little more tony than the regulation fifty-cent sort. Oh, yes; he
could do that very nicely. How much would the best one he could make
cost? Well, if she could stand the racket, he could make one worth a
dollar. She thought she could, and the pail was ordered, made, and
delivered with pride. Perhaps you can guess the result. A facsimile of
the original, only twice the size.

Now, this is a very fair illustration of the fallacy of making things
stronger by simply adding iron. To illustrate what I think a much
better way, I have had made these crude models (see Fig. 1), for the
full force of which, as I said before, I am indebted to John Richards;
and I would here add that the mechanic who has never learned anything
from John Richards is either a very good or very poor one, or has
never read what John Richards has written or heard what he has had to
say.

Three models, as shown in Fig. 1, were exhibited; all were of the same
general dimensions and containing the same amount of material. The one
made on the box principle, c, proved to be fifty per cent. stiffer
in a vertical direction than either a or b, from twenty to fifty
times stiffer sidewise, and thirteen times more rigid against torsion
than either of the others.

However strong a frame may be, its own weight and the weight of the
work upon it tends to spring it unless evenly distributed, and to
twist it unless evenly proportioned. For all small machines the single
post obviates all trouble, but for machine tools of from twice to a
half dozen times their own length the single post is not available.
Four legs are used for machines up to ten feet or so, and above that
legs various and then solid masonry. If the four legs were always set