The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-07-21

was what the neighbors said, and they
thought they knew, but the Captain
was equal 70 the emergency. lie had
seen enough OF inventions and ma
chi1ery to know what wonderful
! things could lie accomplished in that
Ma, and he decided that the work
! OF pilcki!s geese mist be done b. ma
! ciiIery.
he tried TO devise some mechanical
| fingers at the end Of flexible trans
mtter. which should work at high
speed and pluck the feathers as he
guided 1t with his hand, but the de-
wee was rot satisfactory
lie studied and thought, ara grcped
IN the darkness, but it seemed as if
there was no solution to the problem.
One day when the mail came he
picked up a New York paper and
glancing over the headlines he read
these words:
GREAT CYCLONE IN IOWA.
Scores of Lives Lost-One Milliop
Dollars Worth Of Property
Destroyed
Ihen as he went on through the
details he read that the wind blew
the feathers off Of chickens. He for
got the destruction of property. He
was sorry for the destruction Of life,
but he did not know anyone in Iowa.
hence he let the fact drop from his
mind, but the one fact written large
on the tablets Of his braia-the fact
more important to him than ANYTHING
else was the fact that the wind blew
t1e feathers off Of the chickens.
lie threw the paper on the floor.
gazed steadtastly into space for a
moment, then rose to his feet and
shouted, Eureka" just as Archi-
inedes exclaimed 2O0o years ago.
lie had the right principle, and he
Knew he could work out the details.
His mind worked fast and there
quickly passed before his mental Wis |
ion the hillside stream that flowed |
past his door, water wheel and all /,
the rest OF the paraphernalia
next nornll,5 lie started work on Il !
Gam; then he put in a water wheel |
and caused it to drive blower" ut
very nigh speed, and forced air cut
CT the END OF nozzle at q pressure OF |
lo0 pounds to the square inch Then
he brought a goose and laid il On a
table and turned on the stream of air
and wherever the stream inpinged on
the goose's body the feathers few as
if they FAC been shot out of a gun.
The Captain was intoxicated with
excitement and rushed in to his wife
as last as his wooden leg would per-
nit, to tell her of his great success.
she had insisted that It would not
work and had scolded him for wasting
his time on it, but now the Captain
vas triumphant and his wife was glad.
3ut there was one difficulty yet This
Gathers flew everywhere and would
lct he confined. Then the Captain
'ullt room with mosquito screens for
Valls on enc side he placed a re-
diving fan which blew the air into the
DOM from the outside and then Mac ,
ng the goose on the table he directed
ne stream OF feathers toward the fan
Were they were drawn into the room ,
y the forced draught.
The Captain had solved the labor
uest!on and the business drew apace, /
lie died later, but not until he mum.
cred his geese by the tens Of thous. |
nds .
He developed the quill tooth pick I
ldustry as side line and his geese t
nd feathers set the standard Of ex- I
ellence for the market The last time .
lie Captain spoke Of goose farming he |
sed these words: 1T is the coming I
lsiness. Geese multiply faster than a
gs, need no shelter in winter, live on v
rass like the cattle Of the field, have t
ore dollars On their backs than b
leep are not subject to attack from t
&c aAd mites, and when they are S
'operly cooked make a dinner fit for t
king" |.
Long live the memory of Captain n
utmeg, Goose King of the world, and p
ventor Of the Windy Feather Pluck l.
g Machine. Farm and Ranch,