#anyways these buildings were built in 1865

[antarcticajoy]

I've been getting paid to walk around 150 year old buildings we BALLIN

featuring this pretty hinge off a door I've been working on

[millingroundireland]

John Mills the canal boat captain?

Scenic view of the Glens Falls Feeder Canal pathway for biking, jogging and walking, courtesy of lakegeorge.com

Last fall, in an effort to learn more about John Mills, I emailed the historian of the city of Glens Falls, Wayne Wright (historian@cityofglensfalls.com). I told him that

I have been researching my family genealogy and know that my ancestors on my mom's side, who are part of the Mills family (headed by John R. Mills and his wife Margaret), lived in Warren County, NY from 1835 until 1876 (year of John's death). But, from the censuses and other records, it seems they only lived in Glens Falls from 1849 until possibly 1854, since the 1855 NY State Census shows the family in Bolton. Anyway, my great-great grandmother, Dora Mills, the daughter of John and Margaret, was born in Glens Falls in 1849 and married Cyrus Winfield Packard in November 1881 at the Methodist Episcopalian Church in your town. So, living in the town was an important part of the lives of the Mills family. I have already contacted the Warren County Records Center to request records for which I got a number of photocopied records for great expense, focusing on naturalization records, certain county histories, some census documents (1865 and 1875), and other assorted records. If there are any resources you have on the history of Glens Falls or the Mills family, however, unlikely, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.

What he told me was very interesting "I checked all of the sources that I have and the only reference I found to a John Mills was as a canal Boat Captain on a boat that traveled on the Glens Falls Feeder Canal.  The name simply appears on a list of Captains with no further information." If this was the case, what does it mean? Well, it is already clear that Irish immigrants participated in canal building, especially in Boston, New York, and New Orleans. In the case of John, due to the fact that he came to the U.S. in 1835, as noted on this blog before, he could have participated in the "enlargement of the feeder canal and dam in 1843-1845." Even so, he endured a level of discrimination, even in the 1830s and 1840s, but promoting development on its banks:

Mills and factories sprouted up along the Feeder Canal’s banks. There were six boat basins for loading, unloading and repairs. The bounty of the North Country – lumber, lime, marble, paper, clay, apples, and potatoes – was shipped to New York City and southern markets from Queensbury, Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Kingsbury and cargo, including coal, was shipped into the area. The Feeder Canal enjoyed prosperity for about 100 years until newer and more efficient transportation routes were established.

This post was originally published on WordPress in October 2018.

More than this, the feeder canal supplied "water to the summit level of the Champlain Canal since its its completion in 1828" with its main purpose to ensure that "the Champlain Canal's summit level had sufficient water even in times of drought. The feeder's water supply was directly from the Hudson River north of Fort Edward near Glens Falls. Locks were built along the canal which allowed boats to travel the length of the canal and enter the upper Hudson River." Interestingly, the same year that John came to the U.S., "the guard-lock at the northern end of the Glens Falls Feeder was rebuilt of stone" and the next year after that "the entire feeder canal was approved to be enlarged and have 12 of the 13 wooden locks rebuilt with stone," with the improvements not finished until 1839. So, he may have been working on this, without doubt. This is important since this feeder canal was "one of the first instruments of commerce in Glens Falls." The canal stands today as "the last remaining original canal in New York State and an integral part of the state's 524 miles of canals and offers a glimpse into the past" as claimed by the tourism department of Warren County. Additionally, not only was Glens Falls, a high point on the Hudson River, but it is "still used as a water source for the Champlain Canal and a local paper mill today"!

More than that, let us consider what the Warren County Historical Society said in their Rewind publication of October 15, 2017: that the first steamboat in the region was launched in 1824, in service until 1837 and that the feeder canal opened in 1832, and was widened "in 1845 to allow two canal boats to pass in opposite directions." Furthermore, let us recognize that, as another Rewind article noted earlier in 2017, that the "Feeder Canal carried logs, lumber, limestone, cement, coal and paper products in a thriving economy in Queensbury and Glens Falls. After 1930, the canal was no longer commercially viable." As such, it fits with what Charles F. Goss wrote in his biography of RBM I in 1912: "John R...Mills...was a miller by trade and engaged in his business for a number of years at Minerva, New York." It also fits with an upcoming post, later this year, on Warren County and the Adirondacks.

© 2018-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[travelfilmable]

All things POTTTER!

