Wiki Wiki to the Encyclopedia

On multiple occasions I have referred to “Wikipedia” as a source of information for an article or a quote that I am working on. Truly it is amazing as it fits into the present internet culture. Millions upon millions of bits of information catalogued by faithful contributors… edited all the time… updated whenever… and ready to access immediately by anyone with a computer.

From an article posted on Wikipedia itself – about Wikipedia… quote…
Wikipedia is a free, web-based multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its name is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning "quick") and encyclopedia. Wikipedia's 13 million articles (2.9 million in the English Wikipedia) have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world, and almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone who can access the Wikipedia website. Launched in January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, it is currently the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet.

There is the answer to a question that many have… the word Wikipedia – is “portmanteau” of the Hawaiian word “wiki” – meaning “quick” and the end of the word encyclopedia.
There are 2.9 Million article in the English edition of this growing resource. 13 million articles from all kinds fo language groups around the world. From Afrikaans to Žemaitėška – where it is called Vikipedėjė.

When searching the list of languages now available I found “Scots” and it says…
Wikipaedia is a wab-foondit, free beuk o knawledge (or encyclopedia) that onybody can cheenge gin thay like. Wikipaedia haes aboot a million an a hauf airticles, an a thrid o thaim's in Inglis.

Under Kiswahili – it states…
Kutoka Wikipedia, kamusi elezo huru
Rukia: urambazaji, tafuta
Wikipedia ni kamusi elezo huru ya lugha nyingi katika mtandao. Inatumia taratibu wa wikiwiki. Ni bure kabisa, na inaweza kusomwa, kuandikwa, na kuhaririwa na mtu yeyote, popote pale. Yaani kila mtu anaweza kuchangia makala au kuwa na uhuru wa kuboresha makala zilizopo kwa kuzihariri.
Kamusi hii inajengwa kwa utaratibu huria ambao umejengwa juu ya falsafa ya ushirikiano inayokuwa kwa kasi. Falsafa hii inaonekana katika vuguvugu la programu huria ya tarakilishi, mikutano huria, demokrasia huria, n.k.

What an amazing idea it is – to say the least. Any language group that is able to access a computer and keyboard in their language – can access the Wikipedia in their area… and can also add to the data base of information.

It is only 8 years old now. In world of the internet that is ancient – but in my own world that is a baby.

But Wikipedia is not the only source using this idea of sharing information – other groups or similar frame works have sprung up – for an example Enciclopedia Libre

A long time ago…
I think it was about Grade 10 when I discovered the magic in the corner of the Library at Central Collegiate Institute where I attended High School. Other guys were goofing off while we were to use the space and time as a study period.

I was bored. I walked over to this dusty set of maroon coloured books. One was open. I could see thousands of words on that two page spread. I remember wondering who would write this kind of thing. What kind of fun would it be? Were they nuts? Etc.

For a person of 16 years of age – I could not imagine what words could be of that much value to put in a book.

I cannot remember why I did it… but I turned the pages to “Gun Powder”… I think my friends and I were talking about it and the idea came to look it up in the Big Books… as I looked down on the pages.

Wikipedia has almost the exact same description that I read 49 years ago.
Black powder is a granular mixture of
* a nitrate, typically potassium nitrate (KNO3), which supplies oxygen for the reaction;
* Charcoal, which provides carbon and other fuel for the reaction, simplified as carbon (C);
* Sulfur (S), which, while also a fuel, lowers the temperature of ignition and increases the speed of combustion.

Now adding to this bit of information was a Chemistry Teacher that had mentioned that Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) was almost the same as Potassium Chlorate (KClO3 ) – which can be bought in a drug store.

BINGO! New idea… could we make a bomb with home made gun powder?

In one drug store we found sulfur. In another we found charcoal. And in the third we found some Potassium Chlorate.

After a small amount of mixing we found that a light gray colour was an extremely rapid burning mixture that flared up and filled the garage we were sitting in with a huge smoke cloud – instantly.

Now if you confine the grayish coloured mixture in a tight area – and light it… the volume of smoke and gases released try to break the container. The breaking of the container is instant… and a Kerboom happens to the delight of the young teens standing around.

We made our first Bomb in a toilet paper roll wrapped with tape tightly. Not bad… it blew upwards about 10 feet.

