York County agrarianism vs. industrialization, Part II & III
Two other stories reflect the growing tension between farms and factories in York County’s past.
At the height of the industrial buildup to World War II, a runaway steer made a grand entry into York’s Continental Square. It was almost as if the trotting steer was trying to remind folks that agriculture was important to the war effort, too.
Two men in a truck pursued the cow.
“The steer,” Police Chief C.P. Gerber told The York Dispatch, “obeyed the traffic rules.”
It circled the square in the proper traffic lanes.
The second story is a sad one… .
A.B. Farquhar’s enterprises bridged both agriculture and industry. A.B. Farquhar Co. produced farm implements — plows, steam engines, discs — from the 1860s to the 1950s.
He built his business from a local provider of machinery into a player on the international scene.
As he was on his daily walk in the 1920s, an automobile struck him. He was in a weakened condition until he died in 1925.
So, the death of a man who did so much to develop machinery that helped America function was unfortunately hastened by such machinery.
Also of interest:
