Month: January 2023

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EPISODE 727 HORSE DRAWN GRAIN BINDER AND CORN BINDER…CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE? (OHIO AMISH FARMS)

EPISODE 727     HORSE DRAWN GRAIN BINDER AND CORN BINDER…CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE? (OHIO AMISH FARMS)


alan skeoch
Jan. 31, 2023

A motorized combine harvester does the work of harvesting now.  One man and another couple of drivers
with triple axle trucks and attached trailers do all th harbrding o drbrtsl 100 acre farms in one day.

Harvesting has not always been that easy.

In the early 1990’s we were able to find older machines and horses at work in Central Ohio on Amish farms.
Today, in 2023 the same early machines will be harvesting much as it was done between 1880 and 1950.

Two binding machines ..  A grain binder nd s corn binder.   Binder?   Both machines did the same
thing.  They cut grain and corn into bundles that were then tied by a length of binder twine although the first 
binders used wire which was not nearly as edible as twine.  Once bound into sheaves there were other
labour intensive steps…stooking to assure the tassels were dried in the sun and then the sheave ere loaded and 
hauled to that dinosaur of the harvest…the threshing mach ior the less well known corn shelling machine.

who said farming was easy?

EPISODE 727     HORSE DRAWN GRAIN BINDER AND CORN BINDER…CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE? (OHIO AMISH FARMS)

Do you remember that line from Oklahoma …”The corn is as high as giraffe’s eye”…or was it an elephant’s eye?




This power driven corn sheller is rare….maybe none left other than this painting

Horses were one ugly clued.  Now there is no place for them in farm labour.  Bath anyone?

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episode 727 MY DREAM

Note:  I asked Marjorie if she wanted to proof read this story.  She refused,
“If it is about a dream I do not want to read it.”  Maybe readers might feel
the same way.  Especially Bill Proc.


EPISODE 727   MY DREAM


alan skeoch
Jan. 29, 



I often dream…detailed dreams that are sometimes amusing and often include people i know well.
Last night for instance Bill Proc was the main man.  (I shortened his name to four letters in case someone knows him.)

THE DREAM

Sam and I were jabbering to each other over in the vast Dixie Plaza parking lot when a half ron
truck pulled up beside the garbage container.   Surprised to see Bill Proc getting out of the truck.
He looked a little harassed like he wanted to get back in the truck as fast as possible.  He even
left the drivers’ side door open.  And he had a friend with him.

On the back of the truck was a huge monster steel container.  Really big.  About 8’ x 3’ x 6’.  
Heavy rusted steel plate.  Bigger than a breadbasket.   Way bigger.

“Hi Bill!”
“Jesus!  What the hell are you doing here?”
“What’s up?”
“No time to talk, Al…got to unload this bastard”

And the two of them tipped the monster out of the back of the truck.  It hit with a clatter
as in ‘awoke with a clatter to see what was the matter’;  Then Bill Proc and friend hopped
in the ruck and buggered off.

I guess they did not see the ‘No Dumping’ sign.    

“What in hell’s half acre is Proc doing?”
“I don’t know what he was doing but I do know we should get the hell out of here, Sam.”

So we each drove our separate ways.  All that was left in the parking lot was the behemoth put there
by Bill Proc.    It towered over the parking lot like a dirty iceberg.   Huge.  Open at one end.  Empty.

The phone was ringing when I got home.

“Is Alan Skeoch living at this number?”
“Yes.”
“You get the hell over here then before I call the police.”
“Who is this?”
“Manager of Dixie Plaza.  You were spotted by our security people”
“So what?”
“Smart ass.  You dumped a large steel container beside our garbage drums.  Can’t you read?”
“I did not do it .”
“Lie! Get over here and get the damn thing….now.  No more talk.”

What should I do?  Give Bill Proc a call.  Give Bill Proc’s name to the Plaza manager.   Rat on a
friend?   

Best to call our son Andrew.  He has a couple of big trucks.

