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Statistical Process Control: A Pragmatic Approach 1st Edition Stephen Mundwiller (Author)
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To Dr. John Ridgway, PhD, University of Missouri– St. Louis, who told me in freshman biology class, “Steve, if you earn this degree, you will have learned how to think.”
To Dr. Lon Wilkens, PhD, University of Missouri– St. Louis, who told me in 2006, “It is never too late to right a wrong.”
To Dr. Elizabeth Cudney, PhD, Missouri University of Science and Technology, for her faith in me and her support in writing this book.
To my wife Deborah, for her support and encouragement.
To my daughter Stephanie, for just being wonderful.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful and indebted to those who have taught and mentored me over many years. They may have had just a few kind words or definite examples and outright instruction. They challenged me to think, although sometimes in a painful way, but always to a positive end. Sometimes, the thought process from their challenge occurred years later, but nevertheless it did happen.
About the Author
Stephen Mundwiller is currently employed by Liebel-Flarsheim, LLC, a Guerbet Group Company. Prior to this, Stephen performed consulting and training services through his own company, SME Quality Resources, LLC.
In 2014, Stephen left his position as the director of quality assurance and regulatory affairs for Allied Healthcare Products in St. Louis, Missouri. In this capacity, Stephen was responsible for improving and maintaining the quality management systems, ensuring the timely submission of all domestic and international regulatory documents, managing the investigation of customer complaints, managing quality improvement activities, and managing a staff of 13.
Previously, also through SME Quality Resources, Stephen provided comprehensive consulting services, training and mentoring services, and systems development to manufacturing and service sectors, both public and private. He has served many organizations by implementing and improving quality systems, mentoring and providing instruction to individuals, and by performing quality system audits.
Currently, Stephen serves the American Society for Quality (ASQ) as the Deputy Region 13 Director. He served as a board member of the St. Louis chapter of the ASQ for approximately 10 years and holds ASQ certifications as a Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE), Quality Systems Auditor (CQA), Quality Process Analyst (CQPA), and Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB). In addition, Stephen has been an instructor for St. Louis Community College, teaching classes in ISO 9000 and Quality Tools.
1 Why Statistical Process Control?
Control without action is simply a hobby.
Kaoru Ishikawa
Why? Because it will still work and it works great when used properly, with appropriate training. Just because something is old, does not mean it no longer provides value. In this Six Sigma world, there are other methods to monitor, control, and improve processes. Since Six Sigma is basically a project management methodology, it can be used to reduce or eliminate issues identified by statistical process control (SPC) charts. Note that as you read this book, I am a pragmatic fanatic when it comes to product or service quality.
SPC does not solve anything. SPC charts provide data, and extremely meaningful data if one understands what they are seeing when they look at the control chart. That data provides a picture of products that have been manufactured or a service that has been provided. At this point, I must state that I am a manufacturing guy. While I’ ve consulted in the service industry, approximately 98% of my background is in manufacturing. So this book, the examples, and the war stories provided are from manufacturing scenarios. Years back, I worked as a quality manager in a high-speed liquid, consumer product manufacturing factory. Line speeds were generally 80– 150 bottles per minute depending on the size and the viscosity of the liquid. The lines were mostly automated with a crew of three to five people per line. It was a three-shift operation with occasional weekend work, although not all lines ran on second or third shift. The hourly workers were all trained in SPC, mostly by me. The first thing I did when I arrived at my desk in the morning
was to turn on my PC and review the SPC data from the previous second and third shifts. With the SPC software used and essentially any SPC software on the market, one can isolate the data to a production line, a shift, or any time period. Based on the charts, I could predict their shift’ s level of quality, their approximate case output, and what mistakes, if any, were made, as well as the level of operator frustration. But, then, I’ m highly talented. Although with time and training almost any professional could do the same. I’ m just pointing out the value of accurate SPC data with accurate control charts.
During this time, I could identify remedial training needs by evaluating the SPC control charts. An example would be when the primary line leader was on vacation and the backup employee was running the line. Sometimes, it was a case of nerves. Other times, they had clearly forgotten some of their SPC training. While not a catastrophe, I could easily address these special or assignable causes of variation. Later in this book, I will discuss what I call problem variation, which I consider the most important type of variation to be able to recognize.
My SPC training classes started in this organization with the first-shift production lines of which there were about a dozen, as all lines usually ran on first shift. After first shift was trained, I then worked second shift to provide training to the smaller second shift, which only ran a few lines based on demand. Their training was followed by the third shift. This training was a two-year ordeal, as training was not the primary focus of my job. Like many production scenarios, taking hourly direct labor personnel out of producing product is almost unheard of and not something done routinely.
With the first shift trained, there was a noticeable reduction in variation as shown on the SPC control charts. Two main reasons: data entry errors were able to be edited, and I constantly preached to avoid machine or line adjustment unless it was absolutely necessary. If the process was in control and the bottle fill levels, as well as the cap off-torque, met or were close to the minimum, then my policy was to let the line run. More on this later, but as stated, adjusting a process is adding a variance, and things will get worse before they get better.
So when untrained second shift operators, who tended to be younger and male, took over the production line from the more experienced and SPCtrained first-shift operators, who tended to be female, their first thought was, “ I can get out more cases on my shift than she did!” So what did they do? They increased the line speed, which added a variation and was an assignable cause. The filler became out of synchronization, the capper and labeler started jamming, and the case packer would malfunction. So they would have to stop the line many times. Their case output would be about 60% of the first shift. Why? They added variance to the process by making adjustments. Not really their fault, as they did not know any better until I had trained them. I will repeat this multiple times in this book. When making changes to a process, things will always get worse before they improve, albeit sometimes for a short period of time. Once I had second and third
shifts trained, these types of competitive issues went away. On some lines, engineering and I had the adjustments locked into a specific setting where no adjustments could be made except by maintenance. Overall, case output went up significantly for the entire operation.
I had other very significant accomplishments at this facility. Eventually, they got into very serious financial trouble. They had to cut staff and as in many instances, quality assurance (QA) is the first to go. Such is life for the hard-working quality manager.
Other special or assignable causes that are seen on the control charts would fall into one of the six categories as listed on a Cause and Effect Diagram or Fishbone Diagram.* These are environment, method, materials, measurement, manpower, and machine. This would provide projects for quality, maintenance, engineering, or sometimes human resources. Without the control charts, it would have been much more difficult to identify these special causes of variation unless there was clear catastrophic failure. One thing that should be noted is that in high-speed manufacturing like this, stopping the production line is detrimental to the shift case output and adds unnecessary variation to the process. Yes, stopping a production line is adding variance to the process.
At other times, we used the SPC control charts to identify more long-term projects to reduce the common cause variation inherent in the process. While I will discuss this more in Chapter 4 on variation, think of it as the background noise of the process. Life is not perfect, manufacturing is not perfect, service is not perfect, and control charts are not perfect in appearance. This is shown on the control chart as the common cause variation.
