The following chapters will furnish exercises in composition, both oral and written

Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. MANUFACTURE

MANUFACTURE

The following chapters will furnish exercises in composition, both oral and written, based upon the various phases of business. They are intended to show the application of the principles underlying manufacturing, buying, and selling. Of course, we cannot expect to go into great detail in any one of the divisions. That must be reserved for future study, perhaps reserved until the time that you enter a particular business. We must remember that our first consideration is the study of English, the problem of clear-cut expression. Underlying clear-cut expression is clear-cut thinking. It cannot be repeated too often that without a definite thought there can be no definite wording of the thought. To say, "I know, but I don't know how to tell it," shows a lazy brain. Learn to exercise your thinking powers so that you can force them to stay upon a subject until you have thought it out carefully and can express it. All of the oral exercises in the following chapters require careful preparation. This does not mean that they should be written out before the recitation, but it does mean that they must be carefully thought out. The preparation need not take a particular form. The main thing is that you know exactly the points that you wish to make before you begin to speak. If the exercise calls for a paragraph, have clearly in mind the plan by which you expect to expand your thought. Perhaps you expect to begin with, or to lead up to, a topic sentence. Remember that this may be done in several ways. Choose whichever plan seems best. If the exercise does not call for a particular form, such as a paragraph or a debate, you are left free to develop your thought in the way that you think fits your subject best and to the length which you think it demands.

There are many different kinds of businesses. We shall not attempt to consider any except the most common and fundamental. Some, like farming or mining, consist in bringing forth certain products from the ground. Such products are called raw materials, of which an example is wheat. Some raw materials are sold and used unchanged, but most of them go through the process of manufacture in order to be directly usable. The miller is an example of a manufacturer, because from wheat he makes flour. In this chapter we shall study the principles underlying manufacture.

The exercises do not by any means exhaust the subject. Each one is to be considered as a nucleus about which others are to be grouped. If you live in a manufacturing district, other subjects will easily suggest themselves. If you have studied Industrial History or Commercial Geography, you probably have in mind a number of topics for discussion. If you know but little about raw materials, read some of the books suggested in Exercise 257. At all events let your work be definite. Whatever statements you make be able to substantiate by an illustration of something that you have seen or heard or read.

Exercise 250—Manufacture

Almost all the things we eat, wear, and use every day are manufactured articles. Each one of them requires its own particular process in the making, involving the necessity in most cases of complex and expensive machinery, of expert workmen, and of still more expert management. Take, for example, the shoes we wear, in the manufacture of which an amazing number of complicated machines and of expert workmen is necessary. According to the United States Department of Labor, men's rough shoes go through eighty-four distinct processes performed by skilled workmen and automatic machines. No less amazing is the amount of work turned out by these machines. It has been estimated that the McKay machine, which attaches the soles to the uppers, sews up in about one hour and a half one hundred pairs, an amount which it would take ninety-eight hours, or about eleven whole working days, to sew by hand.

Each manufacturing business has peculiarities, machinery, methods, and even a language of its own; sometimes men must spend years in the study of the technicalities of certain manufacturing businesses before they become expert in them. It is evident that we cannot take up any one of them here except in so far as the principles of one apply to all, and these can be set down only very briefly.

The first essential to successful manufacturing is correct buying. In fact, in some businesses this is so essential that the buyer gets a larger salary than the manager himself. We can see the reason for this when we consider that a good buyer must understand not only the materials that he buys, but also the manufacturing processes, so that, knowing the process through which the raw materials will go in his particular business, he will buy those materials that will make the most profitable manufactured articles.

