The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-16

ma 1000 Roads institute at Cha pei |
Hill, February 24thl
Several times in the past il has hap
pened to me, gentlemen, when I hay
attended conventions like ours now |
e.. pecting to gather valua ble ideas on |
some subjects set for discussion by
men emlnently qualified to handle
them, ] have come away disgusted:
the men who had the experience spent
too much time in prociaimng their
emlnenCe and the things they could
10, and too little in telling the rest OF
US now We could do those things bet
ter
That has made me timid in setting
myself up like this; ami | am gcing
to ask two things of you: first. To un-
derstand that if l shall seem to re-
commend technical men, L am not
Nalklng about myself; and second, to
charge my dyness partly, at least, to
my effort to deal in facts to the eX-
clusion of personal fancies.
operators and Specifications is
the subject you have assigned me. I
shall ask you to let me reverse the
order, and take up specifications first.
Specifications is word unfa-
nillar to the average man until
graduate lightning-rod agent under
axes to sell him an automobile; he
| then gets sick Of the sound of it. l
| shall therefore not take an automo-
bile as my text, but a wagon.
| If one of you should be goin.; to
! ouy a few wagons for road work, You
| would. [ believe, consciously or not,
| lSe a considerable amount of care
| md first-class judgment. First you
| would decide, to fit your funds and
he class of work before you. what
| ind Of wagon you wanted-whether
| 'lat bottom or body. Next
l m
he particular make you would buy,
| Cd how it would pull,-invOlving its
! weight, the tire width, it's length OF
! coupling; and (2) how it would last
| involving the material used in it, both
ind of material and grade Of mate
ial, and size and thickness, and most
PARTICULARLY, the way in which it is
| )ut together.
You would probably decide on the
.asis of your own observation and
.xperience--the best way, if yOr
ave had these; or, if you had not
hen you would be guided by the judg.
| nent Of somebody whom you knew
| ad had experience that seasoned hi:
| ldgment, and who had no persona
| .xe to grind, and would advise you
! honestly and for your best interest. lf
| at case you are mighty apt to ge
| something which experience ha
roven to be honestly constructed OF
| he rlSnC pElnc1ple.
| Now there is right much in com
non between the way In which yol
| WOULD get the most out Of spendin,
! i've hundred dollars in wagons, ant
| ut Of spending five hundred dollar
| n roads What has made the par
ticular wagon you bought worth you
, are and Judgment in it's selection, is
first, the best specification, and, ol
op Of that, honest construction.
4 SnocifiCatlOn is nothing NOR
han set OF principles laid dow
| dearly and Enthusiastically, which hav
!, Ireen evolved from, and which embod
| the results Of, long and costly expert
| ance in the kind of work they cover
; | The factory that made your WagoT
| .ral experience Of the ages in evolv
ne wheeled vehicles has .probabl
spent many thousands Of dollars O
IS own hook in costly. experiments
ton, in arriving at the specificatio
! which to its managers seemed jus
: right.
I Similarly, the world has spent bi
:! lions OF dollars of wasted money
enough TO put asphalt pavements o
e concrete base over all the highway
{ all OF US together ever saw, l do ne
doubt-ln learning how to build tn
best road for the money. Manifest.
in comingsto a decision as to how
It fail to use the care and Judgment ths
will insure our getting in full tf
" benefit of all that money spent in e.
perience that has evolved the be
| road specification for our purpose
y we should use just about one tho'
~ sand times as much as was done
= the case Of the wagon.
The proper selection Of the roa
- specification is, Of course, very mar
l times more complicated a. matter tha
: was that of the wagon. How it w!
=. pull, and how it will last, are still OIL
- main considerations; but i'll this ca
i proper location, proper grades, prop
ie drainage. proper surfacing material
" and q proper combination Of the IN
lterials, all form an exceedingly cor
Il plex and inter-related problem,
SIS balanced solution Of which is nece
ig sary in order to insure that we shs
get the complete specification whi'
he will secure the largest public bene
r for the money spent. In every one
~ -.