SOOT IN THE FLUES

magazine. Summer is almost gone and I’m not even finished with
spring house cleaning doesn’t bother me like it used to. Too
many more important things such as enjoying my children and
grandchildren. We have one granddaughter that graduated this year
and will enter college in the fall, two sixteen year old grandsons,
and two other grand daughters, six and one year old of same family.
They live close by and are the ones I take care of now and then,
one of my favorite past times. How quickly time does fly. Many of
you folks have known me for over 28 years now and have kept up with
the family throughout the years. Our children are at this time,
ages 42, 37, 31, 28 and the youngest will turn 21 in September. He
is still with us. As I look back, with all the trials, life has
been good and I look forward to the future with my family and with
you folks. You all have been a great part of my life you know but
enough reminiscing, next thing I’ll be getting too
sentimental.

Must get on with my story from Wellsprings of Wisdom I know from
the letters you folks like them. ‘The Lamplighter’ Harry
Lauder, the famous singer, used to tell a story of his boyhood in
Scotland. He like to look from the window of his home during the
gathering twilight, and watch the work of the lamplighter with his
long pole with a torch on the end of it. The man went from street
lamp to street lamp as he ascended the hilly street, leaving a
trail of lights behind him. Then, as the road sloped downward, the
lamplighter disappeared from view, but his torchlight could still
be seen burning against the evening sky.

‘That,’ as has been said by many people, ‘is what is
meant by a genuine Christian: one who is a light to his fellowman
while still living, and whose way has been marked by lights he has
left the world.’

Come on fellas, get your pencils or pens ready to answer JOHN S.
SCHIFSKY, P.O. Box 672, Willernie, Minnesota 55090 as he asks:
‘Can someone answer my question? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of the under mounted engines used by Avery and why
wasn’t this style used more widely? Thank you!’

HUBERT KIDDER, Box 45, Everton, Arkansas 72633 sends this:
‘Dear Folks at IMA just the other day I had come home from
having my fifth by-pass heart surgery and my neighbor brought over
some of the old IMA’s for me to look at and it sure brought
back many pleasant memories. As a boy I worked for a man up in
Michigan by the name of Nial Collons and he had a large threshing
run every year up until the combines came in the early 50’s. We
ran a 28 x 50 John Deere separator with a 1937 3-speed John Deere D
and later, when the separator was worn out, we bought a nearly new
28 x 46 Red River Special. We got it from the Wall Packing Farm
near Three Rivers, Michigan and it had only threshed two seasons on
their farm. Later on, after there was no more threshing on the
farms, I purchased the machine and fixed it up and we threshed with
it at the Show of The Early Day Gas Engine and Tractor Show at
Motville, Michigan on Leland Warren’s Farm after I moved down
here in Arkansas. I should say, several years before I sold the
separator to the club. They have since renamed their club the St.
Joe Valley Old Engine Club at Boot Hill Ranch near Three Rivers,
Michigan. I don’t know if they are still having shows or not.
(Yes, they are). I was a member for several years and always did
the threshing. Now I am disabled and can’t take part any-more,
but like to go and watch the old things that were part of my
younger days. I think you have a very good informative
magazine.

Enclosed is a picture of the Red River Separator before I
restored it and sold it to the club.’

DAN REEVE, WPI Box 2288, 100 Institute Road, Worcester,
Massachusetts 01609 sends this communication: ‘My partner and I
are third-year students here at Worcester Polytechnic Institute,
and would like some help on a project we are doing with the
Worcester Historical Museum. We are researching the use of steam
power in Massachusetts, particularly the Worcester area, around the
turn of the century. We are especially interested in the idea of
‘rooms with power to let These were buildings with a steam
engine set-up and rented out by wealthy businessmen. If anyone has
information on this, or even the use of large gas engines in
factories, your help would be greatly appreciated. Have enjoyed IMA
for two years now.’

JOHN Z. STOLTZFUS, R.D.8, Box 183, Danville, Pennsylvania 17821
would like to borrow an operator’s manual for a Belle City
22′ thresher. (Can you help him?)

I’m sure you will find the following letter to your interest
as DONNAISH, 3854 Crawford Road, Dryden, Michigan 48428 writes:
‘I have found the discussions of horse-power and meaning of the
various terms very interesting. In reading up on the term
‘nominal horsepower’, I found the following quotation in an
old Encyclopedia Britannica: ‘Nominal horsepower is an
arbitrary and obsolescent term of indefinite significance.’

‘They also have a formula for calculating nominal
horsepower, which doesn’t make sense to me. Here it is:

NH =      I    
         15.6 x
D² x ³S, in which D=diameter of the piston in
inches, S=stroke in feet, and no value is given for I.

‘I cannot understand why any manufacturer of any kind of
steam engine used this term, because by 1850 it had lost any
significance it might have had. This was primarily due to increases
in operating speeds and steam pressures.

‘In the final analysis, the term ‘horsepower’ does
not mean a great deal. It is the amount of torque that an engine
delivers that is significant. It is the ability of the steam engine
to deliver high torque at low speeds that made it a practical and
long-lived power source.

‘I enjoy the articles in IMA. In my lifetime, I have
operated practically every kind of steam engine there is, or was,
including turbines and rotaries but excluding oscillating
engines.’

