The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1916-06-21
REVIEW READER
HALF CENTURY
Abner Graves, Now Of Denver, Re.
view ReaderHfor Fifty Years
Coming Sept. I, 1916.
HELPED TO SET THE TYPE HERE

Coming Sept. I, 1915.
HELPED TO SET THE TYPE HERE
Tells How He Furnished Tom Nc
Bride With Seed Wheat During
the Grasshopper Days.
Denver, Colo, April %, 1916.
The Denison Review, =.
Denison, Iowa.
l have just returned to Denver from
the gold, silver and tungsten mining
fields in Colorado's mountains and find
big lot of Reviews piled up awaiting
my attention, and have been going
through them SO as to get up to date
on Crawford county, and find many
things that bring remembrance of the
past. find that many old settlers
young, have gone forward into the un'
known from whence none return, and
sometimes wonder when my time
will come for such change.
l first came into Denison On the sec.
ond day. of September 1866, having
the day before driven my horse and
buggy from Jefferson. and stayed that
night at the home Of Hugh McWill,
Jams, couple of miles east of Deni.
son. Soon after arrival Gust ahead
OF the railroad construction | entered
into the business activities of the
then new town, and kept my part OF
business going fairly strong and YER
satile throughout the county for a
quarter of century, and thenN came
into the great west again, but have
kept in touch with old Crawford ever
since through medium OF the Review
which comes regularly every week
BY the way, will say that in with
the bunch of Reviews awaiting my at.
tention, find letter stating that
Uncle Sam" is kicking because | am
over year back on my subscription
and a suggestion that it might be a
good scheme for me to blow in check
and square UP until about June lst.,
and have been thinking it over. and
as remember, l first commenced
reading the little fourteen by twenty
inch sheet (Which was the original
starter of which our little George
Stephens called The Denison Reviewo
on Sept. l. 1866, will make my check
$500 and pay up till September, 1916
! and round ont my Review. reading for
!, full half century. and enclose check
herewith. | helped to stick type and
pull the hand press on that little sheet
Thus my attention having been call
ed to long past days, remember that
at Baptist ladies' social held in the
spring of 1867 at the home of Mrs.
Purify. later Mrs. Newton Richards
twhere was then boarding.. Mrs
Denison and some other ladies thought
ought to get married and volunteered
interceding with some of the girls to
that effect; then someone suggested
that was wearing store teeth" and
therefore too old to marry girls. Mrs.
Denison examined my teeth to see If
they were made by dentist, but found
they were natural, and the same teeth
l now daily use in. chewing three
square meals day, backed up with a
healthy appetite for the same.
AS many of the Reviews younger
old readers might like to see again
the Gold Nugget" stick pin that still
adOrns my cravat. and that took from
g. California gold mine on Feb. %, 1850,
] will enclose herewith my photo, TAX.
en- last winter on the day | was 80
years, old. which | trust you will print
for their inspection, and while it may
differ in some respects from that one
] put in the cornerstone of the Char
ter Oak opera house in 1890 together
with my Masonic emblems and other
items (the laying of which corner.
stone many people will remember, j.
trust that they will all believe that
am still in the ring and ready for
business. r. 10y.
In one copy OF the Review find an
item of Thomas Mcbride having fam
lily reunion, and that calls to mind the
grasshopper times of the early '7O's.
Mcbride lived on Section 8-81'39
(Shelby county, a mile south of
Washington township and he had 100
acres OF fine fall blowing and plenty
of good seed wheat, but said the grass,
hoppers had laid over seven millions
eggs on each square foot Of the field
and he wouldn't SOW his seed to feed
the young hopper crop with. | asked
what he would do If l would furnish
seed and take the risk. as | wasn't
afraid of grasshoppers, and he said
that he would sow the seed, harvest
the crop. II there was any crop. of
wheat and deliver half of it to me at
the Dow City elevator. furnished
him some nice India red wheat and
charged 1t to my "Grasshopper Ac
count" on my elevator books, and made
the same deal with other farmers who
had Hopper nightmare" and dreamed
that the hoppers would eat all of
western Iowa and fly off withrit to
Montana's mountains from whence the
old grasshoppers came. About April
LIST some fine hot days brought up the
wheat and Matched all the eggs, then
q two days and nights cold rain killed
all the young hoppers and was fine for
making the wheat stool out big, while
the dead grasshoppers made ideal fer
tilizer for the wheat, with the result
that at harvest time Tom Mcbride
had thirty-six bushels and three jocks
of fine wheat to the acre. When Tom
was hauling my half in to Dow City,
Mr. Dow, Mr.. Hardy and others asked
if it didn't near break his heart to give
Graves eighteen bushels OF wheat for
each bushel Of seed furnished, and
Uncle Tom said no, 1t made him feel
good because he had eighteen bushels
OF wheat to the acre at home that he