154 CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF SMALL GASWORKS. 



a convenient size for working on, without dodging and 

 dancing about, or having to shift the book to get at the 

 top of the page. Casting work can be done more 

 rapidly on a page comprising thirty or thirty-five items 

 than on one of fifty or so, as after the thirty-fifth 

 item the carrying on of the total becomes irksome, and 

 a small sum in arithmetic is necessary when the pence 

 exceed 250. I also prefer the covers of books cut 

 flush with the paper, as not taking so much room ; 

 and the space, or margin, when the covers project, 

 is a harbouring place for dust and vermin. About 

 half a dozen books foolscap size and as many about half 

 those dimensions will contain the records of a small com- 

 pany, and can be packed snugly into a small, and not over 

 costly, safe. Also, it is a mistake to lay in a stock of books 

 covering the next half century. The number of pages in 

 any one book need not be more than will suffice for ten 

 years or so. A common cause of mistake and confusion is 

 the habit of using a rough scribbling book, or, worse still, of 

 hurriedly making memoranda on odd pieces of paper, as a 

 record of matters that are intended to be properly entered 

 up at a convenient time. The most convenient time in 

 this case is the present moment. Entries should be made 

 once and for all, carefully and legibly, in the proper place. 

 The time and trouble necessary for hunting up, reading 

 and accurately transcribing rough notes are out of all propor- 

 tion to any saving of time effected by them, to say nothing 

 of the risk of loss and error. The ideal plan is to get every 

 transaction entered once in a place where it can be located 

 at a moment's notice, as copying two or three times only 

 increases the risk of error. All copying work should be 

 capable of check or double check. Duplicate books which 

 take two copies at once, writing with an ordinary pen, offer 



