Firsthand Account from a McCormick Harvester Co. Salesman

The last letter I wrote you was from Argentine. I got through all right there, and never spent four and a half months in a better climate than there. I never had a cold and could eat the mutton three times a day. The summer was not warm and the crops were good. The machines were all sold and the field is open for next year. There were 78 Americans down there for the binder company. Fourteen were there for the Case, Avery and Advance threshers. The Avery sold the most. These are the only machines represented there so the people of Washington can see that Argentine is right up in machine that are good. John Deere plows you find in every country.

I left Buenos Aryes January 23rd and got to Liverpool February 17th. We had a nice trip, except the last day it got cold. It did not freeze, but I thought it was pretty cold, as we had 15 days of storm from the time we left Pernambuco, Brazil. The storm came head on; not bad; but just bad enough so we could not make good headway. We were loaded with copper and silver ore from Chili, rubber from Brazil; also coffee.

The boat was a fine one and we had good board and we got good treatment. We met a sailboat that came from Seattle, Washington, loaded with redwood lumber. We met them in mid-ocean, and they signaled us for provisions, as they were nearly out. We stopped and gave them meat, potatoes, beans, and whatever they needed. They had been six months on the way and it would take them three months more. It was a Norwegian boat.

I stayed in Liverpool two days and took in the city. I admire this place very much. We went from there to London. I spent three days in the British Museum and saw about one third of it. I saw many articles, among them guns with barrels long enough to almost reach the enemy. They are very heavy. They were big revolvers, swords, knives and everything of that kind you can imagine. It is worth one’s while to go through. I expect to see the rest when I go back.

I came to Hamburg on February 23rd and stayed there till April 5th. I saw more of Hamburg than ever before. The weather was good. It generally rains there every other day and it got cold enough to freeze the ground two or three mornings. They had a mild, rainy winter. England was the same. I was in Germany for Easter, and they spend more for presents on Easter than we do for Christmas. They also keep Good Friday and Easter Monday for holidays. No business is done on those days and nothing is open but the churches and the saloons. No theaters are open on those days. I saw one good play, “Willhelm Tell,” written by Schiller. From here I went to Berlin and spent a day there; thence to Bucarest, Roumania, and got here just in time to experience a pretty bad earthquake. The first one was April 10th, and the people were so scared, they ran into the streets. The second one was a 2 p.m., the first being at 11:30a.m. I want no more. No property was damaged that I have heard of.