ance. In writing letters or advertisements
or magazine articles, I analyze the work
of other men and consciously imitate what
seems best. Or I observe a fellow-laborer
working faster than I, and forthwith try to
catch and hold his pace.

The contagion of yawning, on the other
hand, is instinctive imitation. Also when in
a crowd during the homeward evening rush,
we instinctively quicken our pace though there
may be no reason for hurry.

For precisely similar reasons, a ``loafer''
or a careless or inefficient workman will lower
the efficiency or slow up the production of
the men about him, no matter how earnest
or industrious their natural habits. Night
work by clerks, also, is taken by some office
managers to indicate a slump in industry during
the day. To correct this the individuals
who are drags on the organization are discovered,
and either are revitalized or discharged.

_I have seen more than one machine shop where
production could have been materially raised_

_by the simple expedient of weeding out the workmen
who were satisfied with a mere living wage
earned by piecework, thereby setting a dilatory