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One Hundred Years Ago

Started by Rix Gins, January 01, 2016, 08:20:14 PM

Rix Gins

Quote from: Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost on January 19, 2016, 01:19:45 AM
The pictures of Benny Kauff and Bill Rariden look like they were taken by Charles M. Conlin, who photographed Major League players, great and obscure, from 1904 to 1942, and is responsible for most of the iconic baseball pictures of his time.  His work is well worth a look for the baseball fans here.

The Federal League, which existed from 1913 through 1915, has a significant place in baseball history despite its brief existence.  Acknowledged as a legitimate major league, it was the last serious attempt to compete with the American and National Leagues, and raised quite a ruckus during its brief existence by signing many stars away from the existing leagues by paying significantly higher salaries. It was responsible for MLB being declared exempt from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the owner of its Chicago Whales franchise, Charles Weeghman, built Weeghman Park, known today as Wrigley Field, and which became the Cubs' home field when he bought the team in 1916.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_League

Fascinating info.  Thanks, Robert.


Rix Gins

Quote from: Jackstar on January 19, 2016, 03:50:28 AM
http://www.troyrecord.com/lifestyle/20160119/100-years-ago-in-the-record-january-19?

Also, the percolator was a very good find.

I like these old time news articles from long ago.  Poor Herman.  I don't think they gave time off for good behavior back then, but I might be wrong.  Oh well, hopefully Mr.Stallberg got off the following July.  But did he do it again?

Rix Gins

I thank the good Lord above that I wasn't Mr. Baker in the University of Connecticut minutes of a meeting one hundred years ago, today.

Voted: That Mr. Baker be requested to appear at the next regular meeting of the Board to set forth the sums at the disposal of the Extension Department and the sources of such sums, also to explain the purposes for which these moneys are being used and to describe in detail the results being obtained thereby.

Why?  Because I had no sums to set forth to the board members because I went and bought a 1916 Marmon with them.  The rest of the money I  spent on bootleg whiskey.

I kid.  Here's the real minutes of the meeting.

http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1735&context=bot_agendas&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Djanuary%2B19%252C%2B1916%26form%3DPRUSEN%26pc%3DU305%26mkt%3Den-us%26refig%3D00a3d3f9d570418ba1acd9e4e0634f47%26pq%3Djanuary%2B19%252C%2B1916%26sc%3D4-16%26sp%3D-1%26qs%3Dn%26sk%3D%26cvid%3D00a3d3f9d570418ba1acd9e4e0634f47#search=%22january%2019%2C%201916%22


Present day photo of the university.  Who knows, maybe the building stretches back to 1916.

Meister_000

Quote from: Rix Gins on January 18, 2016, 03:45:45 PM
On January 18, 1916, the arrival of the first Balkanzug from Constantinople to Berlin was celebrated in Serbian NiÅ¡ with a grand banquet.  This train was a kind of "Orient Express" between Germany and Turkey

http://retours.eu/en/30-balkanzug-1916/#



Thanks, those are cool.
Notice the fine oriental rugs on the dirt ground in this one  :)

Coffeeman

Quote from: Meister_000 on January 19, 2016, 07:16:39 AM
Thanks, those are cool.
Notice the fine oriental rugs on the dirt ground in this one  :)

The rugs are throwaway for the era, but look at those boots. Wow, talk about shiny! I shine my own dress shoes so I feel a little for the servant or batman or whoever stuck with that duty to make those babies beautiful.

Meister_000

Quote from: Coffeeman on January 19, 2016, 07:28:15 AM
The rugs are throwaway for the era, but look at those boots. Wow, talk about shiny! I shine my own dress shoes so I feel a little for the servant or batman or whoever stuck with that duty to make those babies beautiful.

Hi Coffeeman. I would still wager fine quality rugs, you can see from here the knot density (fine small) but/and that's not just any high Officer, that's the King, or rather, Wilhelm ll, the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 1888 to Nov 1918.

