The Huron Expositor, 1920-05-28, Page 1----MACTAVISH
The
Store
that
satisfies.
ummer
lath
ROM
•••••••••••••••••..,
MOST OF
THE HATS
you admire
on other
women came
from .the
MacTavish Store
;14
ts and Coats
them and hold your
ing,of how good they
how varied are the t-3
hey are priced—you
C12
Coats
up to
$58.00 ;14,
111
Coats
down
to
$1(100
111
price.
c)
1-3
0:1
40,
things in up-to-date n r
q,n. We will be glad
you want to buy, we ..71
R WAISTS MADE
[STINCTIVE AND
q0W.
i find just exactly the waists
here now. The styles are
g and distinctive and they
ay made and. perfect frtting.
and dozens of waists that
rent"—every one a model of
beauty and rare attractive -
why tell more? You must
to fully realize that here
ing more than an ordinary
fine waists.
tyles are Charmlng
Workmanship is
Excellent
Prices are 'Very
Moderatc,.
Oldifi to $11.50
-
*IND IT PSZA.L PLEAS-
--)01: 'FHM OVER --COME
El
•Ir
rfr2
CTAITISIL
•.
••„
FIFTY-FOURTH YEAR
WHOLE. NUMBER 2'737
SEAFORTH, FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1920.
{
McLean Dm., Publishers
$1.50 a Year In Advance
IMO
414
RT XRAFT is a
name that sym-
bolizes the -fine
art of imparting distinc-
tion 'to men's clothes.
represents the distinction
of correctness. The ART
KRAFT line 4chieved its
popularity not because it
is an oddity, but because
it bears the stamp of
good taste.
So long as it is the fashion
to be gentlemen, ART
KRAFT clothes will
never lose their
popularity.
Greig • Clothing-. Co'
SEAFORTH-
•
Seasonable
Specialties.
The Big Hardware.
Use Martin Senour
100 per cent.
Pure Paint
Covers more surface, lasts longer
and can be applied by anybody
Try Campbell's Varnish,Stains
and Neu -Tone flat finished paints
for interior decoration,
Poultry Netting, Etc.
We carry a full line of garden tools
Our Prices are right
H. EDGE -
TUE BIG HARDWARE, SRAFORTE
L
TO BE OR NOT TO BE
Paraphrasing Robert Louis Steven-
son just a little. Home is the sailor
—home from the sea. The golfer is
home from the links. In other words
Premier Borden is on the job again
and the surmises begin all over once
more.
Will the Premier stick to it. Will
the Government carry on? Will the
Cabinet be reorganized? Will the
I,Tnionist party be perpetuated, with
a policy to fit? And so forth and so
on.—the questions are thicker than
currants 'in a pound cake. Some of
the questions can be answered ort the
principle that one guess is as good
as another.
The chances are that the Premier
will stick to it as long as he is able.
How long he will be able is another
story. Spite of the mask of tan he
brings back,
the Premier is not in first
rate health, He has lost flesh and
his legs are shaky. Two months work
at top steed might put him back where
he was before he went away. Sir
Robert's war endeavors have seriously
dermined his constitution and, for
some time to come he will have to
nurse himself carefully.
Some good guessers are saying that
the session will last two months long-
er, in Which case Sir Robert will have
to conserve his resources. Others—
and their guess is the' more likely
—count on poroguing by July ist
which means six weeks hard labor
for Sir Robert. In any case the re-
cess will come as a welcome relief
to a greatly harassed and over -bur-
dened statesman.
Although the House has accomplish-
ed considerable work - in its slow
dandling way a great deal remains
to be done. The Franchise Act is al-
most out of the way, but the budget
is next up and the budget is good for
a month at least. Thus Sir Robert
finds himself in the thick of it. The
Qpposition which has not shown much
fight so far threatens the heavy
artillery now that the big man' is
back. They have been waiting for
a foreman. worthy of their steel and
if Sir Robert wants a fight, it is
willing to take him on almost any
day. In the Great War at Ottawa
it's always the last thirty days that
count.
