The Press., 1912-03-20
How the Stack
Was
Strengthened
A Story of a Mechanical
Genius
By SAMUEL C. MoNrFoRD

Happy the man who has found his
vocation" This is an old adage which
In these times. when life seems toe
short to learn profession before mid
die age, the saying should be. Happy
the boy in whom some especial gift
shows itself that can be later ON turn
ed to success"
Tom Swartout, a farmers son. seem
ed to his father to be worthless be
cause, as the older man said. he was
too lazy to eat. And there was rea
son for the imputation Tom detested
farm work. The hoe handle would
never stick to his hands. or Ii 1t die
he would constantly be stopping iD his
work to look up in the sky ut some
bird soaring above and wonder how
| it kept a fixed position without the
slightest visible motion of its wings
Under the circumstances life was
intOlerable to Tom and his parents
| No one can blame fathers and mothers
whose children seem to be useless fol
showing their disappointment. Tom
| and one night after an expression OF
| his fathers disapprobatiOn he resolved
to leave home and go somewhere else
In the morning, long before daw n and
before any one was stirring ON the
farm, he got out Of bed. dressed him
self and started down the road ne
knew not whittier
Then followed hardships that might
have been expected. A week after his
departure he stopped at an open door
of q factory to look in at an engine
that was moving machinery diStribut
ed through whole building. There
wns something in the regular and con
tinued stroke Of the piston. the steady
revolution of the hywheel. that fas
cinated the boy. He wondered what
kept it going He had seelI machinery
OH the farm moved by hand power.
but nothing driven by heat. While he
was looking the engineer. pale man,
who was evidently suffering from some
disease, began to shovel coal into the
furnace. The work was evidently hard
on him. and he stopped to rest between
every shovelful.
iii do that for you," said Tom.
The man looked at him. then. taking
a ten cent piece from his pocket. said
II wish you would"
Tom put in the coal. then asked the
engineer all about the engine-the prin
ciDles on which it worked. what the
piston accomplished, why the 6ywheel
was there. how uniform motion was
achieved and a lot Of other questions
The man answered his questions and
was surprised at how quickly he IN
derstood the explanations. Then Tom
told him that he had left home, bad
no means OF livelihood and asked ii
be might not shovel coal and do odd
jobs about the engine room.
The engineer went into the office,
and when he came back told Tom
that he could stay at salary Of 81 a
week The boy was beside himself
with joy.
One day a wooden post that was d
part of one of the machines in the
building and that was intended to
turn on pivot like rudder post be
gan to open in assures as it turned
Every time 1t turned the assures grew
larger. and it was evident the post
would soon be twisted in two Some
work that had been promised the next
morning was dependent on the ma
chine. and there was no time to put III
u new post. Tom stood beside the fore
man. who was looking at the post not
knowing what to do.
Get some wedges" said the coa'
HEAVIER. land every time the assures
open gil them up"
The foreman turned to the begrimed
boy in establishment Then the wedges
were brought, driven in and the post
was again rigid.
The incident advanced Tom many
pegs i'll the opinion of his employers.
and they tried him in various places
where good work was needed, but he
failed in them all. He had no apti
tude for work that did not interest
him. 1t was drudgery, and he had not
been made for drudgery any more in q
factory than on a farm. There seem
ed nothing that he could do but assist
the engineer. who was a sickly man
and often was obliged to absent him
self from his duties. So Tom was sent
back to the engine room and made as
Sistant engineer. At this work he
seemed to get on better than at any
thing else, for he loved the machine
that could keep the mills supplied with
power all day-and all night. for that
matter without getting tired. In its
own field. though Senseless iron. 1t was
better than Il man. The man con
alone would feed the engine The
man, must stop for sleep and rest: the
engine need never stop ..E-
Several years passed during which
Tom got no further up in the ladder
Of success than assistant engineer
There was vague idea among his fel
lows and his employers that he was
born for success. but there was a
screw loose somewhere in his bodily
mec hnn ism. One day when he was
grown man his opportunity came. and
the only person unconscious Of it's ar
rival was Tom himself.
He made the discovery that the
Smnk eStack, huge brick, hollow round
tower set on square base and
hundred feet high. had lost its original
perpendicular position. veering at the
top about two and half feet With
in few days it was found to veer
six inches more. At this rate 1t would
not he long before ii would fail. not
only ruin in itself. but crushing one
Uf the most costly wings of the fac
tory.
The management were in sore dis
tress. They were in the midst of their
busiest manufacturing season. YET work
must be stopped while the chimney.
valuable as it was. must come down
to be replaced by new one First
scaffOlding to the top must be erected.
brick after brick must come off. then
be replaced from the bottom till the