The evolution of containers worked up to a large copper pipe left over from a plumbing job that my dad had done in our house. It was ¾ of an inch in diameter… and about a foot long.

When it was ignited (by a special “Lincoln Invention” that will remain a secret)… the sound was beyond imagination and scared us out of Bomb making for a long time. None of us could hear right for days… and maybe even today. When the man from down the block came running to see what had happened… his mouth moved but none of us could hear what he said.

Wikipedia says…
Gunpowder, also called black powder, is an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate, KNO3 (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter) that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks. The term gunpowder is also often used more broadly to describe any propellant powder used in firearms. Modern firearms do not use the traditional gunpowder (black powder) described in this article, but instead use smokeless powder. Antique firearms or replicas of antique firearms are often used with black powder substitute propellants. In this article, the terms gunpowder and black powder are used interchangeably.

A while ago as my Grandsons were becoming so interested in knowing more Grandpa and what I did when I was a boy… I was so tempted to tell them a story of “Kerboom”. But my daughters made me promise that I would tell their sons any stories yet….

Wiki Wiki to the encyclopedia…

~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.com

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_powder

Kellogg Corn Flakes and My Dad

Kellogg Corn Flakes was my dad’s favourite snack in the evening. I remember it almost as a religious experience. He would plop down in his arm chair with a full bowl of corn flakes, sugar and milk. It seems that he did this every since I could remember.

Well actually that would not be the way it really was. It may have only been in my later times at home that this regiment took place. But it could have been all my life – because Corn Flakes were concocted as a registered patent on May 31, 1894 – under the name of “Granose”. Corn Flakes sounds better than Granose.

Its inventor was John Harvey Kellogg. In 1875 he graduated from New York University Medical College at Bellevue Hospital.

He and his wife Ella had no children of their own. Instead, they adopted 7 children and raising over 40.

Early in his life he was a believer/follower in the Seventh Day Adventists religion…which was strong on “a vegetarian diet, abstinence from alcohol and tobacco and a regimen of exercise”.

His greatest fascination seemed to be “the bowels” of an individual. In them he believed were the health of the individual – good or bad.

He ran the Battle Creek Sanatorium, a popular form of helping people get better. In the sanatorium setting was good food, exercise and the retreat mode – which would whisk people from their sometimes unhealthy life styles in the city. Doctors and specialists would treat their patients with a variety of methods.

Dr. Kellogg began his concoction of Granose as a solution for constipation from what I could glean. It was to help keep a person regular. The application of chopped/mushed up corn in a solution of cow’s milk should/would do the trick.

A quote from an article published on Wikipedia tells about other forms of keeping people regular… quote…
“Kellogg made sure that the bowel of each and every patient was plied with water, from above and below. His favorite device was an enema machine that could rapidly instill several gallons of water in a series of enemas. Every water enema was followed by a pint of yoghurt — half was eaten, the other half was administered by enema, “thus planting the protective germs where they are most needed and may render most effective service." The yogurt served to replace the intestinal flora of the bowel, creating what Kellogg claimed was a squeaky-clean intestine.

Kellogg believed that most disease is alleviated by a change in intestinal flora; that bacteria in the intestines can either help or hinder the body; that pathogenic bacteria produce toxins during the digestion of protein that poison the blood; that a poor diet favors harmful bacteria that can then infect other tissues in the body; that the intestinal flora is changed by diet and is generally changed for the better by a well-balanced vegetarian diet favoring low-protein, laxative and high-fibre foods; and that this natural change in flora could be sped by enemas seeded with favorable bacteria, or by various regimens of specific foods designed to heal specific ailments.”
End quote…

Well… the idea of eating a half pint of yogurt and then having the other pint planted firmly and squarely up you back side – after having been washed out by several gallons of water applied by a special machine… MADE CORN FLAKES a WONDERFUL alternative.

It wasn’t until 1955 when Norman Rockwell designed an illustration for the front of a Kellogg Corn Flakes boxes… that it became a possibility of a Children’s cereal.

But in Battle Creek’s Sanatorium another breakfast cereal was developed as a result of another person’s stay.

Charles William Post visited the Kellogg Sanatorium because of his ailing health. Having experienced the enemas of Dr. Kellogg and likely with lots of time to think – sitting on a toilet often – he came up with a new idea for a cereal.

