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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1958-09-11, Page 3Ancient Art Of Grinding A,Scythe Comes now a letter from a fellow hack who asks what I know about a rifle stick, for sharpening scythes. 1 have re- plied, stating there are better ways, and if he has any hand - mowing to do it is well to hire a big brute of a man with a strong back. A rifle was, and is, an abrasive device made by coating a little paddlelike stick with sand or emery, and you are supposed to rub it around on the scythe to achieve sharpness. The hand that giveth can taketb away, however, and the rifle will but a scythe on the blink just as fast. As there are folks who like plain doughnuts . and ballroom dancing, there are those who think a rifle is a good thing, and there is no accounting for tastes. The rifle Would probably oe popular today if scything hadn't fallen off as an exercise. Putting an edge on a hand- scythe was never a simple mat- ter, and it called for patience and know-how, as well as a grindstone. True, there were in early days many scythes that were never ground. They were made of artfully tempered steel, softer than later scythes, and you sharpened them by gently pounding the edge on an anvil. You thus "drew" it to sharpness, and if you put a stone on them you'd spoil them, Such scythes are still used in Europe, and folks with old - .country backgrounds remember them fondly. Some of my Slovak neighbors have them, or wish they had. But the harder tem- pered Yankee scythe required grinding, and a peculiarity of our domestic manufacture was that no scythemaker ever found cut how to make a uniform temper. Scythes were as dif- ferent as could be. Some held an edge, some wouldn't even take an edge. The best abrasive was a big grindstone, fairly fine. The little boy to crank it was essential. (Although when my time came I rigged a treadle on my grind- stone and turned it myself. T 'wanted my son to have happier memories; I hope he appreciates this.) Since the blade is as long as a saber, but shaped inwardly, the grinder has to work evenly along the entire length, and he has to keep a certain bevel. You avoid a "shoulder". The thing Cannot be hurried, and plenty of water must be applied to the stone. An emery wheel should never be put to a scythe. What I'm leading up to is the little soft -pine stick that was essential to a true edge on a scythe. You try to tell anybody, today, that you sharpened a handscythe with a pine stick, FIRE FIGHT -Map shows border area where Indian and Pakis- 9ani troops have been firing on each other. The fighting violat- ed a cease-fire signed by both governments last May. and the thing is clearly ridicu- lous. But that's what all good scythemen used. The grindstone should be turn- ed away from the edge Some said no, that you had to turn into the edge - but they could never get a decent "wire edge" that way, so they were wrong. You must remember that a grindstone, big as it is, still is round and cuts in a concave manner. You don't get a V -edge, but a kind of a V that has been bellied in a little. If the little boy holds out, you can eventual- ly get this pinch -in V along the entire scythe, equal and un- varying. Then you run the stone gently along one whole side, from point to heel, and the thin -thin edge will naturally turn slightly away from this action until you get this "wire -edge", It is turned -up steel, less than tissue -thin, and le you scratch your thumbnail on it you can feel it, You can't see it. If you feel the edge with ;our thumb you find it just a shade less than sharp, because cf this wire idea. Don't feel too frisky, or you will havetwo thumbs where one bloomed be- fore. Now you "hang" the blade to the sneath, and this is as delicate an instrument as setting a turret lathe. The handles and harness on the sneath are adjustable, and you want to blade so your outstretch- ed right toe just touches the point when you hold the sneath against your belt. Very im- portant, for mowing is as balanc- ecl as judo. Now you stand the sneath on end, so the heel of the blade is by your left shoulder, the point away from you (always keep it away from you)! And then you take the little soft -pine stick, about ten inches long, and not much bigger than your thumb, and you "cuff off the wire edge." At this time, anything like an abrasive would ruin your edge. But the pine stick massages the wire edge to the ultimate desideratum, and you are ready to mow. Assuming you do not find a length of fence wire, or an old mustard jar -or some such sur- prise -you can mow all forenoon with relative ease. Perhaps this exegesis ought to be filed in folklore, for the art of grinding a ,scythe has almost passed. Too many jobs are done today in haste, and grinding a scythe was slow and patient. If you got a poor edge, you fretted all day. Much better to spend the time at the stone and cuff off the wire edge. Many a mower knew his failings, and admitted he couldn't grind a scythe. Every town had an expert, and blades would be fetched to him by the unskilled. There was one such 1 knew, and I used to turn the stone for him sometimes. Fie never spoke while grinding un- less it was to say, "More water," or, "Not so fahst!" Carefully, proudly, he would bring the blade to a wire edge, and scratch his thumbnail on it.. It