i 



Ictrlcal 



work 



I Colby 



llobl*. 



Cooking Is a pleosuro sine* the Colbyi got 



eloctrlclty and thif modern electric stove. 



Evan Daughter Shirley (right) doesn't have 



to be urged to lend o hand. 



Mr. Colby gives the REA and its 

 trouble-free power service a great deal 

 of the credit for keeping the boys in- 

 terested in farming. For in spite of 

 the electrically-powered motors which 

 operate much of the farm equipment, 

 there still remains plenty of work to be 

 done. 



The Colbys feed an assortment of 

 75 Shorthorn, Hereford and Angus 

 beef cattle and raise an average of about 

 400 hogs annually. 



Asked about the comparative cost of 

 the old system and the new, Colby cal- 

 culated that power from a gasoline en- 

 gine that costs 30 cents would cost 

 about 10 cents when delivered by an 

 electric motor. 



As for the savings in time through- 

 out the farm as a result of REA-serviced 

 electricity, the Colbys thought it well- 

 nigh incalculable. 



Mr. Colby said, for example, that they 

 saved a half hour daily alone pump- 

 ing water, and Mrs. Colby, after some 

 rapid offhand calculation, estimated 

 she saved a day and a half each week 

 because of electricity. 



For instance, she said churning used 

 to take three-quarters of an hour. To- 

 day it takes three minutes. 



The Colbys know what it means to 

 be without electric power on the farm 

 and they know, too, what a blessing it 

 is to be able to accomplish so much 

 with the flip of a switch. And that's 

 why probably no one is more aware of 

 the importance of getting more farms 

 electrified than Henry Colby. As pres- 

 ident of the local REA organization, he 

 is devoted to that task. 



As the serious shortages of materials 

 case, the Menard Electric Cooperative 

 is expected to expand rapidly. Man- 

 ager A. E. Becker and President Colby 

 will see to that. 



AT 78, 



CHARLEY STILL 



BREAKS RECORDS 



CHARLES E. CARRIER, 78, veteran 

 Illinois county organization direc- 

 tor, gave his Macon county members a 

 very, very satisfactory report this fall 

 on the strength of their Farm Bureau 

 membership. 



Affable, hearty Charley Carrier has 

 been giving these reports in one county 

 or another throughout the state for 

 most of the 26 years since he started in 

 1921 enlisting Illinois farm families in 

 Farm Bureau. 



And this year Carrier, spear-heading 

 Macon's membership drives, broke just 

 about any record listed in Macon coun- 

 ty's book. 



Membership now stands at 2125, 

 Carrier reported, which means their 

 new membership quota has been ex- 

 ceeded more than 300 per cent. 



But boosting membership and lend- 

 ing a hand here and there is so much a 

 part of Carrier's life he doesn't think 

 it worth more than honorable mention. 



Carrier's record, however, has long 

 been the subject of admiration from 

 organization men who have worked 

 closely with him. Charley Carrier, his 

 friends say, ha« probably signed more 

 members in Farm Bureau than any 

 other person in the state. 



After 26 years of service, he's still as 

 energetic and youthful in his thoughts 

 and actions as any man half his age. 

 Farmers still respond readily to his 

 open, friendly talks. He makes twice 

 as many contacts as the average man, 

 his associates say. 



"I began working for lAA in 1921 

 during the horse and buggy days when 

 it was not very popular to be a Farm 

 Bureau member," Carrier recalled. 



"There were many times when we 

 had to stand out by a fence where the 

 wind would strike and take the criti- 

 cism of a farmer whom we came to 

 help," he said. 



"This was generally after the mem- 

 ber had signed for three years and was 

 promised everything good, but the 

 organization was young and could give 



Charles C. Carrier, 78, a veteran of 36 



years in form organixatlons in Illinois 



works at his desk in the farm lureou office 



In Decatur. 



little in return for the farmer's $45. 

 So the farmer who was not used to 

 looking ahead resented us and he had 

 some reason to do so." he admitted. 



Soon after he was hired, George 

 Metzger, now lAA field secretary, sent 

 him to McHenry county where the then 

 revolutionary cattle tuberculosis testing 

 program brought membership down to 

 little more than 100 members. 



"I was the fifth man sent there. All 

 others got discouraged and quit. After 

 a time we got members and at the end 

 of four months built back to 400. 



"I have often wished," Carrier said 

 recently, "that I had kept a record of 

 the number of members I've signed." 



He recalls, he says, only approximate 

 figures on work covering a full year. 

 At Bureau county in 1926, he started in 

 the spring with membership of 660. 

 Averaging 20 new members a week he 

 finished with 1100 farmers signed in 

 the Farm Bureau. 



He was then sent to DuPage county. 

 There in one year he helped increase 

 the roll from 282 to 842 members. 

 From DuPage he went to Cook. Again 

 the hard persistent work of Charley 

 Carrier showed in his results. 



Cook county had only 283 members 

 and grew to 848 during his stay. Later 

 he returned to work in Cook county 

 and saw their membership grow to 

 1300. 



Later he worked in Edgar, Warren, 

 Massac and Clay counties at about the 

 time or soon after they became affili- 

 ated with the lAA. 



He left the lAA m 1933 and for two 

 years worked for the Sanitary Milk 

 Association, covering the St. Louis milk 

 shed in Illinois and Missouri. 



In 1935 Carrier returned to his first 

 love. Farm Bureau membership work, 

 working in Macon county as organi- 

 zation director, the position he now 

 hoHs. 



CORD 



NOVEMBER, 1946 



11 



