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from an excellent "Mr. Erie Works" to a lot of people for whom he was the first person who greeted them and the last to see them when he took them to the train, into a so-so maker-of-arrangements for a group of not-so-important people Maynard looked well in a chauffeur's uniform but quite ordinary in regular clothes. I suppose he made a little more money in the new job but I'm sure his contribution was less.

Another guy who swung into my orbit about this time was Jim Chambers, who carried the title of Mechanical Engineer of the I-R Locomotive Department. Despite his title, Jim seemed to function also as a star salesman. He visited Erie frequently to work out engineering details on locomotives IR had sold and we were to build. He was a medium-build, sallow-faced, slick-haired man in his thirties who wore a narrow black moustache and could have passed easily for a high grade Armenian rug peddler. He had had the foresight to purchase a fabulous quantity of high quality XX Applejack in the late 1920's--say a thousand gallons--and his visits anywhere were looked forward to with keen anticipation because he always packed a quart or so of this powerful and delectible stuff. It was like Santa Claus coming down the chimney with his pack on his back. Jim was easy to get along with, had a tremendous assortment of stories on tap including many new ones, and our business dealings were usually very smooth. His job kept him away from home most of the time and with respect to women, he was completely amoral. They were all fair game and he'd worked out through lengthy experimentation, a satisfactory system for selecting the most desirable. His discovery had been that when more than one woman was at hand, like in a group of people, the best results were usually to be had by selecting the least attractive one and devoting one's attentions exclusively to her. Under such circumstances one's chances of success were the greatest as well as the satisfactions accruing therefrom because the lady would be so full of gratitude, her responses would be far beyond the usual. Most people were glad to see Jim arrive in town, I among them. Unfortunately, his reasons for visiting Erie were diminishing rapidly as business failed. But he usually had something he was working on and we saw him periodically if only on proposition work. He was a lot of fun. For the next five years or so, I was to have numerous associations with him both in Erie and in the field.

   There was a scandal in the GE plant organization. Walter Horstman, the production manager, was caught taking kickbacks from vendors and was summarily fired by Herman Emmet. Dave Blair, who'd been head of motor production, took his place, and Dave was replaced by Perce Vines with whom I was to work closely over many years. I used to kid Perce during WW-II by calling him "Nine-month" Vines because that seemed the only production promise he knew how to make.