Oh Harry Potter, my childhood films there was not a film that would come out that my friends didn't scream "THE NEW HARRY POTTER IS OUT, WE NEED TO GO, WE NEED TO GO" so as expected we went, after all it was that or staying at home watching whatever your parents wanted to watch (BORING). If you didn't know, Harry Potter came to our screens in 2001 and was taken away in 2011, the fantasy world written by J.K.Rowling,  followed 3 young wizards into the world of magic fighting the ever lasting return of he who shall not be named (Voldemort.. Voldemort..). The 8 part series of films grossed over a billion dollars! if that's not telling you how popular it was then i don't know what will.

Mr. Potters lasting shenanigans over the 8 films kept us on the edge of our feet, waiting for the final fight between Harry and Voldemort, which did not disappoint. To this day the Harry Potter franchise is still very popular from the streaming of its films (SKY HAS A HARRY POTTER CHANNEL), merchandise and the visits to the movie scenes. Now for my British audience we don't have to go far to visit these amazing scenes, personally I visited the village where the train to Hogwarts (Hogsmeade station) located in Goathland, Yorkshire embarked on its next adventure. - A brief overview of some of the places you can visit, don't worry i will be adding a comprehensive guide soon on my website: 

So lets move onto where you can take your next adventure. 

Goathland, Yorkshire: 

I visited here with my university group back in 2017, as part of our tourism course. It was inspiring to think just a few years previous, this scenic North Yorkshire Village became the ending scenes of the Philosophers stone. You know, all the trouble the 3 wizards had been through that year, they return back to Hogsmeade station where Hagrid see's them off.  Build in 1865 and going virtually unchanged throughout the decades, the North Yorkshire Village of Goathland located within North Yorkshire Moors, it is free to visit here as part of a screen tourism escape, you can also take the stream train to immerse yourself in the experience of Harry Potter (although it wont be the Hogwarts train, the steam train still has the benefit of giving you the fantasy of traveling to Hogwarts yourself. London, Britain

Australia House: Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone: 

This is where the magic started, the shots taken here were of the interior shots of Gringotts, remember the miserable goblins who ran the bank? yes, here we go! you can actually visit this place for free! albeit you cannot actually go inside but being able to view this on your trip round London or as part of your Harry Potter tour of the city, it is well worth seeing, you might run into some miserable goblins along the way. 

Kings Cross Station: every movie: 

We all know this famous place, were all the students of Hogwarts descend into chaos getting on the train for the next school year running into the famous brick wall (this always made me cringe or laugh when Harry and Ron couldn't get through), you can actually visit, have your picture taken along side the Trolley in the wall with the rightful Gryffindor scarf and visit the Harry Potter shop to indulge in their wide range of merchandise (even the books and films!). If you wanted to visit here it is completely free and best of all you can start your unofficial tour here! (because this is where it all starts.. right?). You can also visit St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, which in the Chamber of Secrets, it was used as the entrance to King's Cross Station. 

Claremont Square: Order of the Phoenix, Deathly Hallows part one

This place is just awesome, the special effects to move the houses was just unbelievable, we as Harry Potters fans would remember this little gem as the hide out for the Order of the Phoenix, also known as 12 Grimmauld Place, the ancestral home to Harry's Godfather Sirius Black, but is also invisible to muggles (so bring out your inner wizard). The shots are only of the exterior of the housing but the nostalgic part is remembering the scenes of escaping wizards, plotting new plans and remembering that little moment between Sirius and Harry together as family. 

Leadenhall Market: Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone

The exterior of Diagan Alley and the Leaky Cauldron. Build in 1881 it is one of London's Victorian Markets, walk in the shoes of the character you want to portray and lead yourself down the beautiful scenes of this historic market, its free to enter! 

Millennium Bridge: Harry Potter and the Half Blooded Price

Construction of the Millennium Bridge started in 1998, completed on the June 10th 2000 (Visit Britain, 2021), just before appearing on the Half blooded prince. This little beauty featured in one of the most tense scenes in Harry Potter, the Millennium Footbridge collapses! take a walk across the bridge, you might see some death eaters along the way.. I'd hold on for dear life.. 

Reptile House, London Zoo: Harry Potter and Philosophers Stone

This building was used as as whole, and was the baseline of the storyline where Harry learns he can speak to Snakes and liberates the Burmese Python. This was actually a cool way to show Harry's special skills. But I think I'd preferred it if Harry set the snake on Dudley, I will just settle for him being trapped in the snakes home instead. This will set you back a little money but for the attractions here you can make a day of it as too fulfilling your Harry Potter experience. Child (14.85) Adult (19.80). 

Durham Cathedral: Philosophers Stone; Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban

HOGWARTS! well, part of it anyway. This beautiful cathedral was used as severalexterior and interior shots of Hogwarts, founded in 1093 and proclaimed as a World HeritageSite in 1986, visiting this Harry Potter Favorite per guided tour will set you back£5 per person, admission into the tower (Adult - £5, Children under 16 - 2.50).

