1118 
‘Ibt  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
September  1,  1923 
GIVE  HER  A  CHANCE 
Nowadays  it  isn’t  necessary  for  the  house¬ 
wife  to  spend  a  lot  of  time  cleaning  up  coal 
dust  and  ashes  in  the  sitting  room  around 
the  stove.  With  a 
Moncrief  Pipeless  Furnace 
in  the  basement,  along  with  the  coal  and 
ashes,  she  has  a  chance  to  enjoy  herself. 
The  whole  family  will  enjoy  the  uniform, 
humidified  heat  that  circulates  throughout 
the  home. 
Moncrief  Pipeless  Furnaces  are  reasonable 
in  cost  and  save  fuel.  Write  today  for  catalog. 
No  cold  drafty  floors  in  cold  windy 
weather  with  a  Moncrief  Pipeless  Furnace . 
EASTERN  DISTRIBUTORS: 
E.  L.  GARNER 
1 77  23rd  Street,  Jackson  Heights,  L.  I.,  N.Y 
F.  H.  HANLON 
Batavia,  N.  Y. 
THE  HENRY  FURNACE  AND  FOUNDRY  CO. 
825-29  Long  Ave.,  N,  W.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 
MONCRIEF 
PIPELESS 
FURNACE 
Speeds  up  Your 
Fordson  Belt  Jobs! 
BUILT  honestly,  like  Fordson  itself,  and 
sold  only  by  authorized  Fordson  dealers, 
the  Smith  Unit  Pulley  Clutch  gives  you 
Fordson  belt  power  instantly,  at  a  lever’s  touch! 
Back  your  Fordson  right  into  the  belt — on  its 
own  power.  No  shoving  about  by  hand.  Let  the 
motor  run — then,  when  you’re  all  set,  flick 
the  lever  and  your  machinery  hums. 
Ask  your  Fordson  dealer 
about  this  sturdy  little  time 
and  labor  saver  that  keeps 
your  Fordson  working.  If 
he  has  none  to  show  you, 
write  us,  mentioning  his 
name.  We’ll  send  you  book¬ 
let  describing  Smith  Unit  in 
detail  (no  obligation  at  all). 
We’ll  deliver  a  Smith  Unit 
if  you  wish  it,  through 
your  Fordson  dealer. 
Just  a  simple,  patented  sliding  clutch,  mount¬ 
ed  on  special,  laminated,  high-friction-surface 
pulley.  Ball  bearings  (same  as  Fordson’s).  Can’t 
throw  oil.  Doesn’t  change  pulley  speed.  Spiral 
bevel  gear,  always  in  mesh,  protects  tractor. 
DALLMANN  MACHINE  &  MFG.  CO. 
Dept.  6  Winnebago  St.,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
SMITH 
TJNITl 
PULLEY- 
CLUTCH 
GjvFordsons 
A  Popular  Book  of  Reminiscences 
During  the  past  few  years  there  have 
appeared  many  booksi  which  may  be 
called  personal  histories  or  biographies. 
Some  man  who  has  seen  much  of  life  and 
who  has  played  something  of  a  part  in 
history  feels  that  he  must  leave  some 
printed  record  behind  him.  So  he  gives 
a  sketchy  account  of  great  men  whom 
he  has  known  and  of  large  enterprises 
that  he  has  helped  carry  through.  Some 
of  these  books  give  the  personal  side  of 
history  in  a  way  that  makes  great  na¬ 
tional  events  doubly  interesting.  Such  a 
book  is  “The  First  Million  the  Hardest,” 
by  A.  B.  Farquhar — a  well-known  manu¬ 
facturer  of  agricultural  implements.  The 
book  is  a  little  tiresome  at  times  and  the 
author  repeats  too  much,  but  it  ought  to 
be  read  by  all  who  are  interested  in  the 
great  Americans  who  controlled  the  coun¬ 
try  during  the  Civil  War  and  for  40 
years  after  it. 
Mr.  Farquhar  at  20  came  to  New 
York  simply  to  ask  the  leading  men  of 
that  time  how  to  make  a  million  dollars. 
