We think nothing of flipping on a light switch, punching a button on the remote control, turning on our computers, and receiving "instant gratification" in the form of light, entertainment, communications possible around the world.

In the early 1900's, although amazing changes were taking place all over the world, these luxuries we take for granted today in many cases were not even a "twinkle in the eye" of even our "greatest generation".

Wind power has been around for thousands of years. The picture you see above depicts a couple in their rural home in the 1930's. (They happen to be my great-grandparents, D.A. and Bettie Haddick, of Mexia, [pronounced "Ma-hay-a" for those of you not watching the news recently]). You can see the electric cord running up the wall on the left, behind Mama Haddick. This cord powered the one and only, bare light bulb in the house, which hung down just over Papa Haddick’s chair. The power came from a wind generator, mounted on the roof of the house. The wind created energy, which was fed to a battery. Papa Haddick, being the man of the house, was the only person allowed to partake of this luxury. In the mornings, he liked to listen to the news on his radio, which you can also see in the picture. The evenings were reserved for using the light bulb to read his paper. In rural Central Texas, this wind generator was truly a luxury. Not everyone had one, but then Papa Haddick was a relatively prosperous man

As early as 3200 B.C. Egyptians were using wind to power their boats. The Romans used wind power for their fleets. It is reported that the Chinese invented the wind mill, using them as early as 200 B.C. By 1000 A.D., the Vikings had explored the entire North Atlantic. Around the 14^th century, the Dutch used wind power to pump water from flooded fields. French farmers used wind power to move water into pools where it was used for irrigation.

In 1854, a wind powered water pump was introduced in the United States. It was different that European wind mills because its blades rested on a wheel, and it had a tail to keep the fan pointed into the wind. By 1940 there were around 6 million wind mills of this type in the United States.

Wind turbines have been used for household electricity generation in conjunction with battery storage in remote areas over many decades. Wind turbines range from small four hundred watt generators for residential use to several megawatt machines for wind farms and for use offshore. The smaller ones may be approximately 7 feet in diameter and will produce about 900 watts of electricity. They are easily mounted in a manner similar to mounting a TV antenna.

Most electrical production causes some undesirable by-products, the most recognized being pollution and global warming, but not so with wind generated electricity!

I have no idea how many wind mills and wind generators were in Littlefield before electricity came to the city, but I’ll bet there were quite a few. I know there were a lot of wind mills for the purpose of pumping water before the city water system came into being. As mentioned in an earlier column, there was also a city well, located where the current court house sits now. As I understand it, water from the city well was free for the taking.

If you’d like to learn more about wind mills and wind generators, visit the site for the Windmiller’s Gazette, the only periodical in the world devoted exclusively to water-pumping wind mills and wind power history. Their web site is "windmillersgazette.com". Another fascinating source of information is the American Wind Power Center in Lubbock, Texas, whose web site is "windmill.com". Did you know that one of the few companies that continue to manufacture wind mills in the United States is located in Earth, Texas? It’s called KMP Pump Company.

I received an e-mail recently that included some statistics I found very interesting. I won’t guarantee the validity of these statistics, but they do cause me to reflect on what little I know of the last 100 years.

For instance, did you realize that in 1906 the average life expectancy was 47 years? Only 14 percent of American homes had a bathtub, and only 8 percent had a telephone. There were only about 8,000 cars in the entire United States, and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in many cities was 10 mph.

The average wage was 22 cents - that’s CENTS - per hour, and the average worker earned $200  per YEAR! If you were an accountant, you might expect to earn $2,000 per year; a dentist perhaps $2,500 per year, a veterinarian somewhere between $1,500 and $4,000 a year, and a mechanical engineer could possibly earn up to $5,000.

Almost all - more than 95 percent - of births took place at home. Along those same lines, 90 percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! They attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the press and the government as "substandard". (Who knows what the "standards" were!) The five leading causes of death were: pneumonia and influenza; tuberculosis, diarrhea, heart disease, and stroke.

Food was what we’d consider inexpensive: sugar was 4 cents a pound; eggs were 14 cents a dozen, and coffee was 15 cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, using Borax (a rather harsh cleaner) or eggs as their shampoo.

Canada actually passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering their country for any reason.

The American flag had only 45 stars. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was 30! Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea had not been invented.

Considering our current national crime rate, it amazes me that there were only 230 reported murders in the entire United States in 1906.

If you have any doubt about the changes taking place, and their rate of speed, consider this. This e-mail was sent to me, and numerous others, all over the world, in a matter of seconds. What will it be like in another 100 years?