The work of
inspection was done entirely by girls--about one hundred and twenty
being employed at it--all on day work.
This work consisted briefly in placing a row of small polished steel
balls on the back of the left hand, in the crease between two of the
fingers pressed together, and while they were rolled over and over, with
the aid of a magnet held in the right hand, they were minutely examined
in a strong light, and the defective balls picked out and thrown into
especial boxes. Four kinds of defects were looked for--dented, soft,
scratched, and fire cracked--and they were mostly 50 minute as to be
invisible to an eye not especially trained to this work. It required the
closest attention and concentration. The girls had worked on day work
for years, ten and one-half hours per day, with a Saturday half-holiday.
The first move before in any way stimulating them toward a larger output
was to insure against a falling off in quality. This was accomplished
through over-inspection. Four of the most trustworthy girls were given
each a lot of balls which had been examined the day before by one of the
regular inspectors. The number identifying the lot having been changed
by the foreman so that none of the over-inspectors knew whose work they
were examining. In addition, one of the lots inspected by the four
over-inspectors was examined on the following day by the chief
inspector, selected on account of her accuracy and integrity.
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