1898’s “Illustrated History of the State Federation of Labor” is far more than its title implies, and it carries much more than the stirring stories of the formation of the Brotherhood of Bookbinders or the strikes of the Stove Mounters Union. In a section titled “Miscellaneous Laws,” it offers the turn of that other century’s equivalent of things that make you go hmmmn:
Things That Never Will Be Settled
“Engineer” says that among things that never will be settled are the following:
- Whether a long screw driver is better than a short one of the same family.
- Whether water wheels run faster at night than they do in the day-time.
- The best way to harden steel.
- Which side of the belt should run next to the pulley.
- The proper speed of the line shafts.
- The right way to lace belts.
- Whether compression is economical or the reverse.
- The principle of the steam injector.
Thoughts?