Another advantage of having an SPC program in place is that it enables one to quantitatively measure the reduction in variation after an improvement is implemented. Again, always keep in mind that when a change or changes are made to a process, that is introducing a new variable. Things will get worse before they get better. This will be shown on the control charts. So
* Cause and Effect Diagram, Ishikawa Diagram, or Fishbone Diagram: Developed by Kaoru Ishikawa (1915– 1989) in 1968, consisting of six segments or branches on the diagram: machine (technology), method (process), material (raw material and consumables), manpower (people), measurement, and environment. When drawn, the diagram resembles a fishbone.
don’ t panic. Be patient! Again, later in this book I will discuss what I call problem variation.
For example, a new machine is added to a production line to replace an old one that needs excessive maintenance. The new machine is also capable of higher capacity. When the production line is restarted after that new machine has been installed, production will be slower and quality will likely be worse. The new machine has to be “ fine-tuned.” It has to be adjusted to be compatible with other pieces of equipment on the production line. Other machines on the production line may need adjustment to be more compatible with the new machine. Then let the production line run. Let things start to synchronize. Don’ t panic and start over adjusting and blaming the new machine. Take it slow and easy. Gradually, the process will get better. The control charts will graphically show this slow improvement as a slow reduction in common cause variation. The variation caused by putting in the new machine is special or assignable cause variation. If the common cause variation levels out with no real overall improvement, then the new machine was not the answer to reduce the common cause variation. However, there is still an advantage due to the reduction in maintenance and downtime. All this is seen by using SPC and viewing the control chart. Note again that every time a production line stops and then starts there is an introduction of special cause variation which could be a source of problems.
While an engineer or quality professional may accumulate data and construct a control chart manually, the best means to track the SPC data is with software. Whether the measures are taken manually or automatically, those measures are entered onto an SPC control chart or into an SPC system. Manual SPC charts may be used to evaluate a specific set of data over a brief period of time if SPC software is not available. Clearly, software is the best option for a production scenario. Every time new data is entered, the software does the calculations … we’ ll discuss these calculations in Chapter 3. The software will hold tens of thousands of pieces of data. The data present can cover years of production. Or one can isolate and just look at any specific time period. This is very useful to evaluate the differences between shifts and operators, identify improvement projects, or measure the value of improvement projects and the level of improvement.
For all practical purposes, SPC does not work in a real world sense unless SPC software is used. It should be noted that the software will immediately perform all of the various calculations and update the important numerical indices, as well as the control charts. This provides the user, management, and any other interested parties with an immediate picture of the process performance.
Today, we have Six Sigma, Lean, and Lean-Six Sigma as the solution to all things in the quality and business world. I consider Lean or Lean Manufacturing to be a cultural change and Six Sigma to be a project management methodology. As I’ ve discussed in this chapter and will in more detail in the next, SPC is not new and it is actually rather old in the time frame of
the modern manufacturing world. But, it still works and will work extremely well. It can be used in conjunction with modern tools such as Lean and Six Sigma to significantly provide business improvement. While improvements can be made without SPC as I’ ve done as a consultant many times, it is quite useful when used together with Lean and Six Sigma or other methodologies. As shown in Chapter 4, SPC can be used to identify projects or processes needing improvement and then when completed, assess the level of improvement that was accomplished. It should be noted that SPC is a monitoring tool. It is something that provides warnings or clear indications when there is a problem that needs to be addressed.
When an organization goes through a cultural change to Lean, it is truly a change in the way an organization functions. There are eight classic wastes identified that need to be eliminated or greatly reduced as an organization goes through this cultural change. Reducing or eliminating waste releases capacity. One of these classic wastes to work on is to eliminate or reduce defects. Consider how many problems defects cause. Scrap, overtime, rework, excessive standard labor hours, excessive engineering hours, excessive quality control hours, and reduced efficiency are the main consequences of defects. While SPC cannot be applied to all activities involved to reduce the defect rate, it can be used to monitor a process to determine if the common cause variation, assignable cause variation, and what I call problem variation is in fact reduced or eliminated.
Today, we truly live in a Six Sigma world. Every organization wants belts. Green Belts, Black Belts, and Master Black Belts are typical quality and engineering job requirements. SPC can definitely and should be used with Six Sigma projects. Whether by manually calculated results and manually plotted control charts or by using SPC software, SPC is a great tool to measure the progress and success of a Six Sigma project. Not all Six Sigma projects, but certainly some, can be used with SPC for improving a process or business. Unfortunately, not very many Six Sigma professionals use or understand SPC. I’ ve seen multiple holders of Six Sigma black belts that could not interpret a simple control chart. Remember, SPC in itself does not solve problems. SPC is only used to support a process. While that may be for long-term monitoring and just keeping an eye on things, or to identify projects to work on, or to monitor the progress of an improvement, SPC remains a valuable tool, albeit a rather old one.
2 A Brief History
You cannot inspect quality into a product.
Harold F. Dodge
In 1939, while working for Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., Dr. Walter A. Shewhart, PhD, wrote Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control .* The book (currently available from Dover Publications) is based on a series of four lectures Shewhart gave on the subject to the Graduate School of the Department of Agriculture. In the preface, Shewhart noted that statistical methods of research had been highly developed in the field of agriculture. He similarly noted that statistical methods of control had been developed by industry for the purpose of attaining economic control of quality of product in mass production. Shewhart stated that it was reasonable to expect that much is to be gained by correlating as far as possible the development of the two types of statistical techniques.
In his book, Shewhart explained the statistical mathematics behind control and the methodology for plotting data on a control chart. The calculations for the process average, the upper and lower control limits were described and demonstrated. He also included such concepts as the minimum and maximum or the range of the data, subgroup average, standard deviation, and the quantity of data.
Contributors to Dr. Shewhart’s book included Dr. W. Edwards Deming, PhD,† and Harold F. Dodge.‡ Dr. Deming always referred to control charts as Shewhart charts in reference to the original developer.
For decades, Dr. Deming preached data-based decision making. Sounds great, doesn’t it? But, Deming also stated that using statistical methods alone is not enough. His goal in life was to seek methods of improvement.
* Dr. Walter A Shewhart (1891– 1967): Wrote Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control. Originally published in 1939 by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C. Reprinted in 1986 by Dover Publications, Inc.
† W. Edwards Deming, PhD (1900– 1993): An American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant.
‡ Harold F. Dodge (1893– 1976): An American engineer and scientist and the principal architect of the science of statistical quality control, who is universally known for his work in developing acceptance sampling plans.
Deming’s Fourteen Points* for management are still extremely applicable today.
There were 10 or fewer points for good management when he originally wrote the points for management while working in Japan. After returning to the United States, he realized that due to cultural differences in management and the workforce, additional points were needed. For example, point eight, to drive fear out of the workplace, was not needed in Japan due to the culture.
The Fourteen Points
1. Create a constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service.
2. Adopt a new philosophy.
3. Cease dependence on mass inspection.
4. End the practice of awarding business on price alone.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service.
6. Institute training.
7. Institute leadership.
8. Drive fear out of the workplace.
9. Break down barriers between staff areas.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce.
11. Eliminate numerical quotas.
12. Remove barriers to pride of workmanship.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and retraining.
14. Take action to accomplish the transformation.
A few years later, Dr. Deming had what he termed a “later awakening.” He then proposed the “Seven Deadly Diseases”† as he continuously honed his principles for management and business.
* Out of the Crisis by Dr. Deming: Published by MIT Press in 1982, which included his Fourteen Points for Management.