Twenty years in the Press Gallery
have never yet shown me the reason-
ableness of crowding all the fighting
into the last month. It would interest
the public and please the newspapers
more if the battle were spread out
more evenly through the session. Par-
liament is capable of brisk movement
when it likes and brisk movements is
what the times demand, absentee
Premiers notwithstanding. Brisk
movement and courage—these are the
two great requitites.
The Wind and the Lather.
To get just that combination it
may be necessary to have a new breed
bf M. P. whom we shall pay more or
less as our judgment decides. If *e
pay him five thousand dollars a ses-
sion we may get the professional
politician in worse guise that we have
him now. If we pay him nothing
except his board, lodging and rail-
way fare—we might build a parlia-
mentary hostel for him—we may get
patriots or we may not. What we
want is a Member of Parliament who
will tell the truth and stand up for
the right let his head fall where it
may. We have too many members
of Parliament talking for the next
election instead of talking for the
good of Canada. Even when. he' is
talking for the. good of Canada he
should not be allowed to utter more
than fifteen hundred words of highly
condensed wisdom on any one subject
and to insure that these words shall
be as brave as they are true it should
be the law of the land that no Member
of. Parliament shall be elegible for
re-election. One term to do his best
or his worst in—only so shall we
secure the ideal Member of Parlia-
ment, also the ideal Parliament which
will do its work in two months and
go home.
Will the -Government carry on?
There can be little doubt that it will.
Whatever it unpopularity in. the
country there seems to be no one in
the House—with the possible excep-
tion of the Farmers' Party, which is
very much subdued since it reached
Ottawa—that -wants it to do other-
wise. It exists on tolerance, it is
true, but it exists and will probably
continue to exist until calmer days
are in sight.
It seems a great pity that the
Government does not take advantage
of this truce of opinion to do certain
things which their successors will
be so happy to find done that they
will never think of undoing them.
The three brave and necessary things
are: (1) To tax resolutely; (2) To
cut down ,expenses; (3) To deflate
the currency. Something has been
done along the line of taxation—we
have both kinds now, direct and in-
direct—it might be advisable to do
a little more in the way of direct
taxation as the fermers profess to
be very fond of this kind of medicine.
The Inside Civil Service clamors for
reform and retrenchment, but before
that is done it would be well to tackle
the war establishments which are
scandalously overstaffed at the present
time.
No compunction should be frit in
reducing these establishments at once
to a peace footing and relieving the
pay roll of a host of spongers, who
have no work to do, and who set the
treasury back millions of dollars
!every month. Deflating the currency
is another matter which demands im-
mediate attention. This paper money
jag of ours is a prime cause of high
prices and will remain so as lorig as
a paper dollar represents only about
twelve cents in gold.
The Moulting Season.
Win the Cabinet be reorganized?
It certainly win—time and circum-
stance will do the trick. The Cabinet
will reorganize itself by shedding
Cabinet Ministers, one at a time, until
there are not enough Cabinet Ministers
left to carry on. Suppose Sir Robert
drops out and the would -be -premiers
get a chance—Mr. Meighen or Sir
George Foster or ihlr. Ballanterne, or
the latest candidate, Mr. Guthrie, who
has won golden opinions by his digni-
fied conduct of the, Franchise Act.
That's one portfolio to fill, unless the
Premier doubles up or Sir Edward
Kemp does his duty 'as a spare part.
Cabinet Ministers, who don't need a
by-election are becoriiing fewer and
fewer—nearly all the shifts and
doublings have been- made. Then
there's Sir George Foeter, who would
like to go to. London is. High Com-
missioner and Mr. Rowell, who would
like to go to Washington as Minister
Plenipotentiary and Dr. Reed, who
would like to go to the Senate, and.
• Mr. Sifton, who _ wotild like to go
somewhere else, and Mr. Burrill, who
would like to go into the Parlia-
mentary library and—but why string
it out! There is hardly one Cabinet
Minister who isn't willing to do his
part toward reorganizing the Cabinet
by dropping out himself into a safer
job. It is worth noting that Mr.
Calder and Mr. Rowell are no longer
mentioned as - possible premiers.
