Steam Memories

Everything did not always run smoothly with those old machines,
so I will mention some of the hazards and problems that do occur in
the profession.

We had a 32 x 54 Wood Case separator that was in need of repair
in several places. One of these areas was the deck over the straw
rack. While I was not seriously injured, I received many little
bruises and punctured skin; and, this with the chaff, I was sore
and itching for several days, for I had broken through the deck
while threshing.

Before we got around to making any repairs, a tornado passed
through the area to the east of us (a common thing in Kansas), and
hit another Case rig. It tore the separator loose from the engine,
rolled it over and damaged the weigher, feeder and blower beyond
repair. This was an all-steel separator and, as you might expect,
the frame was badly twisted and distorted. But, my father bargained
for it and we brought it home. With jacks, bars and heavy chains,
we finally got the old hull into its original shape. We then
transferred the feeder, weigher and blower from the old one and
everything was okay. We used this machine for many years. (I am
reminded of the saying: ‘Poor people have poor ways.’)

The year 1916 was a dry one in eastern Kansas! We had an early
harvest and threshing season. We threshed 45 days without
interruption and finished about the middle of August. I then left
with another thresherman for Canada. We ended up at a town by the
name of Lougheed in Alberta. As I remember, it was 60 miles, more
or less, east of Camrose. This was all new country then the older
settlers had been there about six years.

I found a job shocking wheat for a man by the name of Robert
Broad-foot. I could never forget this big Scotsman about 6′
6′ and what a man! He and a man (I believe his name was
Frazier) owned a threshing rig, a new 17 HP Sawyer Massey engine
and S-M thresher. I had hoped that I might find an engine, but I
learned that I had to have a license. I did not have one and at 19
years of age, I probably could not qualify. But, I had an unusual
experience. My ‘pardner’ tended separator and I took the
job as fireman. I had never fired a straw burner; and, the engineer
even though he had fired for about 20 years had never operated an
engine. I felt so sorry for the man when on the first job he could
not line up and put the engine in the belt. He finally had me do it
for him. Now it was his time to help me! I was not able to keep up
steam, so he taught me how. Soon we became real partners. I put the
engine in the belt at every setting, and any time I had trouble
with the firing, he took over. Isn’t life wonderful at
times?

I have enough memories of this time and place that it would fill
a book, but lest this become boring, I will close this Canadian
episode by saying that my ‘pardner’ had a brother living
about eight miles south of Lougheed and about one mile north of
Goose Lake. Most of these farms were known by ready-made farms as
the Canadian Pacific R.R. had put up buildings, drilled wells,
fences, etc., and sold on long-term bases. It was much easier than
homesteading.

We lived in Anderson County, Kansas, where by grandfather came
shortly after the Civil War. With all of our various operations, we
were always limited on power for all this work had been done with a
12 HP Case engine. Not long after my Canadian trip, dad bought an
18 HP undermounted Avery. With this, we had enough power for all
operations which brings to mind an incident that happened shortly
after we acquired this engine.

We had a thresher friend that lived about 15 miles from us. He
had a Case outfit consisting of a 20 HP engine and 32′
separator. In crossing a creek about 1/2 mile from his home they
broke a gear on the engine right in the middle of the ford. As this
blocked the road, he was anxious to have it moved, so he got us to
bring our Avery down to see if we could pull his machine out. When
we reached the spot, the owner, after getting a good hookup between
the two engines, cautioned me to first see if I could take out
enough slack so he could pull the pin as the bank was fairly steep
and the Case engine was riding herd against the separator. But,
being the smart alec that I was (about 20), I told him to stand
clear until I tried it. Sure enough, I discovered that I could pull
the entire outfit, so I never stopped. He jumped on his engine to
steer it and soon we had his outfit parked in his own yard and the
road cleared for travel. I have several times since thought how
foolish this was suppose I had stripped a gear on our engine? Well,
I got a good scolding for this and rightly so.

Like all other steam operators of that time, many things
happened that were not so funny, but as the saying goes, ‘the
Lord watches over fools and children,’ and I was no longer a
child. Even though it may throw a bad light on me, I am thankful
every day that I have this divine protection for after all, there
is not much difference between the two titles.