HIS LIFI AND WORK 



the Reaper, and watched it automatically cut 

 and rake off the grain. The Emperor was 

 delighted. He forgot for the moment his im- 

 pending troubles, and at once offered Mc- 

 Cormick the Cross of the Legion of Honor. 

 This was, in all probability, the last time that 

 the coveted Cross was conferred in France by 

 the hand of a sovereign; and the meeting of the 

 two men was a highly impressive event, the one 

 man typifying a falling dynasty that had risen 

 to greatness by the sword, and the other the 

 founder of a new industry that was destined to 

 bring peace and plenty to all nations alike. 



Two years later, because of the clamor of 

 McCormick's competitors, a grand Field Test 

 was arranged by the German Government at 

 Altenberg. Thirty-eight contestants entered 

 the lists, and after a most exciting tournament 

 the judges awarded the Gold Medal and a 

 special prize of sixty ducats to McCormick. 

 Such contests, from this time onward, came 

 thick and fast. Several days later McCormick 

 swept the field at Altona. In 1873 he was 

 decorated by the Austrian Emperor. And in 



[18*] 



