The following interesting story of a man’s reckless treatment of a machine illustrates, very forcibly, that it is more times the man’s fault than the machine’s that the latter refuses to work properly. Of course, it means the replacing of prematurely-aged machinery with new, to have them run under careless or incapable management; but even at that, we do not believe that there is a single machinery manufacturer who would like to see the product of his brain, or his brawn, abused for the sake of added profit. The story comes from a bright correspondent of the “Indianapolis Woodworker.”
Some years ago, I left the furniture factory, where I had been employed as a machine hand, to look after and keep in repair four small planers in a slack barrel cooper shop. It was with considerable pride and elation that I had accepted the position, which had been offered to me through the superintendent of the factory, who had been asked to recommend a man for the place, and, as I was but one out of nearly a hundred or more in the machine room, I felt real chesty to think that out of that bunch I was the lucky chap. It jarred me considerably, however, when the sanderman said, with a touch of sarcasm in his voice, ‘I guess you must be the only one whom the boss wants to get rid of.’
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