The next essential, and in most cases the most important one from the manufacturing standpoint, is a management capable of producing the best product at the least cost. The managers decide what shall be produced and how; they hire the workmen and decide what each shall do; they decide what shall be done by hand and what by machinery; and they choose the machines. Sometimes they go even so far as to determine exactly the method in which each task shall be done, and whenever they see that it would be advantageous to install a machine, they do so. Pursuing this policy, a Chicago yeast concern not long ago put in three machines for wrapping the small yeast cakes, eliminating the services of 140 girls and cutting the cost of wrapping to three-fifths of what it had been. In the steel business the early success of Andrew Carnegie and the famous Bill Jones was largely due to the fact that on several occasions they did not hesitate to break up half a million dollars' worth of machinery and replace it with newer and more efficient kinds.

The third essential to manufacturing success is aggressive marketing of the product. From the standpoint of money success this is probably the most important consideration; so important is it, in fact, that it will be more fully discussed in the chapter following.

Exercise 251—Manufactured Articles

Oral

1. Define the word industry. When is a business called an industry? (Consult an unabridged dictionary.)

   
   

2. a. Name several raw materials.

   
   

b. Name some industries whose business it is to produce raw materials.

3. Name some companies or industries whose business it is, or whose principal function it is, to manufacture from raw materials.

   
   

4. Name some companies or groups of companies that make articles more useful by transporting them to places where they are needed.

   
   

5. Name some wholesale houses. In what does their business consist?

   
   

6. Name several kinds of retail businesses. In what does their business consist?

   
   

7. Name some companies that manufacture only one article.

   
   

8. Name some companies that manufacture more than one article, but all of the same class. This is the largest group.

   
   

9. Name some companies that manufacture several different kinds of articles.

   
   

10. Name some companies which, in manufacturing one product, make a secondary or by-product.

    
    

11. Name a number of by-products and what they are by-products of.

    
    

Oral or Written

In each of the following emphasize the labor involved, not the machinery used; prepare outlines:

1. Select any manufactured article that you have seen on a grocer's shelves, and trace it through (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) above, from the raw material until the product is in the housekeeper's hands. If possible make your information exact by visiting a factory in which the article is made. The information contained in advertisements of well-known articles may help you.

   
   

2. Trace the labor that is necessary to put a loaf of bread on the table.

   
   

3. Trace the changes that the mineral undergoes to be suitable for the making of edged tools, such as knives or axes.

   
   

4. Trace the changes that cotton must undergo before it is suitable for wearing as a dress or a pair of stockings.

   
   

5. Trace the changes that wool undergoes before it can be worn as a sweater or a winter coat.

   
   

6. Trace the changes that the skins of animals undergo before they can be worn as a muff.

   
   

7. Trace the changes that silk undergoes before it can be worn as a neck-tie.

   
   

8. Trace the changes that hemp undergoes before it can be used as a rope.

   
   

9. Trace the changes that hides undergo before they can be worn as shoes.

   
   

10. Trace wood from the tree to a piece of fine furniture or to the case of a musical instrument.

    
    

11. Trace the steps in the process of making maple sugar.

    
    

12. Trace the steps in making a piece of glazed pottery.

    
    

13. Trace clay to bricks.

    
    

14. Trace flax to a tablecloth.

    
    

15. Trace the steps necessary to make a five dollar gold piece.

    
    

Exercise 252

Subjects for Themes, Oral or Written

The following are suggestions for theme subjects on manufacture. Develop one or more as the teacher directs.

1. Household uses for asbestos.

   
   

2. Making turpentine from wood.

   
   

3. A convenient electrical device.

   
   

4. The advantages of the fireless cooker.

   
   

5. The advantages of concrete as a building material.

   
   

6. The way to make a plaster cast.

   
   

7. How iron castings are made.

   
   

8. Artificial flowers from feathers, paper, or cloth.

   
   

9. How a suction sweeper works.

   
   

10. The safety match.

    
    

11. The uses of wood pulp.

    
    

12. Patent roofing.

    
    

13. The manufacture of plate glass.

    
    

14. Utilizing cotton seed.

    
    

15. The advantages and the disadvantages of using baking powder.

    
    

Exercise 253

Suggestions for Debates

1. The average young man has a better chance to succeed in business than in a profession.

   
   

2. A manufacturing business offers a better opportunity for a young man at the present time than a mercantile business.

   
   

3. Manufacturing industries would suffer if immigration were restricted.

   
   

4. The labor union should be abolished.

   
   

5. The labor union has no right to restrict the number of apprentices.

   
   

6. The profit-sharing plan produces greater efficiency in the working-force.

   
   

Exercise 254

Imagine that you are Stanley M. Benner, 171 South St., Buffalo, N. Y., proprietor of a factory making men's shirts and collars.

