SOOT IN THE FLUES

no man’s enemy, and may I be the friend of that which is
eternal and abides. May I never quarrel with those nearest me; and
if I do, may I never devise evil against any man; if any devise
evil against me, may I escape uninjured and without the need of
hurting him. May I love, seek, and attain only that which is good.
May I wish for all men’s happiness and envy none. May I never
rejoice in the ill-fortune of one who has wronged me. When I have
done or said what is wrong, may I never wait for the rebuke of
others, but always rebuke myself until I make amends. . .May I win
no victory that harms either me or my opponent… May I reconcile
friends who are wroth with one another. May I, to the extent of my
power, give all needful help to my friends and to all who are in
want. May I never fail a friend in danger. When visiting those in
grief may I be able by gentle and healing words to soften their
pain… May I respect myself… May I always keep tame that which
rages within me.. .May I accustom myself to be gentle, and never be
angry with people because of circumstances. May I never discuss who
is wicked and what wicked things he has done, but know good men and
follow in their footsteps.
EUSEBIUS

And now, let’s turn to the letters that are so enjoyable
STEWARD ESPLEN, RR 2, Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada asks: Did you
ever hear of a Haggert steam engine? I have one and a Sawyer Massey
dated 1893.’ (Help him out Fellas).

Steward, you mentioned some articles and pictures you have, but
no dates on them. Please do send them along and just sit down and
write about them. We will really appreciate it. Maybe through that,
we might discover the date from some knowledgeable steam buff.

As I stated last month I would have one of Frog Smith’s
columns reprinted this month as he had sent it to us. Frog’s
address is 99 East Mariaba Avenue, North Fort Myers, Florida 33903.
His column is entitled Cracker Crumbs.

This particular time it was titled ‘Higher Alcohol Tax Stirs
Tea Party Interest’: ‘It is a good thing that pencils are
cheap, plentiful and easily erased. The government has to buy them
for successful politicians who make it to Congress. Just think how
many they wear out trying to figure out new taxes and what they
come up with isn’t worth the pencil or the paper.

‘Now somebody is trying to raise taxes on what some old
folks take to make them rest better, cure their colds or to use
orally and externally when they get snakebite.

‘Oh well, it was the drinking habit that started the war
that made America supposedly a free nation. But it wasn’t
alcohol. Every school kid knows how King George Ill raised taxes on
tea until it brought on a revolution, and King George got a
licking. The Boston Tea Party was not a formal affair.

‘The Boston Tea Party gave America a taste of what over
taxation can do, and taught the king a lesson, too. But congressmen
today figure they are smarter than the country bumpkins who won the
Revolutionary War. Now some are planning on raising the tax on
alcoholic drinks. Well, Prohibition didn’t do that, but it sure
stepped up the production of liquor of the kind that has never been
taxed.

‘I still remember seeing a cartoon in 1908 showing
Georgia’s new source of irrigation when Prohibition struck that
state. The picture showed a keg with an open spigot in Chattanooga
and the liquor flowing south while a keg in Jacksonville was
covering Dixie like the dew.

‘Prohibition started working wonders right from the start.
White Mule suddenly came into its own. The price of moonshine
soared, shiners prospered and mobsters became more dangerous than
marijuana smugglers today.

‘The buying of whiskey by mail and having it shipped by
express became so important that even the schoolchildren took
notice. When my desk mate was asked what was Jacksonville, Florida
famous for, instead of answering that it was an important naval
stores shipping point, he said, That’s where pa gets his liquor
from.’

‘Although Prohibition was a failure in keeping whiskey from
the public, it was educational for another growing problem. It
helped train more drivers for staying alive on the roads at high
speeds than driving schools did.

‘Driving fast, often without lights on mountain trails with
one eye on the road and one over a shoulder is a feat to be proud
of.

‘I knew one driver named Whidden who used a drawbridge as a
hill to get away with a load of imported Scotch. The revenue men
were right behind him when he came to a drawbridge that was being
raised. The revenue men had time to stop but my friend didn’t.
He landed right side up beyond the bridge and by the time the
bridge could be lowered, he and the loaded Packard were safely
hidden in a palmetto thicket where there were no tracks left to
show.

‘Several men have made history by quenching the public
thirst during Prohibition days, one of whom I knew personally. That
was the onetime famous Florida Rum King who earned his name by
running imported stock from the Bahamas to the Florida East Coast.
With a 12-cylinder airplane motor under the hood of what was
apparently an ordinary pleasure boat, the revenue men had nothing
that could stay in sight of him. No name please; but, personally,
at home he was one of the best neighbors I ever had.

