344 APPENDIX. 



modified as time went on, and a consecutive plan, such as Mr. 

 Metcalfe proposed, would have been of great assistance to us in 

 carrying out our system. There are certain points, however, in 

 Mr. Metcalfe's plan, which I think our experience shows to be 

 somewhat objectionable. He issues to each of the men a book, 

 something like a check-book, containing sheets which they tear 

 out and return to the office after stating on them the work 

 which they have done. We have found that any record which 

 passes through the average workman's hands, and which he 

 holds for any length of time, is apt either to be soiled or torn. 

 We have, therefore, adopted the system of having our orders 

 sent from the central office to the small offices in the various 

 departments of the works, in each of which there is a clerk who 

 takes charge of all orders received from, and records returned to, 

 the central office, as well as of all records kept in the depart- 

 ment. 



The clerk or clerks in these department offices make, in all 

 cases where it is practicable, under the direction of the foreman 

 of the department, written orders stating what work is to be 

 done, and how it is to be done; what order number to charge it 

 to, and what drawings and tools are to be used, etc. 



These orders are locked up in suitable bulletin-boards with 

 glass doors in front, so that the men can see but not handle 

 them. Each man in the shop receives from the shop clerk a 

 note or a card for every job that he is to undertake, which refers 

 him to the more elaborate order locked in the bulletin-board. 

 The note which each workman receives gives him the proper 

 authority for doing his work, and at the same time insures the 

 concern, to a certain extent, against spoiled work which so 

 frequently results from misunderstanding verbal directions. 

 These notes are also the means of conveying all desired informa- 

 tion about the work to which they refer, both from the foreman 

 and from the man who is doing the work, for keeping the 

 records in the small offices as well as in the main office. We 

 find that there are a great many records which it is desirable to 

 keep close to the department in which the work is going on, 

 for which there is comparatively little need in the central 

 office. 



