Omaha daily bee., 1889-06-02
FOR poiH BRAIN AND BRAwx.
Lewis miller, tho Inventor of the
Chautauqaa iica ani Buckeye
Machine.

of specific interest to the people Of the city
for the reason that Mr.. Miller as the origin
ator IL not the absolute founder of the great
Chautauqua movement that has gained such
foothold throughout the entire civilized
world, gave n new impetus and new vigor
to our own Chautauqua assembly by his
presence and the interest he took in the en-.
terprise. II is conceded by all that he was
the originator of the idea, and with the able
assistance of DR. Vincent developed II into one
of the greatest of modern institutions He "in-
vented" the. .Chautauqua movement just as
much as he Invented the Buckeye reaping
and moving machines, the first perfect eff
fort towards introducing perfect labor-sav-
ing devices in agriculture, and the farmer
as we'll as the educators of the present ana
future generations will have TO thank him as
the man who pondered boldly and stepped
out of the beaten paths and blessed brawu
and intellect with IA tangible blessing that
will be his monument hereafter. Mr. Miller
is the general superintendent OF the great
manufacturing house OF Aultman, Miller "
Co., of Akron, o., builders OF the famous
Buckeye mowers, reapers and binders, and
he was on his annual trip through the south
and west. He is a type of the per-
feet American, bright, genial, approachable,
broad and comprehensive in views as well
as in stature, and so generally attractive that
the most diffdent farmer ana the greatest in
tellect can feel mt case in his presence, and
realize an affinity between them. While here,
Mr. Miller went to Omaha and visited the
Linninger art collection, and spent some
pleasant hours with business acsuantances
of years standing. He returned to this
city, and, III company with the local rep
resentatives of Aultman, Miller & Co.,
and prominent men of the city, Wis
tied the new Chautaugua assembly
grounds and aided the work by many
valuable practical suggestions. AS repre-
sentative American manufacturer, M.
Miller is an interesting subject to interview,
and THE BEE obtained some valuable infor-
nation from him upon subjects that are of
vital Importance to the farmers and pro-
ducers of the west. The vivacity of his
manner, and his sprightly movements show
that his sixty years sit lightly upon him. He
has just completed n long trip to Texas,
where he has gone every season for many
years at the commencement of the southern
harvest, to experiment with new devices aud
develop new ideas that they may be realized
by the farmers of the west and north by
practical application to harvesting machin-
cry. He invented the Buckeye mower when
he was twenty-five years old, and com
menced the man ufacture of it at once. 1t
was the first practical mower ever made
and still retains its original prin.
ciples. He followed up closely the binder
interest and has been the farmers best
friend by simplifying the machines. In dis.
cussng this subject, that great question, the
twine trust presented itself, and he was
asked for an opinion concerning its exis-
tence and its extent His expressive grey
eyes twinkled and his lips parted in an audi
BILE smile as he remarked: ~ do not believe
there is any trust at all. If there is, it is
combine between the farmers of the world
themselves. The raw material is. raised by
the farmers of other countries. The farmers
of Yucatan grow the sisal and tillers of the
soil in the Philippine islands produce the
MANILA. 1t is positively sold to the
farmers of this country at the slight advance
of the cost Of transportation and manufac
ture." He was asked il there was no hope
of getting away from the monopoly put upon
manufacturers and consumers by this mo-
nopoly OF foreign producers, and If some
native product could not be used instead
He replied that there was, that there is a
plant grown on our western borders and
in Mexico that was now being experimental
with, and that his own experiments had dem
onstrated that within the next year
or two the enormous sums of money
now being poured into the PHILIPPINE Is
lands and Yucatan will be left in this coun-
try for our own productions. The binders
were in the same distress that grieves the
farmers, and many Of them who construct
certain styles of machines with rigid knot
ting attachments are much worse off, for
they have thousands of binders on hand that
will be valueiess if the farmers refuse to pay
for the costly twine that is only adapted to
their machines. 81 have made this subject
lifelong study" said MIR. Miller, land L
never attempted to solve problem with
more earnest and diSinterested motives, that
| for It's object the general good of the people,
than this one 1t has been my study 10 make
| machine that could be placed at the mercy
of the farmers instead of having the farmers
| placed at the mercy of the machine. The
fact is unquestionably admitted that Mr..
Miller invented The best wire binder ever
| used, and this introduced another phase of
| the subject, binding with wire and its rela-
tive cost with twlne. Mr.. Miller showed
that all the devices so far advocated in
| creased rather than diminished the cost of
| harvesting, and were originated by machine
! men who had machines that could use moth
| ing but the highest priced material.
y n ~
| wire to cord, when it was made years ago,
| was not because OF the prejudice existing
| among farmers against using wire, or be-
| cause the mills of the country refused to pay
| less price for wheat that was bound by wire,
| but the change solely came from the farmers
| who were demanding something cheaper
| with which to harvest their grain.
| When wire binders were used it cost
| the farmer from 81 cents to 65 cents per
| acre, and that at the cheapest price wire was
| ever sold to them. 1t takes on an average
| /, 100 feet OF either WIRE or cord to bind an
| acre of grain. There are 260 feet in pound
| of wire, requiring four to four and one-half
| pounds of wire to bind an acre, while in the
| best grades of cord there are 500 to $50 feet
| in pound, requiring less than pound and
three-quarters to bind an acre, plainly
| showing that cord costs less than one
| half the cost of wire at the present
| prices. The cord question was then thor
| oughly brought out and simpliied in the I'M
| portant work that Mr. Miller mas done for
| the farmer. 1t was shown by an examina-
| tion of the celebrated Buckeye binder which
was gone over carefully, Mr.. Miller calling al
| tention to the important parts of the binder in
| handling cord and especially to what he
| called the floating disk, saying that it re-
| lieved the cord from any strain while the
| knot was being tied, and stating that con-
! structed 1t emancipates the farmer at the
| present time and for the future from that
great octopus, the twine trust, il it really ex-
| lists, as it enables the farmer to use
| any and all the different grades of cord and
| mixtures on the market, from fish line to a
| rope. He explained that on all other ma
| chimes the cord is required to stand on enor-
| nous strain while the knot is being tied
| This strain is increased to an extent neces-
| sary TO draw up the TWO inches Of slack re-
| quired for the knot. The buckeye knotter
mas a moveable disk that moves upwards tn o
| two inches and accompllshes its work with.
| out adding additional strenth to the cord. 1t
| will take moments thought TO realize the
vast protection afforded the farmer, for
| when there is a combination of foreign ma
tcrial, which embraces manila and sisal, the
| new American fibers now being expert
mented with, can be handled by the Buckeye
and used us successfully as either manila or
sisal. and TO look forward TO the future the
material for binding gram will be produced
here ~ home. Mr.. Miller was well pleased
with their business, which has grown to he an
immense one in this country, and their branch
house here was thororoughly gone over, and