“The new machine shop was Alfred's pride: a noisy sanctuary from the cares of management and from other cares more personal—its perpetual din music to ears grown so deaf they could hardly distinguish any other music. In this shop was designed and constructed practically all the modern gear with which Alfred refurnished his plants. He spent hours there—coat off, sleeves rolled, hands dirty—never happier than when tinkering with a new model or going over an experimental plan with George Sykes, the boss patternmaker. Among the machinists he made lifetime friends. One of them, Edward L. Bader, has told this writer: ‘Alfred du Pont did for powder machinery what the automobile did for transportation.’ The retired machinist's exaggeration contains more than a grain of truth, and it reflects the admiration Alfred I. du Pont seemed almost invariably to instill in workingmen with whom he came in contact.”

-          Alfred I. du Pont, the Family Rebel by Marquis James