† Seven Deadly Diseases of Management: Dr. Deming had what he termed as a later awakening after he developed the 14 Points. The first five Deadly Diseases were global in nature while diseases six and seven were for the USA.
The Seven Deadly Diseases
1. Lack of constancy of purpose
2. Emphasis on short-term profits
3. Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance
4. Mobility of management
5. Running a company on visible pictures alone
6. Excessive medical costs (Western countries only)
7. Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers that work on contingency fees (USA only)
Consider number four, the mobility of management. I once attended a symposium featuring Mr. Charles “Chuck” Knight* of Emerson Electric as the keynote speaker. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman of Emerson for over 25 years. In his keynote address, Mr. Knight discussed how a CEO or senior leader must stay with a company for at least 20 years in order to accomplish any items of substance. He blamed the short-term tenure of senior managers for the failure of many organizations. Looking at the success of many organizations, consider how many have had long-term leaders. This is not a book about Dr. Deming or any other guru. My point in listing the brilliant information from Dr. Deming and others is that control charts and statistical process control (SPC) are only a slice of the pie for process improvement and defect elimination. Lean, Six Sigma, formal quality systems, total quality management (see the book by Dr. Dale Besterfield, PhD†), quality circles, and world-class manufacturing techniques, as well as many other quality tools, are some other methods that can be used in conjunction with SPC. SPC provides the picture and the data calculations, but not the solution. For example:
I call my friend Mike and say, “Hey, how about lunch, are you busy today?” If his response is, “Steve, my line number three is running today with a Cpk of 0.8.” My quick response would be, “I’ll let you go, you’ve got stuff to do.”
Then, if at a later date I make the same invitation and his response is, “Sure, all three of my lines are running with a Cpk above 1.3 today,” I would say, “Meet you soon and you’re buying!”
* Charles “Chuck” Knight (born 1936): CEO of Emerson Electric from 1973 to 2000, president from 1986 to 1988 and 1995 to 1997, and chairman from 1974 to 2004. Currently serves as chairman emeritus. In 2005, he wrote Performance Without Compromise, published by Harvard Business Review Press.
† Dr. Dale Besterfield, supra.
We’ll discuss Cpk in Chapter 4, but the point is just these simple numbers based on SPC give me a picture of the situation at Mike’s factory. It doesn’t matter what his product is, or how many people are working for him, I can quickly tell if things are going well or not.
SPC is also a tool for monitoring and identifying process continuous improvement projects. Use it as such! For more on Dr. Deming, I suggest the books by Mary Walton.*
Since Dr. Deming was such a huge proponent for the use of SPC, let’s explore his beliefs a little more in depth. Let’s examine the Fourteen Points.
1. Create a constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service : This is an utterly brilliant sentence! While one could write a whole chapter on the philosophical brilliance of this point, this is not the place. Take a bit of time to just think about it, but be constant in your plans for improvement. Never stop improving. Never stop looking to the future. Is there any business that has senior management that believes they cannot improve? I’m sure there are. I’m sure that they have some of the Seven Deadly Diseases, too!
This point could also be used as a starting point for risk-based thinking for ISO-9001:2015.
2. Adopt a new philosophy : Adopt a new philosophy? Well, if a business is not doing well, something should change! However, a successful business could adopt the new philosophy of the Fourteen Points and avoid the Seven Deadly Diseases. Let’s look at a brilliant American company that no longer exists. Motorola was founded in 1928 and for decades came out with new and innovative products based on their incredible research and development. They were part of the backbone of American technological edge. Motorola invented the Six Sigma methodology, although General Electric (GE) was more successful in putting Six Sigma to practical use. Then, in 2007, Motorola started experiencing huge losses. They initiated massive reductions in their workforce, including their research and development divisions. Key executives left in great numbers. By 2011, Motorola no longer existed as an independent company. Did they fail to adopt a new philosophy? Did they fail to have a constancy of purpose?
3. Cease dependence on mass inspection : One of my absolute favorites! American and Western businesses continue to attempt to inspect quality into their product. If a lot fails the first time, just re-sample it or do a 100% inspection another one of my sources of workplace humor also known as sorting. People are not machines. People make mistakes. Just how accurate are people at inspecting products?
* Mary Walton (born 1941): Wrote The Deming Management Method in 1986, published by Putnam Books and Deming Management at Work in 1988, published by Perigee Books.
While I cannot cite the studies, I’ve read research that shows that overall people are about 85% accurate when conducting inspections. Some people are certainly better at inspecting and some people are worse. Regardless, human beings are never perfect. Does inspection accuracy decrease right before lunch, on a Monday morning, or on a Friday afternoon? Yes, it most likely does! As most quality assurance professionals know, the answer is to simply build quality into the product from the beginning. However, other management disciplines do not understand or allow this activity. “Just inspect it it’s cheaper.” Yeah right!
4. End the practice of awarding business on price alone : To this day materials managers and purchasing agents are rewarded for procuring a component or material at a lower price. They and most senior managers have no concept of the overall costs of poor quality. If you have low quality coming in your back door, you will produce and ship low quality, regardless of how much inspection and labor is put into the product. The quality of the component and material must be considered as well as on-time delivery, stability of the supplier, flexibility of the supplier, and other supplier attributes.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service : Very profound! I hope by now one can start to understand how the Fourteen Points are interrelated. Never, ever stop improving. Never, ever stop learning as an organization!
6. Institute training : Most managers in the United States and the Western world cannot see the value in training, whether it is formal classroom or on-the-job training. Rather than a value-added activity, they see training as an unnecessary cost in labor. This is especially true for the hourly workers. Taking a production worker away from making product to provide training is just a concept that these managers cannot grasp or accept.
The benefits of a good training program are not always visible on a short-term basis. But, the value is there. A recommendation here is Dr. Phil Crosby’s Quality Is Free ,* to understand the hidden costs of quality that can be eliminated by a good training program.
7. Institute leadership : This one is the most abstract of the Fourteen Points. I think it is very difficult to just institute or train in leadership, although I know of some businesses that have had some moderate success doing this. My interpretation of this point is to hire leaders! If an organization finds a good leader, hire them whether there is an opening or not. Their talents will become extremely valuable over time.
* Quality is Free: Written in 1979 by Dr. Phillip (Phil) Crosby (1926– 2001) and published by McGraw-Hill.
I’ve had some success in mentoring younger managers to be better leaders. But, if one does not have leadership ability, it cannot really be taught. This supports my point that good leaders are very valuable.
8. Drive fear out of the workplace : Does anyone want to come to work to be reprimanded or ridiculed? I am acquainted with a senior manager who was driving into work on a beautiful late spring day. The closer he got to work the more knotted up his stomach became and his stress increased. He wasn’t even on the job yet. He had done nothing wrong. But, he worked for a nonviolent sociopathic CEO. That day, he notified the CEO that he was retiring. He just didn’t need the stress any longer. This company lost an excellent senior leader. Fear is catastrophic to an organization!
Too many managers thrive on creating fear in their area of responsibility. Notice that I call these people managers and not leaders. A leader would never exhibit the behavior of creating fear in the workplace. A manager that creates fear in the workplace is an insecure manager. The organization is better off without them.