“Andy can you help.  I am being charged with illegal dumping over at the Plaza.”’’
“Did you do it?’ 
(Imagine my own son thinking I could be guilty.)
“No.   But I know the guy who did. It was Bill Proc.”
“Get him “
“Can’t.   Not sure where he lives and doubt he could tip the rhino back into his
truck.  He had a hell of a time dumping it out.  You could get help tipping it into
your cube van….electric gate on back.”
“Dad, this sounds stupid.”
“I could get charged…maybe arrested. “
“How big is the thing?”
“Andy,  I think about 8 x 6 x3….all steel, open at one end.  Seemed empty.  You and
Nick could get it loaded.”
“Then what?”
“Then take it to the farm where I keep all those rusted shapes for movie rentals.”
“Dad, you do not need any more of that stuff.”
“Enough lectures…I am in trouble.”

So I Drove over to Dixie

Met Andy and Nick and we loaded the bastard into the cube van.
The manager must have been watching from some peep hole.  Then Andy took it
to the farm.

End of story…end of dream?”

No. Believe it or not a movie company phoned. 

 “Al,  we need a big piece of
rusty crap to cover up a computer station in an old factory.  Really big and rusty
kind of thing.  Got to make the place look like 1945 rather than 2023… Can you help?”

Wonder of wonders.   I rented the bastardly behemoth for $200 same day.
Only one question in my mind now.

“Should I tell Bill Proc?”

THEN I WOKE UP.  LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW IN CASE IT WAS
NOT A DREAM.

alan skeoch
January 2023


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EPISODE 725 GEORGE AND HELLEN RITCHIE FARM THRESHING BEE, NORWICH, OHIO `1990’S

EPISODE 725    OHIO THRESHING BEE AT RITCHIE FARM NEAR NORWICH,,,STARVED ROOSTER FARM


alan skeoch
jan. 28,  2023

IN the 1990’s our family was invited to a threshing and straw bailing ‘bee’ at the Stared Rooster Farm near Norwich, Ohio.
No horses but lots of old time tractors and assorted other early 20th century farm machines.

Getting to Central Ohio from Toronto on a Friday evening was a challenge.   

NO need to say more.  You can figure out what’s happening.   TEST: Find the man stooking sheaves of wheat.   Why bother stooking sheaves? Is that the
correct spelling of stooking?

Showing results for stooking sheaves of grain
Search instead for stuking sheaves of grain

A stook /stʊk/, also referred to as a shock or stack, is an arrangement of sheaves of cut grain-stalks placed so as to keep the grain-heads off the ground while still in the field and before collection for threshing. Stooked grain sheaves are typically wheat, barley and oats.
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Fwd: EPISODE 720 — WHAT THE AMISH BELIEVE ..based upon Skeoch family visits to central Ohio in 1990s NON CONFORMITY



Begin forwarded message:


From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
Subject: Fwd: EPISODE 720 — WHAT THE AMISH BELIEVE ..based upon Skeoch family visits to central Ohio in 1990s NON CONFORMITY
Date: January 27, 2023 at 7:37:33 PM EST
To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch1@gmail.com>, Patricia Fry <patricia.fry@gmail.com>


Patricia….did pics come through this time.  We spent 6 hours non stop with Rogers today….massive

problems…exhausted

alan


Begin forwarded message:


From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
Subject: EPISODE 720 — WHAT THE AMISH BELIEVE ..based upon Skeoch family visits to central Ohio in 1990s NON CONFORMITY
Date: January 27, 2023 at 2:36:05 PM EST
To: john Wardle <jwardle@rogers.com>, Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>, Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>



EPISODE 720    — WHAT THE AMISH BELIEVE ..based upon Skeoch family visits to central Ohio in 1990s,,, NON CONFORMITY


alan skeoch
January 2023



What do these Amish people believe?  Are horses part of their beliefs?  NOT IN THE LEAST.  Horses help keep them away from us…you and me
are the problem,   We are dangerous/  As the loom of history proves.  We did terrible things to them back in the 16th century.  They have not forgotten.
We may have been forgiven.  These Amish people just want to live their lives SEPARATE from us.






Back in the 1990’s we spent several week ends in central Ohio near Zanesville and Norwich.
Helen and George Richie invited us to their annual Farm Show which featured ancient machines
and long forgotten rural skills.

