Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 182, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 August 1917 — Threshing Machine Blew Up; Cause Remains a Mystery. [ARTICLE]

Threshing Machine Blew Up; Cause Remains a Mystery.

While threshing on the Sol Guth farm southeast, of Rensselaer Friday, the threshing machine which was being used on the run was blown to bits. The cause of the blowup is a mystery. Some mathtain that a stick of dynamite was the cause, but how the dynamite could get in the machine or why it should be in the field is a mystery. Some maintain that it was purposely placed there, while others maintain that if this was the reason of the accident, the dynamite was picked up with the grain. Another reason which has been advanced is that one of the fan blades on the large fan wheel had broken off. The machine was owned by W. W. Sage and W. E. Jacks and is said to be a total loss. There were a large number of men working at the time close to the machine, but fortunately none of them were injured.