DAIRY LAND DRIFTINGS

in our locality he often stopped a few minutes to talk steam. In
pursuit of his hobby and love for steam he had set up a complete
stationary boiler and Atlas engine to operate a sawmill on highway
8 east of St. Croix Falls. His devoted wife was in full accord with
his hobby as was one of his two sons. Wendell who still has a 45
Case in good condition. Mrs. Harris Johnson reluctantly sold their
65 Case 33383 as well as the saw mill set-up. She borrowed me some
pictures which are to be returned. One is of Harris’ fathers
steam-rig that for many years Threshed in the fertile Wanderoos
valley. The other picture was taken in 1962 with the 45 Case engine
bought from Lloyd Loomis of near Mondovi. Wendell still puts his 45
Case through the paces sawing lumber or threshing at the Dresser
threshing Bee. The passing of Harris Johnson not only strikes a sad
note to his many steam friends, to his community, but the county as
well.

Speaking of steam engines, that illusive ‘hearsay’
engine out in Burnett County that Ronnie Gjerning and I sought so
eagerly is still at large. We did however, make another hunt in
hopes to locate the engine or should we say its ghost. ‘Pine
Island’ mentioned in our hunt, struck a bell for Jerry and
Ricky Erickson who have hunted deer in that ‘wild life’
area, so with their enthusiasm aroused we now doubled our posse and
with renewed hopes, packed our lunch and hit for the taller timber
and more remote areas. Their pondering had narrowed down the
thinking that to get an engine into these parts only two narrow
approaches were feasable. Having carefully checked those points we
were still at a loss. Back to the main road we went and questioned
a farmer who had been a resident in that ‘deer country’
sinc 1936. He says ‘You guys are all wet, its just a myth’.
He had never known of such a mired engine. Not liking to admit we
goofed we proceeded down the highway to another neighbor. He had
just come in from his fields where he was poisoning pocket gophers.
Says he; ‘Of course there’s an engine out there’ and
recalled very vividly how he saw it 10 years ago, ‘it is facing
west, drivers ‘this’ wide and a big flywheel’, but
‘you guys were too far north. Do you know where ‘plantation
house’ is?’ ‘Sure do’ was Rickys reply. ‘Well
go north from there a half mile to your right on the hillside you
can see where Ed Cockle had his sawmill, using an Avery
undermounted steamer.’ Well to the north and west a trail leads
off and its in there somewhere perhaps covered with brush by
now.’ About the time we used up all clues of a trail and
seemingly only swamps left we did find a nesting mallard duck.
Unless we can engage some firmer evidence of personal guidance we
are ready to give up that ‘ghost’. Pictured lunching are
Ronnie, Jerry and Ricky while on the engine hunt.

Speaking of retrieving old iron, I now have a 32 x 54 Case
thresher parked in our pasture. George Christian has owned this
machine for some time but has had rather negative results to get it
moved the 11 miles in hopes to use it to thresh again. Now Ronnie
Gjerning had come to the rescue. Since Ronnie goes to school and
during vacation is a busy boy, he was booked to move the thresher.
Thus on that Tuesday morning with the weather cloudy and drizzling,
and garbed in a raincoat he took off, with Ronnie driving his
dad’s 60 John Deere and George and I following in my truck.
There was no turning back now. Having greased the thresher wheels
the day before we were to loose no time. Rolling the thresher from
its ‘hibernation’ all went well and by noon the weather was
clearing, after all, we should take some pictures. Before starting
back we loaded an Ottaway drag saw on my truck from a nearby farm.
The farmer owner told me it hadn’t run 10 hours and he bought
it new 20 years ago and always kept it in the shed. Passing through
the village of Atlas we stopped at a gravel pit to partake of
sandwiches, coffee, fruit and candy bars. Thats when I snapped the
picture of the ‘big move’. This thresher can be restored.
It is equipped with that ‘guaranteed no choke’ Garden-city
feeder with dividing board, and boasts a unique steering pole and a
unable drive belt. It has an 18′ drive pulley. Any reasonable
offer buys this machine. Upon paying Ronnie. Geo says, ‘was
quite a job for my thresher to push that John Deere eleven
miles’. Well it sure did some pushing down one steep hill but
Ronnie kept cool and all went well.

By the way while I think of it, in the last column I stated that
George cut 11 acres rye one afternoon, well he actually left home
at 12:30 and cut 17 acres and was home by 6:30. My apology for that
mistake.

When you grow too old to dream, that’s too bad. Many a time
have I dreamed about steam engines, that’s good. A most recent
one I had was rather quick and to me amusing. I had just received
in the mail some hand-bills from the Justin Hintgen show at La
Motte, Ia., and must admit he spares no efforts to put on a good
show. I noted Ray Ernst would be there with his 6 hp Nichols
Shepard, a show piece indeed that Ray should be very proud of and
he is. Well my ‘slumber version’ had Ray resting on a wood
chunk with his straw hat in hand, in a rather relaxed attitude
alongside his 12 hp Russell Portable. (Of course he’s had no
portable to my knowledge). At any rate the steam pressure was down
to a mere 35 pounds. I asked Ray ‘What seems to be the
matter?’ Casually pointing to his engine he says ‘I think
she’s lost her cud’. Maybe only a dairyman could grasp the
pun.

‘Johnny,’ asked his teacher, ‘can you tell me what
the word ‘budget’ means?’

‘Sure, teacher,’ replied Johnny readily, proud of his
knowledge, ‘it means a family fight.’

The Country Parson says:

‘Most of us are more careful about the way we spend a dollar
than a lifetime.”