Page:The Triumph of an Idea.djvu/196

184 THE TRIUMPH OF AN IDEA large individual, who had no part in the show and was by no means as gorgeously costumed as the young participants, retrieved the Stradivarius and took it away to a place of safety.

That incident of the priceless violin typifies the story of Henry Ford. Nothing was left undone to make the boy musician's performance as nearly perfect as possible; the best instrument was none too good. It is with the same ardor for perfection that the motor manufacturer still demands change, always change, in the mechanical details of cars and engines. The chief chemist and metallurgist at the River Rouge Plant is confronted with a demand that he reduce the weight of a valve push-rod one seventh of an ounce without affecting its strength. The expert on paint is bidden to improve his soy-bean product to last longer and shine better. So it goes, through all the departments. Tests to improve a single screw or bolt continue for months. The pursuit of the ultimate goal, economical service, has persisted from the inception of the "universal car" to the V-8 with its fifteen thousand parts.