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The Plow That Conquered the Prairie Sod By ELMO SCOTT WATSON THE pioneering Easterner, recently arrived in the new state of Illinois, looked with glowing eyes out over the broad expanse of open prairie. "Why!" he exclaimed, "thar ain't no stumps to plow ? around!" But he soon learned their absence didn't necessarily mean that his task of tilling this rich virgin soil was an easy one. True, here he wasn't in constant danger of being jerked from his feet and flipped through the air when the point of his plow struck a concealed root, as had happened so often back there while his yoke of plodding oxen wound in and out among the stumps of newly cleared timberland. Nor did he have to worry about a broken plowshare and the delay in his work until he could repair the damage done by that root. But there were plenty of other difficulties. This sod, tough with the toughness of thousands of in terlaced roots of the tall rank-growing grass, was very different from the loose grav elly soil he had known back East. Even when he used one of these great prairie-break ing plows, drawn by three yoke of oxen, its wooden moldboard, plated with iron strips, found this virgin land a hard foe to conquer. It was rich soil ? there was no doubt about that ? rich with its decayed vegetation of a thousand years, and a man could raise marvelously abundant crops of wheat and corn on it. But there was no drainage and the heavy loam clung to the iron-shod mold board where, as one plowing pioneer said, it "stuck like Broth er Jonathan's gluepot." So al ways he had to carry a wooden paddle with him. Then, when his straining oxen couldn't pull for ward another step, he'd have to Jerk the plow out of the ground and clean it off with his paddle. But it was only a few ninutes more until the sticky muck had rolled up on the plowshare like balled snow on a man's boot heel and the cleaning process would have to be repeated all over again. Under such conditions it looked as though these prairie lands, rich as they were, could never be farmed satisfactorily. Then, in 1837, just a hundred years ago, a Yankee blacksmith changed all that. He gave them a plow that would "scour" it self. His name was John Deere and he was the "Father of the Steel Plow." ? ? ? The plow of the Eighteenth cen tury American was a crude af fair, differing little from that of his English ancestors. It had a wooden moldboard, usually with plates for turning the furrow. Often there was only a single handle which left one hand of the plowman free to guide his team of horses or to whack his yoke of oxen, but eventually he learned that he could do a better Job with a two-handled plow. Ev en then his implement did little more than scratch the surface of the soil. The First Iron Plow. In 1797 Charles Newbold of New Jersey completed and pat ented the first iron plow cast in a single piece but a strange superstition prevented its general acceptance. The farmers of that day believed that a cast-iron plow poisoned the soil so that only weeds would grow in it and New bold, who had sunk a small for tune In his invention, knew the bitterness of having it rejected by the men whom he had hoped to benefit. Two years later the versatile Thomas Jefferson, working out his theories by mathematical cal culations, published a scientific discussion on the proper shape for a moldboard. One of the many men who carried on a cor respondence with the "Sage of Monticello" was J e thro Wood, a Quaker living in New York state. Making use of Jefferson's ideas, Wood patented in 181B an im proved cast-iron plow. Where Newbold's plow had been cast In a single piece, Wood's was ao devised that the parts which were subjected to the greatest wear could be replaced when worn out or If one of them was broken. The Quaker inventor was luck ier, too, than the New Jersey man had been in issuing his model at a more favorable time for Its acceptance. By the beginning at the Nineteenth century inter eat in improved farming methods was quickened, stimulated by the founding of agricultural socie ties. One of them was the Berk shire Agricultural society in Massachusetts, founded by Elk anah Watson, who would be come the "Father of the County Fair." Another was the Agricul tural Society of Philadelphia which offered prises and medals to stimulate agricultural experi mentation. On one side of its med.L was engraved a plow and b shone on the metal, polished by the friction with wood, there flashed <n his mind this thought her* was the stuff for a plowshore tnat would scour! So he took the broken saw back to his shop and then? but let John Deere himself tell what hap ened: "I cut the teeth off the mill June Ohrstrom examines what has been preserved