They have suddenly remembered that
they are lawyers and, failing softer
spots, a place on the judge's bench,
would suit them, as it would Mr.
Meighen, very well indeed.
Will the Unionist party be perpet-
uated and what will be its policy?
The inquest has not been held yet.
That is to say the caucus which is
to decide whether the Unionist party
is to be or not to be has not had the
nerve to meet. It is doubtful whether
Sir Robert has either the strength or
the inclination to breathe the breath
of life into a newiparty 'weighed down
With old sins. Time was when he
could swing a party by the tail but
that time is past. To galvanize the
Unionist party into life is a harder
job than King Canute had waving
back the almighty ocean: Human
nature is much too strong even for
Sir Robert Borden. It looks as if
the Honorable Robert Rogers had the
right sow by the ear when he calls.
on the grand old. Liberal -Conservative
party to rise up on ite hind legs and
declare itself. The Honorable Robert's
Round •Table conference,. etih Toronto,
which brought Premier 'Ai eirden scur-
rying home, is a sign of the times, as
are also the Tory newspapers which
gave it a fidendly pat on the back and
the Members of ParliamenT, who gave
it God speed secretly, though not wish-
ing to expose their hands as yet. The
general opinion in and out 'of Parlia-
ment seems to be that the Liberal -
Conservative party may be a little
shiny at the elbows and baggy at the
knees but with a little cleaning and
pressing there is a lot of wear in the
old clothes yet. The last thing it
wants is a new Union suit.—H. F. G.
EDUCATING BOYS TO BE
FARMERS
Hon. Duncan Marshall, Minister of
Agriculture for Alberta, in Farm and
'Dairy, says:
I believe there is going to be a
greater demand for argricultural
education than ever. You know the
position that agricultural education
occupied only a few years ago. I am
not very old, and yet I have -a very, ambition a every man and woman
keen recollection of a discussion that
look place in the locality in which I
:lived as a boy when the firth lad from
our settlement decided to go to ahi
agricultural college. I remember how
the old men shook their heads and
said it was too bad. They said he
might have made a good farmer if
he had just stopped at home; that it
was a shame to spoil a boy that had
as many opportunities as he had, and
he was rather a smart fellow, but
for his people to send him to an
institution where he said he was going
to learn to farm out of a book, they
were certain he would come back home
ruined. They were certain before he
went at all, and that kind of pre-
pudice existed in the minds of hun-
dreds of thousands of farmers all
over this continent with respect to
agricultural education. They thought and girls who are going to engage
we have to revolutionize our methods
and systems of farming and give
these boys and girls a chance.
There is no business more manly
than the breeding of livestock by boys
that agricultural knowledge was some-
thing that you inherited; that farm-
ing was 'only done by guess and by -
gosh anyhow, and what you couldn't
learn by experience wasn't worth
learning at all.
In: this business, and we should make
it our business to see that they learn
and know it.
I took my boys a year ago down
to the International Show at Chicago.
They were busy at their lessons, one
Now, you can learn to farm well at the University and the other at
by experience. It takes sixty or , the public school this year, or I should
seventy years, and that is a good : have taken them again, but I am go -
while, but if you have decided that ing to take them to the next one
you are going to live long enough because they are going to breed
to spend that length of time in get- Shorthorn cattle -when they get
ting your education, why then it is through with their education. That
up to you. But I want to tell you is the business they are engaged in
that the next decade is going to now in the summer months and I
wake up the men and the women to want them to have a personal know -
the fact all over this country, that ledge of every Shorthorn. bull on the
if you have a boy and he is going continent of America so that when
to farm, that nothing short of the they pick up a pedigree every name
best possible education that you can will have their personal knowledge
give him will fit him for the business. and will bear direct relation to the
They are waking up to the fact that animal that they own in their own
it takes more brains and intelligence barn.