Just to get there we passed through countryside dominated by Amish people, (an Anabaptist sect.)
Their farms were magnificent.  Each blade of grass in place.  Each animal healthy. Each Amish 
simply dressed in dark clothing with broad straw hats.   Women in long cotton print dresses and black
bonnets.   The Amish were friendly but at the same time distant. Mysterious to us because we did
not know much about them…except that they seemed to want to avoid the trappings of modern society.
They preferred to use horse rather than tractor.  





On one farm I noticed a fairly modern hay bailing machine being pulledby horses…maybe a three 
horse hitch of lake Clydesdles.   This machine was made to be pulled by a tractor not by horses.
Then we began to see more and more horse drawn machines.  

Was the horse part of Amish religion?   What was the Amish reiigion ? What did these people believe?
Why were they so ’stand offish’?   Friendly to a point.  

The Amish cannot be easily understood.   Their history began deep in the 16th century when Europe was
undergoing religious reassessments triggered by Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli.    

Infant baptism was one of the central issues.  Europeans , most of them, believed in infant baptism.

What is baptism?

‘A public declaration: Baptism declares that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. It is a public confession of your faith in, and commitment to, Jesus Christ.’

So most Christians get their children baptised as soon as possible.   But not all do this infant baptizing.  In the 1520’s,, a long long time
ago, an offshoot of the Protestant Reformation was adult baptism.  Infant baptism was questioned.  
  the issue of baptism a threat to most Europeans whether Protestant or Catholic.  

Best to stamp out the new religious concept of adult baptism.  Right?   How could Anabatism be stopped?  By removing the Anabaptists
seemed the right answer.   So Anabaptists were driven underground.  Secret meetings in private homes rather than big curch
buildings.  If caught the treatment was ruthless.  More than 1500 were killed. Anabaptist males wee burned to death .  Women were drowned.

Adult baptism seemed sensible to me.  Maybe because I was not baptised as an infant.   My brother was baptised as an infant.
Why not me?  Why Eric and not Alan?  Simple explanation was that dad did not have time for baptism.   He had horse races to attend.
Bets to place Wiin,Place or Show.  No time for baptism or church for that matter.  He just did not think baptism was important even if
I should be daned to a place like Purgatory for my eternal life.

So I eventually got baptised as an 18 year od adult.   Thought about it,  Thought about a lot of religious beliefs that did not make
much sense.  I think the minister that baptised me would have preferred that I was an infant.

PACIFISM


An etching of a man leaning down to reach another man who has fallen through broken ice. Several bystanders are in the background, as well as a church.
This engraving appears often in Amish history…same engraving done many times.  Some deep meaning is here. What?   (Your turn to answer)
Have you ever heard of Dirk Willem?  You will shortly.


The Amish take their religion seriously.  They take Jesus seriously,.  They take the Bible seriously.  They believe we should
“Love thy neighbour as thyself”  They believe the Golden Rule makes more sense. “Do unto others as thy would do nuto you.”
They reject violence.  In a violent situation the Anabaptist “turns the other cheek”.   They practice brotherhood…..sisterhood.  They are
Pacifists.   Love thine enemies .  Their pacifism was a threat!  Why?  (you answer that)

If you want to understand the Amish there is one print that appears constantly.   It is the case of
Dirk Willem who was burned to death early in the years of Anabapttist persecution.


THE PRINCIPLE OF NONCONFORMITY

Dirk Willem Burned after Rescuing Pursuer



DIRK WILLEM SAVES HIS ENEMY….WHAT IS HIS REWARD?

“How many Anabaptists died during the sixteenth century persecution in Europe? No one knows for sure. What is certain is that at least 1,500 were cruelly tortured and killed. For the most part these were peaceful citizens who did not believe in war and who became the forerunners of today’s Mennonitesand Amish. The main complaint of the authorities against them was that they did not believe infant baptism had any value. They chose to be re-baptized as willing adults.

Although no other charges were proven against them, they were sentenced to death. For the men death was usually by fire; for women it was by drowning. Many Anabaptists proved to be so bold in their final testimony for Christ that authorities began to clamp their tongues before leading them out to their execution so that they could not speak up and win more converts.

One of the Anabaptists who died in flames was Dirk Willem. His story is particularly touching, because he forfeited a real chance to escape when he turned back to help one of his pursuers.