1. Write an order to The American Printing Mill, 1038 Canal St., Passaic, N. J., for several bolts each of percale, madras, corded madras, and silk striped madras. Use catalogue numbers.

   
   

2. Write another order to The Trescott Silk Mill, 976 River St., Paterson, N. J., for several bolts each of No. 62, No. 14, and No. 20 shirting silks, No. 62 being a striped silk and the others figured. Be definite in ordering the colors that you wish.

   
   

3. You have received an order from Spencer & Mitchell, 1925 Pearl St., Albany, N. Y. Write a letter, thanking them for the order and explaining when and how the goods will be sent.

   
   

4. You have received an order from William F. Atwood, 590 Jackson St., Wilmington, Del., for a certain style of collar on which there has been a run. Write a letter, explaining that it will take about three weeks to fill the orders that you now have for this collar and that you therefore cannot send Mr. Atwood's goods before the end of the month.

   
   

5. The goods have arrived from The Trescott Silk Mill. You find, however, that two bolts of No. 14 are badly soiled. Write a letter, saying that you are returning the bolts and asking to have the matter adjusted.

   
   

6. A. W. Trescott, President of The Trescott Silk Mill, replies, expressing regret that the goods were soiled and saying that two clean bolts of No. 14 are being sent at once. Write his letter.

   
   

7. You have on hand about 50 gross men's striped madras collars, for which there is no longer a call. Write to Markham Bros., wholesale jobbers, 1765 Greenwich St., New York City, asking what price they will offer for the lot.

   
   

8. Accept their offer of $1.50 a gross for the collars.

   
   

9. A customer sends a cash order for goods at last year's prices, 10% below present prices. Write a politic reply.

   
   

10. Owing to the mildness of the winter, you fear that you will not sell your stock of men's flannel shirts. Write a circular letter, offering the shirts in lots of 25 dozen each, assorted sizes and colors, at a 35% reduction in price. Address one letter to. Frederick H. Howard, a dealer at 775 Cedar St., Harrisburg, Pa.

    
    

11. A teamsters' strike has delayed your shipments. You have received so many complaints of the non-arrival of goods that you decide to prepare a form letter that will answer all the complaints. Address one letter to William A. Spaulding, 2937 Waterman St., Providence, R. I.

    
    

12. Miss Sarah MacComb has a small dry goods store in Norwich, Conn. She has owed you $125 for six months. You have been lenient with Miss MacComb because you know that she has had difficulty in meeting her bills. However, you feel that she should pay at least a part of her indebtedness to you. Write a courteous letter, longer and more persuasive than if it were to go to a man, demanding payment but retaining the customer's good will. This is a difficult letter to write. Prepare it carefully.

    
    

Exercise 255

1. You have been manager of the Forsyth Furniture Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. You have financial backing for $25,000 and are looking for a location for a factory of your own. Write the same letter to the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Great Falls, Mont.; Memphis, Tenn.; Houston, Texas; Indianapolis, Ind. Ask the Secretary to tell you the prospects for such a factory in his city, and what inducements the city will offer you. (By writing to different cities, the teacher can obtain their booklets and their special offers to manufacturers.)

   
   

2. Investigate the conditions in one of the cities mentioned above and reproduce the letter that the Secretary wrote.

   
   

3. Of the four cities, Great Falls appeals to you as the best location for your factory. Write again, asking the Secretary especially about the water power facilities offered and the rates charged for electrical power.