and more education to manage a I want them to learn the history
a good farm that it does to make a as only boys and girls can of great
man fitted for Any other IcInd of cattle breeding by seeing the animals
occupation there is. I can remember themselves. And we have got to
the time when if a boy was considered have our boys and girls- learn some -
kind of bright it was decided that thing of the breeding of livestock; to
they should make a doctor or a lawyer learn its history, and to get some -
or a preacher or a professional man thing of the inspiration and the spirit
of him, and if he was kind of dull that spurred the men on to lay the
and never got past the third book in foundations that have to -day made
his school he would have to stay livestock breeding what tit is in the
home and work. I know there are United States of America and in the
people to -day who don't believe that Dominion of Canada, and get these
any man ever chose farming for an boys and 'girls to have the ambition
occupation and deliberately decided he to do something worth while in build -
should farm. It was thought you ing up the livestock business of the
were condemned by accident or birth, future.
that you had the misfortune to have I have had a little experience in
had a father who was a farmer, and my Shorthorn business, I etartecl in
that you made a bad choice f a in a very modest way, largely front
father, and the result was you had lack of capital, in order to build up
to stay there because you never had a little Shorthorn- herd, and a few
a good opportunity to get away from years ago when bulls were bred cheap
it. in Canada went some 2,500 Miles
Now I want to tell you that - that from home. A man had a Shorthorn
story is being all exploded to -day. bull and aske hint if he would price
Men and women have awakened ta him. He said he might, but he would
the fact that if they happened to have want an awful lot` of money for him,
a dull boy they can get him through and it took me about half an hour
'college and he can get into one of to get him to say how much it was,
these professions, and he can learn and when he mentioned it he thought
and live there, and he will be good it would very likely drive me ,clean
enough for some kind_ of a job. But out of the barnyard. Filially he said
if you want somebody to be a better he wouldn't sell him unless be got
farmer than his father was and bring $1,000 for him. And it eounded like
honor and credit to his home, then a lot of money to me, but he didn't
he wants to select his brightest and have the thousand dollars out of his
best on the farm to live on the farm mouth until I said, "You have sold
and to till the soil, to breed good the bull," and I -shipped him home
livestock and to engage in the most to my farm, and he lived long enough.
intelligent business on the face of to sire twelve calvestand he iay down.
well. thing for a bull to do than that.
and I don't know a worse
the earth to -day, that of farming and diel,
You can go over the whole line of But the first calf he steed I took
men who made a success of livestock to the bull sale in Calgary when it
breeding and you will find that they was twelve months old and put it in
were men whose minds were tuned the auction sale and it brought $1,005,
to the highest intelligence; whose and it was the first bull calf that I
wits were sharpened to grasp every had ever sold for that much money.
opportunity for education they could I went down to the state of Iowa and
secure, and they went at their busi- screwed my courage up to the point
ness with the kind of intelligence of paying $1,800 for a bull calf five
and ability that made it a success, months old, and then my friends did
and I want to tell you that the men tell me I was crazy and wanted to
arid 'women who have boys and girls know what I could see in a little calf
that they want to • farm are going that small to put $1,800 into his hide.
to see to it in the next few years I brought him borne and he lived a
that these boys and girls start out geed deal longer, and the first calf
without any of the handicaps that he sired on my farm I sold in the
you and I had; without having to stable, without any auction sale, and
blaze their own trail; without having got a cheque for $5,000 for him when
to find their own information for he was nine and a half months- old.
themselves, and they are going to My bull was paid back and wouldn't
get the best training and the best have taken three times that money
scientific education along agricultural for the sire of my calf.
and livestock lines that it is possible And that is the simple history of
to give them, nearly every man who 'has bad the
That, I think, is the hope and
buy a bull and breed better cattle
courage to borrow a little money to
than he had been doing before in the
history of my country and your coun-
try in the last ten years, and it is
this kind of thing we want our girls
and boys to know and understand;
and it has been the raising of this
kind of calves on my farm that has
convinced my boys that there isn't
any other business in the world worth
talking about compared with living
on a farm and breeding good cattle.
