The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-11-23
THAD.
A story for the Boys.
ny a. A. eTEpuENa

A story for the Boys.
by G. A. STEPHENS.
CHANGING over a list Of patents re-
Gently granted for various machines.
my eye caught one for a "fy-wheel
churn," the invention of Thaddeus C.
Thompson.
"Hello!" l exclaimed to the old.
time friend in whose Office was sitting,
"here's little Thad Thompson again.
He has obtained a patent on n new kind
of churn."
"Then you remember Thadp"
"Of course"
"And his windmill churnP"
"Most certainly"
"And how he tied the c%attle's tails
togetherP"
"Ha, ha, ha! | never shall forget
that"
"Yes, indeed! And here he's busy
ing himself with churns again"
My friend laughed heartily. "Ah,
what a boy Thad vast" he said. al
suppose he was really q genius. But
what sport We used to have with him!'
How wildly this conversation brought
back Thad and boyhood's days! lie
had been an old neighbor Of ours-a
droll, understood little fellow, every
small of his age" as the folks said. He
had a funny way of holding his face a
little askew; and there was always in
his eyes an odd, half-serious, inquisitive,
investigative expression.
1t was not in his nature to perceive
the ridiculous side of things. He had
no ear for a joke. And it was lucky for
him that he had not, since the boys
were always cracking them at his ex-
penss. But l do not think he ever fair.
ly realized the fact, or knew that he
was any different from the rest of us.
Thad was not by any means a fool, |
a assure you-only "quecr." lie had
apparently no near relatives. During
his boyhood he lived with Deacon Will
ISIS family. There was some relation
ship between them, l believe, but his
parents were either dead, or else had
bound him out to live with the Deacon,
it matters little which. The Deacon
and his wife, "Aunt Sally had much
trouble with Thad, and at times used
to whip him severely. Not that Thad
was in any way saucy OF r~ebellious-on
the contrary he was II of the mildest,
kindliest of boys-but he puttered
round" the Deacon said, and was
"slower than stock-still." Aunt Sally
often declared that Thad never earned
his board. Very likely this was true,
for he was a boy who never realized
the value of time. He was in his ele-
ment when he could invent q new way
of doing any thing-some little job of
work, perhaps, which any one could
do in ten minutes-even if he was half
a day or all day doing it. That was
what puzzled and disturbed the Dea-
con, who was q staunch old farm
er, and had only one way of
doing his work, and thought it
must always be done in that way and in
no other. AS for Aunt Sally, she was
IN alert, determined little woman,
nervous and ~fretful, and always in a
hurry. All me! the breath Aunt Sally
spent trying to hurry up Thad!
Thad's windmill was a standing joke
throughout the neighborhood. All
through his boyhood at the Deacon's,
it was one of Thad's household duties
to do the churning. Aunt Sally had n
dairy; and during the summer, churn-
ing was necessary two aud three times
II week. She used an old-fashioned
barrel churn, the ''dash" Of which
played up and down. Aunt Sally had
no faith in crank churns. 1t was pref
ty hard work for a slight boy like Thad.
No doubt he turned the matter over in
his mind a great many times as he
tugged at the churn-dash, under the
Deacon's shed, on the hot July morn
ings. At length, he conceived the idea
of churning by wind power. Well
aware, however, of the Deacon's deep
rooted aversion to "wild idees," Thad
prudently waited till the second week
in September, when the Deacon would
be obliged to attend court as juror for a
week or ore. Daring this brief time
Thad set at work to erect a windmill
on the roof of the shed. 1t had sails of
birch-bark, l remember; its arms were
fully seven or eight feet long. At the
other end of the shaft he affixed a
crank, and to the crank a jointed rod
Ito convert circular motion to VERTICALLY,
that played down through the roof Of
the shed.
Aunt Sally knew that Thad was
"puttering round, "as she said, max
ing something or other; but of course
did not suppose that he had any de-
signs on the churn, when after pouring
in the cream on the next morning she
trundled the churn out to him. No
sooner was Thad alone with the churn,
and the door closed between him and
Aunt Sally than he proceeded to test his
new motive power. With a piece Of
strong Irvine he secured the lower end
of the rod to the churn-dash. Thad
then pulled out the pin, and started up
the machine. There was a strons
breeze from the northwest. Round
went the sails, up went the crank. I'm
fortunately it was 20 long-jointed. The
first lift on the dash knocked the head
off the churn, together with the "but,
ter-cup," into the roof, and made o
dreadful noise and scattering!
Dismayed at this sure evidence o.
p,nt;ya Dn,ya- Thal la;l hold 80 A.