Consider the Seagull Manager, as coined by Ken Blanchard* in Management of Organizational Behavior : “A Seagull Manager will fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, then fly out.” They only show up when there is a problem, contribute nothing, create fear, and are not leaders.
9. Break down barriers between staff areas : All departments should be working together for the common good of the organization. A leader will understand this. The average manager thinks only of their department. Institute organization-wide teamwork and cross-training.
One concept that was instituted at a company that won the United States Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was that a downstream person or department did not have to accept inferior or defective work from an upstream person or department. How profound!
The key point here is that all should be working to the common good and success of the organization.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce : Why not? Most of these are just decorative wall hangings. Again, leadership comes in to play here. Remember that the Fourteen Points are interrelated. A good leader does not need slogans, exhortations, and targets. These are a waste of time and energy that the leader does not need.
* Kenneth “Ken” H. Blanchard (born 1939): Co-wrote Management of Organizational Behavior in 1968, and published by Prentice-Hall. In this book, he defined the term “Seagull Manager.”
11. Eliminate numerical quotas : There are some businesses that pay workers by the piece produced rather than by the hour. The goal is more production. Quality of the product is a distant second. Eliminate long-term quotas such as sales quotas. It is just that simple. Someone is either doing a good job or they are not, regardless of their numbers. What happens when a sales person exceeds their sales quota?
I know of one instance where a relatively new salesman to an organization more than doubled the sales of his predecessor and greatly exceeded his quota. The result was his boss telling him that he did great, but that he was not paying him the bonus he had earned, as it was too much money. The boss then raised his quota to exceed his current performance. This is a true example— so much for this man’s enthusiasm.
The other thing that happens to those in sales is that when one continually meets or exceeds their quota, they are promoted to sales manager. So the best sales person is taken out of sales and put into management, where they may not be successful at all. Why not just pay the excellent sales person a higher salary as a reward?
Departmental production quotas just cause unnecessary stress and fear. These can also lead to cutting corners or eliminating product quality in order to meet the quota. If people are doing a good job, there are many ways to reward them. Use rewards as part of leadership rather than numerical targets.
12. Remove barriers to pride of workmanship : This one is also somewhat philosophical and yet brilliant. Consider that people want to do a good job. They also usually know where the problems are, even if they have some trepidation or don’t understand the right terminology. They are often starved to get someone to listen to them. As a consultant, I have had great success using this principle. I just ask the hourly worker what the problems are. Most will give honest answers and most point to bad, inattentive, or other types of management that we’ve discussed. I simply take the information from the worker, organize it in a pragmatic fashion that suits the organization and I’m a hero. The answers were there all along, but there were barriers.
People want to do a good job. This crosses cultural and religious boundaries. Leaders will give them the opportunity to do so.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and retraining : Tom Peters* has stated, “If your company is making money, double your training budget. If your company is losing money, quadruple it.” A very
* Thomas “Tom” J. Peters (born 1942): American writer on business management practices known for his drive for excellence.
profound statement from another brilliant guru. The more typical process when a company is losing money is to cut the staff.
There are some organizations that rely heavily on written procedures. This may be driven by a misunderstanding of industry regulatory requirements. Their training program will often consist solely of a review of the procedures every year with documentation of the review. Done! Was anything actually learned? Was there value in this process?
At one time, I was employed by a company that had instituted skill-based training for all hourly employees. Most of the classes involved in acquiring a skill required the passing of an exam or quiz. As participants succeeded in passing classes, they received a raise in pay. Some jobs required the passing of designated classes to secure a permanent job. Then, to move up to the next grade level, again required the passing of designated classes. Some workers were content to stay at a lower grade, but most wanted a higher wage and therefore strived to move up in grade. Not all classes were directly related to the job. Many were more general classes about business, quality, and leadership. The result was a well-paid, happy, productive workforce that produced a very good product.
14. Take action to accomplish the transformation : Just do it! Hint: It will take leaders!
Another example of an old set of principles that are still very relevant today was developed by Henri Fayol.* Henri Fayol was a French engineer that developed a business management theory known today as Fayolism. He published Administration Industrielle et Generale in 1916. Despite World War I, the demand for his book was immediate and by 1925, 15,000 copies had been printed. The first English edition was in 1929 in Great Britain. Despite widespread interest, it was not published in the United States during that era. His work has been recently republished in English for the United States by Martino Publishing in 2013 as General and Industrial Management.
I find it most interesting that he also developed fourteen principles of business management.
1. Division of work
2. Authority
3. Discipline
* Henri Fayol (1841– 1925): A French mining engineer who wrote Administration Industrielle et Generale in 1916. His theories on scientific management are known as Fayolism. He is considered one of the founders of modern management methods.
4. Unity of command
5. Unity of direction
6. Subordination of individual interests to the general interests
7. Remuneration
8. Centralization
9. Scalar chain (line of authority)
10. Order
11. Equity
12. Stability of tenure of personnel
13. Initiative
14. Esprit de corps
Clearly, this is a book on statistical process control with a focus on a unique instruction method and the introduction of the concept of “problem variation.” However, SPC is used to monitor, control, and measure improvement in a production or service process. That is, improving quality, which improves the business. This brief review of Fayolism is to provide potential interest to further explore this exceptional work from over 100 years ago and apply it today to the reader’s business or organization.
Other suggested reading is Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor,* originally published in 1911 and recently republished in 2007 by NuVision Publications, LLC. Taylorism, as Frederick Taylor’s principles are known, is rather outdated today, but it is an interesting look back into beliefs of the early twentieth century. Then definitely read Quality is Free by Philip B. Crosby† in 1979 which outlined his 14 steps (again) to quality improvement, as published by McGraw-Hill Book Company. It is a timeless classic.
* Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856– 1915): An American mechanical engineer, who wrote Principles of Scientific Management in 1911, published by Harper and Brothers Publishers. He is known as the father of the scientific management and efficiency movement. † Quality is Free, supra.
QUALITY IS REMEMBERED: LONG AFTER THE PRICE IS FORGOTTEN
John Ruskin* (1819– 1900) said, “It is unwise to pay too much; but it is unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money ... that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything ... If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run; and if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.”
* John Ruskin (1819– 1900): An English writer, artist, art critic, draftsman, social thinker, and philanthropist. He wrote many essays and treatises, which has led him to be quoted to this day.
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Steaming as hard as she could steam, the yacht rounded Point de Galle, and when about fifteen miles due east of Ceylon she suddenly stopped. A Russian gunboat was lying in wait. To this gunboat the prisoner was transferred, but Anna remained on board the yacht.
The gunboat steamed away at once, and shaped her course for Manilla, where she coaled; and that done she proceeded under a full head of steam for the sea of Japan and Vladivostock.
The yacht went in the other direction, making for the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, and after a pleasant and uneventful voyage she sailed by way of the Bosphorus to the Crimea. She made many calls on the way, and at every port she touched at she was supposed to be on a pleasure cruise, and Anna was looked upon as the owner’s wife.
As Anna Plevski entered Russia in the west, her false lover entered it in the far east, and thence under a strong escort he was conducted through the whole length of Siberia to St. Petersburg, a distance of something like five thousand miles.
It is an awful journey at the best of times. In his case the awfulness was enhanced a hundredfold, for he knew that every verst travelled placed him nearer and nearer to his shameful doom.