Dirk was captured and imprisoned in his home town of Asperen in the Netherlands. Knowing that his fate would be death if he remained in prison, Dirk made a rope of strips of cloth and slid down it over the prison wall. A guard chased him.

Frost had covered a nearby pond with a thin layer of ice. Dirk risked a dash across it. He made it to safety, but the ice broke under his pursuer who cried for help. Dirk believed the Scripture that a man should help his enemies. He immediately turned back and pulled the floundering man from the frigid water.

Back to prison went Dirk. He was condemned to death for being re-baptized, allowing secret church services in his home and letting others be baptized there. The record of his sentencing concludes: “all of which is contrary to our holy Christian faith, and to the decrees of his royal majesty, and ought not to be tolerated, but severely punished, for an example to others; therefore, we the aforesaid judges, having, with mature deliberation of council, examined and considered all that was to be considered in this matter, have condemned and do condemn by these presents in the name; and in the behalf, of his royal majesty, as Count of Holland, the aforesaid Dirk Willems, prisoner, persisting obstinately in his opinion, that he shall be executed with fire, until death ensues; and declare all his property confiscated, for the benefit of his royal majesty.”


The cost of being different

Although martyrdom had largely ceased by the end of the 16th century, descendants of the Anabaptists continued to experience other forms of persecution. Mennonites in the Netherlands, for example, could not proselytize and were forced to meet in “hidden” churches. In the territories of southwest Germany, Mennonites had to pay a special “recognition tax,” they could not enter the professions, and they generally could not own property. And the Brethren met with hostility from state church authorities from their beginnings in 1708. 

This situation changed dramatically in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries as waves of Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren began to migrate to the United States and Canada. Lured by the promise of cheap land, economic opportunities, and religious freedoms, descendants of the Anabaptists gradually established flourishing communities. Here they were free to build their own meetinghouses and to practice their faith on the same footing as their Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed neighbors. 

No longer persecuted by a hostile world, Anabaptist groups in America were now challenged to define the boundaries between the church and world in a more self-conscious way. Although not all groups agreed on precisely where those boundaries should be drawn, several themes emerged. Most Mennonite, Amish, and Brethren groups, for example, emphasized the virtue of Christian humility—expressed in simple speech, reticence to self-promote, and reluctance to define Christian faith in the sharp-edged language of doctrinal orthodoxy. 

Most groups also developed standards of dress—emphasizing simplicity, modesty, and uniformity—as a way of reinforcing the boundaries of group identity. Over time, the Amish maintained these visible markers of nonconformity more rigorously than did the Mennonites and Brethren. But all three groups struggled throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to retain a clear sense of separation from the world. 

The principle of nonconformity has been tested most sharply during times of war. Mennonites and Amish have been especially hesitant to serve in the armed forces or to support the war effort, in the conviction that Christians are to demonstrate God’s gracious and generous love to all people.

CONCLUSION

NOW I can send some delightful pictures taken in central Ohio.  Now you have some understanding of the Amish.
What did the Amish think of my camera?
alan skeoch
Jan. 27, 2023



Posted on

EPISODE 720 — WHAT THE AMISH BELIEVE ..based upon Skeoch family visits to central Ohio in 1990s NON CONFORMITY


EPISODE 720    — WHAT THE AMISH BELIEVE ..based upon Skeoch family visits to central Ohio in 1990s,,, NON CONFORMITY


alan skeoch
January 2023



What do these Amish people believe?  Are horses part of their beliefs?  NOT IN THE LEAST.  Horses help keep them away from us…you and me
are the problem,   We are dangerous/  As the loom of history proves.  We did terrible things to them back in the 16th century.  They have not forgotten.
We may have been forgiven.  These Amish people just want to live their lives SEPARATE from us.






Back in the 1990’s we spent several week ends in central Ohio near Zanesville and Norwich.
Helen and George Richie invited us to their annual Farm Show which featured ancient machines
and long forgotten rural skills.

Just to get there we passed through countryside dominated by Amish people, (an Anabaptist sect.)
Their farms were magnificent.  Each blade of grass in place.  Each animal healthy. Each Amish 
simply dressed in dark clothing with broad straw hats.   Women in long cotton print dresses and black
bonnets.   The Amish were friendly but at the same time distant. Mysterious to us because we did
not know much about them…except that they seemed to want to avoid the trappings of modern society.
They preferred to use horse rather than tractor.  





