Kettering started work in the barn in the summer of 1908. The equipment was already installed because Deeds had assembled it for the production of “Suburban Sixty.” It consisted of a milling machine, a drill press, an engine lathe, a tool grinder, a forge, one ten-horsepower motor, an oscillograph, a long bench, and small tools. All the machinery was concentrated in the hayloft while the “Suburban Sixty,” the first guinea pig, rested on the lower floor. Because the equipment was in the old hayloft, Kettering was dubbed the “hayloft inventor.” Connecting the two floors was a narrow, winding stairway on which Kettering dashed up and down a hundred times a day. [Illustration: Kettering in the early days when he was in the Inventions Division at NCR.] [Illustration: Kettering after he started to work on the self-starter.] In the early period of the project Kettering and Deeds could work only on weekends, nights, and holidays because they were both employed at the NCR. In 1909 Kettering realized that if the undertaking was to get anywhere, it would be necessary for him to devote all his time to it. He therefore resigned as Chief Inventor and set up shop in the barn, which was practically his domicile for the next two years. During Kettering’s years at the NCR factory, his chief assistant had been William A. Chryst, who had risen from office boy to a position of high skill and responsibility. He became an enthusiastic ally of the project. Soon he made a third to the duet that plugged away in the barn, working as a volunteer. During the period of incubation of ignition, the first link in the electrification system for the automobile, Deeds largely financed the operation. Kettering’s wants were simple. Deeds and Chryst had their posts at the NCR. Nevertheless it was hard financial sledding for everybody concerned. There were many times when the outlook was bleak and the barn treasury low. Chryst was the first recruit of the group of men who came to be known as the “Barn Gang.” Next came William Anderson. As months passed they were joined by Zerbe Bradford, William Mooney, John Reece, Ralph Todd, Harvey I. Phillips, John Lipes, Albert Koffer, John Sheats, Robert Demaree, and W. G. Johns. These men formed the nucleus of what later became the Delco organization. Back in Denison, Professor Cole had often said to Deeds: “The storage battery will come into its own.” He transmitted his faith to Deeds who found an enthusiastic supporter in Kettering. An electric ignition system stirred their imagination. It was to be part of that “something” that Deeds longed to put on a car.