Alnwick Castle: Philosophers Stone & Chambers of Secrets

Another part of the exterior of the famous Hogwarts castle, Alnwick Castle was used as part of Philosophers stone and Chambers of Secrets, with its gothic features and architecture it's easy to understand why this was used as the exterior for Hogwarts. The exterior is recognizable as the area were Harry and fellow wizards fly their broom sticks with Madame Hooch, and also were Harry learned he would be an excellent Quidditch player. The courtyards of this impressive castle is known for the background as the wizards walking outside and around the castle, it is also where that cool scene of Harry and Ron crashing Mr. Weasleys car into that dam tree! A very nostalgic place to visit for your Harry Potter fix, although it is a public place, why not dress up and really play your favorite character as they would many years ago.

Here you can visit in Alnwick, within the English County of Northumberland,you can travel here by train / car. however there are fee's. Castle Entrance: Adult £14 - Child £7.20 Garden: Adult 11.50 - Child £4.18Castle & Garden: Adult £23.85 - Child £9.88 (these prices are subject to change)

If anything the money is worth it for a family day out or take your friends and to really immerse yourself in the fantastic role play of Harry Potter. 

Malham Cove: Deathly Hallows part one

This little gem of a place is where the Harry and Hermione hide from Voldemort. Ron had already stormed off due to his paranoia (horcruxes problems!) and the two young wizards were forced to set up camp to figure out their next move. This place seems hidden away, however it is actually 1km north of the village of Malham. Uniquely shaped from a past river, its any wonder why the writers of Harry Potter had chosen it. British hidden gems seem to be the best place. You can visit here for free (fee for parking), this would be a great opportunity in the summer for a day out,  Take the day to find horcruxes, play within the roles of your favorite characters and believe he who shall not be named is after you. 

Lacock Abbey : Philosophers Stone & Chamber of secrets 

Ah Snape's potions class, poor Snape having to deal with these young wizards that don't have a clue, even though all he ever wanted to do was the Dark Arts class. You can also visit the Potters Parents home! Deep within Lacock, you will find a perfectly normal family home, with a dark secret, the wizards had it re-built to keep muggles non-the wiser, but we have all seen this in the Philosophers stone, its an awful wreck! You can visit here on a day tour including return bus travel, a visit to Salisbury and Bath £54 for Adults - £44 for children. Virginia Water: Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire This beautiful place was used as Hogwarts Lake, where Harry rode on the Hippogriff in the Prisoner of Azkaban and were Hermione passed on messages through the Goblet of Fire to Harry and Ron. Spooky.You can visit here for free, its location is just off Heathrow Airport (M3 & M4 for maximum accessibility). 

Ashridge Wood: Goblet of fire (Hertfordshire)

The woods were the Quidditch World Cup is held. Free to visit (visitors centre - 10am-4pm)

Seven Sisters country Park: Goblet of Fire

This Scenic view and a marvelous walk is the seven sisters cliffs were used as the background where Harry walks up the fill to find the transportation boots that will take him to the Quidditch World Cup. It is free to take a walk alongside this beautiful Area, Parking will set you back around £3.50 for the day, but that is cheap to be able to take a walk around the area where Harry had taken that faithful walk. 

Hardwick Hall: Deathly Hallows

The main setting for the death eaters meeting at the Malfoy Mansion, The main hideout for death eaters, it was also were poor muggle professor Charity Burbage was eaten by Nagini (Voldemort's snake) as she wasn't a true believer in pure bloods. Located in Chesterfield, you can drive here and park for free! although going inside the manor will cost; Adult 12.60 & Child £6.20. Well worth to see the Malfoy manor surely. 

Gloucester Cathedral: Philosophers Stone; Chamber of Secrets and Half blooded price

This beautiful cathedral was used for various of shots inside these films, walking through these manors would feel like walking within Hogwarts itself. Imagine yourself as a young wizard walking to your next class or waiting for Voldemort to come get you!, Located in Gloucester, it is free to visit and have an imaginative day out to really immerse yourself into the Harry Potter lifestyle. If you really want to feel the full experience of the Harry Potter tour, you can take your own wizarding walk through the city, walk in the steps of your favorite characters or take the Harry Potter Bus Tour of London. The length of the tour is 2-3 hours, highlights include, Luggage Trolley Pictures with Platform 9 3/4, Walk in the footsteps of Hagrid and Harry going all the places they travelled within the first film, visit the entrance to the Ministry of Magic and the location used for the Leaky Cauldron; Learn some movie-making scene secrets in different locations. Prices vary throughout the year; so take a look here: Harry Potter Bus Tour of London | VisitBritain | VisitBritain (visitbritainshop.com)

Other places to visit: London City Hall - Greater London Authority 

Great Scotland Yard - where Harry and Mr. Weasley entered the phone box into the ministry of Magic, no phone box though! it was only a prop (GUTTED)

Piccadilly Circus: Exterior shots of the 3 wizards rushing through London's west end for safety from the dark wizards.