‘At the time Prohibition was creating the new industry of
bootlegging and fast driving, the revenue men were learning a few
things, too. It was 60 years ago when a revenuer was watching for a
black sedan loaded with whiskey to approach St. Petersburg from
Clearwater. Night was coming on when the man decided the sedan was
not coming, ended his vigil and headed for home.

‘An aged man whom he knew flagged him and asked for a pull
out of a mudhole in the then unpaved road. The law man obligingly
gave him a pull. The old man tried to pay but the officer refused
all pay. He climbed back into his car and headed for town, not
knowing that the old rattletrap Model T Ford was the black sedan he
was watching for.

‘Many tales are told of the early citizens of Florida, some
of which never die because they have too much truth in them to
decay. Old Bone Mizell, the most colorful cowboy ever to live or
die anywhere, wasn’t a moon shiner but he was famous for his
consumption of it. So much in fact that when he came into camp too
full for sociability, the boys decided to teach him a lesson.

‘After he rolled into his blanket and went to sleep, they
piled dry grass and pine straw around where he slept and set it on
fire. Then someone threw a pine cone at him to wake him. But all he
did was to raise a corner of the blanket and peer out with,
‘Oh, oh dead and in hell. Just what I expected.’

‘This is history but Fort Myers of today is so modern that
people find it hard to believe that Fort Myers ever gave a
moonshiner a new still when revenue men caused him to lose his old
one.’

A satisfied subscriber writes and tells us: ‘What a thrill
to stumble upon something as wonderful as old days of farming. What
a job they had to put food on the tables!’

This comes from JOHN BELDEN, 806 Center, East Alton, Illinois
62024. John continues: ‘I just got started on a new past time
with ‘steam tractor days’. My first real steam show was
Pinckneyville, Illinois. The magazine is great as I receive your
Iron-Men Album magazine and Engineers and Engines.

‘Another thing about the old steam tractors is how they were
built. I work in a small foundry. And it would be interesting to
know how, back in those days in the 1800s, they cast some of the
parts to make the tractors. Also the big steam trains making the
big wheel. Maybe you may know someone that knew how that was
done.

‘Thank you for your magazine as it is great and I’ll
never stop taking it.’

IONE NASH HOGAN, 920 W. 1st, #42, Junction City, Oregon 97448 is
looking for information on her father, who was considered to be a
‘Master Blacksmith’, from about 1895 till his death in
1926.

‘I only have faint memories of him as he died when I was
still a child,’ she writes. ‘Some have told me that he was
a ‘hard working’, ‘hard-drinking’ Irishman, who
learned his trade from his father in New York state. Censuses show
that three of his brothers also became blacksmiths. They all
started in New York and then gradually moved to other states. Some
say his parents, Philander and Cornelia Nash went to Pennsylvania
before moving farther west; this would have been long before 1900,
possibly as early as 1875 or so.

‘My dad’s name was Earl Nash, better known as Richard,
actually ‘Dick Nash’. Aside from New York and possibly
Pennsylvania, he also lived and worked his trade in Illinois,
Idaho, North Dakota, California and Nebraska, where he died in
1926, in Lincoln.

‘I’m looking for any tidbit of information anything at
all that would help prove his existence, other than mere
statistics. For instance, a former neighbor of ours in North Dakota
(he’s some ninety years old) has written to tell me that my dad
often liked to brag of having shod, several times, that famous race
horse, Dan Patch. Maybe he did; maybe he didn’t, but at least
it’s more than dry census information.’ (Maybe one of our
readers in these states has some information if so, please do let
Mrs. Hogan know.)

A short letter comes from WILLIAM FRYE, Brandon, Minnesota 56315
as he says, ‘I surely like the IMA magazine and read every page
and then reread them. It is an interesting magazine, educational
and valuable. I’m really interested in steam shows, antiques,
etc.

‘But I don’t agree with someone in the 1984 issue of
Nov-Dec. IMA on the bottom of page 17no doubt that is a 32′
machine thresher, but it’s not a Case. Case has grain elevates
oft opposite side of machine. I wonder how many other readers
noticed that.’ (It has been known to happen that it is possible
for the negative to be printed wrong, which would put the wheel on
the opposite side.)

D. B. GARDNER, Box 342, Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada TOA OVO sends
this: ‘I am writing to your company, hoping that you can
furnish me with information of addresses pertaining to the
manufacture of wooden farm wagons in the United States or Canada
prior to the second World War.

‘I am a member of the local Historical and Museum Society
being mainly interested in steam and gasoline tractors which over
the years brought me in contact with American Society of
Agricultural Engineers (Michigan) and it is that helpful band that
gave me your address. I am aware that Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, is the center of what is left of the once universal
Horse Power Era as I once saw an interesting TV documentary about
that state, so it seemed logical when the AG Engineers suggested I
contact your firm.

