SOOT IN THE FLUES

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W. LIONEL SMITH, Box 512, Stn. Main, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada S6V 5R8 wrote a letter to Anna Mae and never mailed it, until now. He was shocked to learn of her death (in 1994) and this is the letter he was writing to her.

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'Dear Anna Mae, I have been a subscriber to the magazine since about 1979 and read quite a few that a friend loaned me before that.' I always looked forward to it coming every other month.

'I have often thought of writing a letter to Soot in the Flues,' but I am the world's worst writer and speller. But, when I got the November/December issue, and what you had to say about not getting any letters, and you might have to fold up, I thought I had better get off my butt and do something.

'I have followed you and your family all these years just like one of the family.

102 year old 16 HP Nichols & Shepard at Belgrade, Montana, on the weight transfer sled. Mike Yaeger at throttle, Tony Blanton at steering wheel, 1999.

'In 1989 we went to the Case Expo in Asten, Manitoba, and met Helen Case Brigham and her husband, and I looked around and did some inquiring. I thought you just might be there and we would get to meet.'

'Well, enough of this chatter, I will write something you might publish.'

('That is a far as I got when I got the news that Anna Mae had passed away.')

In a new letter, he goes on to say: 'What a shock it was to hear there are people out there who did not know Anna Mae.' I suppose I forget that I have been around a bit longer than a lot of people. You see I was born on the 17th of June, 1909, so I have been around for a few days.

'The letter that I have enclosed is the one I was writing to Anna Mae when I got the magazine with her death in it. What a shock it was, like the loss of a family member.'

'I wonder if it would be a good idea to re-publish that letter that was found in Anna Mae's typewriter? Just a thought.'

'I just missed the steam threshing, but I do remember a steam outfit once or twice when I was a little boy. Then, there were gas outfits from then, and I had my outfit in the '40s.'

I was always interested in steam and in 1990 I took a steam course and have a steam ticket now. In 1980 my son and grandson and some friends cut some oats with the binder and threshed. It was fun, so we organized vintage power machines that have grown into quite a successful museum.

'I hope you can make sense of this. It was just something I had to get off my chest when I was so upset with people who did not know who Anna Mae was.'

We also heard from GORDON L. WEBB, 806 Sixth St., Nelson, British Columbia, Canada V1L 2Z2, 'Your magazine has been a treasured part of my life for many years.' I grew up in Ontario, north of Toronto. We had a George White engine which I teethed on. I've never gotten over the fascination of steam.

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