Henry Naber's Threshing Rig
(Page 2 of 2)
January/February 1994
Chuck Sindelar
A copy of the original picture was given me by my sister, Sindi
(Ethel) Klemsz of rural Ithaca, Nebraska. Henry Naber was a
grandfather to her late husband, Dale Klemsz. Dale's Aunt
Dorothy (Naber) still lives near Beaver Crossing, not far from
where this picture was taken. Dorothy's late husband, Ernie,
and Dale's late mother, Mammie Naber Klemsz, were brother and
sister. Dorothy has the original photograph and furnished the
following information. The picture was likely taken in 1927. The
engine survived the relentless scrap drives of World War II and
well into the 1950s, when combines in the area forced it to rest.
It was then sold and moved to somewhere in western Nebraska where
threshing was still being done at that time. (Maybe it is still
alive and well. Now, wouldn't that be a nice 'The Rest of
the Story''? How about it, you guys? Do any of you have
this engine?)
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Dorothy relates that her father-in-law burned almost exclusively
coal, but used 'cobs' to get the fire going each morning.
The man on the engine platform is Henry Naber, and his brother,
Buchard (pronounced Buckerd), is standing on the ground beside the
engine. After Dorothy married Henry's son, Ernie, in 1939, this
rig came annually to their farm as they were part of that run.
Dorothy well remembers cooking for the crew of 15-20 hungry men on
an old wood cook stove, but being wood was scarce she was forced to
burn mostly cobs. She remembers that the men loved iced tea, so
she'd go to town and get a chunk of ice to satisfy their
craving. She says that at their farm they allowed the straw stack
to remain through the winter. It gave the cattle a little break
from the bitter cold wind that never seemed to stop blowing in
Nebraska. Even though the nutritional value of straw is minimal,
the cattle did eat some of the pile, but what remained in the
spring was burned so the land could be plowed.
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