SOOT IN THE FLUES

I must say that I had a wonderful Holiday Season. I had a
telephone call from my brother Dan Keeley, who lives in Acworth,
Georgia, and he said, ‘Anna Mae, I’m coming’ up!’
Now this is exciting, because I haven’t seen him in 11 years,
and before that it was 21 years. He arrived by bus Saturday the
19th, and went back Christmas night on a Greyhound bus, about 23
hours to go back, but he claims it was worth it.

You must know the joy we shared! Our mother died on Christmas
night at age 35; I was eleven and Dan was 5. She was never very
well and we did not have the ‘best of life’ in many ways. I
always felt a great responsibility for him and though I am his
sister, I was also a mother to him for quite a few years. We had a
lot of trials but I am sure there are many more folks who have had
it worse. We had a wonderful time. He was happy to see our five
children and families (his nieces and nephews) again, and I was
also glad our son Donnie got home from Florida. We wish he lived
closer, but he does get home now and then.

As you can guess, we talked and talked until way past
midnightthe last night he was here, it was about 3:30 A.M. until we
‘hit the sack.’ Also, we just had a good time, doing
important things. He also went along down to the IMA office
Christmas luncheon that Mr. Lestz and wife always treat the office
staff to at this time of year. They are most wonderful folks! We
visited our parents’ graves, which are in two different
locations, as our dad remarried, and he and our stepmother are both
now deceased.

Well, I don’t want to go on this subject too long, so
we’ll look ahead to the tasks coming up in this New Yearand
hope you all have a wonderful 1993. I know I thank God for every
day I have. I have a lot of physical ailments, but so far I’m
handling them well and pray I’ll be around a long time to enjoy
my family of three sons, two daughters and families. I have three
grown grand children and three that are ages 14, 8 and 6 (in
Keli’s family). They are very close, and each one takes a night
sometimes once a week, or at least twice a month, to stay over and
we do many wonderful, also educational and fun things. I also am a
great-grandmother of Zackary Ryan Fortenbaugh, eight months, son of
Ryan and Dawn Fortenbaugh. Ryan is my daughter Dana’s son. Also
Oliver Hoover, a darling little girl 1 years old, daughter of Lisa
(Dana’s stepdaughter) and Mark Hoover. And they live not too
far away.

So you see, I’m richly blessed and then I have my Iron-Men
Album family and many of you seem just like thatFAMILY. I feel
privileged to serve you in my humble way. I also am a substitute
teacher in the elementary schools, classes 1-8. The teachers all
have aides. I had worked there for five years and then was off for
a long time. Now I just go in when an aide is absent for the day.
Keeps me in touch with the school crowd.

Also wanted to say, at Christmas time I always used to paint my
windows with Christmas scenes. This was something I hadn’t done
for quite a few years, and this year I did a huge scene of snow,
animals, and Crhistmas scenes. It got real nice. Each of the
grandchildren, Kortni, Megan and Timothy, painted a window also.
Didn’t do badly at all. Just use poster paint and paint inside.
They look real nice on the outside. Enough of this blabbering on
and on. Talk to you next issue.

P.S. Thought you might enjoy the above picture (above). Some of
you inquired about one of the family. This was taken in September
1990. Ed died in January 1991, so he didn’t look well. Back
row: Ed, 6’2′, Eddie 6’6′, Donnie 6’4′,
Tommie 6’2′; front row: Anna Mae 5’9′, Dana
5’8′, KeLi 6′.

Hurrah! My pleas and nudgings are helping, as you will see with
this letter, which comes from GREG HOESLI, 367 Pheasant Run,
Louisville, Colorado 80027.

‘Anna Mae, you must have stuck a pole in a hornet’s nest
to get all the first time writers, including me, to work. Maybe we
have taken too much for granted for too long. It seems so natural
to get the IMA and read it with smug satisfaction, never thinking
how lonesome it could be to manufacture such a magazine. And there
are many of us out here, quiet as church mice, who wouldn’t be
‘rich’ as we are, without you. Don’t give up, we are
silently beside you.’

