ng our
eyes to the dangers. I merely mean it is a fact. What we are trying
earnestly to do is to find a substitute for lead glaze. Could we
succeed we should eliminate a great proportion of the trouble."

"I suppose that would mean finding a different kind of enamel," mused
Theo.

"Precisely. And you recollect how long it took to discover those
enamels we are now using," answered Mr. Croyden. "It is a good problem
for some clever man, so bear it in mind. It is just such puzzles as
these that have raised up our inventors, and those who in one way or
another have perfected modern industry. Few who have contributed to
this cause stumbled upon their devices for the labor-saving or
convenience of mankind. Almost all such discoveries were called forth
by a great need, and were the result of hours and hours of patient
experiments in laboratories or workshops. Therefore when we pass
through a factory and see a process advancing easily from stage to
stage we should never forget those who toiled with brain and hand to
perfect each of its tiny details. Often some very insignificant but
vital part of a machine may represent the lifetime of an unknown
fellow-being who did his part in giving us a more perfect whole."

Theo glanced up quickly.

"I thought usually a machine was invented by one person," he said.

"Occasionally it is," admitted Mr. Croyden. "But more frequently our
modern machinery is a growth--the product of many minds. Year after
year defects have been eliminated, and improvements introduced.
Machines every part of which represent the thought of a single
individual are rare. Most machines are composite photographs of the
ingenuity and thought of many inventors."

The elder man paused, then added whimsically:

"Sometimes I feel like taking off my hat to a delicately adjusted and
intricate piece of machinery; it is so human and such a monument
to the men who conceived it."

The boy looked grave.

"If more people felt about machinery and about work as you do,
Mr. Croyden, they would have more respect for our industries as well
as for the men who run the machines."

"It should be so," was Mr. Croyden's instant reply. "A factory that
turns out a completed product is like a watch. You know that unless
every wheel of the watch turns; unless every minute rivet and screw is
in its place and doing its part we get no perfect result. It is just
as important a service to be a wee screw in that organism as to be
someth