|
|
|
windmill when it was introduced to the public in 1912. This very significant mill was the first successful widely distributed self-oiling windmill in the history of American industry. Unlike almost all the other windmills available at the time, the oil-bath Wonder did ot require regular lubrication on a weekly basis, but only a change of oil once a year. The antecedents of the Wonder windmill are the Little Giant of the Elgin Wind Power and Pump Company and the Oil Reservoir of the Wind Engine Company of Elgin, Illinois. After the practicability of an oil bath to lubricate the working parts of a mill had been demonstrated by the Little Giant and the Oil Reservoir, the Elgin Wind Power and Pump Company in 1912 introduced the fully enclosed Wonder mill. With a cast iron hood mounted above the moving parts of the head. The Wonder employs a one gallon oil reservoir to supply lubrication to all moving parts. This was the first design widely sold on the American market, although in later years other manufacturers falsely claimed to have been the first to produce such a mill. The wheel of the Wonder consists of curved sheet steel blades on steel clips riveted to steel rims. These rims are bolted to steel arms. The blades have an unusually wide spread at their inner ends, giving the wheel greater stability. The vane sheet on the mill, with a distinctive swallow-tail shape bears the sole painted ornamentation on the mill, the stenciled words, "the WONDER made at ELGIN, ILL." About 1924, the Elgin Wind Power and Pump Company became the Elgin Windmill Company. It was also about this time the Wonder Model A mill was replaced with an improved design, the Wonder Model B. Instead of having a cast-iron hood, the Model B bears a galvanized sheet-steel hood. The earlier Model A mills were made in 8', 10', and 12' sizes, while the Model B mills were made in 6', 10', 12', and 14' sizes. The Wonder windmill is one of the most significant innovations in the history of American windmill manufacture. Within only about a decade and a half after the introduction of this fully enclosed oil-bath mill, virtually every American windmill maker had developed its own self-oiling mill. Today a surprising number of Wonder Model A windmills have survived to be observed in the field, while even a larger number of later Model B Wonder mills, manufactured at least into the the late 1940's remained scattered across large parts of the United States. The New Elgin was a cheaper alternative mill introduced to the market by the Elgin Windmill Company about 1932 in order to meet the demand from dealers for less expensive goods during the Great Depression. In order to reduce the cost of manufacture, the company developed a mill made in six and eight foot sizes similar to its wonder oil bath steel model but employing only one crank gear instead of the more expensive two crank as in the earlier mill. Remaining popular for almost two decades, the New Elgin continued to be sold at least into the 1940's. In general outer appearance the New Elgin is quite similar to the more familiar Wonder, and very often is confused with it. All the working parts of the New Elgin are protected from contamination by a three part cast iron hood. The New Elgin governs in the same manner as the Wonder. A slightly off center wheel automatically turns away from increasing wind, while at the same time a weighted governor lever is raised. When the wind subsides, the weight of this lever draws the well back into the wind. When the mill governs completely out of the wind or when it is turned off from the ground, a friction band brake encircling the hub engages, preventing the wheel from feathering around. The vane sheets also are almost identical in design, although the New Elgin bears its own characteristic stenciled inscription of make and manufacturer. The New Elgin was a popular windmill during the year of the Great Depression, when more expensive mills were beyond the financial reach of many customers. It was the mill chosen even by the federal government providing eighty five mills at "homesteads" in the Ashwood Plantation Resettlement in South Carolina. Examples may be seen in many parts of the US, as the company noted, "from Alabama and Texas to the Canadian border." They are the most common on the Great Plains and in the Midwest. Quite often they are still pumping water. |