taken at random. Because of the numerous commodities which were handled on which it was desirable to watch the cost of freight handling, the cost clerk figured the cost of any one commodity perhaps only one or two days in a month. Each morning the cost clerk would sort out all the labor tickets relating to some one particular commodity which had been handled on the preceding day. The cost per package would be figured up for each order ticket and, in the board reserved for that particular commodity, a tall pin would be placed for each order completed the preceding day, showing by the position of the pin the number of packages on the order and the cost per package of handling that particular order. In considering the pin marked 8 at the right of Fig. 159 we can see that it represents an order for 900 packages and that the cost per package was 1.1 cent. After some time in operating a pin board the position of the various pins on the board would show in the general form of a curve, and would indicate the cost of handling freight of that particular commodity in lots of different sizes. Since commodities received from ocean ships are usually packed in some standard size of bales, boxes, or bags, the pin method of charting cost is a remarkably reliable one.
The pin board can be of great assistance to the general superintendent. As the cost of handling certain orders for certain commodities for the preceding day is known about eleven o'clock each morning, the superintendent can look over the boards and note the special tall pins which show the exact cost of various orders handled. Thus, a superintendent seeing a board of the kind described would know that on the preceding day those orders had been completed which in Figure 159 are shown by numbered dots. His attention would be drawn at once to the orders represented by dots numbered 4, 5, 6 and 8. These dots show costs much above the average cost recorded for orders of those sizes. The cost clerk could furnish the order numbers of these particular orders and could also give the names of the foremen who had been in charge of the work. The superintendent could then ask for an explanation as to why these orders had cost much more than the work should have cost for lots of the size handled. Considering dot 6, notice that the average cost for 500 packages is about 0.80 cent, but the order represented by dot 6 cost 1.50 cent per package, almost twice what it should have cost. Though dot 4 shows considerably above the average dots for 100-package lots, the percentage excess is not so great as in the case of dot 6. Dot 4 shows a cost of about 2.20 cents, while the average cost