   
   

4. He replies that Great Falls has the most extensive power in the United States, the hydro-electric power being ready for delivery in any quantity at exceptionally low rates. He tells of the many factories that are already located in Great Falls because of its water power facilities.

   
   

5. Great Falls is your choice. After your factory is built and your machinery installed, write to the Secretary of the Sand Point Lumber Co., Sand Point, Idaho, asking him to submit figures for a contract for supplying all your fir lumber. Tell him you think you will use about a million board feet a year.

   
   

6. The Secretary replies, offering you a contract on the following terms: For all amounts under 250,000 feet a year, a rate of 12 cents a foot; under 500,000, 11 cents; over 500,000, 10 cents. All goods are to be billed at the highest rate and rebates made at the end of the year, terms of payment being 90 days, 5% for 30 days.

   
   

7. Write to the Central American Supply Co., Tehuantepec, Mexico, ordering 50,000 feet No. 1 Mahogany Veneer. Have it charged to your account, which you have previously opened.

   
   

8. Write to Gregory Bros., wholesale dry goods merchants, 12141 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., ordering 15 bolts No. 7 Green Denim; 10 bolts No. 09 Green Panne Velvet; 50 yds. No. 216 Tapestry; 50 yds. No. 16 Tapestry; 100 bolts Green and 100 bolts Brown No. 5 Guimpe. Instruct them to ship the goods at once and draw on you at sight through the First National Bank of Great Falls. (See page 344.)

   
   

9. Write to the Excelsior Varnish Co., Merchants' National Bank Building, St. Paul, Minn., ordering articles such as varnish, stains, oils, enamels, and finishing wax.

   
   

10. Write an order to a St. Louis firm for leather.

    
    

11. Write an order to a Spokane firm for springs.

    
    

12. Find out where a Great Falls merchant would buy oak and birch, and write an order for each.

    
    

13. Write to the Hanover National Bank of New York City (because you happen to know the cashier of that bank), explaining that you are having a very decided increase in your business and that, in order to take care of the demand, you require a loan of $10,000. Explain further that the rates are too high in Great Falls for you to take a loan there. Say that you are enclosing a statement of your assets and liabilities.

    
    

14. A dealer in Portland, Ore., writes, complaining that he has not yet received the goods that he ordered ten days ago. Write an appropriate reply.

    
    

15. You receive an order, one item of which is 3 doz. oil mops, which you do not carry. Reply that you have referred the matter to —— a firm which you can recommend highly.

    
    

Exercise 256

Topics for Investigation and Discussion

Principles involved in manufacture:

1. The location of a factory.

   
   

a. Where necessary raw materials can be obtained easily and cheaply.

b. Where land is not expensive.

c. Where the coal or water supply will make power inexpensive.

d. Where transportation facilities are good.

2. The advantages of using machinery in manufacture.

a. Relative amount of work turned out.

b. Relative cost of work turned out.

c. Relative cleanliness of work turned out.

d. Relative uniformity of work turned out.

3. The number of working hours.

Some factories have made the experiment of reducing the number of working hours from ten to eight without reducing the wages of the workers. They have found that the quantity of work turned out is increased and the quality improved. Can you explain why?

4. The advantages of the profit-sharing plan, both for employer and for employee.

   
   

This is a plan by which a certain per cent of the profits of the business is divided annually among the employees. (See a very interesting article in System for March, 1911, or read Profit-sharing between Employer and Employee by N. P. Gilman.)

5. Specialized labor.

   
   

There was a time when a man made all the parts of a pair of shoes. Why in modern factories does he make only one part? Which system tends to make shoes of uniform workmanship? Is uniformity a good quality in manufacture? This principle applies to any kind of factory.

