Evening journal., 1915-03-23
New News Of Yesterday
The Man Who Helped Lo-
comotive Building
By Holland.

For many years William Toucey
was the general superintendent of the
New York Central railroad system. He
was, so far as operation was con-
cerned, the executive head. His en-
ployment was not a wearisome labor
for him because he took intense in
terest in his work and was well repaid
II by reason OF any change or ex-
pansion which he advocated there fol-
lowed improvement in the service and
recognized increased earnings. Mr..
TOucey was a man of simplicity of
life, heavy framed, seeming to those
who first met him to have the char
acteristics of one who had spent his
life in cultivation of the soil and had
gained a competency in that pursuit.
1t was Mr.. Toucey who once told
me that Commodore Vanderbilt-who
was a keen student of opportunities
for increasing economics-had in
structed him to issue an order that
the New York Central locomotives
were to be stripped of their ornaments
since too much time was required
for the polishing of the brass so as
to make IL .resplendent.
You have never heard that certain
manufacturers discovered a method of
making fairly good watches and of
selling them at two 10 three dollars
apiece because they were able TO make
standard parts of a watch in great
numbers so that they could easily and
economically bring these parts to-
gether," said Mr.. Foucey. 1T is not
so generally known, however. that
probably the first inspiration for that
has now become a very common pro-
cess Of standardiaing parts came TO
a workman in the employ OF one OF
the large locomotive establishments
of the United States. Everybody in
the railway world knows the mans
name. He was Charles Z. Parry. His
name and his achievement are AS well
known in England and Europe in rail-
way circles as in the United States.
what Parry did was this. He
began as an apprentice in a loco
motive manufactOry, and il was while
be was still an apprentice that he OBJ
served that frequently various parts
which were made for use IN the build
ing of locomotives were cast aside
They accumulated and made a great
scrap heap. It seemed to him that
this increased the cost Of the locomo-
tive and he set his boyish head to
work upon some plan by which this
waste could stop.
AT last il occurred TO him that Il
was perfectly easy to manufacture the
various parts of the locomotive in ac-
cordance with carefully prepared
drawings and so manufacture thes.
parts that they would be identical in
form and great supply of them coulC
be kept on hand.
Parry worked away on his plan
until at last he demonstrated its fea
sibility. He standardized the manu-
facture Of the various parts of loco
motive. That made il possible {,
build the locomotives at much les
cost than before had been entaileC
and they could also be built NOR
quickly. Locomotive builders OF En
land heard of what Parry had don
and they followed his example. Parr
stands today among the great benefa,
tors of the United States SO far q
railroad development is concerned, a
though outside the field of railroa
activities is not known, nor is thei
any recognition Of his achievement
| Copyright 1915, by, l. ]. Edward
All rights reseryed.)
II Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will te
When a Discharge was No Nisfo
tune" 49, ----,ss
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