That is the ambition they have, and
they. have the ambition to do this
thing a little better than their father
did, and I hope they will, and I want
to give them an opportunity to begin
where I left off, and I hope that the
in the land—that hope and. that ambi-
tion is going to make this continent
the 'greatest farming district in the
world, and nothing else will, and I
am glad to see every agricultural
college and every school of agriculture
crowded to the doors this year. I
doubt if there is one institution on
this continent that has not doubled its
attendance. The boys being home
from the war partially accounts for
it, but it is also accounted for by
the fact that men and women have
awakened and realize that if we want
the town men out on the land, and
if they are going to stay there, then
ambition that you have for your boys
and girls is that they shall get the
kind of training and education that
will enable them to begin where you
quit; to start where you had to lay
down the lines,
think that any man Who owns a
farm on this continent of America,
and who has got it fixed up to make
a good home on it—a decent home—
should have the ambition to keep that
home and that -farm in his family and
to always see that he raises a boy
that will stay there on that land and
that will make it- a better farm than
he made it; that will improve the
live stock conditions and make them
better than he had them, because I
know no greater satisfaction that a
man can have in his old days than
to see his home out in the country
handled by one of his lads and have
it done just a little better than he
did it.
—What might have been a more
serious accident occurred at Merkley's
garage in Wingham on Saturday night
when the owner of a car which had
been in for repairs, stopped outside
the door and lit a match to look in
the tank. In a moment the gas took
fire, flying over E. Merkley, who was
standing near,
ankl also setting the
1 car ablaze. Mr. Merldey quickly
stripped off his clothes, saving himself
! from serious burns, and men from
i nearby beat out the fire in the car,
which was not 'greatly damaged. The
firemen were called out, but fortun-
ately their services were not reuired.
1 —Another of the pioneer residents
of Wingham aection was called by
death on Sunday last in the person
of Mr. Simon VanNorinat, who pass-
ed away at the home of his &tighter,
Mrs. John Hopper, 3rd line of Morris,
aged 85 years. The deceased gentle.
man had for many years resided in.
Belgrave, and was well known. and
highly esteemed. His wife predeceas-
ed him a number of years -age.
THE FIRE MENACE OF GASOLINE
ENGINES IN BARNS
The "Public Service Bulletin," is-
sued by the Ontario Government, in:
the March number, contained an ar-
ticle dealing with fires caused by
gasoline engines. The writer says:
The remarkable increase in the
use' of gasoline for light and power
is presenting constant evidence of it
being a contributing cause to our fire
waste. It is not a new hazard, but
it is a rapid development of an old
hazard which is materially adding to
the number and extent of our fires.
The automobile and the garage are
not the only elements creating or add-
ing to this condition, and while the
garage hazard requires- drastic treat-
ment, we have particularly in mind
the menace of the gasoline engine on
the farm, and in rural localities. Gas
engines should be kept in isolated
buildings as far from the barn as
possible. The following ease aptly
illustrates and. enforces this conclus-
ion.
A fire occurred in Peel County
February 29th, 1920, whereby an ex--
ceptionally good barn and other out-
buildings were destroyed. The value
of buildings anti contents was in the
neighborhood of 418,000, the insurance
was $6,500, and the farmer's net less
over and above his insurance was
thus about $11,500.
Investigation of this fire was made.
by an officer of the -Fire Marshal's
department, who reported -as follows':
"The fire originated from a three
horse power portable gasoline engine,
It was set on blocks about fifteen or
eighteen inches high on the barn floor
ini a recess in the straw mow, just
off the threshing floor. This recess
was about 12 feet square and 8 feet
high, and was enclosed on three sides
with one inch lumber walls, and had
a lumber roof with the eracks be-
tween the boards covered to Prevent,
straw and chaff from falling through
to the floor surrounding the engine.
The recess was open on the side net
to the threshing floor. The floor of
this recess is said by several to have
been kept well swept and 'clear of
any untidiness.
'Mr. Me-- stated that he had al-
ways kept the engine well cleaned,.
and in good working order. He used
coal oil foe fuel and primed it with
gasoline. The exhaust pipe did not
extend outside the building. When
the engine was first installed the ex-
haust pipe had passed through a ffoor
underneath the engine about two. or
three feet into an open shed under-
neath. Mr, M— did not like hav-
ing the exhaust pipe going down into
this open shed, and had noticed some
sparks corning from it when it was so
located. He had the exhaust pipe
cut off so that it did not pass through
the floor but terminated, -within a few
inches of the floor, and he had a
rnuxer placed on it.
