OCR Text |
Show VILLAGE BLACKSMITH YIELDS I PLACE UNDER CHESTNUT TREE welding shop and has it repaired on the spot, whereas before he had to wait days or weeks and spend considerable money to gEt a new part from the factory. The passing of the village blacksmith black-smith is typical of the change that is taking place in every phase of farm life. Not so many years ago every farm house was lighted by candles home-made from fat and grease saved in the kitehen. When this ran short, candleberrles were gathered from . the roadside and boiled down to yield tallow. The smoky candle was replaced by the odorous kerosene, and the farmer's wife stopped boiling tallow and began refllllug lamps, cleaning globes and trimming wicks. The homely old kerosene lamp 16 still used in a vast number of farm Picturesque Figure Rapidly Disappearing British May' Pension Him, But Army Is Only Refuge Here. TYPICAL OF CHANGES IN COUNTRY LIFE 1 1EWS reports from England Jj state that a movement is raKji on foot t0 subsidize the vil-LiSaJ. vil-LiSaJ. lage blacksmith, who is rapidly disappearing from the land. The acetylene welder and the garage man, or a- hybrid individual indi-vidual who combines the attributes of both, is taking the smithy's traditional tra-ditional place "beneath the spreading spread-ing -chestnut tree." Confirmed sentimentalists and sticklers for tradition as they are, the British refuse to permit the change, and if the movement Is successful every black' smith will be pensioned, pro-v pro-v I d 1 n g ha agrees to keep his anvil ringing ring-ing and the bellows blowing. blow-ing. The same situation Is present here, for up and down the coun- The Village Smithy as Longfellow pictured It; the I garage and welding shop now serve In Its stead. ! try the village blacksmith ls letting let-ting his fire die out and discarding discard-ing his leather apron. There ls a big demand for him In the Army, but the average horseshoer Is over age. Nothing has been said yet about pensioning the old man, but "Dobbin," whose pedicuring and shoeing he did In the old days, has been put to pasture, with nothing to do but nibble up the excess green from the countryside. Henry Ford, whose tractors and automobiles are responsible for the change, ls showing his regret, and as a matter of historic memorial to the picturesque blacksmith has one old smithy set up in the colonial village he Is reconstructing in New England. Where the old blacksmith shop used to stand In the average village, a new brick building has been erected, erect-ed, or at least a corrugated iron structure, with cement flooring, ami displays above it a sign "garage and repair shop acetylene welding a specialty." Here the farmer brings hlu tractor when It gets out of order. If his binder or mowing machine breaks he takes it to the houses, but It is gradually giving I way to electricity and carbide gas. ! The modern farmer ls sufficient to . himself so far as good lighting is concerned, and is- Independent of public service companies. He makes his .own gas right on the farm. A generating tank is sunk in the ground and connected by ordinary piping to all rooms in the house, and to the barn and poultry poul-try sheds, for in this day and age the cows and chickens are lighted to bed. Carbide in the upper tank compartment falls Into the water compartment below and the gas ls formed. The process works automatically, auto-matically, and all the farmer has to do ls rellll the tanks when necessary. neces-sary. This home-made gas the farmer makes ls said to be the nearest arUHcIal approach to sunlight yet discovered. It assures him a constant con-stant supply of light and Is also an elllclent cooking fuel. The tallow 1 caudle and the Dutch oven are a far cry from this domestic arrange meut, but not further than the garage ga-rage from the village smithy. - |