On one farm I noticed a fairly modern hay bailing machine being pulledby horses…maybe a three 
horse hitch of lake Clydesdles.   This machine was made to be pulled by a tractor not by horses.
Then we began to see more and more horse drawn machines.  

Was the horse part of Amish religion?   What was the Amish reiigion ? What did these people believe?
Why were they so ’stand offish’?   Friendly to a point.  

The Amish cannot be easily understood.   Their history began deep in the 16th century when Europe was
undergoing religious reassessments triggered by Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli.    

Infant baptism was one of the central issues.  Europeans , most of them, believed in infant baptism.

What is baptism?

‘A public declaration: Baptism declares that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. It is a public confession of your faith in, and commitment to, Jesus Christ.’

So most Christians get their children baptised as soon as possible.   But not all do this infant baptizing.  In the 1520’s,, a long long time
ago, an offshoot of the Protestant Reformation was adult baptism.  Infant baptism was questioned.  
  the issue of baptism a threat to most Europeans whether Protestant or Catholic.  

Best to stamp out the new religious concept of adult baptism.  Right?   How could Anabatism be stopped?  By removing the Anabaptists
seemed the right answer.   So Anabaptists were driven underground.  Secret meetings in private homes rather than big curch
buildings.  If caught the treatment was ruthless.  More than 1500 were killed. Anabaptist males wee burned to death .  Women were drowned.

Adult baptism seemed sensible to me.  Maybe because I was not baptised as an infant.   My brother was baptised as an infant.
Why not me?  Why Eric and not Alan?  Simple explanation was that dad did not have time for baptism.   He had horse races to attend.
Bets to place Wiin,Place or Show.  No time for baptism or church for that matter.  He just did not think baptism was important even if
I should be daned to a place like Purgatory for my eternal life.

So I eventually got baptised as an 18 year od adult.   Thought about it,  Thought about a lot of religious beliefs that did not make
much sense.  I think the minister that baptised me would have preferred that I was an infant.

PACIFISM


This engraving appears often in Amish history…same engraving done many times.  Some deep meaning is here. What?   (Your turn to answer)
Have you ever heard of Dirk Willem?  You will shortly.


The Amish take their religion seriously.  They take Jesus seriously,.  They take the Bible seriously.  They believe we should
“Love thy neighbour as thyself”  They believe the Golden Rule makes more sense. “Do unto others as thy would do nuto you.”
They reject violence.  In a violent situation the Anabaptist “turns the other cheek”.   They practice brotherhood…..sisterhood.  They are
Pacifists.   Love thine enemies .  Their pacifism was a threat!  Why?  (you answer that)

If you want to understand the Amish there is one print that appears constantly.   It is the case of
Dirk Willem who was burned to death early in the years of Anabapttist persecution.


THE PRINCIPLE OF NONCONFORMITY

Dirk Willem Burned after Rescuing Pursuer



DIRK WILLEM SAVES HIS ENEMY….WHAT IS HIS REWARD?

“How many Anabaptists died during the sixteenth century persecution in Europe? No one knows for sure. What is certain is that at least 1,500 were cruelly tortured and killed. For the most part these were peaceful citizens who did not believe in war and who became the forerunners of today’s Mennonitesand Amish. The main complaint of the authorities against them was that they did not believe infant baptism had any value. They chose to be re-baptized as willing adults.

Although no other charges were proven against them, they were sentenced to death. For the men death was usually by fire; for women it was by drowning. Many Anabaptists proved to be so bold in their final testimony for Christ that authorities began to clamp their tongues before leading them out to their execution so that they could not speak up and win more converts.

One of the Anabaptists who died in flames was Dirk Willem. His story is particularly touching, because he forfeited a real chance to escape when he turned back to help one of his pursuers.

Dirk was captured and imprisoned in his home town of Asperen in the Netherlands. Knowing that his fate would be death if he remained in prison, Dirk made a rope of strips of cloth and slid down it over the prison wall. A guard chased him.

Frost had covered a nearby pond with a thin layer of ice. Dirk risked a dash across it. He made it to safety, but the ice broke under his pursuer who cried for help. Dirk believed the Scripture that a man should help his enemies. He immediately turned back and pulled the floundering man from the frigid water.