Wikipedia states… quote…
He visited the Battle Creek Sanitarium operated by John Harvey Kellogg for his failing health. He was inspired to start his own cereal company based on the products used there.

In 1895, he founded Postum Cereal Co., with his first product, Postum cereal beverage. He was in the vanguard of print advertising and is said to have invented the cents-off coupon. Post's first breakfast cereal premiered in 1897, and he named the product Grape Nuts cereal because of the grape-like aroma noticed during the manufacturing process and the nutty crunch of the finished product.

In 1908, he followed up the Grape Nuts label with a brand of corn flakes first called Elijah's Manna that was later renamed Post Toasties.
End quote…

“Elijah’s Manna”? “Grape Nuts”?

Yep it all had something to do with keeping you regular. Imagine most of what we eat was developed as a relief to most human’s ailment… constipation.

Imagine building a whole business and a fortune on the fact that another human is bunged up?

There is big business in Pooping Regularly. What other conclusion can you one draw. There is also lots of time to re-think your day and plan ahead.

Way back on the farm that I remember was an outhouse. That is a not really a house… it is kind of a small shack that has one purpose. It is a receiver of all things fowl. Having it situated a distance from the house made sure that any fowl odours that might be emitted would waft away before it arrived anywhere near the house.

Side line… the idea of “regular people” at the Battle Creek Sanatorium would have all kinds of secondary side effects as well… and by products being produced… like scented oils and other stuff to make the rooms better to live in.

This morning as I looked into my bowl of corn flakes I had a new appreciation for evolution. My box today has a big rooster crowing loudly – to help wake me up. Yet more of us eat Corn Flakes before going to bed than in the morning. Just like my dad.

Too funny!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Cereals

Michael Jackson – 51,300,000 hits and climbing

It was 6:05 PM when I first learned of Michael Jackson’s death. The TV reporter locally had just uttered the words of the news flash – Michael Jackson was dead. Given that there is a 3 hour difference between California and Ontario – the news was very New… at about 2:36 PM in California from one report I read – the news of his death had just started to circulate.

To find out more I Googled – “Michael Jackson is dead” as a search phrase. At 6:10 PM there were 1140 responses to this phrase. At 11:04 I did the same thing to read more about it at that stage of the day – 5 hours later. The Google search produced 14,700,000 responses. This morning at 5:00 AM I repeated the same search phrase and received 51,300,000. In a short 12 hours it climbed to the huge number of responses from the search.

As a person that watches Media and all things Media it is absolutely stunning what is going on now.

To continue my “study” I also Googled, “Elvis Presley is dead” and the response was 3,510,000. Knowing that he is one of the biggest music industry/pop culture stories ever – it still was not what I expected.

I then tried “Farrah Fawcett is dead” and received a response of 3,300,000. For you that had not heard Farrah also passed away some time yesterday as well. She was also a person of high media attention.

Back to Jackson…
I have for years watched the story of Michael with great interest. A childhood star that could sing circles around everyone . Then as a young rising star on his own, to eventually become the still rising but very troubled star that people followed in his every move.

What could be said of the recent times to describe this man was at best – “weird”.

He could not accept his physical appearance so he changed it – leaving him as a kind of freak show. Yet most of what he did in life was finally that very thing – a freak show… a joke… an unkind world hating him.

The most tragic part of his life that we all watched but could not believe was the possibilities that he was a pedophile – a child molester.

On Wikipedia you will read the following…
People v. Jackson (full case name: The People of the State of California v. Michael Joseph Jackson) was a 2005 child sexual abuse trial involving the late recording artist Michael Jackson. The alleged victim was a boy, Gavin Arvizo, referred to as "The Accuser". Arvizo was 13 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. Michael Jackson was indicted for four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor, one count of abduction, and one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive at his 2700-acre Neverland Ranch compound. He denied all counts and asserted that he himself was the victim of a failed extortion attempt. On June 13, 2005, the jury found Jackson not guilty on all charges.

From this paragraph it would seem that it was over. In actual fact the evidence presented pointed to a very sick world that Michael lived in… and even sicker were the parents – many of them – that allowed their children to be alone with Jackson for over night sleepovers – with him… not only with him but in bed with him.

