e of about a foot per minute. At the side
stand groups of men, each prepared to do his bit, their materials being
delivered at convenient points by chutes. As the tops pass by these men
quickly bolt them into place, and the completed body is sent to a place
where it awaits the chassis. This important section, comprising all the
machinery, starts at one end of a moving platform as a front and rear
axle bolted together with the frame. As this slowly advances, it passes
under a bridge containing a gasoline tank, which is quickly adjusted.
Farther on the motor is swung over by a small hoist and lowered into
position on the frame. Presently the dash slides down and is placed in
position behind the motor. As the rapidly accumulating mechanism passes
on, different workmen adjust the mufflers, exhaust pipes, the radiator,
and the wheels which, as already indicated, arrive on the scene
completely tired. Then a workman seats himself on the gasoline tank,
which contains a small quantity of its indispensable fuel, starts the
engine, and the thing moves out the door under its own power. It stops
for a moment outside; the completed body drops down from the second
floor, and a few bolts quickly put it securely in place. The workman
drives the now finished Ford to a loading platform, it is stored away
in a box car, and is started on its way to market. At the present time
about 2000 cars are daily turned out in this fashion. The nation demands
them at a more rapid rate than they can be made.

Herein we have what is probably America's greatest manufacturing
exploit. And this democratization of the automobile comprises more than
the acme of efficiency in the manufacturing art. The career of Henry
Ford has a symbolic significance as well. It may be taken as signalizing
the new ideals that have gained the upper hand in American industry. We
began this review of American business with Cornelius Vanderbilt as the
typical figure. It is a happy augury that it closes with Henry Ford in
the foreground. Vanderbilt, valuable as were many of his achievements,
represented that spirit of egotism that was rampant for the larger part
of the fifty years following the war. He was always seeking his own
advantage, and he never regarded the public interest as anything worth
a moment's consideration. With Ford, however, the spirit of service
has been the predominating motive. His earnings have been immeasurably
greater than Vanderbilt's; his income for two ye