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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 8 (January 15, 1927)

Moving Heavy Loads

page 9

Moving Heavy Loads

The accompanying diagram is reproduced from the “Journal of the National Institute of Industrial Psychology.” The Institute was founded in 1921 for the application of psychology and physiology to industry and commerce. The idea is to discover by experiment the easiest and most efficient methods of carrying out routine tasks. In the present instance an account is given of experiments which have been carried out in Berlin to discover the best means of pushing and pulling heavy weights. Twenty athletic students took part in the experiments
Moving Heavy Loads.

Moving Heavy Loads.

and were invited to exert their maximum strength, in different positions, in pulling at a rope attached to a counter-weight via a dynamometer. The dynamometer readings (kilogrammes) in the case of the nine positions shown were found to be:—

1, 70.7; 2, 56.6; 3, 74.2; 4, 71.6; 5, 68.7; 6, 82.7; 7, 77.1; 8, 62.0; 9, 68.4.

The conclusion arrived at was that position 6 was the best, being 17 per cent. above the mean strength of all positions, and position 2 the worst, being 18 per cent. below the mean strength.

Good Enough”

My son, beware of “good enough,”
It isn't made of sterling stuff;
It's something any man can do,
It marks the many from the few,
It has no merit to the eye,
It's something any man can buy,
It's name is but a sham and bluff,
For it is never “good enough.”
With “good enough” the shirkers stop
In every factory and shop;
With “good enough” the failures rest
And lose to men who give their best;
With “good enough” the car breaks down
And men fall short of high renown.
My son, remember and be wise,
In “good enough” disaster lies.
With “good enough” have ships been wrecked,
The forward march of armies checked,
Great buildings burned and fortunes lost;
Nor can the world compute the cost
In life and money it has paid
Because at “good enough” men stayed.
Who stops at “good enough” shall find
Success has left him far behind.
There is no “good enough” that's short
Of what you can do and you ought.
The flaw which may escape the eye
And temporarily get by,
Shall weaken underneath the strain,
And wreck the ship or car or train,
For this is true of men and stuff—
Only the best is “good enough.”