When and if you read the link below – to Wikipedia and the full account of the trial of 2005 – you will be looking into one of the sickest worlds ever… where money quiets people… money buys what you want and the sickness continues.

I can only imagine at the amazement of men that have been convicted of sexual abuses of all kinds must think – when they read what is written.

Knowing that sexual abuse and also the acts of pedophilia often produce more abusers of all sorts… society has not seen the end of the Jackson era. What happened at “Neverland” is not over by a long shot.

Yet – “we” idolize this kind of person. We will read about (and even write about) him for a long time to come.

“Neverland Ranch” in Los Olivos, CA. will very likely become a huge money producer like “Graceland” in Memphis, TN.

Oddly enough both places had sordid pasts because of the people that lived there – and the public is fascinated with it.

I just shake my head… can you believe it? I wonder what God thinks of all of this? What a huge tragedy this all is… what a waste. God help us all…
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Finally…off the wall…
To make the “dead story” study more well rounded I popped in “Murray Lincoln is dead” in the Google search and came up with 106,000.

So I tried two more – I popped in “Winston Van Lier is dead” and “Terry Manley is dead” – both friends of mine. Shockingly Winston received 20,200 and Terry received 80,800. My rating was higher – but not in a good category.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.comSource:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Jackson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverland_Ranch

Robinson Crusoe and Alexander Selkirk

When I first encountered the story of Robinson Crusoe it fascinated me. How could one man spend the time alone on the deserted island? The parts that I remembered were the isolation and the fact that he had friend named “Friday”.

Daniel Defoe was the author and captured this story before 1719 – when it was published.

According to Defoe’s account Crusoe was marooned on the island for 28 years – after a lifetime of sailing before hand. During the time alone on the Island he watches cannibal come ashore and eat people. He becomes a missionary at this stage (which would be very acceptable in 1719).

When one of the prisoners of the cannibals escapes Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday" after the day of the week he appeared. Crusoe then teaches him English and converts him to Christianity.

But the most recent account of this character known as Robinson Crusoe was in a movie of 1997 with Pierce Brosnan as Crusoe. But this movie was not even like the classic novel!

I have wondered about this story for a long time. I have thought of the person of Daniel Defoe and his active imagination. By the time that I enjoyed it as a boy – it had become a “classic novel”.

The actual story of the real Robinson Crusoe was entirely different than the movie or even the book.

The real story was about a real man named Alexander Selkirk (born Alexander Selcraig), born in 1676 and died on December 13, 1721. After a not so good record in life he ended up as a sailor. Eventually trying to convince a group of sailors to desert the ship they served on, no one would listen to him and the Captain granted his wish by leaving him on the Island of Juan Fernandez off the coast of Chile – now named Robinson Crusoe Island (map below)
The story that Defoe wrote had him off the coast of Venezuelan – probably on Tobago.

Selkirk survived and lived on the Island for four years. The account of this is actually better than the Defoe account. It is thought that the Defoe account is one that was developed after Defoe heard the Selkirk account.

Fascinating to say the least. I love a good story. But when the story has another story behind it – it is even better.

In the world that I am in… I live a story that is or will be written by someone. Likely the grandkids will put something together some day. Who knows maybe the grandkids will actually create another kind of “Grandpa Robinson Crusoe” out of my life.

What I have gleaned in these short years of mine – there is always another story behind the story. There is always more to the story than I hear.

Last Sunday…
I sat in the Hastie carpenter’s shop in the Lang Pioneer Village. As people came by to talk and share their stories it was amazing. I literally heard a dozen stories an hour from the old fellows that stopped to talk.

One older man struck a conversation with me as he leaned on the rough beam that stands beside the entrance door. He had to be in his early 90s. He was leathered and worn with the years. Much like the old tools that I held he had been well used.

He asked me how I sharpened the tools that I used. This of course was a question that I knew didn’t really need an answer from me… rather he was about to tell me how I should do it.

He explained how he sharpened tools in his day. He was the person that everyone came to get their tools sharpened – the best there was in his days.

He said something that will stick with me for a long time…
“The tool doesn’t have to always be shiny to be sharp.”

Wow! What a thought.

