The Meeker herald., 1911-01-28

Harmony Corners consisted Of !
3, N QUAD

+ Harmony Corners consisted Of Z
store. postof3ce and blacksmith
shop. Moses 6chi6 ran the store
Jacob SchlfY the postomcs and Peter
Hchi6 the blacksmith shop. Then their
| was PhiletuY Schlf. Aaron Schi4, Adm
iron SchiR. Goodheart 6chi8. Thur.
day Schid. 0odfear 6chiR and Elijah
| schifY. all farmers. within radius Of
two miles. Each SchiH was related TO
all the other Schihs BY blood Or mar
riage. 1t was \ settlement Of schiffs
alone and had been for dfty years.
No strangers were allowed to butt In.
Old Moses. who ran the store with
| the help of son. was the patriarch Of
| the Gock. He was adviser. Judge and
Jury In all matters. There had never
been a cnse for the lawyers In that
community. II there was disagree
| Inent 1t was taken to Moses. He said
do this or do that. and 1t was done.
People said that Harmony Corners
was living. breathing example OF the
morality and unselfishness Of human
nature.
After all that half century Of peace.
industry and good will Godfear Schi6
was tile one to produce discord. II
was another proof that there's nothing
in a name. 1t was seldom that any
thing called a Schi1 away from home.
but on an occasion Godfear had to
make a journey to Fittsburg. eighty
miles AWAY. 1t was serious event.
Il called for serious talk and many
prayers. He might return alive, bat
the CHANGES were very much against
1t. His will had been made for years..
and he read II over. fed the cows and
departed.
Godfear reached tho Smoky City
right end up. much to his astonish-
ment. He saw houses and stores and
factories. He raw sewing machine
In show window. and ~ he stood
looking at It a BARKER" pulled him in
and the merits Of the machine were
explained. He thought well Of II.
There were seven children In his fami-
~ and much sewing to do. Not Z
SchifY had inbor saving machine Of
any sort. not even corn shelter or an
apple parer. As their Grandfather
hnd lived 20 were they living. God
fear was In town three days. He call
ed to inspect that sewing machine six
different times. At last be drew q
long breath and decided to take the
chances and ordered the thing sent on
to him.
The Schiffs never dealt With ped.
dlers nor agents. The very sams ma
chine could have bcsn bought It God
fears own HAte any day IN IT, week.
Moses rat on Sbat nDachlns n Z 1uea-
ciai capacity for week md than r.
cided that It must b. Given up. Il
was witchcraft: It was an innovation:
II would break up the long prevailing
harmony Of Harmony Corners. God.
fear bucked. The invention had been
tested. and 1t would do more sewing
In day than bis wife could do by
hand In a week. There was no odor
Of birthstone about 1t. 1t ate no hay
or oats. and occupied but small
space. Some Of the other schiffs. and
particularly the wives. backed him up.
OF course. the news that Godfear
Schin had broken out" was passed
around the country. and the immedi-
ate result was TO bring a swarm Of
sewing machine agents down on the
Sctin tribe. They had sewing ma
chimes that would tuck, hem. rune.
braid. embroider. pateh, sew on bat
ton. rock the baby. charm the butter.
feed the hens. sort over potatoes. build
the fire and all that. and they came
| and talked and talked. Then the tin
peddlers and parlor organ men came.
Moses schiH saw the cloud no bigger
than mans hand. and he called q
gathering of his clan. He was heeied
with statistics to prove bow greatly
those inventions of Satan had increaz-
I'd the wlckedness Of the world. Thou
sands Of murders. burglaries. horse
thefts. elopements and so on could be
directly traced to them. Did they
want 10 find themselves on the gal
lows? Did they want to know that
their children we're in state prison3
In fact. did they sigh to meet Satan
face to face and be caught up and sent
down to the hot place by rapid transit?
II they bought parlor organs and
sewing machines, what next? Why.
brass bedsteads. china ware, furs. new
hats. corn shelters. carpets and stuffed
chairs would be sure to follow. and
then farewell to the harmony OF Har-
inony Corners. With tears in his
eyes he besought and wrestled. but .
number Of the Schilfs had got started
Dn the downward road and wouldn't
| hold up. II was only four days after
tile meeting that one Of them bought
an egg beaten and the click Of the
spoon against the bowl would be heard
In his family no. more. Then came .