Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-06-02

quCSNlOA was.
How does a mighty factory like
this touch the lives of the American
people? What does it do for us?'
Then, by analysis. the problem sep
arated itself into groups, and at the
top of one of these stood Tim Mont
gomery, engineer of the Twentieth
Century Willys-Overland Limited.
Tim was the concrete fact that got
hold of me as a tangible expression
of big-quantity production. He could
transport an automobile to the wait
ing freight car in q fraction of the
time that ten men formerly con-
sumed!
In other words, Tim and his Sky
Railroad helped to cut down the cost,
and the price. of Willys-Overland
cars.
Another Railway
Then, as 1 wandered about, 1 espled
another railway with it's wide
spreading tracks laid closely to the
lofty ceiling of a shop that stretched
away dimly among a maze of machin-
cry. Up there in the cab of the mo-
tor was another tangible expression
of big-quantity production: by name'
one Hank Jennings.
Since my pass covered a ride over
this strange transportation system,
too, went up ladder to a hazardous
station and tagged Jennings as he
bore down upon me with his contriv-
ance. A small, grisly man l found
him, who eyed me with proper sus-
picion and examined my passports
with Prussian minuteness before he
motioned me aboard, with stern ST.
lence.
The passenger equipment on this
road is not luxurious, but the scenery
along the line is at least conducive to
serious reflections, for Hank jennings
and his travelling crane come rather
close to most of us.
Jennings Has Giants Power
The long arms of Jennings crane
reached down and lifted tons of steel
as deftly as you would pick up golf
ball. Through the magic of mechan-
les, Jennings has a giants strength
vested in him. AS l sat there in his
engine he moved his wrist and one OF
the steel tenacles of the crane swung
around and dipped to the floor. Then
it fastened itself to a massive steel
die as heavy as two automobiles to-
gether. With a twist of his hand
Jennings raised this weight until 1t
hung suspended under us, and then
we were off along that ceiling rail-
way to the far end of the shop.
For an hour 1 sat there, self
invited guest of this man with gi-
under the smoky skylight; and in
that hour he lifted and carried tons
of freight without interrupting for
a moment the noisy activity below
him.
Jennings expresses again the mean
ing of big-quantity production, for in
a little plant he would not be Jen-
nings the travelling giant, but simply
Jennings the man. He would sweat
. of nfh he m a
to accomplish in a costly, clumsy way
what jennings the giant does alone
with ease and economy.
Scores of COnveyors
wandered into the assembly room.
As far as the eye could reach were
scores of conveyors. underneath the
floor, on it and overhead, each bring
ing automobile parts direct to the
workmen. Here 1 saw again the un-
canny methods of modern Industry
that cut manufacturing costs to the
bone.
out in the yards stood beenath a
magnetic crane, and, looking up, saw
a young man. He had the beardless
face of a boy, and bis name, they said,
was Javiski Nobody around there
seemed to attach any romance to his
youth, yet 1 saw him let loose from
the tips of his fingers wierd power
as irresistible as gravity. His steel
magnet came down with a circular
sweep toward a stack of metal bars
as long as a house, when suddenly
the cars jumped from the floor to
meet 1t.
Surely, the magnet had found its
affinity-an affinity so fierce that no
human muscle could have unclasped
the passionate embrace. But this boy,
with a touch of his magic fingers,
separated the grim lovers, and at just
the right spot they parted without
regret or struggle.
Afterward a strange train of cars
came along, drawn by storage bat
terry locomotive, in the seat of which
sat old Billy Larimy. There were five
cars to this train, all loaded with rae
tory products, and they came down an
aisle at fast clip. So common was
this sight that nobody seemed to no
tice it; but 1 was there with the out
side viewpoint, and 1 asked questions.
This old man Larimy, was told, was
once a hand-trucker His work re-
uuiTed a Samson, yet he was just one
of many such truckers who moved
material and parts with the primitive
motive power of arms and legs. In
the old. days of small production these
battalions of human snails ran up
ponderous factory transportation costs
and the people who bought automo-
biles paid the price.
Seyen-Leaguers Who Cut Costs
To-day Bill Larimy is older and
slower than he was even in those
days-but he has the strength of all
those old-time truckers put together!
He now eliminates costs. and you
profit when you buy a Willys-Over-
land car
In this willys-Overland factory
there is indeed an all-embracing
transportation system such as no
small factory could possibly have. Its
rolling stock comprises more than a
hundred vehicles of various kinds-in
the air, on the surface, and in tun-
nels. Every man who runs one of
these transporting devices becomes,
in fact, a seven-leager who cuts costs. !
Tim Montgomery, Hank Jennings, |
Javiski and Bill Larimy, along with |
their camrades, got hold of me, some |
how, in curious way.
Indeed, they stand forth as living |
answers to the question I set out to |
solve. They cut costs in way that |
stands out as melodramatic.