New College (Oxford): Goblet of fire- where everyone sports the "Harry Stinks" badges during Triwizard Tournament (£3 fee).

[juniorformulamotorsport]

Wednesday, 17th September 2019 – Illkirchen, Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, Colmar

Wednesday morning, with even more insect bites decorating both of us, we got ready to check out and move on. I’d been for a run before breakfast and stopped off at the rather odd park near one of the tram stops. For reasons I couldn’t begin to fathom, the park contained a number of “Easter Island” heads. No. I have no idea. Apparently Place Malraux contains an Armenian Oak, which counts as a remarkable tree, but there’s no connection there that I can find. And the really weird thing was that they wouldn’t be the only Easter Island head style sculptures we would encounter, we would find more on the penultimate day of our holiday.

Anyway, they amused me. By 10:30 we’d got the car packed and were ready to go. Our landlady turned up on time, despite us not having done so on check-in and we were soon on our way to  Robert Blanck to buy the wines we’d decided on. That was easily achieved, and the lovely lady serving us insisted on slipping a few extra goodies in (a couple of “top hat” Champagne bottle stoppers), especially after we bought a creme de peche as well (made from vineyard peaches) and we wended our way onwards to Famille Hauller, but could find no one around, despite Ludovic having suggested he would be there between 11 and 12. We decided to save Domain Sylvie Spielmann for later in the afternoon and thus headed for Chateau Haut-Koenigsbourg. We’d heard more about it on our wine tour, when Olivier asked if anyone on the tour was a “Lord of the Rings” fan, because if so we needed to visit the castle. Apparently “some guy” had used it as inspiration for some of the set design. Given our proximity to Switzerland, Lynne and I put two and two together and figured he was probably talking about John Howe, the Canadian artist who lives in Switzerland and who was one of the two artists deeply involved in the look of Peter Jackson’s films. A minimal amount of research later and I’d confirmed this was indeed the case, and that there’d even been an exhibition there last year. We had to go. There was no choice, not when the information I’d found said: “Several decades later, John Howe, the famous illustrator of Heroic Fantasy publications, fell in love with the château’s mysterious atmosphere on his first visit here during the 1980s. He used it as the inspiration for the design of the Citadel of Minas Tirith after he was appointed to the post of Conceptual Designer for Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy”. Just for good measure it also appears in its real form in Jean Renoir’s 1930s masterpiece, “La Grande Illusion”, and the considerably less famous “Les aventures d’Arsène Lupin” in 1956, but to keep the masterpiece theme going, it can also been seen in the animated classic “Howl’s Moving Castle”. 3 out of 4 then!

We drove up a winding and slightly white-knuckled road and eventually found ourselves on the loop in the road that leads up to the castle and then back down again. It was very, very busy and we decided that we’d try and get a good parking space rather than having to flog up the hill on what was another hot day. As we passed the apex and started to drop back down again we found a space that was actually big enough for my car (and it’s not a big car). And then we looked up! The castle is a monster of a structure, and looks just like you think a medieval castle should, looming massively against the skyline.

Its history, however, is slightly different to what you might expect, as with so many things in this part of the world. There’s mention of the Buntsandstein rock as Stophanberch (Staufenberg) in a 774 deed issued by Charlemagne, and it crops up again in 854, by which time it belonged to the Basilica of St Denis and may have been the site of a monastery. It all goes quiet again until 1147, when there is a record of a castle built by the Duke Frederick II of Swabia, one of the Hohenstaufens and called Castrum Estuphin, something the monks were not happy about as the record is a complaint to King Louis VII of France about it. The offending builder’s younger brother Conrad was elected King of the Romans in 1138, and was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick’s son, Frederick Barbarossa in 1152 and it wasn’t long before the name of this commanding fortress changed to Koenigsburg (king’s castle) or Kinzburg.

Eventually it passed to the Dukes of Lorraine, who entrusted it to the local Rathsamhausen knightly family and the Lords of Hohenstein, but the behaviour of a gang of robber barons who used the castle as a hideout so enraged the neighbours that it was occupied by the Elector Palatine in 1454, and less than a decade later it was set ablaze by the unified forces of the cities of Colmar, Strasbourg, and Basel. The Habsburgs handed the ruins over to the Tiersteins who rebuilt and enlarged the castle, supposedly in a way that meant it would be able to withstand modern artillery fire. No one told the Swedish artillery forces who broke through and overran the castle during the Thirty Years War and it was finally burnt to the ground in 1633 and left to fall into ruin for a couple of centuries. You wouldn’t know it though.