He  must  have  had  fully  100  per  cent  of 
what  in  modern  slang  we  call  “nerve” 
for  he  found  his  way  to  such  men  as 
William  B.  Astor,  James  Gordon  Ben¬ 
nett  and  A.  T.  Stewart.  Mr.  Astor  told 
him  he  did  not  know.  The  original  Astor, 
his  father,  had  bought  land  in  New  York 
City  for  almost  nothing,  had  streets  and 
improvements  added  and  then  rented  at 
fabulous  prices.  About  all  the  Astors 
have  done  since  that  day  is  to  collect  rent 
— which  cannot  be  called  making  money. 
About  all  these  great  men  told  him  was 
to  take  care  of  his  character,  always 
keep  a  promise,  and  never  speculate.  One 
big  man  told  him  that  credit  was  what 
made  money,  and  “if  you  always  pay 
your  bills  exactly  on  the  day  they  are 
due  nobody  will  know  but  that  you  are 
worth  a  million.”  While  he  was  talking 
to  A.  T.  Stewart  the  great  merchant  saw 
a  man  sweeping  the  floor.  A  few  rags 
were  being  wasted  and  Stewart  stopped 
and  shouted  out  a  reprimand  for  this 
waste — so  that  everyone  could  hear  it. 
Alexander  II.  Stephens  was  vice  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and 
after  the  war  Farquhar  heard  him  make 
a  speech  in  favor  of  better  feeling  be¬ 
tween  North  and  South.  A  big  man  in 
the  audience  interrupted  Stevens: 
“Stop  that,  you  Yankee — I  could  eat 
you  up !” 
Stephens  came  promptly  back  with  his 
answer : 
“If  you  did  eat  me  you  would  have 
more  brains  in  your  belly  than  you  ever 
had  in  your  head.” 
Farquhar  was  in  a  Washington  bank 
when  Daniel  Webster  tried  to  borrow 
$100  on  his  personal  note.  He  was  told 
that  the  bank  must  have  endorsed  notes. 
Webster  came  back  with  a  note  for  $200 
endorsed  by  another  Senator  with  an 
even  worse  reputation  for  paying  bills. 
He  was  to  give  the  other  man  $100  for 
his  endorsement.  The  note  was  never 
paid.  The  bank  regarded  it  merely  as  a 
curiosity.  At  one  time  Webster  was  en¬ 
gaged  to  argue  a  case  before  a  jury.  He 
came  into  court  so  badly  in  liquor  that  he 
did  not  properly  know  what  he  was  do¬ 
ing.  He  got  up  and  made  a  -wonderful 
argument  for  the  other  side.  Then  he 
finally  remembered  and  began  again. 
“Gentlemen  of  the  jury  I  have  given  you 
the  full  case  of  my  opponent — now  I  will 
proceed  to  prove  that  there  is  nothing  to 
it” — and  he  upset  all  he  had  said  before! 
The  book  is  full  of  little  personal  notes 
on  public  men  such  as  we  rarely  find  in 
standard  histories. 
Speaking  of  Southern  hospitality  be¬ 
fore  the  war  Farquhar  tells  of  riding  up 
to  a  Southern  mansion  late  at  night  after 
all  had  retired  except  the  slaves.  They 
took  his  horse  and  told  him  to  go  to  the 
house,  find  any  unoccupied  room  and 
sleep  in  it.  He  did  and  in  the  morning 
found  himself  completely  at  home  with 
the  family. 
During  the  panic  of  1873  there  was  a 
run  on  the  business  house  at  York,  Pa., 
where  farmers  had  left  their  money.  The 
merchants  stood  calmly  up  to  their  work 
and  slowly  cashed  every  account  in  gold 
and  paper.  Back  of  them  stood  a  great 
open  sack  from  which  bright  coins  flowed 
like  water  from  a  fountain.  The  men 
who  came  to  demand  their  money  saw 
this  vast  pile  of  what  they  thought  was 
gold  and  were  satisfied.  The  “run” 
stopped.  People  came  back  with  their 
money.  After  it  was  all  over  the  mer¬ 
chant  presented  Farquhar  with  one  of 
the  coins.  It  was  a  bright,  new  shining 
penny !  There  was  no  gold  in  the  bag. 
The  pennies  looked  like  gold  at  a  little 
distance  and  the  psychological  effect  was 
what  stopped  the  run. 