Back to prison went Dirk. He was condemned to death for being re-baptized, allowing secret church services in his home and letting others be baptized there. The record of his sentencing concludes: “all of which is contrary to our holy Christian faith, and to the decrees of his royal majesty, and ought not to be tolerated, but severely punished, for an example to others; therefore, we the aforesaid judges, having, with mature deliberation of council, examined and considered all that was to be considered in this matter, have condemned and do condemn by these presents in the name; and in the behalf, of his royal majesty, as Count of Holland, the aforesaid Dirk Willems, prisoner, persisting obstinately in his opinion, that he shall be executed with fire, until death ensues; and declare all his property confiscated, for the benefit of his royal majesty.”


The cost of being different

Although martyrdom had largely ceased by the end of the 16th century, descendants of the Anabaptists continued to experience other forms of persecution. Mennonites in the Netherlands, for example, could not proselytize and were forced to meet in “hidden” churches. In the territories of southwest Germany, Mennonites had to pay a special “recognition tax,” they could not enter the professions, and they generally could not own property. And the Brethren met with hostility from state church authorities from their beginnings in 1708. 

This situation changed dramatically in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries as waves of Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren began to migrate to the United States and Canada. Lured by the promise of cheap land, economic opportunities, and religious freedoms, descendants of the Anabaptists gradually established flourishing communities. Here they were free to build their own meetinghouses and to practice their faith on the same footing as their Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed neighbors. 

No longer persecuted by a hostile world, Anabaptist groups in America were now challenged to define the boundaries between the church and world in a more self-conscious way. Although not all groups agreed on precisely where those boundaries should be drawn, several themes emerged. Most Mennonite, Amish, and Brethren groups, for example, emphasized the virtue of Christian humility—expressed in simple speech, reticence to self-promote, and reluctance to define Christian faith in the sharp-edged language of doctrinal orthodoxy. 

Most groups also developed standards of dress—emphasizing simplicity, modesty, and uniformity—as a way of reinforcing the boundaries of group identity. Over time, the Amish maintained these visible markers of nonconformity more rigorously than did the Mennonites and Brethren. But all three groups struggled throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to retain a clear sense of separation from the world. 

The principle of nonconformity has been tested most sharply during times of war. Mennonites and Amish have been especially hesitant to serve in the armed forces or to support the war effort, in the conviction that Christians are to demonstrate God’s gracious and generous love to all people.

CONCLUSION

NOW I can send some delightful pictures taken in central Ohio.  Now you have some understanding of the Amish.
What did the Amish think of my camera?
alan skeoch
Jan. 27, 2023
Posted on

EPISODE 721 LUCKY FOR ME…I HAVE A WORKSHOP…MY OWN CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE

EPISODE 721    LUCKY FOR ME…I HAVE A WORKSHOP…MY OWN CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE


alan skeoch
January 23, 2023



I count my lucky stars occasionally.   Perhaps rank those lucky stars.  First and dominant is Marjorie.  Wonder woman
who can cook a meal in the twinkling of a star.  And then do everything else in the heavenly sky.  Except…she does not
even try to rearrange my workshop.  Oh, yes, she does sweep up the shavings.  Once or twice in a blue
moon but most of the time she is content that I get a corner of our universe to putter around in.  To make things…such
as our ‘wooden quilts’.  My workshop is a blank slate waiting for big ideas or small ideas.  Filled with shapes that
have meaning to me if no one else.
 
So this Episode is my little corner of the universe.  Consider the objects as meteorites that have landed from
outer space.  Objects seeking meaning.  Objects that can be shaped.  Diamonds in the rough.

A couple of my readers wanted to see the workshop.  They will get a chance I hope and pray they are
not minimalists looking for a reason to clean up my shop. 

Another reader facing an eye operation wanted something cheerful to see when the bandages
are removed.   Hopefully she will find the chaos of my workshop a kind of healing balm.

Here we go.


This is my next project….a barn located on main street in Arisdorf , Switzerland.  I made this time worn sketch 30 years ago
and it’s time something should be created in honour of our daughter in law who passed away last year.  She would like
that.  Gabriela always took us on the backroads of Switzerland.  Front passenger seat.  She liked me.  Did not care that others
may no be as intrigued by the objects landed here and there from the darkness of space. We all miss her
and are now ready to talk about her.



