The Washington herald., 1918-06-09
MANY CLASSES
OF MECHANICS
MAKING AUTOS
Specialists of All Kinds
Now Engaged Where One
or Two Started.

In all probability. the automobile
represents more diversified labor
than any other mechanism ever
made.
The Jack of all trades, in fact. has
no place ia the modern motor car
plant where only specialists. each
an expert in his special and closely
defined line OF work. are employed
There was a time, in the dark ages
Of Motoria, when the automobile
was the creation of a few men. The
famous "sss," for example. was built
by but four pair Of hands They
belonged to Henry Ford. who was
then an humble mechanic; Tom Coop
or. once the idol of the bicycle rae
ing world; Barney Oldfield, the old
est and most popular OF automobile
race drivers. and Spider" HUFF.
system Has Changed.
Such achievements, however. are
not duplicated today. One hundred
men at least, identified with fifty
or more trades. can boast OF haV-
ing had q hand in the production
of each car that leaves the auto
mobile plant
Few motorists realize the many
different forms of labor that are
represented in the cars that they
drive" said ]. P. Freeman. general
manager of the Combs Motor Conn
pany, local distributor for the Ma
tional Motor Car and Vehicle Cor
poration Of indianapolis. and be-
cause of this fact, a trip through an
automobile plant would be a revela-
tion to them.
I'm the National machine shop
there are four groups of workers
the general machinists, the opera
tors of special machines, the tool
makers and die makers. Motor build
ing is another diversified task. pro-
viding employment for the general
gas engine mechanics. dynamometer
experts, general repair men, who do
the tuning and adjusting: bearing
scrapers. bearing filters, rod filters,
crankcase filters. cylinder filters
and valve grinders.
Two different gangs are used fol
first assembly. one assembling the
axle and transmission, and the other
building up the chassis. Carpenters
and metal men are employed in the
body department. the former being
divided into door hangers. joiners
and filters, while the latter are
classified as hammermen, pressmen
back hangers. fender makers, tank
makers. solderers and tinsmiths.
In painting the car. several op-
erationS are necessary. including
priming, sanding. glazing. rubbing
spraying, enameling and finishing
and each is done by a special crew
of experts. Then there are the
workers in the trim shOp-the cut
ters, suffers. cushion makers. back
hangers. sewing machine operators
basters and harness makers.
When we reach the final assem-
bly,, we find several more gangs OF
specialists-the motor and trans
mission settlers. the tire mounters
the wheel filters, the fender and
running board filters. the body set
ters, the hood and radiator filters
the top settlers, the curtain nIters
the general utility experts and the
road testers.
Complex Mechanism
And even now. we have not emu
merated all the different classes OF
workmen that are responsible fol
the construction OF the motor car
for the automobile manufacturer
buys units from the makers OF
parts. including tires. carbureters,
spark plugs, speedOmeters. wind
shields, vacuum feed systems, mas
netOs, lamps. ignition and electric
starting and lighting equipment
radiators and wire wheels.
1T is really surprising that such
a complex mechanism as the auto
mobile. involving in its construc-
tion so many different crafts, car
be sold so cheapIy and driven by
almost anyone after an hours in
struction. 1t is equally surprising
that the motor car is as foolproot
as IL is: that it serves so efficiently
even when cared for by a novice"