would be done, and he would hand it to the owner with all the pomp of a mural unveiling, removing his pinch -nose spec- tacles and hanging them on a nail over his bench. The owner would thumb the blade, finding it perfect, and then the old man would say, "Now keep the rifle off'n it, or you'll spile it the first swipe!" -by John Gould in The Christian Science Montior. TEETH TOW TO SAFETY While paddling his boat on a near -by lake, Donald Shearman, of St. Louis, spotted two men clinging to an overturned motor boat. He rowed over to them, grabbed a rope trailing from the craft, gripped it firmly between his teeth, and slowly towed the boat to shore with the two meal clinging to the vessel. C R ' ' 'OR® Cditurs 30 Ins. Preis !zed manner PUZZLE 11, Adjusts the pitch 16, Seasons ACROSS • 19, Prevarteator 1. City to Florida 2. Honey 20. Witticism, 0 Jurisprudence in S for d 4. Heads 21. Keel -billed 9. cuckooRodent 5. Seed covering 111. Close (poet.) 6. Scotch ?2. LnwYore' tees 12. Drink comedian 14. r,arge bird 7. Tree lis. Areal number S. Small 17, Ask payment /R. Slur over 19. Interweave 20, Planet 2:1, hoisting machines 21 Identical 26 Of the woman 27. Cereal grass 28 Names 20. 1 r stir burlesque 81. Ventilate 44 1 aatener 21. Legret 26. Ancient 39, (7n the open water 90 String 9I. Colt clubs 43, Hall 44, Masked with the 1st Tette 40. Balloon basket 49, Legal matter S0. Anoint SI -English letters 52. Tree 52. Devil DOWN ]. Cap 1. Babylonian god z4. color 26. Present 20. l'rult 30. 'Helmsman 21 Owing 22. ATNrmat!Ve 34. ClergYnuul's 26. Pu charget 27.Irmulaie 33. Climbing plants 39, Philippine tree 2. Su martrnn language 4. Man's name 8. Permit 6. Bombast 7. Private room UMW BRAM ®■®®e®®MEW= HIM W= MMMUMMEMMUMMI MMEMEUMMIMMUI EMMEMMEMENIONM MOMMEMEMMINIMM MEMMENUMMOMME ®®®®®UM®'ii MEMO MEMBUMMUMMWM MEMO ®®M®IM®®® ®M®' ; ®®®,y,� �° ■ MW L°u••, M®®®®■Ii J® OMMI Answer 'elsewhere on this page. MUDDY GOING -That pet duck atop the steps of this combine ought to be a mudhen. Abnormal rains halted the wheat harvest in central Missouri early in July. The Boone County Missouri Farmers Association estimates that half of the wheat grown in the county is stili in the fields, LeRoy Kircher, seen on combine, and his brother Allen are getting out some wheat after equipping their self-propelled combine with half -(racks. These enable them to get through fields where ordinary com- bines and tractors would bury themselves inthe mud. ERM. FRONT I J06, More than ten per cent of Canada's 5,038,600 cows were bred artificially last year, This information was con- tained in a report compiled by the Livestock and Poultry Products Division, Canada De- partment of Agriculture, at the request of the National Com- mittee on Agricultural Services, * a * J. D, Baird, a Division spokesman, ticked off three main reasons for the increased use of artificial insemination: (1) Better quality bulls avail- able; (2) Lower costs; and (3) Possible danger in handling bulls eliminated, * * * Number of calves registered as a result 01 this method of breeding was 40,911, about the same as the previous year. Nine provinces reported or- ganized artificial insemination businesses, with Newfoundland the only exception. Bulls kept in six provinces supplied the semen for the other three. There were 17 semen producing and 131 semen purchasing or- ganizations operating. * •* * In service were 334 dairy, 24 dual-purpose and 105 beef bulls. Average number of services per bull was 1,160,540 and 1,165 respectively. A total of 524,129 first serv- ings were reported -an 11 per cent increase over 1956. The number of first servings performed with frozen semen was 129,270, a 69 per cent boost over the previous year's total of 76,562. * * A total of 65,425 herds was serviced, and about seven ;ler cent were tested on Record of Performance or Dairy Herd Improvement program. * * * Artificial insemination o f swine, expected to be on a com- mercial basis in 1957, did • not progress beyond the research stage. * A brucellosis control pro- gram, spreading gradually across Canada, has so far seen ten areas declared free of the disease. Testing is proceeding in 24 areas, where there are an esti- mated 430,500 head of cattle. * * •• * health of Animals Division, Canada Department of Agricul- ture, reports that 247 areas have bean accepted for testing, over and above the ten com- pleted. Cattle under supervi- sion total 2,878,551. * * * The national eradication pro- gram was started in April, 1957, Prince Edward Island was the first area to be certified. * * * Overall level of infection in the initial test is about one per cent. In some areas, however, as high as five per cent of the animals have been found to be infected On a herd basis, the rate is roughly 14 per cent, although in some areas this figure has been as high as 25 per cent. , * * Brucellosis costs the 11 'estock industry about $9,000,000 an- nually through decreased milk production, loss in calf crop and the subsequent replacement of breeding stock. * * * Canada's workhorse is regain- ing some of the prominence it lost during post-war years. At present there is a scarcity of this type of horse, according to Dr F. J. Leslie, Livestock and Poultry Production Divi- sion, Canada Department of Agriculture, and there has been a noticeable increased interest in breeding. ; * * * s., The price, he