"He himself had started the engine
on the day of the fire, for the purpose
of pumping water, and stated that it
appeared to be running smoothly. He
had been working close to the engine
for about ten minutes after starting
it, and noticed that the oil was feed-
ing properly, and that the engine ap-
peared to be running smoothly. He
then went down to the stables, and
after a few minutes heard his Wed'
man call 'firel' The hired man was
working at the other end of the thresh-
ing floor, and when be first saw the
fire, it was immediately around the
the engine. Before they were able
extinguish it the blaze had caught on
the straw in the mow and was be-
yond their control. The buildings
were completely consumed by fire,
"There is no doubt that the fire
originated from the gasoline engine,
'and this is undeniable evidence of the
necessity of exercising the very great-
est precautions in the metalling and
use of these engines, and the neces-
sity of having the exhaust pipe ex-
tend outside of the buildings."
In the same county a similar oc-
currence took place on &minty al,
1920, on another farm and our in-
vestigator reported as follow=
"Mr. H— has a portable tine.
horse power gasoline engine. This
engine had been operated on the -
threshing floor of the barn, and also -
in other outbuildings, and had not
been cleaned with the exception that
the spark plugs had occasionally been
cleaned out. On some occasiontby
had had difficulty in starting the en-
gine, but had not had any previous
fires with it.
"About 10 a.m., on January alp
Mr. H— filled the two -gallon tank
of the engine with gasoline, and itt
doing so spilled some of the liquid
-
over the machine. He then atteMpt-
ed to start the machine but could riot
throw- the wheel over. The engine
back -fired, causing the gasoline to
ignite. The resulting fire lasted fpr
about:fifteen minutes, scorching Ue
walls and low ceiling of the small
frame outbuilding in which it was
located, Mr. H.—,
first attempted'
toextinguithnfin
e fire\pgd y that throwing
water on o
tbis
only helped the fire to spread, he
threw it, and
sucequantities extinof snowonsosucceeded
in
The moral of both these Instances
now recorded for the information of
those interested is so clear that Ite,
who runs, may read.
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ambition that you have for your boys
and girls is that they shall get the
kind of training and education that
will enable them to begin where you
quit; to start where you had to lay
down the lines,
think that any man Who owns a
farm on this continent of America,
and who has got it fixed up to make
a good home on it—a decent home—
should have the ambition to keep that
home and that -farm in his family and
to always see that he raises a boy
that will stay there on that land and
that will make it- a better farm than
he made it; that will improve the
live stock conditions and make them
better than he had them, because I
know no greater satisfaction that a
man can have in his old days than
to see his home out in the country
handled by one of his lads and have
it done just a little better than he
did it.
—What might have been a more
serious accident occurred at Merkley's
garage in Wingham on Saturday night
when the owner of a car which had
been in for repairs, stopped outside
the door and lit a match to look in
the tank. In a moment the gas took
fire, flying over E. Merkley, who was
standing near,
ankl also setting the
1 car ablaze. Mr. Merldey quickly
stripped off his clothes, saving himself
! from serious burns, and men from
i nearby beat out the fire in the car,
which was not 'greatly damaged. The
firemen were called out, but fortun-
ately their services were not reuired.
1 —Another of the pioneer residents
of Wingham aection was called by
death on Sunday last in the person
of Mr. Simon VanNorinat, who pass-
ed away at the home of his &tighter,
Mrs. John Hopper, 3rd line of Morris,
aged 85 years. The deceased gentle.
man had for many years resided in.
Belgrave, and was well known. and
highly esteemed. His wife predeceas-
ed him a number of years -age.
THE FIRE MENACE OF GASOLINE
ENGINES IN BARNS
The "Public Service Bulletin," is-
sued by the Ontario Government, in:
the March number, contained an ar-
ticle dealing with fires caused by
gasoline engines. The writer says:
The remarkable increase in the
use' of gasoline for light and power
is presenting constant evidence of it
being a contributing cause to our fire
waste. It is not a new hazard, but
it is a rapid development of an old
hazard which is materially adding to
the number and extent of our fires.
