340 APPENDIX. 



same time, it is almost impossible for them to keep their time 

 on each order ; the time may be approximated by dividing the 

 total piece price per stove by the nearest average daily earnings. 

 Thus, if the sum of the piece prices on the stove in question be 

 $2.25, and the average earnings per day of molders employed on 

 this class of work be $3.00, each stove will take on the average 

 three-fourths of a day's work to mold, and the cost of molding 

 may be expressed as follows : 



Piece price : . $2 25 



Cost of facilities, viz., 0.75 day's work at $ i per day 75 



Cost of molding each $3 oo 



521 stoves at $3.00 $1,563 oo 



3. Melting. 



Suppose that the stoves weigh 347 pounds each ; 347 x 521 x 

 1.288 cents $2,328 oo 



4. Mounting. 



Either of the plans described for the pattern shop or mold- 

 ing floor may be followed, according to circumstances ; but a 

 third case may present itself, where the mounting is done by a 

 contractor who employs a number of men, the establishment 

 furnishing power, tools, and room, and paying the contractor by 

 the piece. This presents special difficulties, for while we pay 

 the contractor by the piece, he probably pays his men by the 

 day, and makes no attempt to distribute their time, contenting 

 himself with securing a profit on their aggregate wages. 



In such a case two methods are possible. The first and most 

 accurate requires knowledge of the average profit made by the 

 contractor and of the average number of men he employs per 

 day. Then the men's share of the piece price paid for mounting 

 any stove, divided by their average daily wages, is equal to the 

 number of days' work in mounting that stove. 



For example, suppose that owing to ignorance, on both sides, 

 of the actual amount of labor required to mount any particular 

 stove, and to the concessions which in long business intercourse 

 of this kind supply the place of competition, the prices paid the 

 contractor are so fixed as to allow him, in the long run, a profit 

 of about ten per cent, on his expenses for labor. 



