May 2009

            "Grandfather, what are you doing down there beside Tillie?"

            "Oh Ben, did you just get home from school?"

            "Yes grandfather.  Why?"

            "Well, I am surprised.  I just didn't realize it was so late."

            "And you did not tell me what you are doing."

            "I am just checking Tillie.  You know she is about to have a calf and I want to be sure she is all right."

            "She certainly looks fine.  Say grandfather, I have to ask you about something Mr. Steele talked about in our geography class today."

            "Go ahead. What is it?  Ask."

            "Each day in our geography class, Mr. Steele tells us what is happening with the building of the railroad.  Remember, one of his relatives knows one of the railroad managers.  That is how Mr. Steele gets information the rest of us do not know and he is often told about things before they happen.  So, today he asked if any of us had seen one of the 25 page pamphlets the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company had distributed in January, 1829.  The one written by John B."

            "Ben, I was lucky.  The last time I saw John B., he had one of those pamphlets with him.  He let me look through it quickly, but it was the only one had had so I gave it back to him.  He did tell me about some things he had written in the pamphlet.  He let me know that he had written it specifically to tell everyone the truth about our railroad.  Some other, not very nice people, have been spreading all kinds of stories about the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and none of them are true."

            "Grandfather, that is terrible!  Why are some people doing that?"

            "Well Ben, two other companies, the Lehigh Company and the Schuykill Navigation Company, both deliver coal in New York City.  But the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company is able to deliver coal in the City, and in many other nearby places, for lower prices than these other companies charge."

            "So, what did those two companies do?"

            "They began to tell many coal customers that the quality of the coal, which we sold, was very poor because we sold only surface coal.  They hoped that this information would convince many customers to stop buying coal from the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company.  These untrue tales were spread by word of mouth and through pamphlet distribution."

            "Did it make some people stop buying the Delaware and Hudson coal, grandfather?"

            "Yes.  At that time John Wurts was President of the company.  Of course he knew about all these stories concerning his company, so he sat down and wrote a pamphlet to describe all of the very good, truthful ideas and all of the successes which his company had achieved."

            "Did all of that help?"

            "Yes, but it......."

            Ben had interrupted grandfather.  He wanted to ask a question about an idea which had just popped into his head.

            "Grandfather, why didn't Mr. Wurts write a newspaper story to tell the customers about Delaware and Hudson?"  Wouldn't that have been easier than pamphlets?"

            "Ben, remember the newspaper your father brought home last week?  How many pages are always used for every newspaper which is printed?"

            "Just four pages."

            "And that would not be enough space for Mr. Wurts to write all of his ideas and let the readers know about the untrue rumors which have been going around, would it?"

            "No, I guess not.  You are right.  I guess I didn't give that question enough thought, did I?"

            "Perhaps you might have spent a bit more time on it, Ben."

            "What happened then, grandfather?"

            "Something very good and very creative."

            "What does creative mean?"

            "It means that people think of something to make, or something to do, all by themselves. They never copy anyone or anything, if they are creative."

            "So, then what happened?"

            "Our managers thought of a new idea."

            "A new idea?  What was that?"

            "They said to one another, 'Why not make some changes on the boats, so they can use coal for making steam to generate power for running the boats.  So they used the boat called the Experiment to try out their idea.  They were trying something new, an experiment, so the name of the boat was perfect, wasn't it?"

            "Oh yes, grandfather, it sure was.  How did their experiment work out?"

            "Well, the Experiment was scheduled to make a canal trip to Newburgh and back.  Some work was done on the boat before that, so coal could be burned to make the steam."

            "Did this new idea work?"

            "Yes Ben.  It worked so well on the Experiment that a new, and financially successful project came to life right then."

            "Does that mean they might make a lot of money using coal to make steam for the boats?"

            "It sure does!  So this became a very special year for the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company.  A very, very......oh listen!  There is Tillie bellowing like that."

            Grandfather jumped up, trying to protect his painful leg, as he scrambled down the barn floor toward Tillie's stall.  The year 1831 had completely gone out of his mind.  But it stuck in Ben's mind as if it had been glued in place.

           1831, 1831.  I wonder what else happened in 1831, he thought.  I know what I will do.  I will catch grandfather tonight as soon as we finish supper, and I will ask him to sit in his rocker by the fireplace.  I will sit next to him on the new, little bench father made for mother's birthday.  My very first sentence to him will be, "Grandfather, what else happened in 1831 to make it such a special year?"

            Boy, oh boy!  I can hardly wait to hear his answer, he thought.  1831.  1831.  He kept those numbers bouncing around in his brain, so he wouldn't forget - 1831!  1831!  I wonder what else happened in 1831?  I am gong to be right here when grandfather has a chance, after Tillie's calf comes, to hear all about 1831.