25 Years Ago
Late Summer/Early Autumn 1978
by Maurice Telleen
published in The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn 2002

There probably aren’t many high points in a federal prisoner’s life. Even at the minimum security jail such as the one in Montgomery, Alabama. So imagine the excitement of the prisoners at that place when a former Attorney General of the United States came to their establishment–not on an inspection trip, but to become one of their roommates. Word is they crowded around the entrance, at least those who were at liberty to do so, to get a glimpse of their newest colleague.

He was former Attorney General John Mitchell, big time New York lawyer who had served as Attorney General during Richard Nixon’s first term. He resigned in 1972 to run Nixon’s re-election committee, which he also resigned from later at the insistence of his wife, but not soon enough. There was the infamous Watergate thing, a break in to Democratic headquarters during that campaign and he was implicated. In late July of 1977 he arrived to begin serving a 30 month jail term for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury in the subsequent Watergate coverup.

The story is that he arrived in a big, blue Cadillac–first class right up to the jail house door. About 13 months later he was released on parole. His outspoken wife, Martha, had more admirers in the country than he did. I even liked her. All told, about 25 people were imprisoned, and the president resigned, as a result of Watergate.

Tonight’s news (June 12) was filled with concerns and films of the wildfires raging in Colorado and even threatening the city of Denver. Twenty-five years ago it was California that was ablaze. That one started when a runaway box kite became entangled in high voltage lines, creating an arc, that may have triggered a brush fire that ultimately destroyed more than 185 homes in the Montecito and Santa Barbara area. But when it is dry and windy in our West, as it frequently is, you don’t necessarily need human activity (errant kites or careless campfires) to start huge fires. Lightning will do just fine in that regard–and has been doing so for ages.

Talk about ‘here we go again,’ our president, Jimmy Carter, was at odds with the prime minister of Israel. Prime Minister Begin, ignoring Carter’s entreaties, went ahead and gave his approval for three settlements on the west bank of the River Jordan.

The three settlements were on land seized by Israel in the 1967 war. Carter was miffed. The state department expressed deep disappointment and said this created “an obstacle to the peace making process.” No kidding? Did it inflame tensions. Sure. I suspect this story, which is still raging along, is much older than 25 years ago, or 35 years ago back to the 1967 war. It is probably closer to 2500 years old. So don’t look for a quick, easy or final solution real soon. It has been ‘looked for’ before. On the other hand, as is often the case, you can’t give up. It reminds me of the old saying... “there are no solutions, seek them lovingly.”

I don’t know whether this falls under the automotive or natural science heading. But it was announced by Volkswagen that they would make no more Beetles. The Beetles were being replaced by Rabbits. For twenty-five years, one year’s Volkswagen had looked just like last year’s and the next year’s. They would no longer call them Beetles. The 1978 Volkswagen would be called a Rabbit. Different look, little different contour, but still an “economy” car.

On September 7, 1977, President Carter and Brigadier General Omar Torrijos Herrara, head of Panama’s government, signed a treaty moving the transfer of the control of the Panama Canal to the control of Panama in 1999 one step closer. These negotiations had begun in 1964. It was by no means clear that our senate would ratify this treaty. Pride in our achievement in building it and strong feelings that retention of control was vital to our own security, promised a stiff fight in the senate.

Seven months later, on April 18, 1978, by a vote of 68 to 32, the Senate ratified the treaty. Not everyone was happy. One picketer outside the capital during the debate carried a sign suggesting that we give Carter to Panama and keep the canal.

Of course, we had sort of created Panama. The canal was the reason Panama existed as a nation in the first place. It had been part of Colombia until canal building time. Then I’m sure with our encouragement, it broke off (seceded or whatever) and entered into a treaty with us. We evidently weren’t crazy about dealing with Colombia over this ditch at the turn of the century.

Noteworthy deaths are as good a way as any to define any period. Take these three for example.

Groucho Marx, the zaniest of the Marx Brothers, died on August 19. He was 77 years old. We are lucky he lived so long. Two brothers, Chico and Harpo, had passed on in 1961 and ‘64. Another one named Zeppo survived. If their parents really gave them such names (they didn’t), you can be sure that humor can be inherited. Groucho was the funniest of the bunch. He was valuable to the sanity of the country. A country without humor and a sense of self-mockery is dangerous.