‘My long gone friend, Ralph Fuller of Minneapolis, Kansas,
infected me with the steam flu many years ago. He had letters and
pictures scattered throughout some of the older issues of the IMA.
I used to help him at the county fairs and parades, and we did a
little traveling together. There wasn’t much chance of making a
living as a steam engineer, so I went back to college for a
mechanical engineering degree. Now I work for Ball Aerospace (same
company that makes fruit jars), designing aircraft and satellite
antennas. My background, schooling and technical work has given me
a unique viewpoint on the old steam engines.’

‘One of the things that is impressive about the steam engine
society is their safety record. Let us pray that it continues. But
besides prayer, all of the operators can do something to maintain
their good record. It always worries me to see engines plowing,
because this activity and other heavy pulling work places heavy
stresses on the boiler plate where the drawbar and braces attach.
Now there are three troublemakers for the operator: hidden
corrosion, embrittlement of iron, and most insidious of all,
fatigue. By comparison, all aircraft now have specified life limit,
and the reason is that after a time most materials (including iron
and steel) will weaken because of the growth of microcracks within
the material due to cyclic stressing. Another common term for this
effect is ‘work hardening.’ (Actually, the correct phrase
is that the material toughness decreases, but ‘strength’
and ‘weakness’ are more understandable.) This makes the
part effectively weaker than when it was new, so, even if the part
was originally much stronger than what it needed to be, fatigue may
cause it to be not strong enough.’

‘Personally, I am not concerned with simply firing the
boiler, but I do fear the combination of boiler pressure and the
stress applied from a drawbar load. The heavier the draw bar load,
the farther I stand back, and plowing is perhaps the worst. It is
worth noting that the hydrostatic boiler test does not check for
this condition, and plowing would put many more cycles of loads on
a tractor than simply firing the boiler. I would suggest that not
one engine in twenty has a problem of this kind, but it is
virtually impossible for anyone to detect this kind of fault
beforehand. The prudent thing to do is to not test it. Also, the
age of these engines means that the material is more brittle than
when it was new. I don’t want to be an alarmist, yet operators
should consider retiring the engine, at least for heavy loads. And
yes, I’ve seen this type of accident on a small portable
steamer. It was undectable until after it happened, but that was
obviously too late.’

‘There is another favor that I am asking. My friend Ralph
Fuller had a Kelly Springfield engine all during the time that I
knew him. It was bought some years ago from Bennington, Kansas, and
went, so I heard, to some place in Illinois. I would appreciate it
very much if any of your readers who know the whereabouts of this
engine would write me. That was the very first steam engine that I
ran, and it would be nice to correspond with the present
owner.’

This next writing comes from OR-MAN RAWLINGS, a new steam nut,
7326 Acacia Road, Phelan, California 92371: ‘Help! After
restoring several gas tractors such as J.D., Massey Harris, Massey
Ferguson and IH, I have jumped into steam. Yes, a 1906 Advance
#2091 boiler #MNB 19534.

‘As in the past, I research to the point where no question
is unanswered. On this one, several items still remain a large
question. See photos at right. As you can see, the engine is set
back from the steam dome. Now research has shown all Advances from
1898 through the Rumely years, the engine is very close to the
steam dome; in fact, most are mounted with the small rod-end about
center of the dome. So why is this one back?’

‘Question #2the state of California is a real pain in the
neck. I could spend several pages in tales of woe. I have
everything under control except the method of putting water into
the boiler while under pressure. California says you must have two
different ways to get water into the boiler, injector, hand pump,
steam pump or rotary. I need to know what Advance used. This one
has an injector. If steam pump was part of the original package,
where can it be found?’

‘This steamer is being pulled down now; soon all the running
gear will be removed, so repairs can be made to the water legs. The
boiler engineer has finished the complete set of blueprints and
drawings. YES! Because of no ASME stamp (that didn’t start
until 1922/26), so you play the game if you want to steam. Follow
the rules and you get certified. The blueprints will be just like
the original, showing all the stays, tubes, sheets and the metal
specs.’

