Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-02-15
-AY, FEBRUARY ID, 1890.

r-ot- cries of artillery, the LIST, I'd and
Sd companies of sharpshooters, and the
LIST Vermont cavalry, all three-years' men,
besides some 1900 recruits to fill vacancies
in old regiments, were sent to the field, to-
gether with the 18th, 18th, 18th, 18th and
10Th regiments of nine-months' men.
When to this it is added that during the
war Vermont sent to the front over 10 per
cent of her total population, including both
sexes and all ages, and that she paid her
soldiers 81 per month throughout their en-
tire service in addition to their pay from
the United States, the young men of today
may form some idea of the burdens so no
bly, borne by our people in defence of the
Union.
Gov. Holbrook's staff during the war
consisted of II. II. Baxter of Rutland, 5.
M. Waite and X. w. Clarke of Brattleboro,
and Bradley B. Smalley of Burlington,
whose duties, in those stirring times, were
often of far other than an ornamental char
acter.
After the Wharf.-The Ex-Governor as n
PIOwman,
On laying down the cares of Office Gov
Holbrook dropped quietly back into the
ranks of private life, taking up the various
duties which thus befel him. He kept up his
interest in agricultural affairs, and resumed
his connection with the firm of Ruggles,
Nourse, Mason & Co. of Boston and
Worcester, for whom he had performed
many valuable services in designing agri-
cultural tools on scientific principles. An
incident in this connection is worth relat-
ing 1t was well toward the seventies, and
a week of special trial of implements for
/ .. a. 1
Ors of the New York state agricultural soci-
ETY. to be held at Utica early in September
Among the prizes offered was gold medal
for pillow to be drawn by three horses
abreast, which should turn up a stiff clay
soil from furrow foot deep and 10 inches
wide, pulverizing it and not laying it over
in a slab. Ruggles, Nourse, Mason IL Co.
were anxious to win this prize, and sent
for Gov. HOlbrook, who held himself al
ways subject to their call. He had brought
the shape of the mOuld-board of a pillow to
as exact mathematical basis, and readily
set himself to solve the New York sOcie-
! ty's problem. A new moud-boaTd was
| quickly designed and cast, and the pillow
completed and shipped with all haste to
! Utica. Mr. Nourse had a skillful plow-
man, a heavy, brawny man, whom he al
ways employed to hold the pillow at any
public test. But as fate would have it the
weather was excessively hot, the Utica
water was very bad, and when the day
of the pillow trial came the plowman was
fiat on his back with deathy sickness,
and both he and Mr.. Nourse refused to be
consoled. "Never you mind said the
undaunted Ex-Governor, 81 am going to
hold the pillow myself and in spite of all
protestations, hold it he did He bought
straw hat, stripped himself TO shirt,
trousers and boots, seized the handles, and
began turning the straight, well-pulverized
burrows, though the hard clay soil was
completely baked by sun and drought, and
to do the work required the best efforts Of
both team and plowman 1t quickly be-
came noised over the field that the WAR
Governor of Vermont was holding the
the pillow, and the crowd thronged about
the testing ground in the broihng sun.
They pressed up so closely that there was
scarce room for the work, and the commit
tee constantly cried out, Fall back, gen
tlemen, fall back and give the Governor a
chance to pillow out to the ends of his fur
rows
"The short of it was" the Governor
adds, that the pillow won the big gold medal
which Mr.. Nourse still has, and as for
the plow-why, that is now out in my
1 barn"
Many of the older farmers will rec all the
| Governors excellent invention of a much
earlier date-the "Holbrook plow''-which
was a swivel successfully designed to use
on level land and avoid the dead furrow in
the centre of the field, which had been an
eyesOre and a nuisance under the old meth
| cd of blowing