It was classified as an historical monument in 1862, and in 1865 it was bought by the town of Sélestat. There were plans to restore the place, but there were no funds to complete the work. Alsace was in one of its phases of being part of Germany, so the ruins of the castle were offered to Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1899. Having abandoned his plan to restore Schloss Rheinfels, he must have pretty much snapped their hands off. What followed was a remarkable 8-year long building project, where money was no object, and the most modern techniques were used. The castle would be completely restored, with the emphasis on as much historical accuracy as possible. To that end, a young architect, Bodo Ebhardt was put in charge. It helped that he was also an architectural historian, a castle explorer, and the founder and longtime president of the German Castles Association (Deutsche Burgenvereinigung). He was very thorough and after he had analysed the remaining ruins and façades, he read up as much as he could in old documents and records, and looked at other castles to draw comparisons.

He even made sure that those who came after would be able to easily identify the new parts of the walls, creating a new set of ‘mason’s marks’ to be used on any replacement stones, and gave different marks to different years. You can still see the marks if you know what to look for. It’s a fabulous place with some startling detail and although much of it is not authentic, you can completely forget that as you go round.

After an 8-year build, on May 13th 1908 the château was unveiled to the public with a parade and pageant involving five hundred performers in period dress. Of course after World War I it reverted back to being French, and became a tourist attraction, though apparently the French visitors would regularly criticise the restoration work because it had been carried out by the enemy. Surviving both World Wars undamaged the building was classified as a Monument historique (listed building) in 1993 and is now owned by the Conseil Départemental du Bas-Rhin.

As we wandered around, the views were staggering. You could see just why anyone with an ounce of strategic sense would want to build a fortress on just this spot. No one is going to be able to sneak up on you, that’s for sure.

After a couple of hours poking into all the nooks and crannies, we reckoned we needed a refreshment stop. The Library restaurant offered all sorts of options including some and cake. We were booked for dinner at our hotel that night and really didn’t need any more than a light snack. As there weren’t any of those on offer (Alsacian cuisine really does lean towards German sized portions, or at least ravenous vineyard worker sized portions alongside French refinement) I had a slice of mirabelle cake, and a bottle of cold water.

We had a look around the medieval garden that had been set up outside, but it had somewhat gone over due to the extremely hot weather and a general lack of care. Afterwards, we sauntered back to the car and headed over to Sylvie Spielmann, where we made a massive dent in our wine buying budget. We also made a massive dent in the bottom of my car when we collected a piece of ironwork that was sticking up out of the sandy base level that a road under reconstruction had been reduced to. It got stuck, dragged along for several feet, and I was only able to get off it by reversing and then rocking forward a couple of time. I’ve yet to figure out what damage has been done precisely, but it is going to need looking at.

From there we reloaded the car again, shuffling everything round as best we could to keep the next night’s bags at the top of the luggage pile, and headed to Colmar and the our hotel for the next three nights, the Hostellerie Le Maréchal. We arrived in good time, and unloaded. I then had to drive the car to the nearby underground car park, because a hotel built in 1595 isn’t going to have built in car parking! It was a hot walk back and I annoyed myself by leaving my handbag in the car and having to walk back again almost immediately. Once in though, we were able to get ourselves organised and cleaned up and then investigate the possibility of an aperitif in the hotel bar prior to dinner in their restaurant a l’Echevin.

We had a lovely view from our window of the canal and some of the typical local barques which were the only vessels shallow enough to navigate from the market garden areas to the market hall back in the day, and which now carry tourists up and down.

Colmar looked lovely, the hotel was glorious, we had one of the suites with a “Little Venice” view, and we looked to be in for a lovely stay. As we had dinner at the hotel twice, I shall write about that elsewhere.

Travel 2019 – Alsace and Baden, Day 6, Illkirchen, Orschwiller, Colmar Wednesday, 17th September 2019 - Illkirchen, Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, Colmar Wednesday morning, with even more insect bites decorating both of us, we got ready to check out and move on.

[rocketwerks]

Cameron & Cameron

AKA, Kinney Tobacco Co., Cameron Kinney

2500 East Cary Street

Built, 1884

[RVCJ93] — showing Cameron & Cameron’s Tobacco Factory

A family dedicated to making book on the weed.