Mirror-shine wax polishing (boots and shoes) is nearly a lost art, apart from the military, but the experts maintaining the tradition seem to agree: very small amounts of bees-wax based polish (i. e. a match-heads worth) combined with very small amounts of water (a drop or two) and four or five (at least) of those thin top coats to build up to the desired result -- after your initial "cream" moisturizing/conditioner coat, etc.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WpVxJoUeDmE

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yPhqQEdhtxI

Quote from: Rix Gins on January 17, 2016, 08:42:25 PM
On January 17, 1916, the New York Giants purchased three stars from the Federal League. 

Those pictures of Benny Kauff and Bill Rariden were taken by Charles M. Conlin, and here's another he took in 1916 of Tris Speaker, who won the AL batting average title that year breaking Ty Cobb's record of winning it nine years in a row.

Benny Kauff has an interesting story.  He was known as "The Ty Cobb of the Feds" because of his hitting, before returning to the National League, where he had some very good seasons.  His career came to an abrupt end in 1921 after he was acquitted of a charge of auto theft from the year before.  Despite the acquittal, he was banned from playing baseball for life by Commissioner Landis, who claimed the case raised serious questions about his character and associations. Despite being banned from playing, he worked as a scout for over twenty years. He was also mistakenly included in many lists of Jewish major leaguers, most likely because of his name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Kauff

1916 Tris Speaker photo by Charles M. Conlin


Jackstar



Rix Gins

Quote from: Meister_000 on January 19, 2016, 07:16:39 AM
Thanks, those are cool.
Notice the fine oriental rugs on the dirt ground in this one  :)

Thanks for pointing out the rug and the shiny boots.  I hadn't noticed them because my attention was drawn to the pasty faced leader with the fez on his head.  I thought he was wearing a mask. 



But no.  He really looked that way. He was Sultan Mohammed V.  From what I read, he had no political power but apparently he was used as a Turkish representative for ceremonial and social gatherings. He was rather effeminate in nature, grossly overweight, and there were some that claimed he drooled all the time.  He was involved in some intrigue in his youth and was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment...inside a palace.  Nine years of his imprisonment were spent with a harem. Historians think that his time with the harem made him quite the poet in later years.

     



GravitySucks

Was the Great Flood of 1916 in the San Diego area (Chula Vista) caused by early attempts at weather modification (rain making machines) that were constructed in December, 1915 in hopes to end a drought?

5 days of rain ceased on January 19th, but the devastation continued through the end of January as more storms rolled in.

http://sunnycv.com/southbay/exhibits/flood.html#02

Coffeeman

Quote from: Meister_000 on January 19, 2016, 09:50:27 AM
Hi Coffeeman. I would still wager fine quality rugs, you can see from here the knot density (fine small) but/and that's not just any high Officer, that's the King, or rather, Wilhelm ll, the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 1888 to Nov 1918.

Mirror-shine wax polishing (boots and shoes) is nearly a lost art, apart from the military, but the experts maintaining the tradition seem to agree: very small amounts of bees-wax based polish (i. e. a match-heads worth) combined with very small amounts of water (a drop or two) and four or five (at least) of those thin top coats to build up to the desired result -- after your initial "cream" moisturizing/conditioner coat, etc.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WpVxJoUeDmE

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yPhqQEdhtxI

Oh, honestly, didn't recognize who it was at first! Sorry! I can imagine nothing but the best for the feet of the Kaiser.

Hey, thanks for the tutorials. If I can get some beeswax, I'll give it a try. Do you do that method yourself? I shine all my leather shoes, regardless if they're dress or not. Any brand of beeswax you particularly recommend?

I don't mean to get off topic, but it is a lost art!


Quote from: Rix Gins on January 19, 2016, 06:19:17 PM
Thanks for pointing out the rug and the shiny boots.  I hadn't noticed them because my attention was drawn to the pasty faced leader with the fez on his head.  I thought he was wearing a mask. 