said, has nearly doubled in the past six or seven years. Dr. Leslie explained that a fair percentage of farms in Quebec and other parts of Canada will always require horses. * * * "Due to climatic and geo- graphic conditions, there will always be a considerable de- mand for draught -type horses," he asserted. The federal expert outlined three main reasons for the dras- tic decline in numbers: 1. Mechanization, 2. Sale of horses for slaughter purposes during and after World War II. 3. Farm labor shortage. Hired men preferred driving tractors to horses, a * * Now that a shortage does exist across the country, Dr. Leslie said, many farmers are again breeding their own work horses. Household Hints Here are a few tips on running households more smoothly: * * * Soak neglected paintbrushes in hot vinegar to clean and they can be made as pliable as new. * * e Stop leaks in vases or°brie-a- brae by pouring melted paraffin over the leaky spots and letting it harden. * * * If your fine curtains develop a hole, you can do a neat job of invisible mending.- by cover- ing the hole with a piece of white paper, then darning by running back and forth with thread under the sewing machine needle. After laundering the curtains the paper will have been soaked away and the darn- ing will be hard to detect. * * * If you have a tear in net cur- tains, apply a thin coat of color- less nail polish and press the frayed edges together with fin- gers until the polish dries. Cur- tains so mended should not, how- ever, be stretched after launder- ' ing. * * * To remove rust from the cor- ners of cake tins that have been in use for a long time, dip a raw potato in cleaning powder and scour. * * * Remove paint splashes from window and mirrors by washing with turpentine or ammonia or hot vinegar. Never use a razor blade as it may scratch the glass. * * * To clean and shine mirrors at the same time, add a. little borax it the water used for washing, P * To clean doorknobs without injuring the wood finish behind them, cut cardboard shields to fit around the doorknobs and key plates, then use elbow grease. IN LOW GEAR -Getting the pony was easy, but finding proper harness and cart was a horse of another color for Kathy White. Kathy finally came up with this hitch, which worked all right until the tub hit bumpy ground. dv 1INES11001 ISSON By Rev. ft, tiainlay Warren B.A-, B.1) Temperance and Social Justice (Temperance Lesson) Romans 13:11 to 14:4, 15-21 Memory Selection: So there every one of us shall give ac- count of himself to God, Let as not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall he his brother's way, Romans 14: 12-13. It is the atomic scientist, more than the theologian, who talks feverishly of the end of the age. Sir Winston Churchill at t h e baptism of a grandchild wept, saying, "What a world for the Child to enter!" Paul's view is more optimistic. He says, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us cast off the works of the darknes, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness -. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." But bow few are heeding Paul's ex- hortation. Three miles from out home three people were recent- ly struck and killed by a car. The driver was charged with drunkenness. But people are get- ting so accustomed to incidents like this that the shock doesn't have much permanent effect ex- cept on the families directly in- volved. The liquor industry will continue its momentous adver- tising program. In June 1957, Ciipsheet documented alcohol. advertising expenditures in USA in eight mediae at nearly $400,- 000,000 not including the cost of ad production. In Canada the coloured ads will continue in our streetcars and in magazines coming from USA and others published in Ontario but print- ed outside the province or print- ed in Ontario and published out- side the province. Liquor will be popularized at public func- tions. The number of alcoholics will increase, Divorces will in- crease, Lynwood W. Fix, a di- vorce proctor, said at Seattle, Wash., that the most frequent reason for divorce is "undoubt- edly drunkennness. They call it cruelty in court, but it's drunk- enness." Circuit Judge Robert L. Floyd of Miami said, "Many couples simply do not put enou,g'u effort into getting along, but tleohoi le a MOH factor, And I am not referring to peo- p)e who drink to excess or get drunk. There are many cases where people drink just enough to get irritable. This leads to arguments and finally to the di- vorce court" There is only one remedy for sin: "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ," In San Benedetto di Verona, Italy, a circus crowd watched Strongman Giuseppe Armandoia take on four members of the audience who came forth to challenge him, saw Giuseppe flatten two of them before the ethers overwhelmed him, soon learned that the winners vele cops and Giuseppe an escaped convict. Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking OMNI (131v01 »©Q%7®111 Etilf1PASIMMMIEEIEWYM J IJmaw i ©33 ©D H S S 3 H 3 W 3' S iJ I 1 3 =;:1 3011J.1.L11W 31'd 421': S,Nv M V � y d Wlbjl NEW UTAH -ARIZONA BRIDGE LINK -The nation's highest and second longest steel arch bridge nears completion, 700 feet above the Colorado River near the Glen Canyon Dam site. The bridge will provide a new link between Utah and Arizona cities by January, 1959.