(VCU) — 1889 Baist Atlas Map of Richmond — Plate 13 — showing the building’s original incarnation as the Kinney Tobacco Co., with Alex Cameron & Co Tobacco Factory right across the street

The firm of Alexander Cameron & Co. operates a plug tobacco factory here in Richmond; Cameron & Cameron are manufacturers of cigarettes, cheroots, smoking tobacco, long cut and cut plug at Richmond also. William Cameron & Bro. make plug, twist and navy tobaccos at Petersburg. The principals in Alexander Cameron & Co., are Alexander Cameron, of Richmond, and George Cameron, of Petersburg, and they are proprietors also of the Petersburg works. Alexander Cameron, Jr., is associated with them in their Australian trade, and is manager of all their affairs in the Antipodes.

(Find A Grave) — Alexander Cameron

Alexander Cameron & Co. have been established since 1865. Cameron & Cameron are successors to a business founded in the same year, and William Cameron & Bro. dates from 1856. The head of the house here and general manager of its affairs is Mr. Alexander Cameron. He personally directs the business, with the assistance of experienced heads of departments. He is considered one of the most enterprising, broad-minded and liberal residents of Richmond. Pie is accredited with a very large part in that industrial restoration which has come over the South, and especially this city, since the war.

(Antique Advertising Expert) — Cameron & Cameron tobacco tin

They make a specialty of high-grade goods, and have for their principal customers the best foreign and home trade.

They have, indeed, a world-wide business. Besides their vast Australian business, they have trade in India, South Africa and very largely, also, in all the British Isles, provinces and dependencies.

May 2019 — looking toward 2500 East Cary Street, western prominence

The plug tobacco factory of Alexander Cameron & Co. is situated at 2400 to 2422 Cary street, and 16 Twenty-fourth street. Their premises there comprise a brick factory on Cary street, 44 by 160 feet, and five stories high, and a warehouse and stemmery on Twenty-fourth street, 44 by 140 feet, and also five stories. The factory is fitted up with the most improved machinery, driven by a Green steam engine of 100 horsepower, with four boilers of 200 horse-power capacity, for drying purposes. From 200 to 300 hands are constantly employed in it, and it has a capacity for 1,500,000 pounds of manufactured tobacco yearly.

May 2019

The stemmery, also a massive brick structure, has a capacity for an equal amount of strips and leaf. The annual consumption of coal in the entire establishment is about 2,000 tons.

All styles of plug, twist and navy are produced from dark and bright leaf ; and from the stemmery are shipped dark and bright strips. The leading brands made in this factory are the "Venus," "Queen of the Seas," "St. Andrews," "Our Game," "Canary," "Cinderella," "Flower of All Nations," "Cable," "All the Rage," "Double Pet," "Signet," "Havelock," "Galatea," "Apollo," "Pioneer’s Delight," "Gloria," and Florinda."

(iCollector) — a tin of Cameron & Cameron’s English Bird’s Eye

The cigarette, cheroot and smoking tobacco factory of Cameron & Cameron is, likewise, a prodigious works, comprehensively equipped, and is included in the block just described. They employ 250 hands here, and have a working capacity for a large output of cigarettes and cheroots, and of about 10,000 pounds of smoking tobacco a day. This factory is famous for its "Gold Medal," "Golden Gate," "Richmond Club," "Favorite," and "Purity" paper cigarettes; "Havanettes," "Three and Five Beauties," "Purity," "Circle Club" "Cuban Sixes," and "Favorite" cheroots; "Cuban Dainties," "Little Darlings," "Little Giants," "Centennial Pets," "Cameron’s Entire," and "Old Hero" all tobacco cigarettes ; and their celebrated smoking mixtures, "Catac," "Golden Square," "Famosa," "Richmond Club," "Richmond Star," "English Birdseye," besides "Canuck," "Purity," "Raleigh," "Virginia Bell," "Favorite," and other brands of tobacco, put up in all styles and shapes, which are celebrated, not only in this country, but in all parts of the world.

[RVCJ93] — William Cameron and Company's Petersburgh Factory

William Cameron & Brother have their Petersburg factory at Perry and Brown streets, in that city. It is a handsome, lofty and imposing structure, of modern architectural design, which a city many times Petersburg’s size might well be proud to have. It occupies the site of the firm’s original factory, which was burned to the ground in 1878. It is four stories high, with an ornamental cupola, and has a front on Brown street of 180 feet, by a depth on Perry street of 240 feet. The offices, warehouse, engine-house and drying-rooms occupy separate buildings, which, together, form a spacious quadrangle, affording ample room for the special work of each department. 

(Google Maps) — William Cameron and Company's Petersburgh Factory today

But of still higher importance than even substantial and capacious buildings, is the machinery with which the various styles of plug, twist and navy tobacco are prepared, and in this respect Cameron’s factory is splendidly equipped. This machinery was manufactured from designs specially prepared for this factory, and is run with three boilers of 250 horse-power capacity and a 100 horse-power engine, and its own electric light plant.