‘A complete photo log is being put together on this one,
plus the life history is being logged. This unit was hidden in a
stand of trees to keep it from the scrap people during WWI and
brought back to life in 1916 to be used for plowing and logging. It
also ran a shingle mill in the off season. During World War II,
back to the same stand of trees as used the first time and back to
life in 1944. Maybe a nine-lifer, I don’t know. I’ll keep
in touch. Thanks for your help.’

EUGENE GOEBEL, Tiny Power, Inc., Box 1605, Branson, Missouri
65616 sends this communication: ‘I read with great interest the
story of the A. B. Farquhar Company in September-October issue of
IMA. I purchased Tiny Power, Inc. from the estate of Charles V.
Arnold in 1977 and have been building steam engines ever since. One
thing I found, in all the office stuff I got, was a letter to Mr.
Arnold from the A. B. Farquhar Company dated August 26, 1947 and
signed by G. A. Heckert, Sales Manager. I thought your readers
might enjoy seeing it.

‘The ‘Ajax’ engine mentioned in the story and
pictures on pages 3 and 6 bears a striking resemblance to the Tiny
Power Ajax. It was Mr. Arnold’s favorite model and mine too; so
much so, it has been used as the Tiny Power logo for many years. It
has a bore and stroke of 1x 1′ and flywheels of 5′, and
really makes a beautiful working model of a steam engine.’

‘As long as I’m writing you, I might as well tell you
about our visit to the Rough and Tumble Show at Kinzers,
Pennsylvania in 1991. My wife wanted to visit her brother, who was
retiring from the Air Force in Philadelphia, so we timed our visit
so we could take in the steam show at Kinzers. We really enjoyed
the show and would like to compliment everyone who had anything to
do with making it possible. I was especially interested in the many
large steam engines in the buildings, and of course, the model
engine displays. And how could anyone not be impressed with the gas
engines on display in the several buildings?’

‘While we were walking around the grounds, a little girl
asked my wife if she would like to buy a raffle ticket on the
homemade quilt that the member’s wives had been working on. My
wife asked how much they were, ‘Only a dollar’, she
replied. Thinking it was for a good cause she reached in her purse
for a dollar and the girl said, ‘Or you can get six for
$5.00.’ Not being one to pass up a bargain, she parted with a
$5.00 bill. Now, my wife is a school teacher and teaches math, so
she spends a lot of time looking at numbers and she carefully noted
the numbers on all six tickets. About an hour later, while she was
in a long line waiting for a sarsaparilla, the P. A. system
announced that the drawing for the quilt was going to happen. Just
as she got up to the counter, they called the winning name. In the
same tone of voice she uses to get her students to be quiet in the
classroom, she ‘whispered’, That’s my name!’ I was
told later that her voice was heard in all four corners of the
park, and also in the engine shed, over the noise of all the gas
engines! And the winning ticket was the extra one#6!

‘When she was given the beautiful quilt, and after the
pictures were taken, the ladies who made the quilt told her they
were really glad the winner was there to get it and they had a
chance to meet her. It seems that in the past, the winner
wasn’t at the show and the quilt had to be sent.’

‘About a month ago my wife won another quilt at our county
fair! If she wins one more thing, I’m going to let her buy a
lottery ticket!’

‘I knew Brother Ritzman when he preached at Marsh Run,’
writes WALTER T. SMITH, Box 205, 4756-65th Street, Winter Beach,
Florida 32971. ‘He made a home movie at the Lyons Farm of Eddie
Reisinger flailing grain; that was back in the late ’30s or
early ’40s.’

‘To the point of this letter: I joined the Florida
Flywheelers Antique Engine Club. The August get-together was in
this area, so I went to it. There was a man there from Sarasota. In
the July-August IMA, Brant Rowell of Bristol, Tennessee was wanting
some information. I believe you answered that you had no recent
record of Col. Houston L. Herndon. He died in the early to middle
Seventies.’

‘Now, Richard Ambler, 8101 Coash Road, Sarasota, Florida
34241, is living in the Colonel’s former place. If anyone
wishes to contact him, he could probably help to clear up any
questions.’

