The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1893-10-14
HISTORIC AMERICAN TRIUMPH.
Notable Visit of the Foreign Worlds Fair
Commissioner to North Dakota to View
Harvesting Machinery at Work.

Commissioner to North Dakota to View
Harvesting Machinery at Work.
Forty-tive Deerlng Irvine Binders, form.
ing a procession half a mile in length, and
steadily moving through q 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 le
square miles, 1000 acres Of which formed
one unbroken fenceless field of wheat. 10
witness this sight the distinguished spec
tators, comprising fifty foreign diplomats,
Worlds Fair Commissioner and reprcsen-
tatiyes 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 a
thousand mile Journey from Chicago: and
the EXPLANATIONS Of delight and surprise,
and the cries of bravo that rang out on
the air showed that their expectations we're
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
talked-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 oy
what seemed to be the whole population Of
the little city of Larimore, headed by Q. b..
Phillips, the Mayor, Gov. 6hortridge, and
N. G. Larinore, the proprietor of the
great farm which they were to see.
Silently and almost breathlesslv at first
they viewed the mighty phalsnx of ma
chimes; then quickly alightlng from their
conveyances they folio wed the machines on
foot, eagerly peering into their mechanism
as If bent on finding the secret Of their per
feet, automatic, almost noiseless action.
For an hour or moro they followed the
machines, asking innumerable questions of
Mr.. Larimors and his sons. when they were
called to one side of the field where scien-
tifc tests Of draft were being made under
the supervision of Mayor 0. Fl. Phillips and
Mr.. G. H. O.mstead. The machines tested
the Decrlng Pony binder and the Deering
Ideal mower-were remarkable because
embodying the ball and roller bearings,
such as are used in bicycles and bicycle
sulkies. Twelve tests were made on each
machine with a registered Osterheld Il
Eickmeyer dynamometer, each representing
the draft involved in cutting a 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 207 pounds. The Deering
Ideal mower, 4 new machine also fitted with
the bicycle bearings. in heavy grass showed
a cutting draft averaging l26 pounds, and
the rolling draft ninety-two pounds. The
remarkably low draft-about half the draft
of ordinary machlnes-shown by these fig
ures for both machines was carefully noted
by the astonished visitors as demonstrating
the practicabiIity of the bicycle bearings.
The same Pony binder, drawn by two light
mules, cut an acre Of wheat in twenty-t two
and a half minutes.
PAPER TwINR USED.
A notable feature of the binder test was
the use on the Pony binoer of the Deering
paper" Irvine. made from a wood fibre.
This Irvine, patented by William Deerlng &
Co, bids fair to prove 3 Waterloo to the
Irvine trust, for it can be made and sold at
prices considerably below those low paid
for the hemp and sisal fbres.
At the close of these tests the commits
sioners, together with q party of spectators,
were rendered a 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 we.come.
which were responded to by D. NJ. De Per
alta, of Costa Rica; Mr.. A. Grineysky, tbs
assistant Russian commissioner; Don Al
bert Gomez Ruano. of Uruguay; Mr.. Har-
nv Vincent. of Costa Rica, and Judge At
water, Of Minneapolis. Mr.. LariMors 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. so and 800 an acre.
Mr. APPIKBr SURPRISES THE COMMISSIONERS.
Mr.. John F. Appleby, the inventor of
the Appleby Irvine binder, whose pres
ence was a surprise to tho 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 Deeriny 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. IL he was
crazy all the manufacturer OF harvesting ma
chinsry who have been forced to follow his ex-
ample have Also become violently insane
laughter and the millions Of farmers who
now use the invention are at candidat ties for q
iunatic asylum" Laughter and applausel
The excursionists left for Alton and the
great Dalrymp.e farms at 4 p. NJ, where
they witnessed threshing machines At work
On q crop of wheat that was cut from a. 1000
acres by 100 Deering binders-a make that
is used exclusively by the Dalrympies.
From Alton ,Ley journeyed to Fargo, where
they were ROYALTY received and shown the
marvellous result Of western piack, which
In q 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-