‘Any information you can supply would be most helpful and
also material on bobsleds and other horse-drawn vehicles. I hope
your readers will be able to help in this matter.’

‘Anna Mae says that more letters are needed,’ writes
CHARLES P. HARTMAN, Route 1, Rocky Comfort, Missouri 64861.
(That’s right, Charles, and we’re glad to hear from
you.)

‘When I read all the very interesting articles, I feel that
I have so little to offer, for it has been many years since I
operated that wonderful old equipment, and I am not able to own any
of my own.

‘There are many things that concern me beside the loss of so
many of those old machines, and so much of our time in history that
I think was the greatest that any civilization has ever enjoyed.
Not only have we lost the machines, and a great way of life, but
because of our greed, we have lost some of the quality of life, and
also of the product.

‘With the combine and field harvesters has come a grain of
poorer quality. When wheat or any grain is separated from the stalk
in the field, the grain will shrivel, but if left in the straw, it
will continue to feed from the straw, or stalk, so I believe that
with all our modern ways has come a loss in the quality of
life.

‘Perhaps I am an old fogy, but I shouldn’t be as I am
not quite 90 yet, but as I compare these different life styles, I
must confess that when I consider the alternative, growing old is
wonderful!

‘And as the Good Lord gave us the greatest computer ever
made, the human brain, that has been collecting memories since even
before we could talk; surely the Almighty did not intend for all of
this to be wasted.

‘So to all the other old fogies out there, like me, if
someone suggests that you are living in the pastas they have me
just admit it and say ‘How sweet it is!’ ‘ (Isn’t
that great, folks? Let’s hear from some more old young in heart
fogies. We love you all and your comments.)

A letter comes from DAVID W. REIERSEN, Asst. Curator/Conservator
of Carroll County Farm Museum, 500 S. Center Street, Westminster,
Maryland 21157 (301-848-7775): ‘The Carroll County Farm Museum
is currently in the process of gathering information regarding a
number of agricultural artifact. This information will prove useful
in our conservation/restoration of these objects.

‘We recently purchased a number of books from the Stemgas
Company which have already proven very useful in this project. One
book in particular entitled, Album of Historical Steam Traction
Engines and Threshing Equipment No. 1 has a great deal of valuable
information regarding threshers in general. Unfortunately, it did
not have the information that I was looking for at this time. Would
it be possible to furnish me with the information regarding the
thresher listed below or guide me towards a source which may
possibly have the same?’ (This is why I’m putting this
letter in the column, Dave, in the hopes one or more of our readers
may be able to help you.)

‘I have copied as much information from the thresher as
possible and have included several numbers which may or may not be
the model number: FARQUHAR THRESHER MODEL #17358 (taken from the
brass plate in front). Hart Grain Weigher Co., New Hart Model,
Peoria, Illinois (from a green decal on front of the thresher).
‘Hart Junior’ last patent date, Feb. 9, 1926. Any
assistance will be greatly appreciated. Enclosed are
photographs.’

Many of you folks will be glad for this letter from L. J.
PALMER, R.R. #1, Box 453, Albion, Indiana 46701 as he tells us:
‘I have been going to write about the whistle code for sometime
but just kept putting it off. It took Ed Bredemeier’s request
for a whistle code and Anna Mae saying ‘Do it now’, in the
Sept-Oct 1986 issue, IMA, to get me in gear. By the way, Ed, in
general the code is easy to learn until we reach 128 years old,
then it can take a little longer, so you can choose which one of
the next 50 years you want to learn it before it will take
longer.

‘The steam traction engineers’ whistle code that we have
used is as follows:

No. 1-Morning and at noon (1 long). This
indicates the area or place of work.

No. 2-Engine going to start and begin work (2
short). This is a warning to get clear of the machinery about to
start. Also signals the crew to be at their work positions.

No. 3-Engine going to stop (1 short). This lets
everyone know that the engine and machine it is running is about to
stop.

No.4-Low water supply (1 moderately long and 3
short). This signal lets the water haulers know they must hurry to
the engine with a fresh supply of water.

No. 5-Grain haulers should hurry (3 medium
short).

No. 6-Current job or day’s work is
completed (2 long). No. 7-Fire or distress (rapid succession of
short sounds).

‘I would suggest to all steam traction engineers a universal
whistle code be known and used. The four most important ones to
have signals for nowadays would be nos. 2, 3, 4, and 7.1 am sure a
lot of variation in whistle codes existed in different parts of the
country, but maybe through correspondence and this column the four
most important ones or all of the above codes can have a universal
signal all across the country. A steam engine using the whistle
codes is like the modern day CB radio only the steam whistle is a
lot more reliable. An engineer using whistle codes can tell all the
children his engine can talk through its whistle. When the
threshing, sawmilling, etc. crew rely on the whistle codes the
engineer will probably tell everyone, ‘Please don’t play
with my Toot Toot.’

