MEASUREMENT OF VALUE 5 
the conclusion of peace they return home to find that 
a field belonging to Smith has been used for training 
recruits in trench warfare. F ormerly it was flat and 
level with the surrounding fields, now the digging and 
mining have made it into something like a model of 
Switzerland. Smith is informed by a friend (who 
does not want his name mentioned) and believes, that 
Jones’ father, the only haulier in the village, has taken 
advantage of its disturbed condition to carry away 
many loads of gravel from it. He tells this to Jones, 
who replies indignantly *“ Father would never do a 
thing like that,” and points out that if so much gravel 
had been removed, the general level of the ground 
would have been perceptibly reduced. Smith and 
Jones go together to look at the ground, and to 
Smith’s eye the field seems on the whole very decidedly 
lower—*“ about two feet,” he guesses. Jones is led 
by bias in favour of Jones senior to think there is no 
difference, and draws Smith’s attention to the par- 
ticularly high parts of the ground : Smith in return 
points to the biggest depressions. To settle the 
question, they agree to run a level line of rods across 
the field sufficiently high to clear the hills and measure 
down from it at frequent fixed intervals, say every 
two yards, to the present surface. This done, they 
find that the average of all the measurements indi- 
cates a level of 10 inches below the old level. This 
is a blow to Jones, but not so much as Smith expected, 
so the two agree that this result “is not sufficient to 
go by,” and take another line across the field ; this 
shows an average fall of 8 inches, and averaged with 
the first line, ) inches. Both being still dissatisfied, 
they take fo ™ + lines which give as their results falls 
of 13,  _.ua!_ inches. The average for the whole 
of the me2c rements is now 9, and both Smith and 
Jones see that more measurements will make very 
little difference. Smith is willing to admit that the