The Perpetual Motion Machine

During the years of the Great Depression the Civil Conservation Corps was formed by the United States government, having determined that the young men of the nation should be employed in useful work.
The agenda of the program was to restore the forest and fields of the nation that had been abused through years of exploitative practices by having the young men replant the forest and reseed the grasslands.
Told with the robust combative humor of men, this story centers on the efforts of two staff members to teach the young men to work and live together, as well encouraging them to take these days to learn new skills.
As one young staff member goes out to explore the musical culture of the local population, the other staff member, a recently graduated mechanical engineer, hears about a man from the area who built a perpetual motion machine which continues to run after the man’s death. The engineer attempts to learn the secret mechanics of the machine. Instead he discovers a secret buried within the secret.