Our lot goes on and on, like the universe…with reminders of the past here and there like lost planets.


This snow clad spruce tree gave me the idea to create woden forests of such trees.  Where did the tree
come from?   Marjorie planted it.  A Christmas tree that had roots.

Posted on

EPISODE 719 PICTURE OF THE LAKEVIEW SMALL ARMS PLANT EMPLOYEES ABOUT 1945

EPISODE  719      PICTURE OF THE LAKEVIEW SMALL ARMS PLANT EMPLOYEES ABOUT 1945


alan skeoch
January 2023

These are  the employees of the Lakeview small arms plant circa 1945.  

One reader objected to my use of the word ‘girls’ .  I was trying to underscore the fact that many
of the operators of the various metal lathes were very young…young enough to form a Small Arms
Workers Baseball Team.

Scan the faces. Just take a guess at how many faces look young….i.e. around 20 or younger.  Statistics gathered 
said that 64% of  the workers were women.  I think (just a guess) a majority were young.  What do
you think.   No big deal.    How many look like baseball players?  Relax/  This is not scientific…not
an M.A. thesis.

Perhaps Cliff F. knows  better since his dad worked there and married one of the females and still lives in one of
the company houses provided.  “Cliff, how young were the workers?”   Sure there must be a record somewhere
but I do nor have time to research so just try the face scan.  About 25 years ago I wrote a paper about the workers
…wish I kept it.

What happened to all those machines.  Metal lathes.  Skilled workers required.  How is a gun barrel made?

Along with most readers I dislike guns.  Do not own one.   If this was 1942 or 1943, would my attitude be
different?  Suppose I was living in Ukraine today, would the horrific battle scene change my attitude?
The attitude we have towards guns seems flexible…Guns seem to divide us all

Will we ever reach a point where weapons “are turned into plow shares?”  The study of history does not
help answer that question.

Let’s not travel that path.  Let’s just count the faces of potential baseball players in the photo.

alan


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EPISODE 719 ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION #82 PORT CREDIT— CONTROVERSY WITH NO EASY ANSWER (courtesy of Cyril Hare)






EPISODE    719   ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION #82  — PORT CREDIT  (courtesy of Cyril Hare)