But no.  He really looked that way. He was Sultan Mohammed V.  From what I read, he had no political power but apparently he was used as a Turkish representative for ceremonial and social gatherings. He was rather effeminate in nature, grossly overweight, and there were some that claimed he drooled all the time.  He was involved in some intrigue in his youth and was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment...inside a palace.  Nine years of his imprisonment were spent with a harem. Historians think that his time with the harem made him quite the poet in later years.

 

It sounds like Turkish prisons changed quite a bit between his time and Midnight Express.   ;D

He also declared jihad against the Triple Entente early in the war, but nobody seemed to care.  I suppose it's hard for constant droolers to get taken seriously!

albrecht

Quote from: Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost on January 19, 2016, 06:15:16 PM
The fez is a great hat!
I will second that!
To me the fez awesome because unlike most other traditional hat or head-covering I cannot see any practical purpose, except possibly arguably, to protect those with male-pattern baldness from the sun (like the zucchetto and yarmulkes- arguably.) So must have developed for just some ceremonial or fashion? Since doesn't cover ears, eyes, nose, or neck? Doesn't provide warmth? Doesn't provide ventilation or cooling? Doesn't camouflage the wearer? So why, except they look cool-- especially when worn by fat Americans on minibikes in parades.

albrecht

Quote from: GravitySucks on January 19, 2016, 06:32:13 PM
Was the Great Flood of 1916 in the San Diego area (Chula Vista) caused by early attempts at weather modification (rain making machines) that were constructed in December, 1915 in hopes to end a drought?

5 days of rain ceased on January 19th, but the devastation continued through the end of January as more storms rolled in.

http://sunnycv.com/southbay/exhibits/flood.html#02
I like being forced to "never interfere" with the power of nature again (and then breaking that pledge.) I think cloud seeding is accepted science though doesn't always work and he claims/methods of never failing would seem to be suspect. I don't think he was a total charlatan either though. But I imagine some of his stuff was him being a fairly good weatherman and then 'rain' could be attributed to him. But in some of those cases it seems whatever he did worked.

GravitySucks

Quote from: Coffeeman on January 19, 2016, 06:37:54 PM
Oh, honestly, didn't recognize who it was at first! Sorry! I can imagine nothing but the best for the feet of the Kaiser.

Hey, thanks for the tutorials. If I can get some beeswax, I'll give it a try. Do you do that method yourself? I shine all my leather shoes, regardless if they're dress or not. Any brand of beeswax you particularly recommend?

I don't mean to get off topic, but it is a lost art!

We need Paladin in here to confirm, but shoe polish, spit and a whole bag of cotton balls were what we used in basic training. One I got out of basic, it wasn't enforced to be "spit shined". As long as they were polished.

Coffeeman

Quote from: GravitySucks on January 19, 2016, 07:00:19 PM
We need Paladin in here to confirm, but shoe polish, spit and a whole bag of cotton balls were what we used in basic training. One I got out of basic, it wasn't enforced to be "spit shined". As long as they were polished.

Heh, I usually bring back a few bags of cotton balls when I return from the States. I was active Army myself, a REMF MOS, division section, so I'm familiar with the military method. But yeah, Paladin was a Marine I gather, so he would be one to definitely weigh in.

Quote from: Rix Gins on January 19, 2016, 06:19:17 PM
Thanks for pointing out the rug and the shiny boots.  I hadn't noticed them because my attention was drawn to the pasty faced leader with the fez on his head.  I thought he was wearing a mask. 



But no.  He really looked that way. He was Sultan Mohammed V.  From what I read, he had no political power but apparently he was used as a Turkish representative for ceremonial and social gatherings. He was rather effeminate in nature, grossly overweight, and there were some that claimed he drooled all the time.  He was involved in some intrigue in his youth and was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment...inside a palace.  Nine years of his imprisonment were spent with a harem. Historians think that his time with the harem made him quite the poet in later years.