of one of the first three steel plows made by John Deere in 1837. oxen at rest with this mot to "Venerate the plough." Other inventors and manufac turers began to copy Wood's model and he spent so much money defending his rights that he died an improverished, em bittered man. But he had done so much to break down the pre judice against iron plows that by 1825 they were in general use. Plowing matches were held at county and state fairs to deter mine the best makes, new pat ents were taken out and new models were hurried on the market. The Rush to the Middle West. By this time, too, the influx of settlers into the Mississippi Val ley was in full swing. The Indian menace had be?r removed when the Winnebago uprising in 1827 was crushed at its beginning to be followed five years later by Black Hawk's futile effort to stem the tide of white invasion. Thousands of New Englanders and other Easterners packed up their belongings and headed west. From across the Atlantic, from Germany and Ireland and Scandinavia, came thousands JOHN DEERE "The Father of the Steel Plow." more ? the vanguard of foreign immigration to the "Promised Land." Through the Erie canal by canalboat, through the Great Lakes by sailing schooner and down the Ohio by flatboat and barge and river steamboat they swarmed into the Middle West. They came a-horieback or on wheels. They jolted over bumpy frozen roads in stage coaches or in Conestoga wagons which sank down hub-deep in the mud when the spring thaws came. And tied to the side or the rear of those wagons there were always plows ? plows with wooden moldboards or one o t those new iron plows made by Jethro Wood or one of his many imitators. But when they arrived at the end of their journey and set themselves to the task of break ing the prairie sod, they en countered the same difficulties experienced by the Easterner who rejoiced too soon because "thar ain't no stumps to plow around." So it was for a few years in Prairieland. And then John Deere, the Yankee blacksmith, appeared on the acene. Deere was born February 7 1804 In the village o f Rutland, Vt' the f?n_, William Ryland Deere Sarah* v'?? m?rchal>t tailor, and a Britieh8 ^ ?' dau6hter o f ?n ?, soldier who had fought inRTIU"fm and stayed in America to become Soon i? ?t the new republic Soon after his birth the familv Sender Diddleb,Ury and in?2 eere left his family there and returned to England for reasons which are unknown* Unknown also is his fate f^Te never came back. So Sarah Deere continued to operate^ shop until she died in 1823. Dil 'hf !feantirae young John teCmJ n aPPrenticed himself wiHCap'- Benjamin Lawrence of Middlebury to learn the black parts of Vermont. During these years Deere varied his routine of sh^n7h kSr"ithing- such as ? ? h?rses a? around" for a dollar by designing and mak lr^g tools ? shovels, hoe<? anri ready?rsaie Af ?em "aTa reaay sale for the Vermont farmers found them weU?ade n8Sy 40 handle' ^ater in his lfe Deere went back to Vermont of thH3 i L'*1^ to ftnd some the tools he had made still in use after nearly 60 yearS). The "Western Fever." .??Unng these years also he had n^hb^U'ct^by't:^ and ??V^' PaCk up their goods and start out to ^nes in the Middle West But b?ttenrhih8t iWeStern bug hadn't bitten him. In 1827 he had mar e d Demanus Lamb, a girl from he town of Granville, and she had presented him with three daughters and a son. The ne^ds of his growing family brS cess?tly ;?hi3 attenti?? the ne! cessity for improving his fnr h?"es and ">e turning to his career came in 1834 SsB-jAssass hiJ frie1"? * X"^?"teheUSS of nds . sueh glowing tales comitry. leaving^Dem^Tho Wmm *'?">? n..r Or.fZZ" aosSasS saw with a hand-chisel. I cut a pattern out of paper for the moldboard and share. I laid the pattern on the saw and cut around it with a hand chisel, with the help of a striker and a sledge. I then laid the piece on the fire of the forge and heat ed it, a little at a time, shaping" it as best I could with the hand hammer. "After making the upright standards out of bar iron, I was ready for the wood parts. I went out to the timber, dug up a sap ling, and used the crooks of the roots for handles. I shaped the beam out of a stick of timber with an axe and a drawing-knife. In this fashion, I succeeded in constructing a very roiigh plow." Success! Now that his plow was made, the next thing was to see if it would do what he hoped it would. The farmers around Grand De tour had heard about the new model which the blacksmith had fashioned but they were skepti cal about its being any better than the plows they had brought from back East. So a large crowd of them were on hand for its first test. The place selected for the trial was a field, owned by one Lewis Crandall, where, they