The story of Robinson Crusoe was shiny – but maybe not sharp. The story of Alexander Selkirk was not the shiniest – but it was true and it was sharp… sharp enough to spark Daniel Defoe to write a “classic”.

Then I thought… is my life shiny or sharp?

Hmmm?

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Selkirk

Doug Elniski must be a Minister

Doug Elniski must be a Minister. You know like a Minister in a Church some where. He just has to be.

If he isn’t – then all Ministers must be MPPs or MLAs. And if that isn’t the case they certainly have a lot in common.

Who is Doug Elniski? People in Alberta and Saskatchewan will know him. He serves in the Alberta Legislative Assembly under Premier Ed Stelmach. And recently he has stepped into good old Alberta Bovine Used Alfalfa – or “ABUA” for short. In Saskatchewan it is SBUA and Ontario OBUA

It seems that he has opened his mind up and stated some rather unacceptable things that the general public have become aware of by way of a Blog that he wrote or commented in.

Then just a while before that he did a Tweet to some friends on Tweeter – and enraged quite a few others at a bad time.

On his personal Blog he had said, “Men are attracted to smiles, so smile and don't give me that 'treated equal' stuff, if you want equal it comes in little packages at Starbucks," he had written on his personal Conservative MLA blog, referring to packages of coffee sweetener.”

Now taking his words as stated above – the man is a rascal to say the least. He appears to put women down. And after all these years of women trying so hard to become men’s equal – they feel they are not.

But perhaps where Mr. Elniski lives the folk have a different way of seeing it or maybe a different way of doing it.

Now before I wonder off in a different direction – back to Mr. Doug Elniski’s further enraging comments…

Quote from the Edmonton Sun…
During a June 13 Gay Pride parade, Elniski posted on Twitter: "I am surrounded by bumping and grinding lesbians waiit (sic) 20 then send help."
End Quote…

Now get this… the guy Doug Elniski is at a Gay Pride Parade that has the potential to be a bit outlandish… usually in Ontario at least… they tend to try to dress and act as weird as decency will allow them to… especially in front of a TV camera… because that is what we get at the Dinner Time news we were watching….

My Granddaughter asked, “Grandpa, who ARE THOSE PEOPLE?” I couldn’t answer. Or rather should I have said, “Well honey, they are ordinary people like you and I, normal Canadian Citizens…” But I couldn’t.

Now it so happens that Dougie E… is caught that day doing his MPP – MLA thingie as an official… his friend Tweets him on his Blackberry… and asks, “Hey Dougie E… whatcha doin?” And Dougie E comes back with a crack like he made…

Makes perfect sense to me.

I mean … if you are at a Gay Pride Parade where every Tom, Dick, Harriet and Louise are half dressed… wiggling their stuff for every one to see… what would your wise crack be to a Tweeting world out there?

Now maybe I better back off the Gay Pride Parade stuff – at least showing their stuff. In Edmonton they have far more mosquitoes than Toronto… and Toronto is the place that lots of stuff is shown for all of us to see.

Hey Dougie E… I am from the Prairie…and I understand a good joke that is needed in some situations. I can empathise with the quips and clips that you let loose with. It is a TENSION release when a whole lot of silly stuff is happening around you.

Personal Story…
Dougie E… when I was pasturing a church in Yorkton, Saskatchewan I had a most embarrassing thing happen to me.

It was Sunday morning during the Service I was leading. I was praying for the people that needed special prayers. Ministers do this kind of stuff all the time. In our church it is normal for people to come forward to the front of the church – and then their friends surround them in prayer – and good things happen.

Granted that is a little unusual for some churches – but our church was and is quite expressive to say the least. Hey we were Pentecostal!

One woman that arrived that day, shall I say, well endowed. She was taller than me, heavier than me, and had lots more dark black hair…which I think came from a bottle colour. She was expressive in many ways – even when she spoke with you about ordinary things. She was also, I think, Russian with a heavy accent and her BRIGHT RED SWEATER – was well… BRIGHT in colour.

Now get the picture clearly… I have stepped down off the main platform… to stand to the left side of the pulpit area… my heals are kind of tucked up against the first of two steps leading to the top of the platform…

My dear “Expressive Sister” stepped forward for her turn to be prayed for. I laid my hands carefully on her forehead and began to pray for her. She became excited… and made small chirping sounds that became louder and louder… Oh boy… what next? Then she fell forward on to my being.