Elvis Presley also died. He was only 42. He was a cult figure, the kind who gave little girls goose bumps and caused big ones to faint. He belted out songs in a way that was distinctly his own. They called him “the king.” He died at Graceland, his fancy home in Memphis, Tennessee. I understand that it is still a shrine to some pop music fans. What does being a “cult figure” mean? It means, among other things, that some people still claim to see him every now and then.

The third death worth noting, at least in my view, was that of E. F. Schumacher, the British economist who wrote “Small is Beautiful.” A great book, we keep a copy on our bookshelves and even refer to it once in awhile. I’m even a dues paying member of the Schumacher Society. Many of his notions are hopelessly at odds with much of today’s thinking. Which doesn’t make them wrong, just in the minority. Maybe his impact will be the biggest of the three. His and Groucho’s. I hope so.

Autumn 1977 Draft Horse Journal Cover

And now, on the horse scene 25 years ago. Since this has already gotten a bit lengthy, I’ll confine it to our Autumn 1977 Draft Horse Journal.

The cover photo (see insert) captured our attention because of that third horse, pulling on the dynamometer. I’ve seen a fair number of pulls, and used to announce a few, but I never saw a three abreast in a contest.

The horses were owned by Paul Davis, Decatur, Indiana, and they were on their way to victory in the pull for “Three Horses under 5200 lbs.” at the 1977 Erie County Fair in Hamburg, New York.

It was sent to us by Benjamin DeYoung Jr., secretary of that exposition.

There are a lot of regional differences in pulling contests and I’m all for them. We should not all have to quack like the Aflac duck.

Sometimes looking back is fun and sometimes it isn’t. That Autumn ‘77 issue is a fun one–116 pages and full of old friends doing all sorts of things. There were far more non-Amish fellows doing a lot of their farming with horses. Of course, there were also far more farmers. I think there are about as many horses pictured wearing plain old work harness as there are show harness photos.

Sparrows used this picture of the 48 they hitched at the 1976 Iowa State Fair in the ad for their upcoming sale. Photo by Des Moines Register

The inside front cover ad sort of marked a milestone in the lives of Dick and Joy Sparrow. They were announcing the “40” Horse Hitch Dispersal Sale, scheduled for Monday, December 5, 1977. They were selling 43 Belgian geldings, 41 of which had been driven in the “40,” plus a few breeding horses, harness from the 40, the “40” wagon and a whole lot of other equipment.

It emphasized that they were not getting out of the Belgian horse business–just lightening up.

There was a wide ranging mix of short articles, many of them in the form of letters and snapshots. Mel Bradley, our old friend from the University of Missouri, had one of the few real feature articles. It was on “Fescue for Horses.” Another fairly long one was a section devoted to hay making methods in the high plains country with hay bucks, sweeps, overshot stackers, swinging stackers, etc., etc.–a whole array of equipment that was never found in use back east or in the corn belt. Also short stuff on simple harness repairs, Azoturia from an Iowa State Vet who called it Monday Morning Sickness, etc. But mostly it was state and regional columns, show reports, Days Before columns, and an assortment of letters from subscribers with pictures of themselves using their own horses–which we made into short articles.

It was also the fall that Jeannine and I left our kids in the custody of her parents when we boarded a flight to the Pacific Northwest to see if that Washington Extravaganza really lived up to its name. It did. We had a great time with the Polinders, Henkens, Kinsellas, Reubles, Bays and on and on. So our main feature was to sing the praises of that show and the quality of people who made up the draft horse community in that part of the world.

While the Extravaganza (properly named) was in Monroe, we remember that county fairgrounds in Lynden, Washington, every bit as well. What a county fairgrounds that is. As for Whatcom County, I doubt that any other county in the U.S. could boast of six or seven quality six horse hitches from within the county. If worst comes to worst, they could drive their horses to the fair. It was a first for Jeannine to see the Pacific-Northwest, and she really enjoyed it. I had been discharged from the army at Fort Lewis several years before that. I enjoyed the experience both times.

Rather than dwelling on the horses who were doing the heavy winning in the fall of 1977 (they can wait until the next issue) I think I’ll just run a page or so of pictures from that issue.