It should also be clear that it pays to house workmen at no great distance from their work, so as to reduce the labor of going to and from the work; for every foot─pound of energy spent in going or coming reduces by that much the available energy of the man. If it were practicable to measure the amount of resistance involved in doing each class of physical work, we could readily reduce to a science the setting of reasonable daily tasks. The authors are of the opinion that a careful study of _resistances_ will eventually enable managers to fix certain tasks with great accuracy. To illustrate, let us assume that it is desired to know how much sand a workman should be able to shovel into a wagon box 5 feet from the ground in a day. It is not impracticable to measure the force required to push the shovel into the sand, and the distance pushed. The average weight of the earth on a shovel, and the weight of the shovel can be ascertained. The vertical height that this load is lifted, is easily measured. If the workman bends his body to fill the shovel, the weight of his body above the waist, multiplied by the height that the center of gravity of that weight travels will give the foot─pounds of work done in bending the body. And thus, by a calculation of each element of work done, an accurate forecast of the total possible work could be made. Such a study as this will often disclose an unsuspected lack of economy in using certain tools. From such a study, for example, it is perfectly clear that the long─handled shovel, universally used in the far West for shoveling sand, gravel, etc., is a more economical tool than the short─handled shovel used in the East. Men have argued about this matter for years without coming to a definite conclusion, the reason being that workmen accustomed to the short─handled shovel prefer it, while workmen accustomed to the long─handled shovel show an equal preference for that type of tool. COST GETTING In taking of time and in the application of the cost of labor to the cost of work, there are probably as many systems as there are organizations doing work; and even within any one organization using a well─defined system throughout its entire operations, there will be no two men making the same interpretation of the rules laid down, or──more especially──whose methods of attack will be the same. But in spite of these many variations of method, there are several primary systems which are standard, and which can be found in one form or another on all properly conducted work. The starting point of all cost getting is the taking of the time in the field, and it is here that the greatest variation in individual method is found. The most common way of taking this time record from which the pay─roll and the cost distribution is made, is for the time─keeper to go over the work with a notebook and put down therein with a pencil the number of each man and the particular part of the work that he is engaged on.