A Monster Plow

1895

The Farmer Who Made It Overlooked Some Mechanical Principles.

Few people are aware of the fact that what is very likely the largest single share plow in the world was made in California and is at present on one of the ranches of the Kern County Land company, near Bakersfield. It is not in use, however, but is simply kept as a curiosity in a little yard all by itself.

It is over 15 years since the idea of the plow was conceived by J. Thompson, a ranch foreman. He was tired of preparing a 3,000 acre wheatfield for crops with the ordinary nine or twelve inch plows worked by two horses then in use. He made his calculations very carefully, but not being a mathematician made a great mistake.

He figured that if two horses could pull a 12 inch plow six horses could pull a 36 inch one, and that eight horses could pull a 48 inch one. It seemed natural enough to figure that way when in fact he should have "cubed" the capacity of his 12 inch plow every time he doubled the width of it. A 12 inch plow, when it is pulled the distance equal to its width, displaces one cubic foot of soil, and a 36 inch plow will displace 27 cubic feet instead of 3, as Mr. Thompson figured.

After all the calculations and drawings were made a blacksmith came out from Bakersfield, and in due time the monster plow was ready to go to work in the field. The share was made to cut a 50 inch furrow, and the top of it reached about five feet from the ground. The beam was over a foot thick, and the handles were 10 feet long, but of course did not slope at the same angle as in the ordinary plows. To enable the plow to be turned around easily it was suspended between two 8 foot wheels, on the axle of which was a seat for the driver. It made a huge, ugly contrivance that looked like a nightmare.

When the plow was taken to the field, ten horses were fastened to it. The handles were raised and the horses started, but as soon as the share was about half way into the ground they stopped. More horses were brought out and sunk it a little deeper, but not until 50 had been hitched to the plow did it move through the soil at any sort of speed. At best it moved slowly, and it took four men to hold the handles and make it stay in the furrow.

Horses were cheap in Kern county at that time, and feed cost nothing, so the plow was a little saving after the men had learned how to handle it so it did not cut more than 18 or 20 inches deep. The next season it was tried with oxen, and it took 75 of them to do the work. On the whole, the plow was not a success, and after being tinkered at for a few years was finally discarded and at last given a place in the stable yard, where it could be preserved as a curiosity. — San Francisco Call.

Crack of the Whip

1902

It is Rapidly Becoming a Sound of the Past

"That crabbed old German, Schopenhauer, who said the crack of the whip was like a drink from the bad place, would have found but little to complain of if he had postponed his passing for a while," said a thoughtful man, "for the whip is getting to be an awfully scarce article in this age. I suppose the whip will finally pass out of existence altogether unless it is put to a new use. Of course, the small riding whip, the kind which jockeys use in urging the horses they ride, will be used as long as horseflesh is used, either in the realm of sport or in the more serious affairs of life. But the kind of whip the old German had in mind was of a larger, longer and older type, the kind the ox-driver uses even now in some of the more remote sections of the world. Whips of this kind generally swing easily on the end of a long handle.

"Frequently the handle is eight or ten feet long and is made of hickory or some wood that is supple enough to bend in the green state. The whip itself, which is generally a four and six-plat rawhide, is from ten to fifteen feet in length, with a seagrass cracker on the end, tightly twisted and knotted at spaces an inch apart. It is this article that makes the noise of which the old German pessimist complained, and a whip of this kind in the hand of an expert can be popped until it sounds like the crack of doom. In a quiet forest where timbermen carry on their work this noise is even fiercer than it is in the cities. Teamsters in cities still use the old whip to some extent, but it is gradually going out, and the sharp crack of the seagrass is rarely heard. Speaking of whips, I am reminded of the marvelous accuracy some men acquire in the use of whips. I suppose the Esquimau has reached a higher standard of proficiency in this respect than any other class of men. I have seen boys of this race pop a silver half-dime at a distance of twenty feet every time they swung a whip. They can simply hit anything they want to hit as long as it is within the reach of the whip. But here in the South I have witnessed some rather notable performances in this respect. Up in Arkansas I have seen ox-cart drivers crack off a snake's head at a distance of twenty feet, and they could do it whenever it pleased them to do it. But these old whips are going out, and I suppose when electricity comes into more general use the crack of the whip will be an unknown sound." — New Orleans Times-Democrat.

Is There A Planet "Vulcan"?

1900

Among the special observations to be undertaken during the total eclipse of the sun visible in our southern states on May 28th, will be a systematic search, with the aid of photography, for the supposititious planet "Vulcan," revolving around the sun within the orbit of Mercury.

It was thought that this planet had been seen during the eclipse of 1878, but later observations failed to confirm the discovery. Under the direction of Professor Pickering of Harvard, and of Professor Langley, independent efforts will be made to catch "Vulcan," if it exists, on photographic plates.


Musk-Oxen In Europe

Last summer a Norwegian mariner, Captain Gröndahl, succeeded in transporting two young musk-oxen alive from northeastern Greenland to Tromsö. These are said to be the first living specimens of their species ever brought to Europe. It is reported that they are doing well amid their new surroundings.