said, no plow had ever scoured. They helped hitch one of Crandall's horses to the blacksmith's crude plow, Deere took hold of the handles made from sapling roots and Crandall slapped the reins and clucked to his horse to go ahead. The steel point bit into the gummy soil which began to cut and curl from the moldboard in a neat, smooth furrow. After an eighth of a mile they stopped and pulled the plow out of the ground. "By cracky!" exclaimed one of the spectators who had been fol lowing them, "She's clean! No need for a paddle with that plow. She moves right along and polishes herself as she moves!" His enthusiasm was echoed by the others. But it is doubtful if any of them realized fully the importance of the event they had just witnessed ? important in the history of American agriculture and in the history of America it self. In 1838 John Deere, while carrying on his blacksmithing work, made three plows. The next year he made ten and by . 1842 he was building two a week to supply the demand for them. In 1843 he and Andrus formed a partnership and built a brick fac tory to house their growing busi ness. By 1848 they were turning out 1,000 plows a year. The next year the two men dissolved their partnership, Andrus remaining " at Grand Detour and Deere mov ing to Moline, 111., where he es tablished the business which, by the time of his death in 1886, had become famous all over the world. In the meatime other ma ufacturers had entered the field to supply land-hungry Americans with the instrument by which the final act in conquering the wilderness was accomplished. But John Deere's fame was se cure. In 1837, just a century ago, he won his right to the title which historians have since accorded him ? "The Father of the Steel Plow." ? Western Newspaper Union Always Helpful By G. D. COOKE C McClure Newspaper Syndicate. WNU Service. DOB BRADLEY kicked the front D door shut behind him and ran down the long night of stair, to the drive. He was fuming. "To heck with her!" he muttered darkly to himself. He cUmbed into his coupe and slammed the door, drove out into the street and headed across town toward Joe Benet's soda fountain. Joe was always helpful. Bob had good reason to be angry. A week before Alene Newton had quietly informed him that hereafter he could fly his kite alone. That had been because he had refused to take her to hear Cab Calloway at the Main Street the night seats were two fifty a piece. And she had fur thermore informed him that his presence was, to her, about as wel come as leprosy and would he please stay away. He had stayed away for a week, and now that Alene had shown no signs of chang ing her mind, Bob was taking things into his own hands. He crossed the inter-city viaduct, then zigzagged across town to Twen ty-second street. Bob had a vague idea that Joe could help him out. He parked opposite the "No Park ing" sign across the street from Joe's place. "Gi'me a chocolate malted, Joe. Double the cream and put in lots of malt." "I heard your little romance went flat last week!" Joe said curiously. Bob's eyes narrowed. "Yeah! And who told you that?" Joe slipped the container under the mixer. "I dunno. A little bird, I guess." . . Bob put the coins back in his pocket. "Frog Crawford?" "Maybe," Joe said vaguely. He stood tapping his foot idly and look ing out into the street. There was bad blood between Bob and Frog. Bob emptied his glass, then he leaned across the bar so the couples in the booths along the wall couldn't hear him. "Listen, Joe," he said ?quietly after a quick glance around, "you don't know a swell looking brunette, do you? You know the type I mean, a real bonfire. I want to take her around to some parties and show that blonde Alene that she's not the only potato in the sack." Joe looked at his customer solemnly. "Wasn't it the week be fore last that you were in here talking about the little white cot tage you were going to have ? the one with the roses on the porch?" he chided, ignoring Bob's last ques tion. Then he doubled with laughter. Bob turned red. As Joe started to turn away he reached out and caught his arm. "How about that brunette, Joe?" Joe shook his head. "I have enough trouble with you without in troducing you to a bonfire like that." "Aw, now, Joe. I gotta have some help." "And that's not all," Joe went on. "Some morning you're going to wake up and find that you don't even have Alene." Bob wrinkled his nose in surprise. "Have her! I ain't got her, have I? And anyway, who'd want her?" "Frog Crawford." "Huh!" Bob banged the metal container down on the bar. "Sure! He was in here tonight after a box of chocolates and he said he'd heard you two had broken up." Joe took Bob's quarter. "He was driving his old man's Packard," he added. "Say, you