He was six months on the journey, and when he reached the capital his hair was white, his face haggard and drawn, his eyes sunken. He was an old and withered man, while the terrible strain had affected his mind; but as he had been pitiless to others, so no pity was shown for him. He had brought sorrow, misery, and suffering to many a home. He had made widows and orphans; he had maimed and killed, and he could not expect mercy in a world which he had disgraced.
THE DÉNOUEMENT.
It is a typical Russian winter day. The sun shines from a cloudless sky. The air is thin and transparent, the cold intense; the snow is compacted on the ground until it is of the consistency of iron.
On the great plain outside of St. Petersburg, where the public executions take place, a grim scaffold is erected. It is an exposed platform of rough boards, from which spring two upright posts, topped with a cross-bar, from which depends a rope with a noose.
It is the most primitive arrangement. The scaffold is surrounded with troops, horse and foot. There are nearly two thousand of them; but the scaffold is raised so high that the soldiers do not obscure the view.
The plain is filled with a densely-packed crowd; but on one side a lane is kept open, and up this lane rumbles a springless cart, guarded by horsemen with drawn swords. In the cart, on a bed of straw, crouches a man, bound hand and foot. His face is horrible— ghastly. It wears a stony expression of concentrated fear.
A priest sits with the man, and holds a crucifix before his eyes. But the eyes appear sightless, and to be starting from the head.
The cart reaches the foot of the ladder which leads to the platform. The bound man is dragged out, for he is powerless to move. He is pushed and dragged up the ladder, followed by the priest. As soon as he reaches the platform and sees the noose, he utters a suppressed cry of horror, and shrinks away.
Pitiless hands thrust him forward again, and he is placed on some steps; the noose is adjusted round his neck. No cap is used to hide his awful face. At a given signal the steps are drawn away, and the man swings in the air and is slowly strangled to death. A great cheer rises from the crowd, but it is mingled with groans.
Thus did Peter Treskin meet his doom. He lived like a coward; he died like a coward. He had talents and abilities that, properly directed, would have gained him high position, but he chose the wrong path, and it ended in a dog’s death.
He well deserved his ignominious fate, and yet, even at the present day, there are some who believe he was a martyr. But these people may be classed amongst those who believe not, even though an angel comes down from heaven to teach.
THE CLUE OF THE DEAD HAND
THE STORY OF AN EDINBURGH MYSTERY
CHAPTER I.
NEW YEAR’S EVE: THE MYSTERY BEGINS.
A , weird sort of place was Corbie Hall. There was an eeriness about it that was calculated to make one shudder. For years it had been practically a ruin, and tenantless.
Although an old place, it was without any particular history, except a tradition that a favourite of Queen Mary had once lived there, and suddenly disappeared in a mysterious way. He was supposed to have been murdered and buried secretly.
The last tenant was one Robert Crease, a wild roisterer, who had travelled much beyond the seas, scraped money together, purchased the Hall, surrounded himself with a number of boon companions, and turned night into day. Corbie Hall stood just to the north of Blackford Hill, as those who are old enough will remember.
In ‘Rab’ Crease’s time it was a lonely enough place; but he and his brother roisterers were not affected by the solitude, and many were the curious tales told about their orgies.
However, Rab came to grief one night. He had been into the town for some purpose, and, staggering home in a storm of wind and rain with a greater burden of liquor than he could comfortably carry, he missed his way, pitched headlong into a quarry, and broke his neck. He left the place to a person whom he described as his nephew. But the heir could not be found, nor could his death be proved. Then litigation had ensued, and there had been fierce wrangles; bitterness was engendered, and bad blood made. The place, however, remained empty and lonely year after year, until, as might have been
expected, it got an evil reputation. People said it was haunted. They shunned it. The wildest possible stories were told about it. It fell into dilapidation. The winter rains and snows soaked through the roof. The window-frames rotted; the grounds became a wilderness of weeds.
At last the heir was found. His name was Raymond Balfour. He was the only son of Crease’s only sister, who had married a ne’er-doweel of a fellow, who came from no one knew where, and where he went to no one cared. He treated his wife shamefully.
Her son was born in Edinburgh, and when he was little more than a baby she fled with him and obtained a situation of some kind in Deeside. She managed to give her boy a decent education, and he was sent to Edinburgh to study law.
He seemed, however, to have inherited some of his father’s bad qualities, and fell into disgrace. His mother dying before he was quite out of his teens, he found himself friendless and without resources.
His mother in marrying had alienated herself from her relatives, what few she had; and when she died no one seemed anxious to own kindredship with Raymond, whose conduct and ‘goings on’ were described as ‘outrageous.’ So the young fellow snapped his fingers at everyone, declared his intention of going out into the world to seek his fortune, and disappeared.
After many years of wandering in all parts of the world, and when in mid-life, he returned to Edinburgh, for he declared that, of all the cities he had seen, it was the most beautiful, the most picturesque.
He was a stalwart, sunburnt, handsome fellow, though with a somewhat moody expression and a cold, distant, reserved manner. He had heard by mere chance of his inheritance, and, having legally established his claim, took possession of his property.
Although nobody could learn anything at all of his affairs, it was soon made evident that he had plenty of money. He brought with him from India, or somewhere else, a native servant, who appeared to be devoted to him. This servant was simply known as Chunda.
He was a strange, fragile-looking being, with restless, dreamy eyes, thin, delicate hands, and a hairless, mobile face, that was more like the face of a woman than a man. Yet the strong light of the eyes, and somewhat square chin, spoke of determination and a passionate nature. When he first came he wore his native garb, which was exceedingly picturesque; but in a very short time he donned European clothes, and never walked abroad without a topcoat on, even in what Edinburgh folk considered hot weather.
When it became known that the wanderer had returned, apparently a wealthy man, those who years before had declared his conduct to be ‘outrageous,’ and declined to own him, now showed a disposition to pay the most servile homage.
But he would have none of them. It was his hour of triumph, and he closed his doors against all who came to claim kinship with him.
Very soon it was made manifest that Raymond Balfour was in the way to distinguish himself as his predecessor and kinsman, Crease, had done.
Corbie Hall was turned into a place of revel and riot, and strange, even startling, were the stories that came into currency by the vulgar lips of common rumour. Those whose privilege it was to be the guests at Corbie Hall were not people who, according to Edinburgh ethics, were entitled to be classed amongst the elect, or who were numbered within the pale of so-called ‘respectable society.’ They belonged rather to that outer fringe which was considered to be an ungodly Bohemia.
It was true that in their ranks were certain young men who were supposed to be seriously pursuing their studies in order that they might ultimately qualify for the Church, the Law, and Medicine.
But their chief sin, perhaps, was youth, which, as the years advanced, would be overcome. Nevertheless, the frowns of the ‘superior people’ were directed to them, and they were solemnly warned that Corbie Hall was on the highroad to perdition; that, as it had always been an unlucky place, it would continue to be unlucky; in short, that it was accursed.
Raymond Balfour’s guests were not all of the sterner sex. Ladies occasionally graced his board. One of them was a Maggie Stiven, who rejoiced in being referred to as the best hated woman in Edinburgh.
She was the daughter of a baker carrying on business in the High Street; but Maggie had quarrelled with her parents, and taken herself off to her only brother, who kept a public-house in College Street. He, too, had quarrelled with his people, so that he not only welcomed Maggie, but was glad of her assistance in his business.
