MISTAKE ON THE RIGHT SIDE
An American chemist has won a gold medal by making the most of a mistake. The mistake was not his own but that of a negro who was slashing a pine tree for the turpentine which flows from it. An expert cut had to be made. The negro, who was left-handed, took an axe intended for a right-handed blow, and having its cutting edge ground on one side more than the other to suit its special purpose. The cut the man aimed was. as the result of the mistake, different in shape from that intended. But the chemist, Dr. Herty, who had the trees under observation, found that as a consequence more turpentine was exuding from the pine. He pursued the inquiry, and nt last told the turpentine producers of his discovery. As is not common, they refused at first to believe that such a simple thing could be true. But some consented to try it. When it had been given a full trial for a year the mistake produced nearly £200,000 more profit.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19320803.2.17
Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 264, 3 August 1932, Page 3
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179MISTAKE ON THE RIGHT SIDE Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 264, 3 August 1932, Page 3
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