My heals were locked solid against the stairs and I couldn’t move backwards avoiding her advancing human form or a BRIGHT RED SWEATER…

YEP! You guessed right – she landed smack dab on top of me. Being taller than me – her BRIGHT RED SWEATER was all I could see… as my nose was squarely placed in the middle of her chest.

Sheesh… Dougie E. I am blushing again as I write this. Right in front of an almost full church I was sandwiched between a big woman in a bright red sweater and the FLOOR…. and I couldn’t move.

People later, suppressing below a grin and outright belly laughs, asked if I was okay… and wondered at my blood pressure problems in that my face was way past RED – ranging on scarlet… and my ears were so hot you could do marshmallows on them.

And Dougie E – no matter what I said in a church – anywhere – some one would be there to correct, challenge, object, ridicule and outright make sure that I never forgot that THEY WERE RIGHT AND THAT YOU ARE WRONG…. Yikes!

So Doug Elniski, you must be a Minister… or at least qualify now to take the role on.

I have only one bit of advice for you… women are more than equal to you and your ideas… and they are down right dangerous in BRIGHT RED SWEATERS!!!! Way more equal than you… WAY, WAY, WAY more Equal!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.com

Source:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2009/06/24/9907051-sun.html

You have got to wonder!

I mean it is a logical question. What happens to the International Space Station crew – when the Space Shuttle can’t get there to pick them up? That question has been bothering me for the past week after they had to scrap the blast off the June launch of the Shuttle. It was said that it was rescheduled for July.

And a July launch is going to be possible if there are no lightening storms. If there is no hydrogen leaks like the last time – maybe.

Now I know that it is super important that they deal with safety issues. But what about the guys and gals that are riding around in the Space Station waiting for relief?

I mean they can’t get out and go for a walk to the corner grocery store for a treat. There is no Dairy Queen just over a few blocks for that tasty Milk Shake. Talk about a bunch of crazys!

It appears that they are going to be another month at least before the two Canadians can hug on board the Space Station.

What if the Space Shuttle doesn’t get there – or can’t get there until say September? How much food do they have on board the Station?

There are three of us living in our house. And it would seem that the bathroom is the busiest place for all of us. Maybe it is the Bran that does it – but we are regular to say it simply… some more than others.

What happens on the Space Station with an extra month’s time of regularity – or irregularity for that matter?

The City of Toronto has started their new season of strikes for more money for Garbage pick up people. When they don’t pick it up – it piles up.

So on the Space Station it is going to have an extra month or so of garbage and waste piling up. If you are the new replacement astronauts – would you like to move into that mess?

Now don’t tell me they “flush” in space!? You mean that there is an exorbitant amount for frozen goodies floating out there some where?

And people on earth are upset at the plastic bottles that are filling our city landfills – or land mountains.

I mean – I just wonder at this stuff… don’t you?

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Gentle Giants Passing

As I stood watching the Gentle Giants pass – time was frozen. It was a boyhood dream for all the boys in the crowd. We watched with wonder the magic of generations pass in front of us.

Tractor after tractor of all ages and kinds slowly passed through the Lang Village lead by a 1921 Giant – a 1921 Sawyer Massey Steam Engine – manufactured in Hamilton, Ontario. This gentle giant generates up to 17 horsepower!

Tractors of all kinds passed us as if we were royalty on a reviewing stand. They were saluting as they passed.

Even more important were the men that were guiding the giants along the solemn procession. They were young men, middle aged men and some much older men. Most of the men had spent millions of hours on restoring the gentle giants – making it possible for the gentle giants to work again. Even if it was to only drive down the streets of a very old village on its dirt road – that was good enough.

I was caught up in the special moment as I stood outside the 1856 Hastie Carpenter’s Shop in the Lang Pioneer Village. In my role of the carpenter of 1856 I stood looking into the future of farming in Canada. As an 1856 Carpenter I could only dream of the possibilities.

In the 1850s steam power on farms was restricted to stationary work. The machine didn’t move – the work came to the machine.

