Lower coast gazette., 1913-09-13
Taree.Score Patent Gates
BY ROE /. HENDRlCK.

emu tDIn DIT OAe lAAc -"
able.
One mild afternoon in March, when
| returned home from the academy, /
found a large, florid, well-dressed man
preparing to take supper with the fam
ily. He was introduced to me as my.
Rogers" At the supper table he
proved a fluent talker; he discussed
notifies. the best breeds Of dairy cat
tie. the currency question, and other
topics with ease and readiness. he
certainly did not make the mistake OF
talking shop" out of hours, for l got
no clue to his business.
Later. at the barn, l CHANGED to
oyerhear him telling Uncle George
that there was fifty per cent in 1t
without lifting a finger, and a hun-
| dred if you want to hustle a little your
SELF" but what the scheme was
could not guess. He drove away pe-
fore dark.
The next afternoon I found a bright
red gate at the foot of the driveway
leading to the barn. 1t shcne with
yarnish like a new road wagon. n III
big black letters along two OF Its nor
izonta) boards it bore the legend:
Liooitt,s Patent Elevator Gate.
A Child Can Operate it.
The gate was Of a type that was
more popular then than 1t is now, al
though somewhat similar co~ntrlvances
are still found from Main to Califor'
MIA It did not swing on hinges, but
was raised by a counter-weight, by
means of a heavy wire that passed
over a pulley on a tall post at enc.
The corners were pivoted and the gate
folded together as it rose, until 1t
stood bolt upright beside the post.
small lever worked it from either s1de;;
not much force wa required II tne
gate was In good working order.
tried It two or three times, by way
Of experiment. and was pleased to find
how easily it worked. The old gate
, that it eplaced had long saggcd on Its
hinges. till it's outer corner had worn
. . deem groove in the soil; it had to De
lifted bodily to be swung back. me
now one was certainly a great nm
y Under the shed beside the carriage
q house a fresh surprise awaited me.
\ The sleighs had been removed,-to
the basement of the main barn, as
n learned later,-and in their place were
\ three big piles of new gates, reaching
almost to the floor of the loft above.
y .Well. uncle" / said, when mel
- him at the door of the stable, "Jna
10 are you going to do" Fence tne
n whole farm with pretty req gates:
ID There was a hint OF. confusion IN
~ his smile. "No-hardly!!" he said eve
- honght only one; that's the one you
~ ~ we're testing just now. 1t works al
or right, doesn't it" -,
'First rate! But what about tna'
shedful back there?"
y. ooh. Rogers left them here for ioca
.. agents to call for. I'm to have a per
ID centage for storing and deanng tnen
,lv out. with the printed instructions ina
90 with them. No, I'm not fool enougl
to buy sixty gates, I hope-not quiz
IN. yeti" y, Doc
H., ers or of his local agents Tor SON
~. time. hut on the following Saturda
e1t Uncle George met with an acclde1
that had a d~isquieting erect on III
W !" entire household.
He had just bought a mettlesoin
'lI vonnp iron-gray horse named Pompe!
. taIT. nervous animal, and had pee
to the village after a sack OF gras
> Good which he brought home besit
him in the top buggy. Aunt Luz
haDpened to be in the garden, Wns
ast. he drove up; she walked ACROSS n q,
raised the gate, for she saw tnat 70,
rom pey, despite his exercise, was res'i
and unwilling to stand. :.
~ Uncle George was talking TO NJ
ol;,, and reaching out to give her a nan
ol,y fnl of letters and papers from the po
ean office when the horse leaped ahe
uoM into the gateway. Whether ne pun
YOU Cd against the cluster OF elevat
boards, or merely Jared the srou
ivy SO as to start them, we never Kne
NV the gate fell with a clatter across
sol. back.
was Several things happened in the NJ
second or two. P0mpey tore INNS
WlJn | loose lTOIu tuO
her ran into the basement.
At The gate was twisted about, a
cent virtually wrecked, the buggy lost
thills and dashboard, and Un
axad George was thrown out and sustain
fo,lv a snrained ankle and a bad cut IN
She scalp. .,;r4u
not The damage iloun.e " .a
was forty dollars, but that did not mel
re- the injury to the horse, wnlcn ne
,pen. was really trustworthy afterward,
XIV. did it include Uncle Georges loss
since time and the uoCtois un .ata
last the remains of the patent gate
moved that afternoon, and a no
made. hinged gate put into It's pi'
!, her. He also said he would write 70
we'd company as Don as he could noi
,noke men. and have them take the resi-
:, the the worthless truck off his prem
= nresume he did write, althoue
rand. never saw the letter; but the Il
letter nine remaining sa'ee
sad moved. -. ~ :,
Mrs. No tonly were .ney -. onu of
dav hut neither Mr.. Rogers nor any ol
hing smb.agents appeared. Instead, IN J
tam. Uncle George received a commq u
,road tion from the Easton Nationai D
,.olai saving that his note for $500, DISCO
said ed late in March, was due, ano
ouesting immediate payment.
y hit CONTINUED on page ~
J > 49,