This factory alone employs over 600 hands, which means, in other words, that it feeds nearly 3,000 mouths, and has a capacity of over 2,500,000 pounds a year. Its leading brands, the "Raven," "Havelock," "Two Seas," "Orion," "Canary," "Our Chief," "Peach and Honey," "Mazeppa," and "Pluck," are famous wherever the virtues of superior aromatic "Cavendish" and "Twist" are appreciated.

May 2019 — 2500 East Cary street, eastern prominence

For many years past the management of this extensive and increasing business has received the personal attention of Mr. George Cameron, whose business ability and success have extended the firm’s operations year by year.

The appointments and facilities of the Australian factories of the Camerons are quite equal in every respect to those they maintain in this country. It is not so long since those at Sydney and Melbourne were enlarged and improved at a cost of over £20,000 each. At both of these Australian factories Messrs. Cameron & Bro. have also found it necessary to establish their own bonded warehouse to facilitate the trade there, and these warehouses are under the charge of officials detailed for that special duty by the Colonial Government.

(eBay) — a tin of Cameron & Cameron’s Richmond Club Mixture

The illustrations accompanying this matter show the external appearance of the Richmond and Petersburg factories of this house, and are somewhat an indication also of the scope of its remarkable business.

Mr. Alexander Cameron is an active participant, also, in the good work of the Chamber of Commerce.

May 2019 — show corbeling around the parapet & windows

Cameron & Cameron may be just an old factory building, but despite the Insidious Tree-Architecture Conspiracy making things difficult, it demonstrates how much craftsmanship went into the construction of such places. The highly detailed brick corbeling is completely unnecessary for an industrial building, but the builder did it anyway — an applaudable tip of the cap towards aesthetics.

(Cameron & Cameron is part of the Atlas RVA! Project)

Print Sources

[RVCJ93] Richmond, Virginia: The City on the James: The Book of Its Chamber of Commerce and Principal Business Interests. G. W. Engelhardt. 1893.

[charlesandmartine]

Wednesday 13th March 2019

We were talking to the lady in the Shipwrecks Museum yesterday about her recollections of the children of the £10 poms that came here during her childhood. She recalls several but had no perception of how they felt about the friends and relatives left behind in the old country and if they were sad or not. She said they simply all played together and it never occurred that they could possibly be home sick. Then she said it must have been hard for them at first since the weather here can be harsh in the winter months. It tends to rain a lot and we don't go out in it. Conversely in the summer it is hot and we don't go out in it. We stay in with the air-con on. And it is true, it seems. Aussies don't get outside a lot which is probably why a lot of them are so white. If they do go out, they all sit under s tree. Their homes have fantastic outside shaded sitting areas but it is rare anyone sits in them. TV shows seem to suggest if they want a tan, they use a fake spray tan. This of course is because they have all been scared rigid about the risk of skin cancer. Quite right I am sure, but I suspect they may have overreacted to a degree. We have had conversations with women who have told us of successive operations to burn/ remove possible skin lesions. I asked one such person, in a kindly manner, if she thought maybe some people were making a bit of a career out of this, and she looked at me slightly sideways and nodded, yes I think you might be right, but what can we do. One lady said she had had 27 such ops. She had to pay for each one. The prosecution rests its case.

So we stay outside this morning in the sunshine. This afternoon though we took the free Red Cat bus to the Fremantle Arts Centre where there were 2 exhibitions on display, 'Idols in Perth' and 'A Dark and Quiet Place' by David Noonan. Idols is a work by artists Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran based in Sydney and London based Renee So. Their ceramic works aim to usurp old perspectives on gender, gendered power structures and the aesthetics of spiritualities. (I'm told) David Noonan working in black and white produced a weird slow moving film of objects crossing and disappearing on the screen. Well we sat like lemons watching this thing for about 10 minutes, looked at one another and said we'd get more fun cleaning the BBQ. Anyway, what was more interesting was the building itself. This magnificent property was built in 1861 by convict labour to house the lunatics (they didn't worry about non-pc terminology then) that came off the ships from England, convict or free. Lunatic was a broad term for anyone who did not conform in someway. They received no treatment as such and may therefore have been incarcerated in small cells, dressed as convicts for 20 to 40 years or until they died, whichever occurred first. When it opened in 1865 it housed 58 men and women. The asylum closed in 1900 but reopened in 1909 as a Women’s Home for abandoned wives, destitute women and unmarried mothers. By the end of the 1920s it was deemed a worse residence that the female prison, so it closed. Then in 1942 it became a supply depot for the US Navy. After the war, the poor old building went into decline, crumbling and vandalised until in 1967 the National Trust stepped in to secure funds for restoration. Now it is a beautiful art gallery. When the curator told me about the lunatics, I looked at the works of 'art' in the ceramics exhibition, and I asked if these were the work of the lunatics. She laughed as though she understood my point, but wouldn't confirm.

