And the boilermaker, if he be dishonest, is doubly tempted if the broad width of a continent intervenes between him and the farmer for whom his work is intended, and if in the place where the boiler is to be used there are no inspection laws in force. The farmer who lives many miles from a city, and who has no means of testing any boiler he may purchase, is wholly at the mercy of the boilermaker, and must run it until it explodes or time proves it to have been honestly made. Then, again, there are boilermakers who, although making boilers of good iron and of the proper thickness, finish them off so badly that the farmer is put to great inconvenience and expense to put them in working order. Two years ago I purchased a straw-burning engine and boiler made by an Eastern firm. Before it had run ten days the boiler began to leak at the saddle-bolt holes. The engineer tightened the nuts as far as possible, but could not stop the leaks, which at last became so bad that we had to stop work and take the engine to the shop.

License information: nan
MPAA: G
Go to source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9076/9076-h/9076-h.htm#12