Farquhar  was  a  personal  friend  of 
General  Grant.  A  Southern  soldier  who 
surrendered  with  Lee  got  into  trouble 
and  induced  Farquhar  to  take  him  to 
see  the  President.  It  seems  that  at 
Lee’s  surrender  this  man  had  been 
mounted  on  a  horse  with  a  white  patch 
on  the  side  of  his  head.  When  his  atten¬ 
tion  was  called  to  it,  Grant  remembered 
the  horse  and  through  him  the  man. 
Farquhar  tells  of  one  of  his  first  work¬ 
men — an  anarchist,  something  rare  in 
those  days.  This  man  was  very  bitter 
against  landlords.  He  wanted  to  shoot 
them.  The  boss  finally  told  him  joking¬ 
ly  one  day : 
‘Why  don’t  you  buy  your  house  in¬ 
stead  of  shooting  the  landlord?” 
“How  can  I  buy  a  house?” 
“You  are  getting  good  wages.  I  will 
buy  the  house  for  you  and  take  $4  out  of 
your  weekly  wages  until  it  is  paid.” 
The  man  came  back  with  his  wife  and 
said  they  had  decided  to  buy  the  house, 
but  since  they  had  no  children  they  would 
give  up  $10  a  week  instead  of  $4.  They 
paid  for  the  house  and  a  little  later  had 
a  chance  to  buy  the  house  next  door  in 
much  the  same  way.  He  became  a  land¬ 
lord  himself,  and  it  changed  his  entire  at¬ 
titude  toward  life. 
Mr.  Farquhar  tells  a  story  of  President 
Grover  Cleveland  that  will  be  new  to 
many.  He  was  visiting  the  President  one 
Sunday  afternoon  when  some  members  of 
Congress  called.  They  told  him  Congress 
had  about  decided  to  declare  war  against 
-Spain  over  the  Cuban  question.  Cleve¬ 
land  answered : 
“There  will  be  no  war  with  Spain  over 
Cuba  while  I  am  President.” 
One  Congressman  told  the  President  that 
he  seemed  to  forget  that  the  constitution 
gave  Congress  the  right  to  declare  war. 
“Yes,  but  it  also  makes  me  commander- 
in-chief,”  said  Cleveland,  “and  I  will  not 
mobolize  the  army.  I  know  that  we  can 
buy  the  island  of  'Cuba  for  $150,000,000.” 
That  was  about  the  way  Cleveland 
acted.  None  seemed  to  bluff  him.  No 
wonder  he  once  said  that  he  “had  Con¬ 
gress  on  his  hands.” 
Be  Sure  of  Your  Facts 
People  sometimes  get  things  mixed  up 
in  their  observation  of  plants  or  animal 
life.  We  learn  of  a  case  out  West  where 
a  man  said  that  he  would  never  keep  his 
bees  in  the  cabbage  bed  any  more,  because 
he  knew  that  the  cabbage  worms  were 
eating  up  his  combs.  Of  course  that 
could  not  be  possible,  but  this  man  saw 
that  his  combs  were  being  destroyed  and 
his  eyes  fell  upon  cabbage  worms,  there¬ 
fore  he  put  two  and  two  together  and 
made  five.  We  have  told  before  now  of 
a  case  which  came  to  our  attention  a 
few  years  ago.  Some  reader  telegraphed 
us  that  he  was  sending  a  package  for  ex¬ 
amination  and  wanted  an  immediate  ans¬ 
wer.  The  package  promptly  came,  and 
on  opening  it  we  found  a  strawberry 
plant ;  the  roots  had  evidently  been  eaten 
off  by  the  common  white  grub,  and  the 
package  contained  two  specimens  of  the 
ordinary  croton  or  water  bug.  This  man 
had  noticed  the  dying  plant  and  had 
pulled  it  up  to  find  the  roots  gone.  He 
saw  those  two  bugs  running,  as  he 
thought,  away  from  the  plant,  and  imme¬ 
diately  assumed  that  they  were  respon¬ 
sible  for  the  trouble.  We  found  it  almost 
impossible  to  convince  him  that  he  had 
mixed  up  his  evidence.  It  will  be  impos¬ 
sible  for  a  water  bug  to  chew  off  the 
roots  of  strawberries  as  the  white  grub 
has  done.  This  man  refused  to  believe 
our  statements,  and  probably  felt  that  we 
were  trying  to  deceive  him.  In  years  past 
it  is  probable  that  men  have  been  bung 
on  just  about  the  same  kind  of  evidence. 