don't think he was go ing to Alene's?" Joe pulled the lobe of one ear reflectively. "Wouldn't be sur prised," he stated. Bob slid off the stool. "I'll murder that guy!" Joe reached out and caught his hand. "Hey, wait a minute! What will you do if Frog's not there? You'd better take along a peace offering, hadn't you?" Then: "We have some nice boxes of caramels," he suggested. "Five pounds." Bob stared at him for a moment; then he grinned. "You old pirate. Well, all right, gi'me one." And he was across the street and into his coupe in a jiffy. Joe watched him go; then he turned to one of his soda dispensers. "Have to make a call, Bill. I'll be back in a minute." He went into the telephone booth and dialed a number. "Hello, Alene? . . . This is Joe . . . Yeah, be was here all right . . . No, I didn't tell him you called. I just mentioned Frog Crawford a couple of times and told him what a sap he was to be quarreling with a nice girl like you. He ran right out to his car and started out. Ought to be there any time unless he gets pinched for speeding . . . What else did I tell him?" Joe laughed heartily. "Oh, you'd be surprised . . . Don't mention it. Joe's Place is always at your service. We always aim to please . . . Okay . . . Sure, don't mention it . . . G'by!" Whale Shark Feeds Like Whale The whale shark feeds like the whale, by swimming along the sur face and scooping up small fish, crabs and jelly - fish in its huge mouth. The creatures are strained from the water by the shark's gills, masticated by its 3,000 file-like teeth, and passed down to the stomach through a gullet about the diameter at a man's fist. IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY I chool Lesson By REV. HAROLD L. LUNDOUIST, Dean of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. 6 Western Newspaper Union. Lesson for February 28 THE NEW COMMANDMENT LESSON TEXT ? John 12: 20-33: 13:34.38. GOLDEN TEXT ? A new commandment 1 give untj^ou. that ye love one another; even as I^.ave loved you. that ye alao love one another. John 13:34. PRIMARY TOPIC ? A New Command ment. JUNIOR TOPIC ? A Great Man's Way. INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC? What the New Commandment Means. YGKTNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC? The Measure of Christian Love. In the last week of our Lord's ministry on earth many important events took place, but we pass most of them in our present series of studies. The incident related in our lesson of today is of interest in and of itself, but it is of peculiar sig nificance because it introduces a marvelously instructive discourse of our Lord. Whatever had prompted their in quiry, we are delighted to note that the Greeks came with an earnest desire to see Jesus. I. Seeking Jesus (12:20-22). A man has progressed far on the road to blessing when he makes known his desire to see Jesus. Com ing to him means coming to the One who has the words of eternal life. Note that the disciples were wise enough to bring the men to Jesus. The true function of every Christian worker is to bring men to him. On the back of the pulpit in one of America's greatest churches, direct ly where the preacher can see them as he arises to preach, are the words of our lesson, "Sir, we would see Jesus." Little wonder that a strong and true gospel is preached in that church. II. Finding the Cross (w. 23-33). The reply of our Lord to the Greeks .and to the disciples who brought them to him, seems a bit singular at first glance. Did he not wish to receive them? They had probably come to' see the great re ligious leader, the King of the Jews ? why does he talk about death ? why is his soul troubled? The words of our Lord are clear. Men do not need an example, a leader, a teacher, they need a Sav iour. It is as a sacrifice for sin that Christ will draw all men unto himself (v. 32). We need to relearn that lesson. Leaders of the church are earnestly seeking the explanation of the rapid decline in the influence of the Chris tian church. It is a good sign that some are beginning to realize that the difficulty is in the realm of the spiritual. The barrenness of so called modern theology has become apparent to its leaders and they have begun to talk about a "spirit ual revival." But unfortunately we soon And that they use the expres sion to stand for something entire ly different from a real scriptural revival. "The voice is Jacob's voice but the hands are the hands of Esau" (Gen. 27:22). Let us make no mistake about it, a real revival will center in the cross and will manifest itself in denial of self for the glory of God. One cannot forego mention of the fact that the last part of verse 26, "If any man serve me, him will my Father honor," was the motto of the late Dr. James