The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-11-27

with falls stood opposite each other
hour AFTER hour and day after day
pounding the whekt out Of the stalk. Two
strokes, and then cessation of sound
Trump. thump. thump. thump. thsmp
thump! Pounded ones, and then turned
over to be pouAded again, slow, very
slow. The hens cackled and clucked by
the door and picked up the loose grains
and the horses half asleep and doing
over the managers where the hay had
been.
But bark to the busx of wheels In the
distance! The farmer has taken his
throne on a reaper. He once walked;
now he rides; once worked with arm Of
flesh. now with arm Of iron. He starts
at the end of the wheatfeld, heads his
horses to the opposite end Of the field,
rides on. At the stroke of his iron char
lot the gold of the grain Is surrendered.
the machine rolling this way and rolling
that. this way and that, until the work
which would have been accomplished In
many days Is accomplished in few
hours the grainfeld PROSTATE before the
harvesters.
What quick, clean work the wheel Of
the reaper does MAXI! Soon after the
horses are fastened to the thrashing ma
chine back Of the barn. The iron tooth
ed cylinders are ready for their prey.
The horses start. the unbound wheat ID
plunged into the vortex, and the broken
straw Ia In one place and the pure st.
Louis wheat Is In another place. The
driving wheel strapped, the cylinder
humming with terrible velocity, the in
experienced warned off for fear of acct.
dent, the ground aquake with the mighty
revolution, stand in awe and thanksgiv-
ing at the agricultural conquest and cry
out with the text, 20 WHEEL"
Can you imagine anything more beau
tiful than the sea island cotton? 1 take
up the unmelted snow In my hand. How
beautiful 1t is! But do you know by
what painstaking and tedious toll it
passed into anything like practicality?
II you examined that cotton, you would
ind it full of seeds. 1t was a severe
process by which the seed was to be ex-
tracted from the fiber. Vast populations
were leaving the. south because they
could not make any living out of this
product. One p6and Of green seed cot
ton was all that man could prepare in
one day, but Eli Whitney, a Massachu-
sets Yankee. woke mp, got a handful Of
cotton and went to constructing wheel
for the parting Of the fiber and the seed.
Benefits of Inventive Genius.
Teeth on cylinders, brushes on cylin-
ders, wheels on wheels. South Carolina
gave him $4,000 for his invention, and
instead of one man taking whole day to
prepare pound of cotton for the market
now he may prepare three hundred
weight, and the south is enriched, and
the commerce of the world is revolution
lied, and over 100000 bales Of cotton
were prepared this year, enough to keep
at work in this country 14,3oO0O spin
dies, employing 27O.000 hands and ell
listing 1921, 400, 900 of capital
Thank you, Eli Whitney, and L. s.
Chichester of New York, his successor.
Above all, thank God for their inventive
genius, that has done SO much for the
Of the world.
When see coming forth from this cot
ton production and cotton manufacture
enough cloth to cover the tables of ma
lion, and enough spool thread to sew ev-
Fry rent garment, and enough hosiery to
warm the nations feet, and enough cord
age to fly the sails of all the shipping,
md enough wadding to supply the guns
If all the American sportsmen, and
enough Irvine to fly all the kites outside
If Wall street, aud enough tape to tie up
Ill the briefs Of all the attorneys, and
,nough fannels to blanket slumbering
world, thank God.
For the $4,000 received for his cotton
lin Whitney gave wealth that makes
he word millions" imbecile. Strange
hat one machine should work such mar
'els. Have you noticed the construction
Il the cotton gin? On one side of 1t
ount three wheels, and on another side
cunt three wheels, while on the third
ide there is q wheel on the top Of
Wheel, and the salutation of the text
,ursts from my lips, while cry in &C.
tasy and admiration of gratitude, 20
vheelr'
Thirdly, look to sec what the wheel
las done for the travelling world. No one
an tell how many noble and self sacri-
icing inventors have been crushed be-
ween the coach wheel and the modern
between the paddle and tho
cean steamer.
l will not enter into the controversy as
o whether John Fitch or Robert Fulton
r Thomas Somerset was the inventor Of
he steamboat. They all suffered and |
we're martyrs of the wheel, and they shall
re honored. John Fitch wrote:
The 21st OF January, 17i3, was the fatal time Of
ringing ME into existence. | know Of nothing SO |
erplexing and vexatous to a man OF feeling as
Irbulent wife and steamboat building. I expert
need the former and quit in season, and had !
zen In my right senses ] should undoubtedly have
.eated the latter In the same manner; but, for
ne man to be teased with both, he must be i
okcd upon as the most unfortunate man in the
orld.
Prophets of EVIL.
Surely John Fitch was in bad pre-
icament. II the steamboat boiler did
OF blow him up, his wife would. In all
ges there are those to prophesy the foil
re of any useful invention. You do not
now what the inventors of the day SUI.
err. When It was proposed to light
ondcn with gas, Sir Humphry Davy,
lie great philosopher, said that he should
> soon think Of cutting slice from the
ooD and setting 1t upon a pole to light
lie city. Through all abuse and carica-
Ire Fitch and Fulton went until yonder
lie wheel Is in motion, and the Clermont
lie first steamboat, is going up the North
yer, running the distance-hold your
reath while tell you-from New York
Albany in 80 hours. But the steam
,at wheel multiplied its velocities until
le Lucania Of the Cunard and the Ma
site Of the White Star line and the
ew York Of the American line and the
aiser Wilhelm of the North German
lloyd line cross the Atlantic ocean in
K days or less, communication between
e two countries SO rapid and SO con-
ant that whereas once those who had
zen to Europe took on airs for the rest
their mortal lives-and to me for
any years the most disagreeable man
uld meet was the man who had been to
urope, despising all American pictures
ID American music and American So
,ty because they had seen European
ctures and heard European music and
ingled in European society-now
voyage is so common that a
nsible man would no more boast of It
an il he had been to New York or
,ston.
All the rivers and lakes and seas have
rned white with rage under the shifting
the steamboat wheel. In the phos-
crescent wake of 1t sail the worlds
numerical properties. Through the