onor and enjoys
in a marked degree the esteem and confidence of the citizens of his
neighborhood and county. The rapid accumulation of property of late
years, through his barb-wire patents and business, gave him the means to
gratify his feelings of public spirit, and in consequence the town of
DeKalb has benefited greatly at his hands. Its leading hotel and many
other buildings are the work of his enterprise. Mr. Glidden has never
lost the simple manners of the farm. He is unostentatious, quiet,
genial, and at his hotel makes everybody feel as much at home as though
enjoying the hospitalities of his private house. His kindly, firm, and
intelligent face is well shown in the accompanying portrait, though, as
is usually the case, the hand of the artist has touched his features
more lightly than has the hand of time.

* * * * *

Few names are now more widely known among the land holders of the
country than that of Joseph F. Glidden, the unpretending gentleman whose
life we have briefly sketched. It was his fortune to seize upon an idea,
and push it to development, which has not only given him fame and
fortune, but which has enriched many others and saved many millions of
dollars to the farmers of America. He has not only founded a mammoth
industry, but he has revolutionized an economic system of the world. By
his ingenuity and perseverance the fencing system of a pastoral
continent has been reduced to a minimum of expense and simplicity. Not
that he individually has accomplished all this, but as the patentee of
the first really successful barb-wire fence, he laid the solid
foundation for it all.

* * * * *

The first application for a patent for the Glidden barb was filed
October 27, 1873. For some weeks previous to this date Mr. Glidden had
had in his mind the idea of a barb of wire twisted about the main wire
of the fence, leaving two projecting points on opposite sides. He made
some of these by hand with the aid of pinchers and hammer. He strung two
wires between two trees and twisted them together with a stick placed
between them. A pair of cutting nippers was the next addition to his
"kit" of tools. His next means for twisting the two wires together was
the grindstone--attaching one end of the wire to shaft and crank, the
others being fastened to the wall of the barn. And here, as in most
things great and small in this world, woman furnished the motor po