The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-10-13
HISTORIC AMERICAN TRIUMPH.
Notable Visit of the Foreign Worlds Fair
Commissioners to North Dakota to View
Harvesting Machinery at Work.


Notable Visit of the Foreign Worlds Fair
Commissioners to North Dakota to View
Harvesting Machinery at Work.
Forty-ive DeerIng Irvine Binders, form
ing procession half mile in length, and
steadily moving through a waving sea OF
wheat-such was the sight that greeted the
Foreign Commissioners to the Worlds Fair
during their recent famous visit to the bo-
nanza farms of North Dakota. This impos-
ing spectacle was witnessed on the great Elk
Valley farm at Larimore, North Dakota, a
farm comprising 1900 acres or nearly ~
square miles. 10000 acres of which formed
one unbroken fenceless field Of wheat. To
witness this sight the distinguished spec
tators. comprising fifty foreign diplomats,
Worlds Fair Commissioners and represen-
tatves of the foreign press, together with
an equal number of Americans, eminent in
Worlds Fair, Railroad and Commercial cir
cles, had undertaken the discomforts of
thousand mile journey from Chicago; and
the exclamatons of delight and surprise,
and the cries of ''bravo'' that rang out on
the air showed that their expectations were
vastly more than realized. Sent here to
study all things American. these gentle
men had been especially DESTROYS of witness
ing the methods in vogue on the much
tall1ed-of "bonanZa" wheat farms. Four
| DAYS before they had left Chicago as guests
of the Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul Rail
road, along whose route from Chicago to ST.
Paul they had received one continuous ova-
ton. From St Paul through Minnesota and
| North Dakota they travelled as guests OF the
Great Northern Railroad, and the farther
north they travelled the warmer and more
cordial was their reception. Here at Lari-
more they found the climax of interest and
the height Of hospitality. They were met
| at their train and escorted to carriages by
| what seemed TO be the whole population OF
| the little city of Larimore, headed by O. ID.
| Phillips, the Mayor, Gov. Shortridge, and
| n. G. Larimore. the proprietor of the
great farm which they were to see.
| Silently and almost breathlessly at first
| they viewed the mighty phalanx of ma
chimes; then quickly alighting from their
| conveyances they followed the machines on
| foot, eagerly peering into their mechanism
| as il bent on finding the secret of their per-
| feet, automatic, almost noiseless action.
| For an hour or more they followed the
machines, asking innumerable questions Of
| Mr.. Larimore and his sons, when they were
called to one side of the field where scien-
| tifc tests of draft were being mnde under
the supervision of Mayor o. H. Phillips and
| Mr.. c. Ii. Olmstead. The machines tested
the Deering Pony binder and the Deering
| Ideal mower-were remarkable because
| ehbOdying the ball and roller bearings,
| such as are used in bicycles and bicycle
| sulkies. Twelve tests were made on each
| machine with registered Osterheld &
! Eclxmeyer dynamOmeter, each representing
! the draft involved in cutting siX-fOot
| swath, 100 feet in length, in twenty to
| twenty-five seconds of time The six cut
| ting tests of the binder showed an average
| of only 29S pounds of draft. The six tests
| In which the machine was run IN gear over
| the tops OF the stubble just cut, known as
| the ''rollIng draft test, showed an average
draft of only 201 pounds. The Deering
Ideal mower, a new machine also fitted with
h0 10 hnar IN saa frrac zhn
| a cutting draft averaging 1876 pounds and
| the rolling draft nineJy-two pounds. The
remarkably low draft-abouu half the draft
| of ordinary machines-shown by these fig
| ures for both machines was carefully noted
| by the astonished visitors as demonstrating
the practicability of the bicycle bearings.
| The same Pony binder, drawn by two light
mules, cut an acre of wheat III twenty-five
| and half minutes.
PAPER TwISE USED.
A notable feature of the binder test was
| the use on the Pony binder of the Deering
| paper" Irvine, made from wood fibre.
| This twine patented by William Deering &
| Co, bids fair to prove Waterloo to the
Irvine trust. for it can be made and sold at
prices considerably below those now paid
| for the hemp and sisal fibres.
At the close of these tests the commits
| siouers, together with party OF spectators,
were. rendered good, substantial prairie
| chicken dinner by Mrs. Larimore and her
Leighbors. Toasts followed. Gov. Short
ridge, Mayor Phillips and Rev. j. II. Kelley
| delivered eloquent addresses of welcome.
which were responded to by d. NJ. De Per-
alta, of Costa Rica; Mr.. A. Grineysky, the
assistant Russian commissioner; Don Al
BERT Gomez Ruano. of Uruguay; Mr.. Har-
| nv Vincent. of Costa Rica, and Judge At
| water, of Minneapolis. Mr.. Larin.ore' also
| spoke. He said that by using the best
| methods and machinery he had reduced the
| cost Of raising and marketing wheat TO be-
| tween a. 80 and $500 an acre.
| Mr. APPLEBY SURPRISES THE COMMISSIONERS.
Mr.. John +. Appleby, the inventor Of
| the Appeby Irvine binder, whose pres
| ence was surprise to the commissioners,
| told of the history of his early struggles
| and the final universal adoption of his in
vention. He paid a glowing tribute TO Mr..
William Deering, TO whose enterprise he
said the world was indebted for the intro
duction and general adoption OF the ma
chine. Said he:
I'm 1879, when the Deering Company made
| seventy-five OF these binders, people smiled
knowingly and predicted failure. The next
year when Mr.. Deering made 5000 Of the ma
chimes, the manufacturers OF the old reaper and
the wire binder said he was crazy. III he was
| crazy all the manufacturers Of harvesting ma
chnery who have been forced 10 follow his ex-
ample have also become violently insane
llaughterl and the millions Of farmers who
now use the invention are 1T candidates for q
lunatic asylum" Laughter and applause.
The excursionists left for Alton and the
great Dalrymple farms at 4 p. m. where
they witnessed threshing machines at work
on a crop of wheat that was cut from a, 600
acres by 100 Deering binders-a make that
is used exclusively by the Dalrymples.
From Alton they journeyed to Fargo where
they were royalty received and shown the
marvellous result Of western pluck, which
in a season of hard times had built a solid
city of brick and mortar on the bed of ashes
that had lain smoking there only ninety
DAYS before. From Fargo, the guests re-
turned to Chicago brimful of enthusiasm
over the wonders they had seen.
WHEN we do not spend our money"
al tstva oro uOrnical Z.