In tiny Hampton (pop. 800), stiff-backed Thomas Estey Ryder, a retired World War I colonel, tramped up & down the elm-lined main street on a one-man job survey. Prospects for Hampton's returning veterans, he discovered, were dim. But chatting with townfolk, he got an idea.
To announce it, he called a meeting in Hampton's grey agricultural hall. Farmers drove in from miles around. Villagers turned out by the score. Colonel Ryder told them: Hampton should erect a factory to turn out "rounds and squares" (chair rungs, desk legs) from nearby stands of spruce, cedar, pine and birch. The factory would serve...
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