 Why did Hilary pour detergent into the fountain?
"It has the purpose," I told her, "of teaching the members something about commerce and industry. They manufacture simple compositions like polishing waxes and sell them from door-to-door. Marjorie put back her head and laughed, and I was forced to join her, for we both recognize that my understanding and "feel" for commercial matters—if I may use that expression—is almost nonexistent. "Well, sure, I suppose we want to," said Hilary. The usual products, of course, with these junior achievement efforts, are chemical specialties that can be made safely and that people will buy and use without misgivings—solvent to free up rusty bolts, cleaner to remove road tar, mechanic's hand soap—that sort of thing. "No, they're formulations—you know, mixtures. "Some," said Hilary, "and I've got a home laboratory." Denatured alcohol, glycerine, water, a little color and perfume. The parents had agreed to underwrite lunches at the barn and Betty Miller philosophically assumed the role of commissary officer. Peter Cope waved it off by remarking that they'd each do what came naturally. On the other hand, they pondered at some length about a name for the organization, without reaching any conclusions, so we returned to the problem of what to make. It was Mary, finally, who advanced the thought of kites. Tommy, for example, wanted to put tooth powder into tablets that one would chew before brushing the teeth. He thought there should be two colors in the same bottle—orange for morning and blue for night, the blue ones designed to leave the mouth alkaline at bed time. Hilary, reluctantly forsaking his ideas on detergents, suggested we make black plastic discs, like poker chips but thinner and as cheap as possible, to scatter on a snowy sidewalk where they would pick up extra heat from the sun and melt the snow more rapidly. Doris added to this that if you could make the discs light enough to float, they might be colored white and spread on the surface of a reservoir to reduce evaporation. These latter ideas had made unknowing use of some basic physics, and I'm afraid I relapsed for a few minutes into the role of teacher and told them a little bit about the laws of radiation and absorption of heat. Somehow I don't think you're going to have to call in Mr. Wells."
 He didn't, it was Tommy.
 He didn't, it was Mary.  He didn't, it was Tommy.  He didn't, it was Doris.  He didn't, it was Peter.