‘He was showing a British built International Diesel Tractor
(Ambler). It looked like our Farmall M, but it was a later model.
It is different.’ This was signed, ‘An Old Farmer, Walter
T. Smith.’ (Thanks for your letter and information,
Walter.)’

‘I just had to write this letter,’ comments WILLIAM J.
STEWARD, 308 S. 12th Street, Independence, Kansas 67301. ‘This
event happened August 11, 1992. A Union Pacific steam-powered
passenger train stopped here in Independence for about thirty
minutes. The steam engine was a huge Challenger Class 4-6-6-4
locomotive, the largest steam locomotive in operation. It pulled a
train of 18 passenger cars, plus some service cars, and was loaded
with passengers from all over the country traveling from Kansas
City to Houston, Texas, for the Republican Convention. It stopped
overnight in Coffeyville, Kansas, with overnight stops scheduled
for McAlester, Oklahoma, Fort Worth, Texas, arriving in Houston on
Friday, August 14. It left Houston after the convention, returning
to Kansas City through Arkansas and Missouri.’

‘Now, about the engine. It was number 3985, built in 1943 to
expedite freight across the mountains. It was built by American
Locomotive Works following designs of French consulting engineer
Anatole Mallet, for articulated (hinged in the middle) engines,
wherein the front set of driving wheels were in a separate frame,
the rear end of which was hinged to the front of the main frame.
The front end of the boiler rested on the hinged frame, the rest of
the boiler and the firebox rode on the fixed frame. The designation
4-6-6-4 means four truck wheels under the head end, six drive
wheels (3 each side) under the hinged frame, six drive wheels under
the rigid frame, and four truck wheels under the cab and firebox.
The drive wheels were 69′ diameter; cylinders (4) 21′ x
32′; steam pressure 280 PSI; adhesive weights 406,000 pounds;
total weight 1,071,000 pounds; length overall 121 feet, 1 inch.
Several of the engines were used in passenger service traveling 70
MPH across the desert in Utah and Nevada. Number 3985 was retired
from service (gave way to diesels) in 1958 and preserved as a
static exhibit. In 1981 it was restored to working order, making it
the largest working steam engine in the world.’

‘My technical information is from The Illustrated
Encyclopedia of North American Locomotives by Brian Hollingsworth.
I don’t know much about steam engines. I was a railroad
telegrapher, for a few years. That big engine pulling that big
passenger train was a sight to behold!’

EDWIN H. BREDEMEIER, Rt. 1, Box 13, Steinauer, Nebraska 68441
writes: ‘In IMA’s September-October issue, Mr. Carlton A.
Johnson mentions horsedrawn grass mowers. I think grass mowers are
interesting to collect, because the sickle bar mower replaced the
hand scythe’.

‘I have a small collection with no two alike; the group
consists of a McDeering No. 7, McDeering Big 6, Deering New Ideal,
Deering Ideal and a Minnesota No. 4.’

‘The Minnesota No. 4 was built at the Minnesota State
Prison, I’m told. They also build hay rakes and binders. All
were well built and lasted a long time.’

‘As a lad, I remember farmers talking about the brands that
Mr. Johnson has in his collection.’

‘At left are two pictures of my 1884 10 HP Frick that I just
finished restoring this past summer. It took me over two years,
almost every day working on the engine.’

‘This engine used to belong to my Uncle Charlie Harrison,
and then my Aunt Hilda sold it to me. This engine was built on May
27, 1884, and its serial No. is 3311.’

This communication and pictures came from LARRY SCHUNKE, 9760
Yankee Street, Fredericktown, Ohio 43019.

‘I have just received my November-December issue of IMA, and
by the looks of your column, you will be kept busy, for which I am
very thankful,’ writes J. STANLEY ROSS, 330 N. E. 53rd Court,
Ocala, Florida 34470. (I’m happy about that too.)’

‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank the
following people, Messrs. Fullington, Frick, Tombaugh and Rickel,
who answered my request for information on the Bryan steam tractor.
I wrote the University of Nebraska at Lincoln requesting
information on the test of the Bryan tractor, but they said they
had no records of such a test. I know my brother did not make up
the figures I quoted, because he read them in one of the farm
magazines he took at the time, and that information is what made
him buy this Bryan tractor.’

