1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



729 



So God created man in his own image, in the image 

 of God created he him. — Gen. 1: 27. 



God is a creator; he is the creator. He 

 has been called the great Architect of the 

 universe; and when the human mind ex- 

 pands and gets a faint glimpse of all there 

 is to be learned and discovered in this vast 

 universe, 1 do not wonder that we get 

 "rattled,"' and think there must be more 

 than one God, or that his great task must 

 be divided up in some way, as men divide 

 tip duties and great responsibilities. 



Well, if God is a creator, and man is 

 made in his own image, then man must be 

 a creator also; and one who looks abroad 

 and sees what man is doing just now may 

 well stand appalled, and lost in wonder at 

 what is going on. 



This thought brings me to my present 

 theme, the wonderful — n'A.y^staytling — things 

 that little humanity is just now doing as a 

 creator, or, if 3-ou choose, in following in 

 the footsteps of God as a creator. The as- 

 tronomer Kepler manj' years ago said it 

 was a delight to him to be permitted to 

 think the thoughts God had thought, and 

 follow in the footsteps where God had trod- 

 den. 



A few days ago I visited the Olds auto- 

 mobile works at Lansing, Mich. I shall 

 not attempt to give you the dimensions of 

 their great buildings, but will only say 

 that the}' are just now putting walls up 

 around what looks like great fields, and 

 these "fields" are to be roofed over to 

 make room for more men and machinery. 

 Between 500 and 600 men are now employed, 

 and about 20 new machines are turned out 

 ever)' daj'. 



Like the Waltham watches of old, every 

 part is made so accurately to gauge that 

 anj' part fits any machine; even the little 

 tapering pins of tempered polished steel are 

 just tight enough, and not too tight (that 

 the machine may all be taken apart when 

 necessar}'), no matter in what machine they 

 maj' be placed. Long rows of expensive 

 machinerj', all making the same thing, are 

 found in room after room. In one great 

 apartment the engines are set up and test- 

 ed. When we were there, there were 44 

 side by side, humming away almost like 

 mad. I presume thej' are run here at their 

 highest speed, and made to show up any 

 defect if there is anj'. 



The thing that concerned me most was a 

 vast apartment called "The Hospital," a 

 place where " sick machines " are " diag- 

 nosed " and cured. I could not keep the 

 thought out of my mind, nor help wonder- 

 ing, if some time in the great future our 

 doctors will not learn how to "take apart" 

 the huiTian frame and form, and see exactly 

 what the matter is, and then put in a new 

 piece or repair the old one, as skillfully 



and securely as the men and boys do here. 

 On this big floor there are all the time a 

 dozen or more machines. Some are almost 

 brand-new, while others are old from use, 

 and, may be, hard usage. Sometimes it is 

 a very laborious task to get at a trifling 

 breakdown. 



After we left, and were 40 miles away, 

 we found our water-pump did not work. It 

 took only two or three hours to get back to 

 the factory. The machine had to be nearly 

 all taken down to get at the mischief and 

 put a new piece in place of the broken 

 one. While improvements are being made 

 constantly, the company are striving very 

 hard to have each change so made that the 

 Unproved piece will fit exactly all the old 

 machines when repairs are needed. If you 

 think of it a little you will find this is often 

 an exceedingly difficult matter. 



I love machinery, and have always loved 

 it from a child; but just now I love human- 

 ity more. The bright young men in the 

 prime of life, skilled mechanics, were a 

 study to me. I had permission from the of- 

 fice to go everywhere, even when " No Ad- 

 mittance" was over the doors, and to ask 

 questions about the work. Our job was a 

 pretty hard one, and a case rather unusual. 

 As we were in a great hurry to get off, two 

 young men went at it together. I wondered 

 at the skill and rapidity with which they 

 took out the screws, untwisted the wires, re- 

 moved the bolts, etc. And then I watched 

 to see how they would avoid losing any of 

 these little and delicate parts. The screws 

 and nuts were all dumped in a box, for all 

 the screws, nuts, etc., are made to an exact 

 gauge, and any one of the same kind fits 

 anywhere. When the break was exposed 

 to view, one of their most skillful experts 

 was called. He was a quiet, Cdreful, gray- 

 headed man. One of the boys said, "He 

 will make it come if any man in the shop 

 can; he works slowly and carefully, but 

 he always succeeds." 



I wonder if those boys all stop to think 

 how much better this is than to rush ahead, 

 break tools, and perhaps get mad, and 

 swear. I heard some bad words at the 

 factory, but not many. 



It may be well to explain that a steel 

 screw was broken off in the end of the en- 

 gine-shaft. Of course, the broken piece 

 had to be removed before the new screw 

 could be put in. A drill was selected as 

 large as could be used without cutting 

 through the broken screw. After drilling 

 perhaps half an inch, a tapering square 

 punch of tempered steel was driven into 

 the hole just drilled. This punch was of 

 such a size that the sharp square corners 

 held securel}' in the broken screw. A 

 wrench was then applied to the punch, and 

 the broken part came out without injury to 

 the shaft. 



Every little while a job was finished, or 

 supposed to be finished. Then the work- 

 man started the machine, and with his 

 black and greasy hands full of tools, often 

 with his hair flying in the wind, the ma- 



