Letter to Taylor's secretary Frances Mitchell

              It was, in all probabilities, during the month of June, 1884, that Mr. Chas. W. Shartle (now of Middletown, Ohio) called at my home in Philadelphia and stated that Mr. Fred W. Taylor of Germantown wanted to meet Mr. Shartle and myself at the home of a mutual friend, Mr. Jos. B. King, also living in Germantown, on the following Sunday morning to submit and discuss a new system of cooperative management and, if possible, Mr. Taylor would like to have both Mr. Shartle and myself to come into the employ of the Midvale Steel Co. located in Nicetown, a suburb of Philadelphia, and in Mr. Taylor's department, he being then the Chief Engineer for the Midvale Steel Co. and, with others, to assist in seeing how practical his new system was so that it would be of mutual benefit to the Midvale Steel Co., Mr. Taylor, and ourselves, and to those who may succeed us in after years.

He unfolded to us on that bright Sunday morning what seemed to us an equally bright proposition, if it could be made practicable. If nothing else, his proposition and his enthusiasm was well worth listening to, to which we did with a good deal of interest. Mr. Taylor presented his proposition with great force, so much so that Mr. Shartle and I talked of nothing else on our way home after leaving he and Mr. King with a promise to Mr. Taylor that we would let him know through Mr. King if we would quit our then employers and be ready to report to Midvale Steel Co. July 1st.

As a boy, I had had experience with work at what was then called piece work, my employers paying me a compensation based on what I produced, which was the threading of carriage bolts at so much per thousand, they furnishing all the equipment and the blank bolts and I running a machine which produced the thread on the blank bolts.