I know it's a word with it's own meaning, but in 'The monkey's paw' story, Herbert (the son) got killed because he was caught in a machinery. So, what is that machinery anyway?
Jacobs never specifies the exact type of machine but we do know that it was a factory machine. You need to recall that this story was written in 1902. Machines and automation were bery new and the masses were unaccustomed to them. Accordingly, the word machinery had an omnious undertone - perfectly suited for use as an instrument of unexpected, early and grizzly death in a horror story.