M. Gray, whose life gloriously exemplified the truth of the passage. God is willing and ready to do as much for you and for me. III. Loving One Another (John 13: 34, 35). When these words were uttered our Lord was two days further in the last week before he was cruci fied. He was alone with his disciples in the upper room. What message does he have for them in that sol emn hour? That they should love one another. That is a message that needs renewed emphasis in our day. The strife which fills the world has almost engulfed the church, and there is bitterness and strife where love should reign. Let us observe carefully that it is as his disciples that we are able to love one another. There are two erroneous extremes to be avoid ed. First, we have the out and out conservative, who proclaims his be lief in the Bible as God's Word, who is anxious that he be absolutely correct in doctrine, a really saved man, and who then becomes the kind of "fighting" fundamentalist who dismally fails God in the testi mony referred to in these verses. On the other hand we have the lib eral who has abandoned the scrip tural basis of discipleship and who then boasts of his great love for his brethren. Love is no substitute for regeneration, and regeneration is no excuse for lack of love. Courtesy of the Heart There is a courtesy of the heart, it is allied to love. BYom it springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.? Goethe. Duty of Gratitude Gratitude is a duty none can be excused from, because it is always at out own disposal. ? Charron. The Fountain Look within? within is the foun tain of good; and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt aver dig. Ask Me Another 0 A General Quit ? Bell Syndicate. ? WNTJ Serrta. 1. Who was Alaric? 2. Members of what race are sometimes called "Huskies"? 3. Which is the larger unit, a brigade or a regiment? 4. Who was father of Queen Anne of England? 5. Who wrote "The Vision of Sir Launfal"? 6. What is the significance of a "hall-mark"? 7. How many "Fates" , were there in classical mythology? 8. What is a brogan? 9. Was the lute a stringed in strument? 10. What is a coulomb? 11. What is dross? 12. What English slang word cor responds to the French "Chauvin ist"? Answers 1. A Visigoth leader who sacked Rome. 2. Eskimo. 3. A brigade. 4. James II. 5. James Russell Lowell. 6. It is a mark of genuineness. 7. Three. 8. A heavy shoe. 9. Yes. 10. An electrical unit (th? amount conveyed by one am per# in one second). 11. Refuse of melted metal. 12. Jingoist. Be Sure of Self Do not attempt to do a thing un less you are sure of yourself; but do not relinquish it simply be cause someone else is not sura of you. ? Stewart E. White. Dr. Pierce'* Pleasant Pellets made of May Apple are effective in removing accumulated body waste. ? Adv. Temptation and Curiosity So often Temptation is accom panied by another fellow, arm in arm ? Curiosity. WATCHoYOUR isrfAFfct Medical Authorities recognize tlx value of ft balanced Alkaline Re serve as an aid to cold prevention. LUDEN'S contribute to your Alkaline Re serve because they contain an ' ALKALINE FACTOB Being Noble There is a great deal of self satisfaction in being noble. May be that's its essence. When HEADACHE Is Due To Constipation Often one of the flrst-felt effects of constipation Is a headache. Take a dose or two of purely vegetable Black-Draught ! That's the sensible way ? relieve the constipation. Enjoy the refresh* lng relief which thousands of people have reported from the use of Black Draught Sold In 25 cent package*. BLACK-DRAUGHT A GOOD LAXATIVE DEAF or HARD OF HEARING? BjallmeM. send lor a. f m booklet called "BAR*" which will prore both interesting fcndlnstrnctkTe. It deecrlbea the world's neat est kid to better hearing by means of the sen nine ACOUSTIC ON, through which new Joy and lapplneM| can be bronght into your Ufa Mew Yerfc Clty,an<5 the booklet wiLlbVm &Ue3 to yon without any obligation whatever. Indicated as on Alterat/va <n the Treatment of RHEUMATIC FEVER, GOUT, Simple Neuralgia, Muscular Aches and Pains ?t All Dramau Ju. Uj a So., WholaaU TMiUiwkn WOMEN WHO SUFFER Mia Blanche Finney, Mouth of WUson, Va ?aid: "I Buffered a lot with pain associated with functional disturbances. Finally I decided to try Dr. Pierce's Favorite Pre scription as a tonic After taking a few bottles I be gan to get relief and my fcru eating more I* gained to'wSrway." wS/5. lor lnt medical advice. CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT CARTOONING _ UARN MODERN CARTOONING Ttm^^o?r?r^Mirt^od ? IndlvKUMlly
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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Feb. 25, 1937, edition 1
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