The automobile and the garage are
not the only elements creating or add-
ing to this condition, and while the
garage hazard requires- drastic treat-
ment, we have particularly in mind
the menace of the gasoline engine on
the farm, and in rural localities. Gas
engines should be kept in isolated
buildings as far from the barn as
possible. The following ease aptly
illustrates and. enforces this conclus-
ion.
A fire occurred in Peel County
February 29th, 1920, whereby an ex--
ceptionally good barn and other out-
buildings were destroyed. The value
of buildings anti contents was in the
neighborhood of 418,000, the insurance
was $6,500, and the farmer's net less
over and above his insurance was
thus about $11,500.
Investigation of this fire was made.
by an officer of the -Fire Marshal's
department, who reported -as follows':
"The fire originated from a three
horse power portable gasoline engine,
It was set on blocks about fifteen or
eighteen inches high on the barn floor
ini a recess in the straw mow, just
off the threshing floor. This recess
was about 12 feet square and 8 feet
high, and was enclosed on three sides
with one inch lumber walls, and had
a lumber roof with the eracks be-
tween the boards covered to Prevent,
straw and chaff from falling through
to the floor surrounding the engine.
The recess was open on the side net
to the threshing floor. The floor of
this recess is said by several to have
been kept well swept and 'clear of
any untidiness.
'Mr. Me-- stated that he had al-
ways kept the engine well cleaned,.
and in good working order. He used
coal oil foe fuel and primed it with
gasoline. The exhaust pipe did not
extend outside the building. When
the engine was first installed the ex-
haust pipe had passed through a ffoor
underneath the engine about two. or
three feet into an open shed under-
neath. Mr, M— did not like hav-
ing the exhaust pipe going down into
this open shed, and had noticed some
sparks corning from it when it was so
located. He had the exhaust pipe
cut off so that it did not pass through
the floor but terminated, -within a few
inches of the floor, and he had a
rnuxer placed on it.
"He himself had started the engine
on the day of the fire, for the purpose
of pumping water, and stated that it
appeared to be running smoothly. He
had been working close to the engine
for about ten minutes after starting
it, and noticed that the oil was feed-
ing properly, and that the engine ap-
peared to be running smoothly. He
then went down to the stables, and
after a few minutes heard his Wed'
man call 'firel' The hired man was
working at the other end of the thresh-
ing floor, and when be first saw the
fire, it was immediately around the
the engine. Before they were able
extinguish it the blaze had caught on
the straw in the mow and was be-
yond their control. The buildings
were completely consumed by fire,
"There is no doubt that the fire
originated from the gasoline engine,
'and this is undeniable evidence of the
necessity of exercising the very great-
est precautions in the metalling and
use of these engines, and the neces-
sity of having the exhaust pipe ex-
tend outside of the buildings."
In the same county a similar oc-
currence took place on &minty al,
1920, on another farm and our in-
vestigator reported as follow=
"Mr. H— has a portable tine.
horse power gasoline engine. This
engine had been operated on the -
threshing floor of the barn, and also -
in other outbuildings, and had not
been cleaned with the exception that
the spark plugs had occasionally been
cleaned out. On some occasiontby
had had difficulty in starting the en-
gine, but had not had any previous
fires with it.
"About 10 a.m., on January alp
Mr. H— filled the two -gallon tank
of the engine with gasoline, and itt
doing so spilled some of the liquid
-
over the machine. He then atteMpt-
ed to start the machine but could riot
throw- the wheel over. The engine
back -fired, causing the gasoline to
ignite. The resulting fire lasted fpr
about:fifteen minutes, scorching Ue
walls and low ceiling of the small
frame outbuilding in which it was
located, Mr. H.—,
first attempted'
toextinguithnfin
e fire\pgd y that throwing
water on o
tbis
only helped the fire to spread, he
threw it, and
sucequantities extinof snowonsosucceeded
in
The moral of both these Instances
now recorded for the information of
those interested is so clear that Ite,
who runs, may read.