become sensitive TO the least
jar in the wheels. Sometimes he al
lows only experienced and competent
persons to use his best machines. It is
a curious fact that complicated ma
chinery runs better if handled con-
tinually by one person. a typewriter,
for instance, viii last longer and keep
in better order # only one person uses
1t, than if half a dozen persons handle
it, even if the actual time of use is
the same. If it has been the exclusive
tool Of one person, that person will he
able to detect a slight difference in the
alignment ii anyone else has used it
even for half an hour No two people
touch the keys in exactly :he same
way
When machines are as sensitive and
as easily Jared as this, it is evident
that the machinist needs intelligence
as great as the handworker formerly
had. When this is fully recognized
both by employer and laborer the lat
ter may secure better conditions for
his work. foG he will acquire the value.
valuable bit of mechanism, aside from
any humanitarian element in the stu
alton.