Well, I got married in Iowa’s ‘Little Brown Church’
years ago, but wasn’t lucky enough to get in on any steam show
then. Yep! when I think of the steam era, I wish I was born sooner
when I see these newlyweds, I wish I’d been born later!
Had a ride on Neal McClure’s double cylinder 30 Huber engine
I sez, ‘Man! that’s a lot of engine’ ‘Yes and
it’s a lot bigger on a lowboy’ sez Neal. Weighs 17 tons,
more or less, and self-propelled, thank goodness. First time I saw
a ‘Jumbo’ engine too.
Alice got sorta attached to Saters Massey-Harris 4 wheel drive,
drove it in the parade three times–but wait till she gets Amos
Rixman cornered –‘Frederic, Iowa’? the very idea! (Start
running, Amos!) Got quite a bang out of Rixman’s movies on Ed
Peacock’s Show.
Took a hike with Geo.C. to get his R.R. stock, wanted to see
that square ’round-house’ too. George was told to take a
ride on the new line and he commented ‘rather short ride’.
The girl making out his share said plans are to extend it.
‘Good idea,’ Geo. sez, ‘Run it to Swanville, Minnesota,
then I’ll have good connections to Mt. Pleasant.’ Guess who
was spelling off Stanley Mathews at the controls of the
‘Cabbage Stack’ none other than my good friend, Harvey
Obrecht from Thor, Iowa. Sadly missed at the ‘Old Threshers
Reunion’ were Durward and Koletta Stienmetz and their two girls
from LaFarge, Wisconsin.
Enroute home we stopped at ‘Mabel, Minnesota, Steam Engine
Days’ a good show, but lots of carnival thrown in. Stayed over
at our flying farmer friend, James Syllings. He has a very old
Rumely engine and nice collection of gas engines. Home the next day
— as George would say ‘this is September 12th.’
Alice will long remember Sept. 13. That’s the day she met a
‘Green Thumb’ that could really talk African Violets. He
was Moritz Bochme, a former greenhouse operator. He stopped in with
his daughter and son-in-law, the Herbert Fricks, St.Roselle,
Illinois.
Next hop to Rollag, Western Minn. Steam Threshers. Like Orville
Ellingson said, it too ‘is rather big for its age’ Met my
good friend D. E. Carrothers from Austin, Manitoba, Canada. Says he
has a 25 Sawyer and Massey to trade for some ‘states’
engine. Also has a dandy 20-75 N.S. boiler rear mounted for sale.
New major items at Rollag was an E.B. Big Four tractor, and pardner
I mean big, a 40-65 Twin City, a ‘lalabaloosa’ and looking
over the 30-60 Hart Parr, who should I meet but Glenn W. Thomas of
Ottawa, Ill. He also has a 30-60. (See IRON-MEN ALBUM,
Vol.II,Number 5) This Reunion goes one better by publishing a dandy
annual booklet ‘Memories of Bygone Years ‘and sells for a
mere 4 bits.
Job Andersons stopped by enroute from Rollag to George
Washington, Iowa. Got roped in on some fencing one day but the next
we headed for Harold Churchills, Elmwood, Wis. Harold was filling
silo, using a 20 hp M. Rumely double engine on the blower. Job got
opportunity to run engine firing wood. Job gave us a pointer he
fills his Wood Bros, engine with water in the spring, during the
summer his wife burns the rubbish in the firebox, Come fall he gets
someone (?) to clean out the tin cans and tha’s all there’s
to it!
Come Oct. 8, we were invited to Norlander Bros. Marine on St.
Croix, Minn., to help them thresh with their 30 hp Minneapolis No.
8177 and Belle City separator. Goes to show how you can have fun
and still get work done and eats to boot.
Next day hit for Pine City, Minn., to Karl Marquardts an
enthusiastic ‘Early Day’ picnic. He run that 45 Mogul
tractor, a Waterloo-Boy, an 18-36 Hart Parr, a 22 hp Witte gas
engine, 6 hp Mogul side shaft tank cooled, 10 hp Int. and his 5 hp
Ottowa drag saw. ‘Old Iron’ on the move.
Oct. 11 back to Pine City this time steam. Joe Pangerl pulling
stumps and snapping cables with his 11 x 11 Mpls. No. 8052. Joe has
in the past pulled hundreds of stumps for the townships at $5 but
this was for relations and for fun. Met Russell Tenney of Mpls.
sold him a sub to our Album. Thanks, Russ!
Had a pleasant surprise when Ray Albertson from Cogswell, North
Dakota, drove in. He has made a third-scale model Case engine.
Displayed it at Rollag, also has a Keystone overshot thresher.
Well, just for fun, we belted up my 4 roll Appleton shredder to the
M-H 4 W.D. and Ray did the feeding. The shelled corn I gave his
boy, Gary, to take back to N.D. for his Bantam chickens.
Ray was telling while driving thru the Indian Reservation that
he caught up with an elderly couple. The brave was riding a horse
and his squaw walking alongside. Stopping to talk, he asked
how-come she didn’t ride –‘Ugh, she no got pony!’
And so it goes . . . ‘Ye cannot rival for one hour,
October’s bright blue weather.’ –GIL