To MRS. GEORGE EDGER, 6743 NW Madison, Coletown Road,
Greenville, Ohio 45331 who desired to know where she can find the
book Wellsprings of WisdomI had mentioned before, I found it at a
regular news center, but later when I wanted some more for gifts
they were sold out. You may be lucky enough to find one in your
state, but as of right now, I think they are out of print. Author
is Ralph L. Woods. It was published by The C. R. Gibson Company,
Norwalk, Connecticut 06856. Good Luck. Tis one of the best little
books I’ve run across.

I know some of you folks will be familiar with the next name as
NORBERT J. LUCHT, R.R.I, Box 161, Athens, Illinois 62613 writes:
‘I started to subscribe to the IMA back in 1947 when it was
called ‘The Farm Album’. However, in November of 1970 I
contacted encephalitis and as a consequence of this I was forced to
retire from the ministry in December of 1971 and as a result of the
loss of income I was compelled to drop my subscription.

‘I started to collect steam engine catalogs, photographs and
snap-shots in 1946. I have attended the Central States
Thresherman’s Reunion at Pontiac, Illinois several times. And I
have written articles for the IMA and the GEM. I would like to
correspond with anyone who is interested in the history of the old
steam engine and thresher companies. I would like a snapshot of the
Minneapolis 40 HP double tandem cylinder engine made in 1910.

‘I am a retired Lutheran Minister and have a collection of
tractor catalogs going back to 1939. I also have an extensive
collection of automobile books and magazines.

‘I am a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran minister and was 65
years old on July 12. My grandfather, William Lucht, Sr. was a
pioneer thresherman around LaValle, Wisconsin and owned a 32-54
Case thresher which was horse powered. This was around the years
1902-1906. Around 1906 he had a man with a 16 HP Advance steam
engine hook on to the separator. He quit threshing in 1910.

‘I met Pastor Elmer Ritzman at the Central States
Thresherman’s Reunion at Pontiac, Illinois in September of
1952.

‘Steam engine owners please send me snapshots of your
engines.’

I’m glad to hear from FRANK J. BURRIS, 1102 Box Canyon Road,
Fallbrook, California 92028 again. (Wish some more fellas or gals
would be so faithful in sending stories and pictures.) Frank says:
‘Following is a brief description of the snapshots as numbered.
#1This is a view of one of ten new oil-burning locomotives as built
by ALCO in 1926-27 for the Chadron hilly division of the C & NW
Railway. These 2700 series engines were fitted with the Young valve
gear, which resembled the Walshaerts except that no crank arms were
utilized off the main driver connections. Instead, the
quarter-phase operation was obtained by a through-shaft to the
crosshead on the opposite side, resulting in all-crosshead
operation. The lap lever was operated from the top of the reverse
link on the same side. Quite novel for another non-radial type
gear. Young also experimented with rotary rocking valves on a C
& NW Atlantic type passenger engine. Oh yes, the lokey in the
picture was a class-J Mikado (2-8-2). A beautiful job! ‘#2Our
elder daughter, Jacque-line, then 6, is allowed a wave from the
engineer’s position in one of SP’s 4-8-8-2 (reversed)
cabin-front Malleys. SP employed some 175 of these oil-burning
giants especially adapted for their mountainous tunneled divisions.
SP had more miles of tunneling than any other railroad anywhere, it
is claimed. This helped keep the smoke out of the operating
crews’ eyes. The engineers only objection was that ‘The
work was always behind them,’ and therefore less to be noted if
anything went awry.

‘#3Here again is old 4195 taking off from Alhambra,
California with over a mile of box cars in tow. These engines were
of ‘simple’ steam operation, for more speed (often-times
used on passenger mountain service) and less maintenance.
Efficiency was preserved through feed-water heating, superheating,
etc. Sixty miles per hour could be held with full consist on even
grade tracking. Another innovation!’

Take a look at the picture that was sent in by WILLIAM FLOWERS,
Route 1, Box 332, Adena, Ohio 43901 and he writes: ‘I bought
this sorghum mill at a sale in West Alexander, Pennsylvania this
spring. It is not very big, but heavy. I had to replace a couple of
brass bushings that were worn out and cleaned and painted it.

‘Has anyone ever heard of this particular make? I will
answer all correspondence.’

Thought you might like to try a dessert called
‘Cherries-in-the-Snow’. We tried it and everyone liked it
Take 1 can of cherry pie filling, 2 pkgs. of Dream Whip (or large
container of whipped cream bought from freezer in store), 8 oz.
cream cheese, softened, 1 cup confectioner’s sugar 10X, 1 angel
food cake. Make Dream Whip according to directions on the packet.
Blend the confectioner’s sugar and the cream cheese. Add the
Dream Whip to the cream cheese mixture. In a 9 x 13′ pan, put a
layer of the cream cheese mixture (use about 1/3 mixture). Break
cake into small pieces and fit broken pieces of cake in a layer in
the cheese. Add another layer of cheese mixture. Spread the pie
filling. Top with the remaining cheese mixture. Cover with plastic
wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In signing off, I’ll leave you with a few thought provokers
Some pay their bills when due, Some never do. And how do you
do?…. Few men have the natural strength to honor a friend’s
success without envy… If your house is merely a place to eat and
sleep, it ceases to be a home… The bonds of matrimony aren’t
worth much unless the interest is kept up….God put the church in
the world. Satan seeks to put the world in the church.

By the time you receive this, holidays will be around the
corner, so get a head start and get that Christmas shopping done,
and do have a Blessed Season. Let’s all strive to make next
year a better year with our help. Love ya!