 


Nice job on both the Pix and the research on Sultan Mohammed V.  I can't help but feel so sorry for the poor chicks caught up in that harem.   I think I would rather take the gas pipe then have that drooling, bug eyed troll romp all over me.   

Since it is a ceremonial occasion I am wondering why Kaiser Bill is sporting the Ãœberzug or cover on his bitching Pickelhaube helm.    They look so sweet without the cover:


Speaking of US Marines and helmets, I just found a Pickelhaube type cover they used to wear:


Jackstar

Quote from: Rix Gins on January 19, 2016, 06:19:17 PM
Nine years of his imprisonment were spent with a harem.

Just shoot me.

Meister_000

Quote from: Coffeeman on January 19, 2016, 06:37:54 PM
Oh, honestly, didn't recognize who it was at first! Sorry! I can imagine nothing but the best for the feet of the Kaiser.

Hey, thanks for the tutorials. If I can get some beeswax, I'll give it a try. Do you do that method yourself? I shine all my leather shoes, regardless if they're dress or not. Any brand of beeswax you particularly recommend?

I don't mean to get off topic, but it is a lost art!

Glad you like. And no, I'm learning as I go as well. I mostly wear running shoes these days but I used to wear pointy-toe black "Stacys" [Stacy Adams] and used Lincoln brand polishing products (full line incuding wax based).

In vid #1, Ethan Newton of The Armoury recomends "Saphir" (French) Wax-based Polish. A little Googling confirms it to be #1 in the world, and only $11 US for the small can, 50 ml.   [Amazon has it too]

https://www.hangerproject.com/shoe-care/brand/saphir.html

Saphir Médaille d'Or is the highest-end collection of shoe care products available worldwide. Made in France, Saphir Shoe Polish has its origins in formulations that earned it the award of the GOLD MEDAL, PARIS 1925. Composed of an all-natural, pine-based turpentine, vegetable, animal, and mineral waxes, and mink oils, its formula has remained unchanged and has not suffered the technical progress of chemistry such as the addition of silicones, resins and other harmful petroleum-based products (nor alcohol)."

All-natural wax polish, Saphir's Gold Medal Pate de Luxe Wax (Saphir Médaille d'Or Pâte de Luxe) is composed primarily of three types high-quality waxes: animal waxes such as beeswax, vegetable waxes such as carnauba, and mineral waxes. Specially formulated to pass the "icing," or a high-gloss shine, Saphir's formula is based on a pine turpentine, carnauba wax (extracted from leaves of Brazilian palm trees), and six other waxes chosen for their special nourishing, protective, softening, and shining properties. Combined with both a higher concentration and higher quality pigments (twice the amount of pigment of ordinary polishes) you'll obtain an incomparable shine with Saphir's Medialle d'Or wax polish.

Note: if your shoes are dirty (containing black traces) or full of wax deposits from prior shines or lower-quality waxes, it is important to first clean the leather pores with the help of Saphir Renovateur Cleaner and Conditioner or Saphir Saddle Soap.

Note: Saphir's Navy Wax Polish can be used as an alternative to black when shining black shoes. It adds an extra brilliance when reflecting sunlight and depth when in the dark. Similar in principle to midnight-blue cloth used on bespoke tuxedos. It is particularly useful when working up a high-gloss military shine.

The high concentration of hard waxes yield a higher-gloss finish and more protection than cream polishes. We recommend the use of Saphir's Wax Polish after the use of the Saphir Renovateur, and Pommadier Cream Polish to produce a high-gloss patina.

Meister_000

The Paris Gun

By late 1916 this bad-boy, the German built Paris Gun, was no doubt already on the drawing boards. First use was March 1918.

