[TheForge] Speaking of benders...

[Phlip]

"Charles C. Wales" wrote:

> The Hancock, Mass. Shakers replaced their water wheel with a water
> turbine in 1860.  How about that for innovation. The Shakers did not
> refuse modern means and technology as do the Amish.

The Shakers are another group I'm quite familiar with. One of them,
Sister Marguerite Frost, taught me how to use a treadle sewing machine
back in the mid 60s.

Shakers were an interesting group. They were celibate, and kept men and
women seperate but equal. They would adopt orphans and raise them,
educating them and teaching them a trade- very forward looking, in an
era which threw orphans into extremely sub-standard workhouses. They
were believers in education, and thought very clearly. They invented any
number of interesting things, including the circular saw, the flat
broom, and patent medicines- the last may seem to be questionable, until
you go down to the store and buy some aspirin for your headache- their
medicines worked, too.

Sister Marguerite was a resident at the Shaker community in Canterbury,
NH, and had been a school teacher. She gave me my first compass, and a
fascination for practical geometry. Wish they were still around.....

Phlip