A Long Time Ago…
I think it was probably about 1954 or so that my Grandpa Kirkpatrick came into the City of Regina that one day. He was on his way to the Saskatchewan Provincial Exhibition held each year in Regina. Somehow I was included in the trip to the fair with my Grandpa. I am not sure how it happened or why it happened… I just remember that it was very exciting and a very big deal to be included with his plans that day.

The Exhibition had rides and fun of all kinds. I knew that. I had not been that often – but knew something about it. It was a magical place to say the least with the smell of popcorn and the sound of the carnies yelling out the great merits of their stalls.

We didn’t go on any rides but rather walked through the farm exhibits inside of really old buildings. The murals on the walls had been painted eons ago. The baked goods, the quilts hanging and the different kinds of farm competitions were all on display. At 10 years old it made little sense – but I followed grandpa anyway.

We exited the hot building and headed across the road. There in front of us were brand new tractors and farm machinery of all kinds. The bright red ones stood beside bright green ones. Shiny new implements of all kinds were arranged among the new tractors and combines. Streamers fluttered on twine strung between the farm machinery giving it all a party feeling.

I followed Grandpa Charles Simon Kirkpatrick around the machines saying nothing. Grandpa didn’t say much either but it was his actions that gave the interpretation. If he was impressed we stopped and he looked longer than if he wasn’t. He would look hard and long at the motor area. He would feel the huge tires with his hand. He walked around the tractor looking at every area if he liked it. The other tractors that were not his favourites he simply gave a summary glance and a little “Humph…’ meaning I supposed that it wasn’t as good as the first one that he had led me to see.

We walked back to the first red tractor and looked again. I asked if I could sit on the tractor and “drive it”? He agreed and helped me climb on board. The smell of new paint, the feel of the giant below me sitting so still and waiting for someone to start it up – was simply amazing. I remember placing my hands around the black steering wheel and trying to turn it a little bit…. Moving it every so little was not possible as my strength was not that of my uncle’s. There was no power steering on that beast – just muscle power and the steering wheel could be turned a little while sitting still. But a 10 year old could not budge it.

I was happy sitting their “driving it” imagining that I was in control of the beast... the gentle giant below me.

I remember looking at Grandpa Kirk and he was smiling. I wasn’t sure why he was enjoying watching his oldest grandson “drive it”. I just knew he smiled at me.

A Long, Long Time ago…
In the early 1900s he had arrived with his father and family from Iowa to the south part of Saskatchewan by train. On board the train was all the equipment that they needed to farm the 4 farms that my Great Grandpa Kirkpatrick had bought. With him were his two sons, Charles and Roy Kirkpatrick and his daughter Effie. He would have one of the farms for himself and the kids would each get one of the three farms. Each would have their own land.

One of the implements was a giant steam tractor.

Later on Charles’ would buy his own tractor, a McCormich Deering (1920 something I think), steel lugged wheel, gasoline powered tractor. Taking the lugs off he drove the tractor in the soft ditch from Regina to Truax Saskatchewan… very slowly… breaking in his new prized possession… all the way back to the farm. I may not remember this part of the story perfectly well… but I think that it took him 8 hours to drive the 60 miles.

Why so long to drive that far? Well my guess is that he was grinning all the way… and it was plain fun to drive by other farms on the way showing off what he had been able to buy from his profits on his farm.

In Lang Village yesterday…
As I watched from the sideline with the Gentle Giants passing me… there was no McCormich Deering Tractor… nothing like Grandpa Kirk’s old tractor. I wonder… could it be possible… every… maybe if I could rent a trailer… maybe if we went on a holiday to Regina and then drove south to Truax… I wonder how many hour it would take to restore that old Gentle Giant that rests in a quiet field west of the town… with quiet grass blowing and bending in the prairie winds.. I wonder…

~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.com
Source:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=oPuDZvAwZcYC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=1856+tractors&source=bl&ots=6Epx76wjbs&sig=FkVZDNe0ff66LoCIzh02ksklx94&hl=en&ei=OVk_SvjGMJeUMdPT-b4O&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10

http://books.google.ca/books?id=TAgl0oeJfd4C&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=1920+mccormack+deering+tractors&source=bl&ots=6grdRfCoMD&sig=SRgLxGMZcK6yKR7M4Pp35Fr-E50&hl=en&ei=amY_Ssf0NqXMM7G63bUO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1