‘My brother was a licensed steam engineer and said the Bryan
was way ahead of its time, and if the automobile companies would
have spent half as much on steam cars as they did on gasoline cars,
we would not have all the pollution problems today.’

‘Now, in answer to Mr. Everett’s request for letters
concerning old timers, their steam engines and their experiences, I
can say one thing. I have not reached his age of 93, but I am 85,
and can give a good account of steam traction engines and their
uses. We never had any Case engines in our area of Ohio, so I
can’t give an opinion on their reliability and longevity. We
did have Bakers, Fricks, Hubers, Peerlesses and Russells, and I
never heard of any complaints about any of those. We had more
Russells than any other kind, but that could have been because we
were only twenty miles from the factory at Massillon, Ohio. The
only problem I ever encountered was replacing the flues, and that
probably was because of poor water availability.’

‘My brother worked on a small sawmill that had a Huber
return-flue boiler, and said it was the easiest to fire and keep
steam up, of all the engines on which he had worked. I asked an old
thresherman why he never bought a Case engine, and he said they
never appealed to himhis only comment. So, there you have some of
my experiences with steam traction engines.’

BOB SORENSEN, JR., 255 W. Laurel Road, Bellingham, Washington
98226 writes: ‘I had intended to send this several months ago,
this being an answer to the question, ‘Can anyone identify the
steam engine?’ It was a picture from Scott Thompson in May-June
’92 issue.

‘The engine, I believe, is a 15 HP single simple
manufactured by the M. Rumely Company, first in 1896. My father
purchased a similar engine, used, in 1914. The engine had
originally been in the Ellensburg area of Washington. An uncle had
bought it used from an estate, using it for a short period on a
rock crusher and then shipping it to Bellingham, Washington to my
father in 1914.’

‘This engine has a cast iron stack and, I believe, was
probably built slightly later than the one in the Thompson photo.
Another difference is in the front wheels, which were changed by my
dad, probably in 1927. The photo was taken in 1970. It is still
with the family; however, it’s due for a complete
overhaul.’ (Thanks for writing, Bob, and I’ll be looking
for your next letter as you said you would write again.)’

The next writing comes from HOWARD H. MURCHIE, Box 476,
Jamestown, North Dakota 58402 as he recalls: ‘The fall of 1890
my father was handfeeding a separator for Adam Henry Henrickson,
who was the engineer. I don’t know the make of engine or
separator. They were threshing stacks one afternoon when a quick
rain started. Said it poured rain, which is not out of the ordinary
in this area in fall. Adam was bound he would finish the stacks. He
had one man holding something on the belt and another dropping
ashes. Finally, the belt jumped off in spite of them. Adam stood to
one side and said, ‘Henry, if we put that belt on again, will
it stay?’ Henry answered, ‘Yes.’ Henry tightened the
belt and was fiddling with something. Adam said, ‘Henry, why
don’t you start it up?’

‘Henry said, ‘If we start, that belt will come
off.’

‘Adam was so mad he threw his hat on the ground and jumped
on it. He told them to roll that belt and get into camp. Dad and
Henry were walking.

‘Henry said, That big fool, to think he could keep a belt on
in a rain such as this one.’

‘One fall they got in a good run, but got 55 days the
following spring.’

‘When Dugald Martin was about 15 years old, he looked for a
job running a steamer. One man needed an engineer, but told Dugald
he had better wash dishes for his Ma for awhile yet. ‘Dugald
said, ‘If you give me that job and lose time on my account, you
don’t have to pay me.’ The engine was in poor shape. He had
to work on it most every night to keep her going. One day the
packing blew out of steam and burst. He lost about 15
minutes.’

‘Last time I saw Dugald, I asked him what was the largest
engine he ran. He told me it was the engine in the flour mill in
Bottineau, North Dakota.’