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ADDITION TO 717 TRAIN WRECK…PERE MARQUETTE RAILROAD

TRAIN WRECK….PERE MARQUETTE RAILROAD



Northville Twp. scene of wreck

Saturday morning July 20, 1907 EPISODE 717 ADDITION….   TRAIN WRECK

July 22, 2007
A farmer and his son stood in a Northville Township field watching two steam locomotives speed toward each other on a single track. The boy asked his dad, “How are those trains going to get past each other?” Replied his dad, “They’re not.”
It was a bit after 9 o’clock the morning of Saturday, July 20, 1907. One of the locomotives had started at 6 o’clock that morning in Ionia pulling 11 cars with hundreds of passengers for an outing in Detroit. The other engine was coming west from Plymouth, hauling seven freight cars.
Pere Marquette Railroad Locomotive 155, driven by engineer Lee Alvord of Ionia, was heading downhill at 55 m.p.h. Alvord watched Pere Marquette Engine 71 round a curve at 25 or 35 mph and head toward him. Alvord jumped. The two trains slammed head-on.
People were killed as the flimsy wooden Pere Marquette coaches shattered into splinters and passenger cars telescoped into each other. Steam from boilers scalded people. Wilson Rogers, the freight train engineer, was scorched as he jumped. Coaches flew over Locomotive 155 and smashed into or over the freight engine.
Later that day, 28 bodies were shipped back to Ionia for burial. More than 30 people — the exact number is unclear — lost their lives because of the Pere Marquette wreck that hot July day, said Al Smitley, a local history librarian at the Northville District Library.
There’s a cornfield now at the northeast corner of 5 Mile and Napier, and a row of old apple trees overlooks the deep cut through which Alvord drove the Pere Marquette locomotive. But even from the hill, you can’t see around the curve.
I stood there one hot July day with Smitley and Salem Township historian Gilbert Terry, a student of train wrecks. They showed me where the wreckage lay most of that dreadful day.
On Wednesday, July 25, Smitley will give a lecture on the wreck and show photographs at 7 p.m. in the Northville District Library — five days after the 100th anniversary of the crash that took place in Northville Township.
Smitley has collected many contemporary newspaper articles about the wreck and assembled excerpts into a chronological digest of newspaper quotations. It’s a fascinating read.
After the crash, Alvord got to his feet and asked someone to look at his watch. It said 9:14. That was a big relief, he said. His train was on time. From the beginning of this catastrophe, the loss of life, the injuries and the general mayhem were less important for Pere Marquette officials than shifting blame away from the rail company. The scapegoats would be freight engineer Rogers and his conductor, Fred Hamilton.
Pere Marquette officials might well have been concerned.
In that one week, the line had five accidents. That year, railroad accidents killed nearly 12,000 people — the leading cause of violent death in the nation, Smitley said.
The Pere Marquette line had a big repair works in Ionia, and between 600 and 800 workers and relatives were headed for a day on Belle Isle.
Ionia Mayor John Bible heard the terrible news and tried to lead relief workers to the wreck site. Pere Marquette officials stopped them at South Lyon.
Declared Mayor Bible: “We were not curiosity seekers. We were going to help, and I never heard of such a thing as the treatment we received.”
Meanwhile, sightseers from Plymouth, Northville, Salem and surrounding towns stood looking into the cut where the wreckage with dead and injured still lay on the tracks.
Pere Marquette blamed the disaster on the freight crew. Pere Marquette General Manager William D. Trump said, “The wreck occurred by reason of an unmitigated disobedience of orders of the crew of the freight train. They were instructed to look out for the excursion train. Running the way they were, they should have been in Salem four minutes before the wreck occurred. They took a chance in direct disobedience to orders. There could have been no mistake. It was disobedience.”
Destroying evidence
James Robison, an assistant Wayne County prosecutor, watched over the wreckage.
“As soon as the spectators had departed,” he said, “a crew of 100 men swooped down upon the wreckage, and their movements were a revelation. I well knew my powerlessness to stop the company from destroying evidence, and the work that was done was not for the purpose of clearing the track for traffic, but to destroy evidence.
“The debris was already at the sides of the track, but as quickly as men and machinery could work, it was taken away under cover of the darkness and burned. What startled everyone was the way whole cars, very little injured, were taken away and burned.
“Of course, there was a reason for that. The cars were mere matchboxes. They were of the old shell type with practically no resisting power. There wasn’t a steel frame in the entire train of 11 coaches. The cars were unfit to carry human beings in.”
Conductor Hamilton believed he’d misread his orders. But freight engineer Rogers, lying scalded and bruised in a Plymouth hotel bed, said, “Let the blame go where it belongs — not to the men on the freight train, but to the men who knew where both trains were every minute of the hour.”
On July 25, 1907, the Ionia Daily Sentinel editorialized: “We refuse to be a party to the attempt to fasten the whole blame of this deplorable affair upon the trainmen. A little more official surveillance and eternal vigilance alone will prevent frequent recurrences of these horrors.”
General Manager Trump testified at the coroner’s inquest that “under the system, everything is up to the man in jeans. No blame can attach anywhere else.”
Interstate Commerce Commission inspector F.C. Smith said: “You cannot get an employee to tell the absolute truth when his superior officers sit listening to him. I regard the presence of General Manager Trump at the inquest as a positive detriment.”
Conductor Hamilton “is suffering greatly under the strain of self-guilt,” reported the Grand Rapids Press.
The verdict
The coroner’s jury found that the freight train crew misread their order “due to the imperfect and improper manner in which it was prepared. … We find the operating system of the Pere Marquette and the rules and regulations governing the same defective.”
Nobody was prosecuted.
Hamilton tried to work for other railroads, but whenever his connection to the Northville Township wreck was discovered, he was fired. He died a few years later on a Montana ranch.
Ten days after the wreck, engineer Alvord, on crutches, took the train to Lowell and watched the Saranac-Lowell baseball game.
Contact JOEL THURTELL at 248-351-3296 or thurtell@freepress.com.

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