 Why does the group want to buy a hydraulic press?
"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. Some groups have built up tidy little bank accounts which are available for later educational expenses." Mr. McCormack is going to put up fifty dollars to buy any raw materials wanted Back in the old Ridgeville, fifty-odd miles to the south, we had our home almost paid for, when the accident occurred. When Ridgeville moved to its present site, so, of course, did we, which meant starting mortgage payments all over again. This was to be our headquarters and factory for the summer—a roomy unused barn belonging to the parents of one of the group members, Tommy Miller. You're going to decide what to do, and if it's safe and legal and possible to do with the starting capital we have, I'll go along with it and help in any way I can. "I'd like to make something by powder metallurgy techniques," said Pete. "And all we'd need is a hydraulic press," I told him, "which, on a guess, might cost ten thousand dollars. "Well, now," I admitted, "the market for red mice might be rather limited. There was a pause, then Tommy inquired, "How do you sell it?" I'd forgotten all about organization, and that, according to all the articles I had perused, is most important to such groups. It's standard practice for every member of the group to be a company 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. You'd drive it in with a hammer up to the threaded part, then send it home with a few turns of a screwdriver. 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. 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.
 They want to make ball bearings.
 They want to make cages for the mice.  They want to make ball bearings.  They want to make kites.  They want to make detergent.