LOWELL BOYER, 21213 Liberty St., N. E., Aurora, Oregon 97002 has
some questions as he writes: ‘I am calling on all Russell
engine experts to help me out on finding what year did the Russell
and Company start putting the name Russell on the side of the
smokebox? And what serial numbers did they start with, and also I
would like to know if anyone out there would have a 1911 or 1912
front cover of a Russell and Company catalog? I heard that they
started in 1912, but have no proof of it. I had also heard that
Russell and Company started putting cast iron smoke boxes on the
front end of the engines in 1898. I was wondering if this is
true.

‘I am hoping I can get this information to help me out. I
see a lot of Russell engines out here. The serial numbers sometimes
don’t match up with the year of the engine. I have been keeping
a record of serial numbers of Russell engines I come across. I
don’t see too many catalogs of the Russell and Company and was
wondering if they show a serial number along with the year? This
would give a person a better idea to go by. Would anyone know how
many engines Russell and Company put out in a year? Say between
1900 and 1915? I enjoy reading the IMA. Keep up the good work!
Lowell Boyer, the Russell Engine Kid!’

‘I am trying to locate one of the A. D. Baker steam engines
made at Swanton, Ohio in 1925,’ writes A.J. ACKERMAN, Box 453,
Turney, Missouri 64493. ‘There were only a few made, it was a
16-30 HP size with a sectional type water tube boiler and radiator
type. Steam condenser and coal was fed automatically. Also, water
into the boiler. I have pictures and general information on this
engine.’

‘I am a member of Lathrop, Missouri Antique Car-Tractor and
Engine Show and a good friend of Mr. Jim Plowman. Any help will be
appreciated.’

Photo from September/October 1956 IMA with caption that read:
Peerless engine on a Craft Mill, June, 1956. Engine owned by Walter
Brouswell of Lone Jack, Missouri, No. 18058 and purchased new in
1920.

RAYMOND MICKEL, 659 Belvidere Pike, Phillipsburg, New Jersey
08865 asks: ‘Would someone send me some information about 17th
century farm manure spreaders. What company makes them, plus who
first invented the 17th century spreader?”(This is kind of
an unusual request for us, but we did a little research. According
to an article by Floyd R. Todd which appeared as part of a
symposium on the manure spreader included in the book Implement and
Tractor Reflections on 100 Years of Farm Equipment, here is one
version of the origin of the manure spreader):

About the middle of the last century efforst were made by
various inventors to perfect some machine which would
satisfactorily spread manure. Some little experimenting was done
along this line extending over a period from 1850 to 1877 but this
was of a feeble nature and produced no practical results. In the
meantime the necessity for the mechanical distribution of manure,
both from the standpoint of labor saving and securing more
efficient results, became recognized. Mr. J. S. Kemp, at that time
residing in Magog, Can., finally developed a practical machine. It
was patented in this country on May 1, 1877, and in the following
year the Kemp & Burpee Mfg. Co. of Syracuse, N.Y., began work
looking towards its commercial introduction. In 1880 the first
successful machine was produced commercially by this company.

This writing comes from EMANUEL J. KING, 173 W. Cattail Road,
Gordonville, Pennsylvania 17529. ‘I own a U. U. Peerless 60 HP
Peerless steam engine in un-restored and partially dissembled state
of condition. The serial number is missing and I’ve found no
boiler number as yet, but it has a butt strap boiler (which I think
indicates it was built after 1916).

‘I plan on restoring this engine in the future and have been
trying to collect some history on it, especially since I found a
picture of it on page 21 of January-February 1962 IMA (nearly four
years before my time) while it was in Southern Missouri.’

‘I also found a picture which I believe might be the same
engine on page 5 of September-October 1956 IMA, while at a sawmill,
and the photo caption includes the serial number and year the
engine was built, which I think could be appropriate for my
engine.’

‘The photo caption in the 1962 issue seems to be a little
incorrect as I don’t think Peerless (Emerson-Brantingham)
Company built butt strap boilers until around 1916.’

‘Does anyone know if this engine was in Salem’s
Centennial Parade in 1963, or have any pictures of it there, or at
any other locations in Missouri?’

