HIS LIFE AND WORK 



wagon?" he asked. "Why can't we put a 

 foot-board on the machine, for two of us to 

 stand on, and then bind the grain as fast as 

 it is carried up?" 



This was the origin of the " Marsh Harvester," 

 which held the field for ten years or longer. It 

 did not abolish the man who bound, but it gave 

 him a chance to work twice as fast. It com- 

 pelled him to be quick. It saved him the trouble 

 of walking from bundle to bundle. It enabled 

 him to stand erect. And best of all, it put half 

 a dozen inventors on the right line of thought. 

 Plainly, what was needed now was to teach a 

 Marsh Harvester to tie knots. 



One evening in 1874 a tall man, with a box 

 under his arm, walked diffidently up the steps 

 of the McCormick home in Chicago, and rang 

 the bell. He asked to see Mr. McCormick, and 

 was shown into the parlor, where he found ?lr. 

 McCormick, sitting as usual in a large and 

 comfortable chair. 



"My name is Withington," said the stranger. 

 "I live in Janes ville, Wisconsin. I have here 

 a model of a machine that will automatically 



[109] 