6. Special products.

   
   

Suppose that you manufactured a large number of styles of millinery, or novelty, footwear. Would you expect your profits on these to be larger or smaller than on your staple styles? Give reasons and illustrations.

7. Why is there a struggle between labor and capital?

   
   

8. What is the cause of strikes?

   
   

9. Are strikes a good thing for manufacture?

   
   

10. A visit to a shoe factory (or any other factory).

    
    

Exercise 257

Books that will Suggest Topics for Talks

If you have access to a public library, you can probably obtain some of the following books. They are all simple and interesting, and any of them will suggest several topics for talks.

Allen, N. B., Industrial Studies.

Baker, R. S., Boys' Books of Inventions.

Barnard, Charles, Tools and Machines.

Carpenter, F. G., How the World is Fed; How the World is Clothed; How the World is Housed; Geographical Readers.

Chamberlain, J. F., How We are Fed; How We are Clothed.

Chase, A. and Clow, E., Stories of Industries (two volumes).

Cochrane, C. H., The Wonders of Modern Mechanism.

Cochrane, Robert, Romance of Industry and Invention.

Doubleday, Russell, Stories of Invention.

Forman, S. E., Useful Inventions.

Gibson, C. R., The Romance of Modern Manufacture.

Lane, M. A. L., Industries of To-day.

Little Chronicle Co., Industries of a Great City.

Mowry, W. A. and Mowry, A. M., Inventions and Inventors.

Parton, J., Captains of Industry (two series).

Rocheleau, W. F., Products of the Soil; Minerals; Manufactures.

Towle, G. M., Heroes and Martyrs of Invention.

Williams, A., How it is Made.

Exercise 258

Study the punctuation of the following; then write from dictation:

1 It is stated that practical experience with gas mantles made of artificial silk—that is, silk made from wood pulp—has proved them to be far superior to those made of cotton, especially where the mantles are exposed to excessive vibration. Several German towns are said to be obtaining exceptionally good results from these new mantles used in conjunction with pressure gas, and it is asserted that the mantles are in good condition after being used for seven or eight weeks. Artificial silk, according to reports, has also been used experimentally by several manufacturers of incandescent gas mantles in the United Kingdom. The reports are all very encouraging, except that there seems to be one difficulty that is purely mechanical—the knitting of the artificial silk. The knots and other imperfections in the yarn cause a considerable amount of waste. However, the knitting-machine makers are experimenting to overcome it.—Daily Consular and Trade Report.

2 As the production of wool in this country, although approximating 320,000,000 pounds a year, does not begin to meet the demands for the raw material, there is a yearly importation of from 156,000,000 to over 300,000,000 pounds. When each new census reveals the fact that there are fewer sheep of shearing age in the country than there were ten years before, the question of wool production becomes one of still greater importance. A solution may be found in a Peruvian product. A variety of cotton grows in Peru whose long, rough, crinkly fiber mixes so readily with wool that manufacturers use it in connection with wool in manufacturing "all wool" goods. It grows on a small tree that yields two or three crops a year for seven or eight years. The area, however, in which it is being successfully cultivated in Peru is so limited that the annual output is only about 16,000,000 pounds, of which the United States takes approximately 5,500,000 pounds. As the region in which it thrives is practically rainless, perhaps a way may be found to persuade the rough Peruvian to make a home for itself in the hot and arid regions of our Southwest. It would be a triumph of agriculture, certainly, to raise vegetable wool in regions not fitted for real sheep.—The Wall Street Journal.

3

The Casting of Metals As is well known, some metals are unsuitable for casting, while others, like iron, can readily be cast into any desired shape. The property of casting well, it is said, depends upon whether the metal contracts or expands in solidifying from the liquid form. Iron, like water, expands in solidifying, and hence the solid metal may be seen floating in the liquid iron about it. The expansion causes it to fill the die into which it is poured, and so it can be cast easily. Gold and silver contract in cooling, and are, therefore, not suitable for casting.—Harper's Weekly.

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