Monday Again!

Back To The Old Grind!

Grinder is courtesy of Donald Brown, Taylorville, Illinois.

The Last Post; The Last One

"It was the loss of his three friends on the night of September 22 almost 90 years ago that haunted him. “Those chaps are always with me. I can see that damned explosion now,” he would say."

Britain's last Tommy passed on and was laid to rest recently. Harry Patch served in the horrific battle at Passchendaele. If you have read much about the Great War you will have some appreciation of the horrors he lived through.



Aftermath
Siegfried Sassoon (1919)

Have you forgotten yet?...
For the world’s events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you’re a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.

But the past is just the same-and War’s a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you’ll never forget.

Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz-
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench-
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, ‘Is it all going to happen again?’

Do you remember that hour of din before the attack-
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads-those ashen-grey
Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget.

Weekend Steam

EJ recently had the opportunity to see this loco when it came through Chicagoland. I guess you can tell that I am just a bit jealous, from the collection of YouTube videos I looked up for this week's steam post.

Crankin' It Up

I tried to look up his oddball record on a discography site and can only guess that it was recorded between 1925 and 1927. One thing that's obvious from the name of the record, and the lyrics, is that folks didn't worry about offending others with ethnic labels eighty years ago. I guess the author liked the illiteration and built a song around it. I wonder what we are doing today that will seem incredibly insensitive seven or eight decades in the future. Click the play button and have a listen to Honey Duke and His Uke!

Another Oldie But Goodie From The SIAM Show

We still have lots of photos and a little video from the SIAM and Boonville shows to share with you. This is a Fairbanks-Morse engine putting away; too bad it wasn't pulling something. You will note that this is a throtle governed engine. You can see the exhaust push rod cycle every other stroke; and you can see the fuel pump being stroked on the carburetor assembly.

It Looked A Lot Like This....

This photo is from the McLeansboro Times-Leader published on August 6. The wreck occurred on July 30, on Highway 14 west of McLeansboro, IL. I was following the car (at a safe distance) that caused this wreck, when the driver began a left turn in front of this truck, then stopped, blocking the lane. My brain was processing the scene very fast, first thinking, "Something is going to happen if that car doesn't move;" then, "It's beginning to happen;" when the Brinks truck's tires started smoking," then, "Call the State Police and tell them it is an accident with injuries." Both men in the truck were banged up badly, but I have spoken to the driver, and they will recover. The driver of the car was uninjured. I took photos at the scene, and gave my SD card to the driver because he wanted pictures. An EMT and a nurse (both off-duty) came on the scene within minutes, and they were a great comfort to the injured parties. The driver was very concerned about his cargo, which partially spilled out the side door, but no-one touched his truck until the law showed up and took charge. People are good. A couple days later I saw the following video, and it is a very good imitation of a Brinks truck rolling over as it comes at you.

Coming Events!

American Threshermen at Pinckneyville is celebrating fifty years this upcoming weekend. One of the highlights on the poster is 50 International 560 tractors to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that model. I suddenly am feeling old, since those tractors seem "new" in my mind. Click on the poster to go to their website. Pinckeyville always puts on a great show.

Danno over at Sand Castle Scrolls sent me a poster of a neat event in his corner of the world. This year is the fifth annual fly-in at Grand Canyon Valle Airport, and the featured plane is a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor! They will also have antique tractors, old cars and much more. Click on the poster to enlarge it, and then make your travel plans. Thanks, Danno!

This is the airport with all of the neat antique cars we featured earlier this year in this post; photos courtesy of Danno.

You Call It!

Is this barn:

A. Whopperjawed
B. Cattywampus
C. Sidegogglin'

Here is a quick tool quiz. When working on a project like this one, which tools are never called for?

A. Hammer
B. Bigger Hammer
C. Wrecking Bar
D. Jack
E. Chainsaw
F. Square
G. Level

Who Could Ask For Anything More?

Banjo, Allis-Chalmers, Gal from St. Jo...The only thing I don't get is how they made a song so sad with a banjo in it.

Another Monday, Coming Right Up

Back To The Old Grind!

Might As Well Have The Best

EJ started on the violin at a very young age, and he played with the SIU orchestra when he was in high school. We made lots of round trips from the farm to Carbondale during his junior high and high school years. During one of the orchestra practices this piece by Tchaikovsky popped up, played by an excellent soloist, right in front of me; it was the first time I had heard it, and it took my feelings for the violin to a new level. Through the magic of YouTube we can not only listen to Heifetz play it, we can watch him up close at the same time. Open another tab for your morning surfing while this plays; it's a long one.

Weekend Steam

This model Keck-Gonnnerman engine was working at the Boonville show. It will be there again in October, cutting up cedar logs, and giving the public a good show. You can hear a big Fairbanks engine banging away during part of this video.