I consulted my architect, Albert Buchman.
“It’s impossible,” he declared, “four and a half months—June 15th is the earliest date conceivable.”
“Even if we use double shifts?”
“Even if we use double shifts.”
“Well,” I said, “I’m going to chance it.”
Buchman’s allotment for the excavation was fifteen days. I sent for Patrick Norton, who had done some excavating work for me in Harlem.
“Pat,” I asked, after I had sketched the case, “is there any objection to working twenty-four hours a day?”
“That depends,” said he.
“Well, if you went at it on that basis, couldn’t you finish this job in seven instead of fifteen days? I’ll pay for the light, and I’ll give you 25 per cent. extra.”
Norton belonged to the type of bluff, enterprising contractors. The novelty appealed to him, and he accepted it on the spot and completed the job on time.