Page:On the economy of machinery and manufactures - Babbage - 1846.djvu/151

Rh Is it usual, or necessary, to work night and day without stopping?

Is the labour performed by piece or by day-work?

Who provide tools? Master or men? Who repair tools? Master, or men?

What degree of skill is required, and how many years' apprenticeship?

The number of times the operation is repeated per day or per hour?

The number of failures in a thousand?

Whether the workmen or the master loses by the broken or damaged articles?

What is done with them?

If the same process is repeated several times, state the diminution or increase of measure, and the loss, if any, at each repetition.

(162.) In this skeleton, the answers to the questions are in some cases printed, as "Who repair the tools?Masters, Men;" in order that the proper answer may be underlined with a pencil. In filling up the answers which require numbers, some care should be taken: for instance, if the observer stands with his watch in his hand before a person heading a pin, the workman will almost certainly increase his speed, and the estimate will be too large. A much better average will result from inquiring what quantity is considered a fair day's work. When this cannot be ascertained, the number of operations performed in a given time may frequently be counted when the workman is quite unconscious that any person is observing him. Thus the sound made by the motion of a loom may enable the observer to count the number of strokes per minute, even though he is outside the building in which it is contained.