The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1922-11-25

piled up to the depth of two or three
feet.
you must have had wonderful
crop of hay on this field" l remarked,
Judging from the number of founda-
tions for the stacks"
A merry twinkle came into his
eye and he laughed as he said;
Those are not founda tions for bay
stacks. 4 had those built as shelters
for the rabbits. 1t makes nice warm
place for them in which to live in the
winter"
But his friends the rabbits abused
his hospitality. and came to a sad
end. For once in his life, Henry Ford
had to declare war and take up arms.
1t was war to determination. The
Increase of the rabbit population on
the Ford farms taxed the agility and
kcapacity of the multiplication table to
its limit. To the saying pigs is pigs
may be added the further statement,
$50 is rabbits" After two or three
years, orchards young and old were
being destroyed by friend rabbit to
such an extent that friendly relations
were broken and shostilities begun.
Down to the last rabbit, bunnie re-
manned pacifist; but somehow that
did not stop then war. And perhaps
this might be made into a parable.
Corn for Squirrels
After passing the rabbit shelters
we came a little further on to a
lcornfield in which the bare stalks of
Hast years crop were still standing.
"Why did you not cut this field of
corn" l asked.
Again there was little chuckle
las he answered: well, you see, l
planted that corn for the squirrels,
and some of my other friends, and left
lit standing so they could get at it
in the winter. And slet me show you
what they did"
We followed him a little way into
the woods and found the ground COW
lered with cobs from which the corn
had been stripped.
Il have a lot of friends in here"
he said. Let me show you partic-
lular friend See that bird box-the
one on the pole? Notice that the
box is fastened to a straight. smooth
rod of iron. and the iron is bolted to
the top of the pole. | did that so the
squirrels could not get at the birds.
But see what happened. A flying
squirrel took possession of that box
and made it his home. He runs out
on that limb that hangs over the box
and makes a flying leap. He never
fails to land on the roof of his home.
+, I'll bet he's in there now. He knows
my signal, and if he is there he'll
leone out and take a look. Now, boy,
keep your eye on the hole in the
box"
He went to the pole to the top
of which the box was fastened. He
raped upon it-three times-and then
out came the head of friend squirrel
For a minute he eyed us very, calmly
and very solemnly and then turned
back to his nest as IL satisfied that
everything was all right, and that
Henry and another boy were Just
making a friendly call
/ And so the multimillionaire spent
the better part of the day with To-
year-old boy having bully time call
ing on his furred and feathered
friends. He loves the great out of
| doors Beneath the fire and steel In
him there is boyish. Joyous spirit. 1t
Is one of the lights that falls among
the shadows.
Notable Group of Friends
/ have referred elsewhere to the
| fact that Mr.. Ford makes his most
| intimate counse1lors men in his own
organization with whom it would seem
he would seem he would have the
least in common. That there is in
Mr.. Ford that which is attractive to
men of a higher order is seen in the
intimate friendship he has enjoyed
with two great men - John
| Burroughs up until the time of his
death. and Thomas A. Edison. These
three were in the habit of taking their
annual outing together. and were not
Iinfrequently together between times
What is there in common among
| them?
Between Burroughs and Ford there
was the love of nature. of birds and
flowers and streams and hills. One
| loved far more understandingly than
the other, but both loved the same
things.
| Between Edison and Ford there is
| the bond of mechanics and invention.
And back of it all there is the spirit
of youth. 1t was in Burroughs to his
i last hour. 1t Is in Edison and Ford.
! Edison at rs is working his two shifts
and finding his joy in life and his in
terest in his work increasing rather
than diminishing.
"When are you going to retire?"
he was asked recently. The reply was,
Never"
There is a story of Ford and Edi-
son THAT has never gotten into print.
1t has an amusing and at the same
time a dramatic incident in it that
makes it worth repeating.
An Edison AnecdOte
Late in the fall of 1914 Mr.. Ford
planned to take Mr.. Edison by spe-
cial train over the route between De-
troit and Port Huron on which Edi-
son in his youth had worked as news
/ boy. The train consisted of three or
four coaches, and the party was linn
tied to a small number of invited
guests of whom I CHANGED to be one.
The trip to Port Huron was I'M
| eventful Mr.. Ford and Mr.. Edison
spent muclr OF the -;me swapping
i stories, Mr.. Edison recalling incidents
| of his boyhood days, and Mr.. Ford Of
! fering a story now and then in which
the laugh was on himself. One of Mr..
Ford's stories on himself is also worth
mention.
He. together with some of his me-
chanics, was testing a car some
years ago and to give it a thorough.
trial they made trip over the sandy
roads of northern Michigan. They
took an outfit with them and camped
at night along the way. One evening
| they turned into a small wood a short
distance from a farm house. On going
to the house for some provisions they
found the farmer in the barn tinker
ling with a secondhand automobile
not a Ford, by the way, but a much
larger car Without making himself
| known Mr.. Ford inquired as to the
| nature of the trouble with the farm
| er's machine. The explanation was
that the farmer had bought the car
from an agent who had driven it to
the farmers home, and that he had
never been able to get the thing start
ed. Mr.. Ford. with his mechanics,
set to work, put the machine into
running order, and contributed few
new spark plugs and some tools.
When they had finished the farmer
| turned to Mr. Ford ard said:
Whats the charger"
Nothing" was the reply.