‘I hope a positive response to establish a universal whistle
code will come about. If we can prevent one broken thumb accident
from happening it will be worth it.

‘I enjoyed the letter from Frog Smith. I would like to read
some of his experiences in each issue.’ (So would we keep
’em coming, Frog.)

H. J. BENNY, 137 W. Garfield #510, Del Rio, Texas 78840 writes:
‘In your IMA July-August, you have written ‘A man in the
right with God on his side, is in the majority, though he be
alone.’ That is the first time I have seen that in any magazine
in the last 40 years. I love to read and have taken this magazine
for years.

‘When I was a small boy of six years old, I sat on the water
box on a steam engine while it pulled a thresher threshing my
father’s oats stack. I was in my glory and in the 30s I ran a
stationary steam engine that ran a brick factory. It was a 1
cylinder Erie engine. I also had to reset the foundation as it was
not set correct on a level foundation, and after I reset it, you
could hardly hear it run. ‘I have seen many steam engines, but
the old steamers on the railroad was the best. I do not know why
they were removed. I guess one reason is the young generation want
push button jobs.’

Two photos come from STEVE HINEBECK, Route 7, Box 334 A-l,
London, Kentucky 40741. He thinks the readers will enjoy them.
Maybe we’ll get some people excited enough to send in some of
those pictures and write some of those stories that need to be
told.

This photo shows the late Justin Hington walking beside his
Rumely plowing engine with Harry Woodman see of Dowling, Michigan
at the controls. This plowing demonstration took place in the late
1960s at Hington’s farm near La Motte, Iowa.

‘Could one of your readers out there please explain how an
injector on a steam engine works?’ asks ROSS ABENDROTH, Route
1, Greenville, Wisconsin 54942.

He continues: ‘I’ve seen cross sectional diagrams of the
Penberthy, and even had the internal part out and in my hand to
look at, but can’t quite grasp the concept. I know the steam
goes through and picks up the water along with it, and it was
explained that it was the velocity of the steam that picked up the
water, and I’ve seen that the orifice tapers a little like a
carburetor venturi. I guess I know where the steam and water are
going it is just that I can’t figure out why the steam at say
50 lbs. pressure goes through the injector, picks up the water and
back into the water in the boiler still under the same 50 lb.
pressure like electricity traveling in a circle of wire without a
generator to push it. I hope somebody can come up with the right
words for me.’

DONALD POTTER, 13324 Balfour, Huntington Wds., Michigan 48070
sends this: ‘The past three days, Oct. 3, 4, & 5th, I
operated again the Port Huron steam traction engine restored by
volunteers at Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan. It was quite
an attraction powering either a grain separator or corn shredder on
the Harvey Firestone birthplace farm relocated from Columbiana Co.,
Ohio, to the Henry Ford founded Greenfield Village and Museum.

‘I’ve been unsuccessfully researching to find factual
information on the proper operation and adjustment of an up and
down sawmill, commonly called a MULEY mill. The carriage and saw is
on the second floor of the supporting building with the power
source either water or steam power, in this instance, steam, on the
first floor level. The saw reciprocating vertically cuts only on
the down stroke as the carriage moves the log at a constant steady
rate into the saw. I’m looking for substantiation that the
teeth edge of the saw must be slanted towards the log to properly
clear the cutting edge on the up stroke, thereby eliminating
excessive thrust deflecting the saw blade off line.

‘I would appreciate IMA assistance to obtain some
information.’ (Keep watching the mail, Don. You may hear from
some of the readers.)

And now dear ones, it is time again to be on our ways into a New
Year that holds what??? But whatever, let us enjoy each moment to
the fullest as you pray ‘Open our eyes, O heavenly Father, who
hast filled the world with beauty; open, we beseech Thee, our eyes
to behold Thy gracious hand in all Thy works; that rejoicing in Thy
whole creation, we may learn to serve Thee with gladness’ (from
the Book of Common Prayer). How beautiful and may we take the time
to do this.

And some knowledgeable groups of words to think upon A temper is
a valuable possession, don’t lose it. Work is the best thing
ever invented for killing time. Nobody raises his own reputation by
lowering others. If you are criticized, you have either done
something worthwhile, or refrained from doing something foolish.
So, CONGRATULATIONS! Then, again, perhaps honesty is the best
policy because it has so little competition. Bye, bye, love you
all, you have been such a good part of my life.

STEAMcerely, Anna Mae