Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-01-17
HOLDS UNIQUE RECORD.
VENERABLE DALLAS CITIZEN is
MASTER OF THE FILE.
For More Than Half Century His
Si1illful Hand Waivers
Not.

Some men are born great, some
| have greatness thrust upon them ,ant
others may acquire it, but there is one
thing necessary in the scheme of the
universe that comes not to all men
Nature in her munificence dotted the
oak upon the hills, but of saw-filers
she created but a few, for the true
artist of the file is, like the poet, borT
and not made. There are two things
that the average man thinks he car
do: First, he is convinced that he car
could; secondly, he knows perfectly
well that he can take an old, rusty
handsaw and make it's teeth keener
than mans ingratitude. But right
there is where the average man is
wrong; he is mistaken; his trolley is
off; he has another thought coming,
He can't do anything of the kind
The true artist of the file is born,
not made. Dallas has such an artist,
and not alone by his unerring skill
but by his kind and pleasant ways
has he won the admiration and vener-
alton of the city, for his residence
here began with the building of the
first house, and he is known and re-
vered by all. His name is James M,
Campbell, and for f1fty-four long
years he has filed saws, and filed them
well. This record is doubtless unpar-
all hxya Twin a in
ly is one to be proud of. And not
only has he such record, but he con-
tinues to add to it day by day and
week after week, shows no sign of
faltering, for his hand is steadier and
his vision is keener than that of many
a young man. Although he has lived
rs years, he is not old, for time has
only made him more careful, more
precise He still does the most min
ute work that a saw fler is called on
to do, and only the other day he was
engaged in shaping the extremely del
icate teeth of a butchers saw, and it
was a very fine-toothed saw at that
So fine, indeed, were it's teeth that the
average man would not have been
able to determine with the naked eye
whether it was sharp or dull,
Fifty Years Experience.
How many saws, large and small,
fine and coarse, he has dressed, set
and filed in his more than half century
practice cannot he known, or even
closely conjectured. but the number
must be very great Lying idly in
corner of his shop is the first iron saw
vice that Mr.. Campbell ever owned.
1t was made by hand by the late
Curtis G. Rowell, whose death occur
red few days ago, and it tells the
story of long service, for it's jaws are
SCARED and cut and scanned by the
myriad strokes of the file, and it's use
fulness was over years ago.
Saw filing is but an incident of his
trade, however, for Mr.. Campbell is
a carpenter-a thorough carpenter,
for he learned his trade in the days
when there was something to learn;
in the days when there were no plan
ing mills and no sash and door facto-
ries, no stickers and no shapers; in
the days when all that was required to
build a house was rough lumber, hard
work. knowledge and skill. Every
thing then was done by hand, boards
were planed by hand, moulding was
run out by hand, and many of the
more important tools were
Of his own handiwork. 1t was in such
times that Mr.. Campbell served his
apprenticeship, and an example of the
careful work done in those days is
still seen in the Lyle house, which is
4 familiar landmark in the northwest
part of town, and upon which he
worked in the year 1858.
Mr.. Campbell began his trade in
Kings Valley, in 1857, under a man
named Pitman, who two years later
quilt Polk County's first Court House. |
One day shortly after he started to
work he asked his boss to sharpen his
saw for him. do it yourself" snap |
ped the boss, and Mr.. Campbell did, |
md he has been sharpening saws ever
,ince-fifty-fou long years.