[Actually, I just got the proof of that here:
The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia
edited by Spencer C. Tucker p.539  Screen shot of book page is attached below.
https://books.google.com/books?id=T0FdAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA539&lpg=PA539&dq=paris+gun+design+history&source=bl&ots=Snu4hBGPWc&sig=P8YngLnrbgAgN1QxJmkRv9aq9nA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjp2p_s8LfKAhVCy2MKHcDhDeMQ6AEIYTAN#v=onepage&q=paris%20gun%20design%20history&f=false ]


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mjhoJaIgxDM

http://www.britannica.com/technology/Paris-Gun
Paris Gun
Written by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica
Paris Gun,  any of several long-range cannon produced by the German arms manufacturer Krupp in 1917â€"18 during World War I. The guns were so called because they were specially built to shell Paris at a range, never before attained, of approximately 121 km (75 miles).

The guns were fabricated by adding a tube to the barrel of a 380-millimetre naval gun. The barrel was thus elongated to about 34 m (112 feet), weighed 138 tons, and needed supports to hold it straight. A charge of 250 kg (550 pounds) of gunpowder was used to propel a shell out of the barrel at a velocity of 5,260 feet per second. The extremely long range of the guns (35 km had been the previous range limit for shellfire) was achieved by sending the shells on a trajectory 39 km (24 miles) up into the stratosphere, where atmospheric drag was almost nonexistent. After modifications, the Paris Guns were initially 210 mm (8.2 inches) in calibre, but successive firings eroded the inner linings of the gun barrels and their calibre was increased to about 240 mm. The Paris Guns were moved to their emplacements near the German front lines on railway tracks and successively carried out an intermittent bombardment of Paris over a period of about 140 days, beginning in March 1918.

Since it was based on a naval weapon, the gun was manned by a crew of 80 Imperial Navy sailors under the command of Vice-Admiral Rogge, chief of the Ordnance branch of the Admiralty.[1]:66 It was surrounded by several batteries of standard army artillery to create a "noise-screen" chorus around the big gun so that it could not be located by French and British spotters.

The projectile was the first human-made object to reach the stratosphere. The historian Adam Hochschild put it this way: "It took about three minutes for each giant shell to cover the distance to the city, climbing to an altitude of 25 miles (40 km) at the top of its trajectory. This was by far the highest point ever reached by a man-made object, so high that gunners, in calculating where the shells would land, had to take into account the rotation of the Earth. For the first time in warfare, deadly projectiles rained down on civilians from the stratosphere".

The Paris Guns killed about 250 Parisians and wrecked a number of buildings, but they did not appreciably affect French civilian morale or the larger course of the war.


Jackstar

Quote from: Meister_000 on January 20, 2016, 02:26:04 AM
The Paris Guns were moved to their emplacements near the German front lines on railway tracks

I played that Enemy Territory map a lot.

Rix Gins

January 20, 1916.  British steamer SS Trematon voyaging from Karachi to London with a cargo of grain was sunk by gunfire and shelling from a German submarine (U-35, commanded by Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere) 180 miles out of Malta.  No Casualties. 


                                                                SS Trematon

               
                           U-35                                          Kapitänleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière

Rix Gins

Here is a fascinating magazine that came out of Canada in 1916.  In fact, this particular mag. was issued on January 19, 1916.  Lots of cool articles, ads, photos and war news.

http://wartimecanada.ca/document/world-war-i/contemporary-accounts/illustrated-war-news-january-19-1916

GravitySucks

From the Omaha Bee January 20, 1916

The most wonderful motion pictures ever shown in Omaha

And they are all motion pictures about tractors...

Quote from: GravitySucks on January 20, 2016, 06:55:43 PM
From the Omaha Bee January 20, 1916

The most wonderful motion pictures ever shown in Omaha

And they are all motion pictures about tractors...

The "Rude manure spreaders" sound interesting.  I wonder if there were any polite ones.

Rix Gins

An item from Illinois, one hundred years ago.  A building burned up the previous Monday but the brick walls were left to stand for insurance purposes.  Then, a stiff wind started blowing on the following Thursday.  The walls began to move back and forth.  Well, you would think that the walls fell over and that would be the end of it, but no.  I guess people were a bit less cautious back then, but...well..read for yourself.

http://www.mihp.org/2012/12/january-20-1916-lowe-building-wall-collapses/

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