From the Fremont Weekly Journal, Friday, July 20, 1877, Vol. 48, No. 30:
A trial between D. June & Co.’s “Champion” engine and an engine of J.I. Case & Co., of Racine, Wisconsin, results in favor of the “Champion.”
For some time past the firm of D. June & Co., have been hearing that agents of the Case engine had been running the merits of the Champion down; and they have been waiting an opportunity to put these claims to the test. Last Saturday an opportunity came to hand and they availed themselves of it. A Case engine was set up on the farm of Anthony Schwint near Muscalunge, the old farm of Geo. Rimselpach and Schwint requested the June engine be on hand, and it was, Mr. Schwint was to take the best engine.
The Case engine was started to work first threshing wheat. It was fired up and when the steam was up to 65 lbs., the thresher was put in motion; in about fifteen minutes the steam dropped down to 35 pounds and finally, the engine stopped with 40 lbs. of steam. The boiler commenced foaming at a terrible rate and continued so until they stopped. It threshed about one bushel of grain per minute. The Champion then started with 40 lbs. of steam and in ten minutes ran up to 100 lbs. and there remained. Her rate of threshing was two bushels in one minute and five seconds and did this with one half the fuel and watt.
After supper the spark arresting patent of each engine was most thoroughly tested. The Champion ran for 45 minutes and not a spark escaped. Five dollars a spark was offered for every one that could be counted. Then the Case was started, and for the first half hour it was almost a continual run of sparks; sometimes one spark and then again a dozen until it had been run about 30 minutes when the sparks ceased appearing. One spark in the afternoon came from the Case engine, and dropping on a stick of wood on the water barrel set it on fire. This trial seemed to satisfy the minds of all present and they informed Schwint that he could not thresh on their farms with a Case engine thus making the pressure so strong that he would not let the Champion leave his farm, but came up Monday and bought it from the manufacturers.
Another victory for the “Champion” was gained on Wednesday afternoon on the farm of Chris Powell about one mile south of Hessville. It started with 100 lbs. of steam but after running a few minutes dropped to 50 lbs. by the water foaming but after putting lime in the water the foaming was quelled and the steam ran up to 120 where it remained. In the last heat three wagon loads of mixed rye and wheat were threshed in 24 minutes most of the time at the rate of two bushels per minute and once we timed two bushels in 56 seconds.
The Case started at 100 lbs. but her engineer ran her down to 80 lbs. where she was kept most of the time; she also threshed three loads of rye and wheat, but 29 minutes was the time occupied and the grain threshed out did not yield quite 1 bushel to the minute. John Michaels, Anthony Schwint and Chris Powell fed at different times.
The parties remained in the evening to test the spark arrester. The Case engine fired up first and in a few minutes fine sparks began dropping and every time the furnace was opened sparks would come out very rapidly; then the Champion was started and in a few minutes it threw few sparks, this was so unexpected that the owners were very much surprised; but upon examining the reservoir it was discovered that there was no water there. Water was soon furnished and it was then demonstrated that no sparks could escape her arrester, when water was kept in the reservoir. Thus it was again shown, twice within one week, that the Champion is the best farm engine manufactured in the world. First on account of the perpendicular boiler and again on account of the spark arrester. IMA
