CASEY CHATS

For me, I'm glad I grew up in the Hills and to know the joy of a life of a hillbilly. I loved the hill so steep that made the old engine puff slower but stronger on and on up to the top when like a conquering hero the sound of that pretty chime whistle that sounded the 'Glory of Conquering Steam.'

Let me say here that we had a 6 hp. engine and an 8 hp. A 12 horsepower engine was really big bigger than that was a bridge buster and we heard big stories of way out West in Texas. The long-horn cattle were driven off. The prairies were plowed by steam. In year of A.D. 1908, I landed in Plainview, Texas, and there in plain sight was a giant on wheels, a big Reeves 32 hp. could pull fourteen 14-inch plows. Put in a fire, look back and see 14 furrows at 3 miles an hour, yet by first of July we had that old 32 hp. Reeves just a lazying along on a long belt to a 36 inch separator. I later became owner of a 32 hp. cross compound Reeves. I used it exclusively for threshing in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. I was lucky for if it is the right Reeves, it can be the best threshing engine in the field and it can and was often the poorest for in that time the maker of engines did not know how to balance a crankshaft that would not only brake. It was hard on bearings. The counter weights would come loose due to vibration. All makes of double engines had serious crankshaft trouble. Today we learned to conquer vibration.

In Western states we had our own cook shack no ice yet, but our cooks had wonderful meals ready at 5 a.m. and supper by lamp light. We slept on the prairie or in barns and really rested we dreamed dreams that no mortal ever dared to dream before. Sunday we found a swimmin' hole!

Hold on! I could go on and on with this stuff - time to shut off steam and oh how I will look for other old, old threshermen whose story is to me lots better. That will make us want to lengthen our subscription another five years. The joy, sorrow, busted boilers and bridges, broken crankshafts, bad water and believe it or not, romance followed the life of a thresherman. Tell about that too and most all were happy ever after. So, let us hear you tell the story over once again. Tell it now, while the world is dying for a little bit of love and well all join in the chorus.

Watch out if you just hint that what I have written this time is interesting and steamed up, I just might try to do better next time.

Bless be the tie that binds the hearts of all we old threshermen.