‘To the best of my knowledge the late Sam Osborne of New
Oxford, Pennsylvania, bought it at the estate auction of the late
E. E. (Pat) Trenary of Trenton, Missouri on July 16, 1983, and
moved it home, but he died the same year and had done very little
to the engine.’

‘I would be very interested in any information I can get on
this engine or the one in the September-October, 1956 IMA, if it
isn’t the same engine.’

Photo from January/February 1962 [MA with caption that reads:
GETTING READY to roll again Frankie Schwartz has a new project
restoring this old tractor to full operation. Mr. Schwartz first
saw the tractor three years ago and has been all that time
persuading Howard Miller to sell it to him. Mr. Miller bought the
steam tractor in 1913 for $600but that was back in the days when $1
was worth a great deal more than today. The tractor was used for a
time to power a saw mill, it later ran a planer, and has traveled
back and forth over Dent County. Mr. Schwartz plans to fix up the
boiler and flues, put the old steam tractor in first class shape,
fix up the wheels and drive it in Salem’s centennial parade
next year.

A short letter from HAROLD BIEL, 206 Market Street, Spring
Valley, Minnesota 55975 as he inquires: ‘Do you have any
information as to who built a grain shock loader?

‘Some years ago one of our old time merchants gave our
Historical Society a picture of such a machine in action, but
neglected to tell us who owned it. I assumed that it was a machine
made by one of mechanically minded farmers, but have never been
able to identify the scene or who may have owned it.’

‘Since that time, I have seen a picture in some publication
of such a machine in use in a threshing scene in Dakota. Therefore,
such a machine apparently must have been produced for resale at
some time.’

‘Any information would be greatly appreciated.’ (Hope
one of our readers can write on this data that you are seeking,
Harold.)’

And now as we are coming into the Lenten Season and Easter will
be April 11, I am going to end with an article sent in by VINSONE.
GRITTEN, 109 Country Club Court, Danville, Illinois 61832. I’m
sure you have enjoyed some of his other contributions.

This is very appropriate for the Lenten Season. Scripture is
from Matthew 18:21 and it is entitled ‘A Story About
Forgiveness.’

‘Soon after my school years I became a salesman, working in
the family hardware and implement store. This was in the Twenties,
when farmers were changing from horses to tractors. We sold a lot
of tractors. Dad was a self-taught and good salesman. We didn’t
know much about psychology; we called it common sense
then.’

‘Selling could be discouraging, so I would go to my dad
sometimes after losing a sale. He would say, ‘Wish them luck
and go on down the road.’ Being a good loser isn’t an easy
thing to do, but I followed his instructions. This paid and paid
over the years. ‘Later I sold farm buildings. I sold a small
livestock building in my outlying territory. And I had an
experience when I remembered to forgive. It was winter time, so we
thought it better to build in the spring. In March, I went out to
set a building date. Pulling in the barn lot, I could see that Russ
already had a building. He saw me drive in and came out and got in
the car very apologetically explaining why he had purchased the
other building. He said that he was going to build a machine shed
though, and would purchase it from me.’

‘We visited some more and I said I had better go. Russ kept
sitting in the car. I had made three or four attempts to leave and
he didn’t make any effort to get out of the car. I began to
realize that something was bothering him and finally the idea came
to me.’

‘I already knew that they were a church family and that Russ
taught a Sunday School class. So, I asked him if they used the
International Lessons in their Sunday School. He indicated that
they did, and remembering myself what the lesson was about, I asked
him what the lesson was about Sunday. He thought a moment and said,
‘Forgiveness.’ I responded by saying, ‘Okay.’ He
seemed to be satisfied and proceeded to get out of the car. I could
tell that he felt better. I know that I did. So, again I drove on
down the road.’

‘Footnote: We did build a new machine shed for him that
fall.’

That’s it for this time, Folks please keep the wonderful
letters coming, and I wish you all a Blessed 1993. I miss Ed
terribly and I’m sure you who have gone through this
understand, but I have never been bitter. I would not wish him back
as he was not ‘himself’ and suffered a great deal. We had
more time than a lot of folks and produced a great family and live
in God’s will. What else can one ask? Love you all!

STEAMCERELY,
Anna Mae