7. Write to the Central American Supply Co., Tehuantepec, Mexico, ordering 50,000 feet No. 1 Mahogany Veneer. Have it charged to your account, which you have previously opened.

8. Write to Gregory Bros., wholesale dry goods merchants, 12141 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., ordering 15 bolts No. 7 Green Denim; 10 bolts No. 09 Green Panne Velvet; 50 yds. No. 216 Tapestry; 50 yds.

No. 16 Tapestry; 100 bolts Green and 100 bolts Brown No. 5 Guimpe. Instruct them to ship the goods at once and draw on you at sight through the First National Bank of Great Falls. (See page 344.)

9. Write to the Excelsior Varnish Co., Merchants'

National Bank Building, St. Paul, Minn., ordering articles such as varnish, stains, oils, enamels, and finishing wax.

10. Write an order to a St. Louis firm for leather.

11. Write an order to a Spokane firm for springs.

12. Find out where a Great Falls merchant would buy oak and birch, and write an order for each.

13. Write to the Hanover National Bank of New York City (because you happen to know the cashier of that bank), explaining that you are having a very decided increase in your business and that, in order to take care of the demand, you require a loan of $10,000.

Explain further that the rates are too high in Great Falls for you to take a loan there. Say that you are enclosing a statement of your a.s.sets and liabilities.

14. A dealer in Portland, Ore., writes, complaining that he has not yet received the goods that he ordered ten days ago. Write an appropriate reply.

15. You receive an order, one item of which is 3 doz.

oil mops, which you do not carry. Reply that you have referred the matter to ---- a firm which you can recommend highly.

=Exercise 256=

Topics for Investigation and Discussion

Principles involved in manufacture:

1. The location of a factory.

_a._ Where necessary raw materials can be obtained easily and cheaply.

_b._ Where land is not expensive.

_c._ Where the coal or water supply will make power inexpensive.

_d._ Where transportation facilities are good.

2. The advantages of using machinery in manufacture.

_a._ Relative amount of work turned out.

_b._ Relative cost of work turned out.

_c._ Relative cleanliness of work turned out.

_d._ Relative uniformity of work turned out.

3. The number of working hours.

Some factories have made the experiment of reducing the number of working hours from ten to eight without reducing the wages of the workers. They have found that the quant.i.ty of work turned out is increased and the quality improved. Can you explain why?

4. The advantages of the profit-sharing plan, both for employer and for employee.

This is a plan by which a certain per cent of the profits of the business is divided annually among the employees. (See a very interesting article in _System_ for March, 1911, or read _Profit-sharing between Employer and Employee_ by N. P. Gilman.)

5. Specialized labor.

There was a time when a man made all the parts of a pair of shoes. Why in modern factories does he make only one part? Which system tends to make shoes of uniform workmanship? Is uniformity a good quality in manufacture? This principle applies to any kind of factory.

6. Special products.

Suppose that you manufactured a large number of styles of millinery, or novelty, footwear. Would you expect your profits on these to be larger or smaller than on your staple styles? Give reasons and ill.u.s.trations.

7. Why is there a struggle between labor and capital?

8. What is the cause of strikes?

9. Are strikes a good thing for manufacture?

10. A visit to a shoe factory (or any other factory).

=Exercise 257=

Books that will Suggest Topics for Talks

If you have access to a public library, you can probably obtain some of the following books. They are all simple and interesting, and any of them will suggest several topics for talks.

ALLEN, N. B., Industrial Studies.

BAKER, R. S., Boys' Books of Inventions.

BARNARD, CHARLES, Tools and Machines.

CARPENTER, F. G., How the World is Fed; How the World is Clothed; How the World is Housed; Geographical Readers.

CHAMBERLAIN, J. F., How We are Fed; How We are Clothed.

CHASE, A. and CLOW, E., Stories of Industries (two volumes).

COCHRANE, C. H., The Wonders of Modern Mechanism.

COCHRANE, ROBERT, Romance of Industry and Invention.

DOUBLEDAY, RUSSELL, Stories of Invention.

FORMAN, S. E., Useful Inventions.

GIBSON, C. R., The Romance of Modern Manufacture.

LANE, M. A. L., Industries of To-day.

LITTLE CHRONICLE CO., Industries of a Great City.