Maggie bore the proud reputation of being the prettiest young woman in Edinburgh. Her age was about three-and-twenty, and it was said she had turned the heads of half the young fellows in the town. She was generally regarded as a heartless coquette, a silly flirt, who had brains for nothing else but dress.
She possessed a will of her own, however, and seemed determined to shape her course and order her life exactly as it pleased her to do.
She used to say that, if ‘the grand folk’ turned up their noses at her, she knew how to turn up her nose at them.
When she found out that a rumour was being bandied from lip to lip, which coupled her name with the name of Raymond Balfour—in short, that he and she were engaged to be married—she was intensely delighted; but, while she did not deny it, she would not admit it. It was only in accordance with human nature that some spiteful things should be said.
‘It’s no for his guid looks nor his moral character that Maggie Stiven’s fastening herself on to the reprobate of Corbie Hall,’ was the sneering comment. ‘It’s his siller she’s thinking of. She’s aye ready to sell her body and soul for siller. Well, when he’s married on to her he’ll sune find that it taks mair than a winsome face tae make happiness. But fules will aye be fules, and he maun gang his ain way.’
It is pretty certain that Maggie was not affected by this sort of tittletattle. She knew the power of her ‘winsome face,’ and made the
most of it. She knew also that the scathing things that were said about her came from her own sex.
She could twist men round her little finger They were her slaves. That is where her triumph came in. She could make women mad, and bring men to their knees.
Whether or not there was any truth in the rumour at this time, that she was likely to wed the master of Corbie Hall, there was no doubt at all that she was a frequent visitor there.
Sometimes she went with her brother, who supplied most of the liquor consumed in the Hall—and it was a pretty good source of income to him—and sometimes she went alone.
Scarcely a night passed that Mr. Balfour was without company; and Maggie was often there three or four nights a week. She had even been seen driving about with him in his dogcart.
It seemed, therefore, as if there was some justification for the surmise as to the probable match and the ultimate wedding.
These preliminary particulars about Maggie and the new owner of Corbie Hall will pave the way to the series of extraordinary events that has now to be described.
It was New Year’s Eve. Raymond Balfour had then been in possession of his property for something like nine months, and during that period had made the most of his time.
He had gone the pace, as the saying is; and the old house, after years of mouldiness and decay, echoed the shouts of revelry night after night. There were wild doings there, and sedate people were shocked.
On the New Year’s Eve in question there was a pretty big party in the Hall. During the week following Christmas, large stores of supplies had been sent out from the town in readiness for the great feast that was to usher in the New Year.
Some fifteen guests assembled in the house altogether, including Maggie Stiven and four other ladies, and in order to minister to the
wants of this motley crowd, three or four special waiters were engaged to come from Edinburgh.
The day had been an unusually stormy one. A terrific gale had lashed the Firth, and there had been much loss of life and many wrecks. The full force of the storm was felt in Edinburgh, and numerous accidents had occurred through the falling of chimneycans and pots. Windows were blown in, hoardings swept away, and trees uprooted as if they had been mere saplings.
The wind was accompanied by hail and snow, while the temperature was so low that three or four homeless, starving wretches were found frozen to death.
As darkness set in the wind abated, but snow then began to fall, and in the course of two or three hours roads and railways were blocked, and the streets of the city could only be traversed with the greatest difficulty. Indeed, by seven o’clock all vehicular traffic had ceased, and benighted wayfarers despaired of reaching their homes in safety.
The storm, the darkness, the severity of the weather, the falling snow, did not affect the spirits nor the physical comfort of the guests assembled at Corbie Hall.
To the south of Edinburgh the snow seemed to fall heavier than it did in the city itself. In exposed places it lay in immense drifts, but everywhere it was so deep that the country roads were obliterated, landmarks wiped out, and hedges buried.
In the lonely region of Blackford Hill, Corbie Hall was the only place that gave forth any signs of human life. Light and warmth were there, and the lights streaming from the windows must have shone forth as beacons of hope to anyone in the neighbourhood who might by chance have been battling with the storm and struggling to a place of safety.
But no one was likely to be abroad on such a night; and the guests at the Hall, when they saw the turn the weather had taken, knew that they would be storm-stayed at the Hall until the full light of day returned. But that prospect did not concern them.
They were there to see the old year out and the new one in; and so long as the ‘meal and the malt’ did not fail they would be in no hurry to go.
From all the evidence that was collected, they were a wild party, and did full justice to the stock of eatables and drinkables—especially the drinkables—that were so lavishly supplied by the host.
When twelve o’clock struck there was a scene of wild uproar, and everyone who was sober enough to do so toasted his neighbour. During the whole of the evening Balfour had openly displayed great partiality for Maggie Stiven.
He insisted on her sitting next to him, and he paid her marked attention. When the company staggered to their feet to usher in the new year, Raymond Balfour flung his arms suddenly round her neck, and, kissing her with great warmth, he droned out a stanza of a loveditty, and then in husky tones exclaimed:
‘Maggie Stiven’s the bonniest lass that ever lived, and I’m going to marry her.’
About half-past one only a few of the roisterers were left at the table. The others had succumbed to the too-seductive influences of the wine and whisky, and had ceased to take any further interest in the proceedings. Suddenly there resounded through the house a shrill, piercing scream. It was a scream that seemed to indicate intense horror and great agony.
Consternation and silence fell upon all who heard it. In a few moments Raymond Balfour rose to his feet and said:
‘Don’t be alarmed. Sit still. I’ll go and see what’s the matter.’
He left the room with unsteady gait, and nobody showed any disposition to follow him. Something like a superstitious awe had taken possession of the revellers, and they conversed with each other subduedly.
Amongst them was a tough, bronzed seafaring man, named Jasper Jarvis. He was captain of the barque Bonnie Scotland, which had
arrived at Leith a few weeks before from the Gold Coast with a cargo of palm-oil and ivory.
Jarvis, who seems to have been quite in his sober senses, got up, threw an extra log on the fire, and in order to put heart into his companions, began to troll out a nautical ditty; but it had not the inspiriting effect that he expected, and somebody timidly suggested that he should go in search of the host.
To this he readily assented, but before he could get from his seat, Maggie Stiven jumped up and exclaimed:
‘You people all stay here. I’ll go and look for Raymond.’
Captain Jarvis offered no objection, and no one else interposed, so Maggie hurriedly left the room. From this point the narrative of what followed can best be told in the skipper’s own words.
THE STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN JASPER JARVIS.
When Maggie had gone we were six all told. The four ladies had previously gone to bed. Two out of the six were so muddled that they seemed incapable of understanding anything that was going on.
The other three appeared to be under the spell of fear. They huddled together round the fire, and all became silent.
It is curious that they should have been so affected by the scream; and yet, perhaps, it wasn’t, for somehow or other it didn’t seem natural at all. But the fact is, we had all been so jolly and happy, and the cry broke in upon us so suddenly, that it impressed us more than it would have done otherwise.
And then another thing was, it was difficult to tell whether it was a woman or a man who had screamed. It was too shrill for a man’s cry, and yet it wasn’t like the scream of a woman.
