HIS LIFE AND WORK 



a man, and found him to be pure gold, he trusted 

 him completely. A new employee would be 

 pelted with questions and complete answers 

 insisted upon. This was often a harsh ordeal. 

 It was irritating to a man of independent spirit, 

 until he realized that it was a sort of discipline 

 and examination. 



McCormick was always an optimist. He 

 was not one of those who said, " Let well enough 

 alone." 



He never endured unsatisfactory business 

 conditions. When he found that the freight 

 charges on Reapers from Virginia to Cincinnati 

 were too high, he arranged to have Reapers 

 built in Cincinnati. When he found that other 

 manufacturers were apt to be careless as to the 

 quality of their materials, he built a factory of 

 his own. Again and again in the course of his 

 life, came the temptation to be satisfied with 

 what he had already achieved. But he could 

 not endure the thought of being beaten. In- 

 stead of being content and complacent, he was 

 far more likely to be planning a wholly new 

 policy, on larger lines. 



[147] 