The musk-ox, next to the white bear, is the largest land mammal inhabiting the Arctic regions. It attains a height of nearly, or quite, four feet, and is clothed by nature to endure extreme cold. During the Arctic summer musk-oxen become very fat from feeding upon the pasturage which grows in every sheltered spot, but in winter their long fasts make them gaunt and thin. — Youth's Companion.

A Glimpse of Caracas

1896

What Correspondent Saw in Venezuela's Capital

Comparatively few of the men here ever venture into the street unarmed, writes a Caracas correspondent of the New York Herald. There are laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons, but they are never observed. One of the professors in the university here assures me that he is convinced that every one of the students who attends his lectures has a revolver in his hip pocket. Weapons are often worn as much for ornaments as for protection or aggression. The caballero with silver spurs and gay trappings who prances about on a frisky mule or Peruvian horse is not fully equipped without a brace of revolvers. The humbler fellows who trudge the country lanes afoot or on burros' backs take special pride in the knives they carry in fancy sheaths at their waists, and which are equally available for cutting food or enemies. The far-famed machete is so long that the most convenient way to carry it is in the hand. It is the most terrible weapon in war and is used for every possible purpose in times of peace, opening virgin forests, cutting down trees, digging and building.

Human life is held very cheap in Venezuela, except by the law of the land in dealing with murderers. There is no capital punishment here, and a man who is caught red-handed in crime knows that the heaviest sentence that could be imposed on him is ten years' imprisonment. The worst cases, I am told, are sent to a prison in the marshy districts near the western frontier, where the man who survives his term is a phenomenon, and where two years is as much as most men can endure. Stabbing and shooting affrays are very common and rarely receive more attention than half a dozen lines in the local papers, in which sympathy is expressed for the relatives of the deceased.

The proportion of men that one sees in the streets of Caracas who are minus an arm or a leg is greater by far than it was in the United States at the close of the Civil War. Comparatively few of the cripples here were maimed in battle during the revolutions, most of them having been hurt in private brawls.

The Vargas Hospital, in Caracas, is a large institution, admirably located on a hillside and excellently managed. No public building in Venezuela is complete without a statue, and as one enters the main door of the hospital one sees in the central patio a statue of Vargas, who was, I believe, President of the Republic at the time the hospital was founded. There are ten wards for women, all opening on a long courtyard to the left of the entrance, and as many for men on the other side.

The tiny hack horses of Caracas are mainly skin and bones, and the drivers, like their prototypes all over the world, show them very little consideration. Besides the little native horses one sees in the streets many Peruvian horses, which are one size larger and are excellent for riding, and big American horses in swell carriages. Burros far outnumber the horses, and mules are very common.

Teams of oxen are used to haul the heavy wagons, and cows are driven by milkmen from door to door with their calves by their sides. Most of the calves have their muzzles tied in rags to prevent them from getting any milk before all the customers have been supplied. It is also a common thing to see a boy driving a flock of turkeys through the main streets, usually in the direction of the markets. In the corrals are usually many live animals that have been brought in from the country and left for sale — deer and wild pigs, with bristles like porcupines, predominating.

About the market place are kept the skins of huge snakes and wild animals, for which fancy prices are asked if they are in reasonably good condition. The prettiest fur is that of the leopard-tigre they call it here. The tigre is very ferocious and is dreaded by all who have occasion to travel. The puma, which is dignified by the name of lion, is far less common, and about equally dangerous to meet.

I fancy that the supply of dogs has always been large in Caracas, as the Cathedral here has an odd functionary called a perero, or dog boy. The office dogs bark to the colonial dogs, and the present occupant is an urchin with a black face, very bright eyes and a beautiful set of teeth. In the street he looks like any other little fellow who does not keep his face particularly clean, but in the Cathedral he is quite imposing in his long gown of dark purplish blue and his big white collar. He carries in his hand a stout whip, with a long, knotted lash, and he walks about with all the pride of a recruit in the army carrying a gun for the first time. He is quite expert, and loud yelps occasionally prove that his whip hurts.

Lumbermen May Return To Use of Oxen

1908

Workers in Northern Wisconsin Believe Them More Serviceable

Milwaukee. — The determination of the lumbermen to return to the employment of oxen in the woods of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota will recall the days of the pioneer of 40 and 50 years ago, when horses in the woods were a curiosity or luxury.

Horses succeeded oxen for the reason that they make quicker time in hauling over long roads, and for the reason that feed became more plentiful as the country became settled by homesteaders. It was when feed was impossible to obtain that cattle were employed, for they were generally able to forage with the deer through summer and winter months. Those were the days of the dense pine forests when feed was plentiful and the climatic changes were not so sudden as a present, but the present day has its advantages, though the winters are more severe.

Feed for the oxen may be had at any railroad station or of almost any farmer or homesteader. Oxen require less feed than horses, and here is the first stroke of economy, though not a large one. They are sure of foot and will haul as large a load as horses. In skidding logs they are said to be much preferable to horses, and, unlike horses, they may be slaughtered and served to the lumberjacks when they have served their purpose.

In some of the northern counties oxen are being employed by the new settlers for the cultivation of the farm. They move along slowly it is true, but they accomplish the work of clearing the land and bringing it to a state of cultivation. The only drawback to this new movement is the lack of trainers and drivers. The oxen men of the last generation have or are passing away, and it will be difficult to get men who will condescend to desert the horse for the ox.