When Maggie Stiven had been gone about ten minutes—it seemed much longer than that to us—Rab Thomson, who was one of three men who sat by the fire, looked at me with white face, and said:
‘Skipper, you go and look after them. I don’t feel easy in my mind. I’ve a sort of feeling something queer has happened.’
On that I rose, saying I would soon find out, and went to the door As I opened it I heard a sigh, and then a sort of prolonged groan, and I saw, or fancied I saw, a shadowy figure flit up the stair.
The hall was in darkness, save for the light that fell through the doorway as I held the door partly open. I’m ashamed to say it, but when I saw—if I did see it—that ghostly figure glide up the stairs, and heard the sigh and the groan, I shut the door quickly and drew back into the room.
Like most sailor men, I’m not without some belief in signs, omens, wraiths, and those kind of things; though nobody can say, and nobody must say, I’m wanting in pluck.
I’ve been at sea for thirty-two years, and during that time I’ve faced death in a thousand forms, and never had any feeling of fear. But, to be straight, I don’t like anything that’s uncanny. I like to be able to get a grip of things, and to understand them.
When I started back into the room, Rab Thomson rose to his feet and asked me what I’d seen. I told him I had seen a shadowy figure glide up the stairs, and had heard a sigh and a groan.
He laughed, but it wasn’t a real kind of laugh. He was as white as death, and I heard his teeth chatter, and with a sudden movement he went to one of the long windows, pulled aside the heavy curtain, and, pressing his face to the glass, peered out.
I think his intention was to get out of the window and go home; but he saw what an awful night it was. The snow was still falling heavily; it was piled up against the window, and no one but a madman or a fool would have dreamed of going forth in such a storm, for it was all but certain he would have lost his life in the drifts.
Rab let the curtain fall, and, drawing back, filled himself a measure of whisky, and, tossing it off, said to me:
‘Why don’t you go and see what’s the matter, man? Surely, you are no’ frightened?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘but you are.’
And I walked to the door again, flung it open wide, so that the light streamed forth, and as I did so I saw a woman lying huddled up on the mat at the foot of the stairs.
I recognised her at once by the dress, which was a kind of pink silk, with a lot of fluffy lace all round the neck part of it, as Maggie Stiven, and, thinking she had fainted, I rushed forward, lifted her up with ease—for I am a powerful man, and she was a lightly-built little woman—and carried her to a big chair that stood empty near the fire.
As I put her in the chair I noticed that her head fell forward on to her bosom with a strange kind of limpness, and her face was of a greenish, chalky kind of hue.
I felt frightened, and called out to the others to rouse up James Macfarlane, who had been studying medicine, but had nearly finished his course, and expected to get his diploma the next session.
Jamie had stowed away too much liquor in his hold in the early part of the evening, and had foundered, so somebody had rolled him up in a rug and put him on a couch, where he had been sleeping for hours. Notwithstanding that fact, it took a long time to waken him.
In the meanwhile I chafed Maggie’s hand, and Rab tried to get brandy down her throat, but it flowed out of her mouth again.
When James Macfarlane realized that something was wrong, he pulled himself together at once, and having felt Maggie’s pulse, he exclaimed with a horrified expression on his face:
‘My God, boys, she’s dead!’
This was only a confirmation of my own fears; nevertheless, the definite assertion by one who was qualified to tell was an awful shock to us.
A little more than a quarter of an hour before, Maggie, radiant with health and spirits, and looking very bonnie—she was one of the prettiest girls I think I’ve ever seen—had run out of the room; and now she was there in the chair, dead.
At Macfarlane’s suggestion we laid her flat on her back on the rug before the fire, and he tried to force a little brandy down her throat, but failed; and as he rose to his feet again, he said sadly:
‘There’s no mistake about it, boys: she’s dead as a herring.’
Our first thought now was of our host. What had become of him? I and Rab, who had recovered from his fright by this time, undertook to go in search of him. We lit the swinging lamp in the hall, and, taking candles with us, went upstairs to his room; but he was not there, and there were no signs of his having been there. Then we went to the room of the black fellow, Chunda.
The door was locked, and we had to shake and hammer it pretty hard before we roused him up. As he opened the door and stood before us in his night-clothes, he looked dazed, as one does when just wakened from sound sleep.
He did not speak English, but I could manage a little Hindustani, having been much in India, and I asked him if he had seen his master lately, and he answered ‘No.’ I told him he must come with me and look for him, as he knew the run of the house better than I did.
He only stopped to slip on some of his clothes and wrap a heavy rug round his shoulders, for he felt the cold very much.
Then we roused up the other three house-servants and the temporary servants, who had retired soon after midnight, and we went from room to room, passage to passage; in fact, we searched the house from top to bottom, but all in vain; not a trace of our friend could we get.
Our next step was to ascertain if he had gone out. But all the doors and windows were fastened. Nevertheless, I undertook to search the grounds, and, having been provided with a horn lantern, we got the big hall door opened; but the snow had drifted against it to such an extent that a great mass of it fell into the hall.
The night was pitch-dark, the air thick with snow. I made some attempt to go forth, but sank up to my waist, and was forced to return.
We then tried the back of the house, where there was a stable-yard. The snow was pretty heavy there, but not so heavy as in the front. Two men slept over the stable. I roused them up, got the keys of the stable, and went in. Balfour kept three horses, and they were in their stalls all right.
The stable-yard gate was barred, and it was very clear no one had been out that way.
I returned to the house, half frozen and very depressed. We then consulted together, and decided that nothing could be done until daylight.
It was an awful ending to our merry meeting, and the mystery of the whole affair weighed upon us like a nightmare.
The ladies of our party, who had gone to bed soon after we had drunk in the New Year, got up and dressed themselves. In the meantime we carried Maggie Stiven’s body into another room, where it was laid out on a table. James Macfarlane’s opinion was that she had died from a sudden shock of fright; and when that was taken in connection with the eldritch scream which had so startled us, and the mysterious disappearance of our host, we felt that there was something uncanny about the whole business.
The rest of the night was wearily passed. The others of our party, having been o’er fu’ when they went to sleep, continued to sleep through it all, and knew nothing of the tragic ending until they awoke in the morning.
With the coming of the morning our spirits revived a little, though we still felt miserable enough. It had almost ceased to snow, but the whole country was buried, and round about the house the drift was piled up until it reached to the lower windows.
As soon as it was broad daylight we made another careful search of the house, but not a sign of Raymond Balfour could we see.
Chunda helped us in our search. He was terribly cut up, and became so ill from grief and the cold that he was obliged to go to bed.
The only reasonable theory that we could find to account for Balfour’s strange disappearance was that, by some means we could not determine, he had managed to leave the house, and had perished in the snow.
As it had continued to snow all night, and at eight o’clock was still falling lightly, all traces were, of course, obliterated. Every one of the visitors was now anxious to get away, but before anyone went, I drew up a statement which was duly signed. James Macfarlane and I then undertook to report the matter to the police in Edinburgh.
Before any of us could leave, we had to clear the snow away from the door and dig a path out. And even then it was no easy matter to get clear.
We were a sorrowful enough party, as may be imagined, and we all felt that the New Year had commenced badly for us.
