CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



Ebrington was there, and Prince Frederick of 

 Holstein, and several other titled agriculturists. 

 One other machine was to be tested, besides Mc- 

 Cormick's. It was put into the grain first and 

 was at once seen to be a failure. It broke down 

 the grain instead of cutting it. Seeing this mis- 

 hap, several of the farmers said to Mr. Mechi, 

 'You had better stop this trial, because it is 

 destroying your grain." Whereupon Mr. Mechi 

 made one of the noblest replies that can be 

 found in the annals of progress. "Gentlemen," 

 he said, "this is a great experiment for the 

 benefit of my country. When a new principle 

 is about to be established, individual interests 

 must always give way. If it is necessary for 

 the success of this test, you may take my 

 seventy acres of wheat." 



Then came the McCormick Reaper, driven 

 by an expert named Mackenzie. It swept down 

 the field like a chariot of war, with whirling reel 

 and clattering blade seventy-four yards in 

 seventy seconds. It was a miracle. Such a 

 thing had never before been seen by Europeans. 

 "This is a triumph for the American Reaper," 



[128] 