The death of Maggie Stiven was a terrible business, and I confess to feeling surprised that she should have died from fright, for she was by no means a nervous girl. Indeed, I think she was as plucky as any woman I have ever known, and I was certain that if fright had really killed her she must have seen something very awful.
With reference to this, nobody, I think, liked to put his thoughts into words, but somehow we seemed to divine that each believed Satan had spirited Raymond Balfour away and frightened poor Maggie to death. Any way, the mystery was beyond our solving, and we were silent and melancholy as we straggled into Edinburgh, where armies of labourers were busy clearing the streets of snow.
It was an awful day. The cold was intense, and overhead the sky was like one vast sheet of lead. Except the labourers, few people were abroad, and those few looked pinched up, draggled, and miserable.
God knows, we were miserable enough ourselves! I know that my heart was like a stone; for I was not so wanting in sense as not to see that trouble was bound to come out of the business, and I fairly
shuddered when I thought of poor Balfour’s end, for it seemed impossible to hope that he was still alive.
Look at the matter whichever way I would, it was a mystery which absolutely appalled me, and it had all come about with such awful suddenness that, speaking for myself, I felt stunned.
CHAPTER II. THE MYSTERY DEEPENS.—THE
NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY PETER BRODIE, OF THE DETECTIVE SERVICE.
I in Liverpool, engaged on a rather delicate matter, when I received a telegram from the chief of the police in Edinburgh, telling me to return by the next train. I wasn’t at all pleased by this recall, for it was wretched weather, and the prospect of a night journey to the North was far from agreeable.
The date was January 3. During the whole of New Year’s Eve there had been a violent storm, which seems to have been general all over the country. The result was a breakdown of telegraph-wires and serious interruption to traffic.
The telegram sent to me was five hours on the road; and as the ‘next train’ meant the night mail, I had no alternative but to bundle my traps together and start.
When we reached Carlisle a thaw had set in, and on arriving at Edinburgh I thought I had never seen Auld Reekie look so glum and dour. The streets were ankle-deep in slush.
Snow was slipping from the roofs everywhere in avalanches, necessitating considerable wariness on the part of pedestrians.
Horses panted, groaned, and steamed as they toiled with their loads through the filthy snow, and overhead the sky hung like a dun pall.
On reaching the head office, I was at once instructed to proceed to Corbie Hall to investigate a case of murder, and endeavour to trace the whereabouts of one Raymond Balfour, who, according to the statement of a Captain Jasper Jarvis, corroborated by James Macfarlane, medical student at the Edinburgh College, had mysteriously disappeared soon after midnight on January 1. The remarkably sudden and unaccountable death of Maggie Stiven
necessitated a legal inquiry, and Dr Wallace Bruce was sent to examine the body and report on the cause of death.
On removing the clothes, he noticed that the linen that had been next to the chest was slightly blood-stained, and an examination revealed a very small blue puncture, slightly to the left of the sternum, and immediately over the heart.
On probing this puncture with his finger, he felt something hard. He therefore proceeded to open the chest, assisted by a colleague, Dr. James Simpson, the well-known Edinburgh surgeon. To their astonishment, they found the puncture was due to a thrust from a very fine stiletto, which had pierced the heart on the left side. The stiletto had broken off, and four inches of the steel remained in the wound. This, acting as a plug, had prevented outward bleeding to any extent, but there had been extensive internal hæmorrhage. There was nothing else to account for death.
The girl was exceedingly well developed, well nourished, and without any sign or trace of organic disease. As she could not have driven the stiletto into her chest in such a way herself, it was obviously a case of murder.
When I reached Corbie Hall, the country round about was still white with snow, and Blackford Hill was like a miniature Alp, although the thaw was making its influence felt.
The Hall was a curious, rambling sort of place, with every appearance of age. It was a stone building, flanked by a small turreted tower at each end. It stood in about an acre of ground that was partly walled and partly fenced round. Two cast-iron gates of good design, hung on pillars, each surmounted by a carved greyhound, admitted to a carriage-drive that swept in a semicircle to the main entrance.
Passing through the doorway—the door itself was a massive structure—I found myself in a large square, paved hall, and immediately in front a broad flight of oak stairs led up to the first landing, where there was a very fine stained-glass window.
On the left was a long dining-room, which communicated by means of folding doors with another room of almost equal dimensions.
On the opposite side of the passage, and close to the foot of the stairs, was the door of the drawing-room, which was a counterpart almost of the dining-room.
Between the banisters of the stairs and the partition wall of the dining-room, the passage was continued to a door that gave access to a passage communicating with the kitchen and back premises.
The recess underneath the stairs was used for hanging up coats, hats, and other things. From the second landing the stairs struck off at an acute angle, and rose to the second story, where there were at least a dozen rooms, large and small.
Under the guidance of Chunda, the black servant, who seemed very ill and much depressed, I made a thorough inspection of the house. As he could not speak English, we had to communicate in signs, which was rather awkward. In addition to this Indian, Mr. Balfour had kept a cook and a small girl to help her, also a housemaid. Besides these, he employed a groom and a coachman. The coachman lived over the stables at the back with his wife and daughter, a girl of eighteen, and she and her mother both assisted in the house when necessary. The groom had a room to himself above the coachhouse.
I questioned each of these servants individually and apart from the others as to whether they had heard the scream alluded to by Captain Jarvis. The three women living in the house said that they heard it, but those who lived over the stables did not. The ones who heard it slept in the right-hand tower. They did not retire until after the New Year had come in. Although the master had given them some hot drink, they were quite sober when they went upstairs.
As they were in the habit of doing every night, they extinguished the hall lamp and a lamp that stood on the bracket at the top of the stairs, thus leaving that part of the house in darkness. They did not attach any importance to the scream, as they thought it was some of
the visitors larking, for they had all been very frisky during the evening.
The cook, however—her name was Mary Kenway—opened her door, which commanded in perspective a full view of the corridor leading to the top of the stairs, and she saw, or thought she saw, a shadowy figure standing in this corridor near the top of the stairs. Feeling a bit nervous, she shut the door hurriedly, and said to her fellow-servants, who shared the room with her:
‘One of those fools is playing at ghosts or something. Well, when the wine’s in, the wit’s out.’
She and her companions then got into bed, and some time afterwards were startled by a loud knocking at their door. The cook hurriedly procured a light, and on asking who was there, and being informed it was Captain Jarvis, and that he was searching for the master, who had disappeared, she slipped on her clothes and opened the door.
The temporary servants, of whom there were three, were sleeping in a room above her. They had indulged somewhat too freely, and it was a considerable time before they could be made to understand that something dreadful had happened.
With these details, and the statement of Captain Jarvis, I felt I was in a position to begin my researches.
If Captain Jarvis’s statement was true, and there wasn’t the slightest reason to doubt it, for it was in the main corroborated by Robert Thomson and others, the whole affair was shrouded in considerable mystery. Indeed, I think it was one of the strangest cases I ever had to do with. Maggie Stiven had been foully done to death by some subtle, deft, and treacherous assassin. She had been struck with great force, and the breaking of the weapon showed the fury with which her murderer had done his damnable work.
The skipper’s statement that when he opened the dining-room door he heard a sigh and sort of groan was compatible with the nature of the wound, for though the heart was injured, the fact of the piece of steel remaining in the wound would prevent a sudden emptying of