Before we went home for a BBQ, we called in again to Little Creatures Brewery and had the sampler platter of beer products from the brewery. Eleven small samples of ales each such as Dog Day Session, Rogers’ Beer, White Rabbit White Ale etc. Lovely. We had to have some chips for good measure of course.

Great day.

[joemerl]

“A Swiftly Tilting Planet” is Awful and I Hate It

I don’t know if anybody cares about my opinions, but I built up a lot of bile reading this book and I have to get rid of it somehow.

Background

For those who don’t know, this is the third book in Madeline L’Engle’s Time Quintet, aka “A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels that you’ve never heard of before.” The series involves a family that goes on Science Fantasy-type adventures with beings sent from a vaguely-defined, vaguely Christian bureaucracy of magical aliens. I’ll discuss the previous books a bit, but the series is pretty episodic so we don’t really need to recap them. 

In this story, the world is about to end because a South American dictator has a nuke. Our protagonist, the psychic teenager Charles Wallace, must work with a time-traveling winged unicorn from space to prevent this catastrophe by entering the minds of people from the past. It is much less interesting than it sounds.

Spoilers to follow.

These One-Dimensional Characters Keep Giving Birth to Themselves Like a Flock of Infuriatingly Dull Phoenixes 

The main plot has Charles Wallace travel to ca. 1170, ca. 1693 (Salem Witch Trials), ca. 1865 and ca. 1930s (or whenever Mrs. O’Keefe would have been a kid), plus the then-present day of 1978. Along the way, he chronicles the histories of several families, which include, by my count, about 30 characters who have only half a dozen different names and two personalities between them. 

The Maddox-Llawcaes: Technically two families, but they keep intermarrying each other to the point where I’m seriously questioning how inbred their modern descendants must be. This family was founded by a bunch of cliché Native Americans (stoic, wise, and otherwise devoid of personality) who married some woke Welshmen, repeatedly over multiple generations. They’re good. 

Gwydyr and his descendants: Distant relatives of the above, but descended from their patriarch’s ~evil~ brother. They’re evil and lust after virtuous Maddox-Llawcae women.

The Mortmains: They’re evil and lust after virtuous Maddox-Llawcae women.

The O’Keefes: They’re evil and lust after virtuous Maddox-Llawcae women. Also, they seem to hate disabled people. 

This is arguably a sex-linked trait; the one female character from an “evil” family seems relatively alright, but when she marries a Maddox-Llawcae she still passes evil on to their descendants. This turns out to be the driving crux of this story: Charles Wallace learns that the dictator is descended from that couple and was corrupted by his ancestress’ ~evil~ genes. To avert the apocalypse, Charles Wallace has to change history so that the Maddox-Llawcae man marries a Maddox-Llawcae woman instead. 

It’s pretty much impossible to interpret this as being about upbringing; it’s about blood. "Gwydyr’s line is tainted,” Charles Wallace says near the end. “There is nothing left but pride and greed for power and revenge.” At another point, a Maddox-Llawcae immediately writes off his unborn half-brother as evil because he has a Mortmain father. And he’s right---Unnamed Mortmain Sibling grows up to be a criminal and dies in jail. Hopefully without managing to pass on his dirty, inferior genes first, amirite? 

It doesn’t help that, even separated by centuries, relatives are often described as looking alike and/or having variations of the same names. Of those 30ish characters in these families we have three Mad(d)o(c)(k)/Madogs, two Gwydyrs, five Rich/Ritchie/Richards, three Bran(don)s, two Matt(hew)s, two Duthbert Mortmains (yeah, because that’s a name you want to keep in circulation for 300 years), and most egregiously of all, four of the main female characters are Zyll, Zylle, Zillah and Zillie. (Technically there are three Zillahs, if you count middle names.)

Obviously, genetic determinism is a questionable moral. It’s also really annoying, because each time period has the same basic characters just going through a variant of the same plot. There is hardly any character development across 800 years of history, and no permanent change from good to bad or vice versa.

In a way, this even ruins the previous books---Calvin O’Keefe became a good guy despite his dysfunctional family, but now I get the feeling that this isn’t supposed to be a testament to his strength as a person, it was just his mom’s Good Maddox Genes breaking through the Evil O’Keefe Heritage. But hey, the focus on Mom O’Keefe was nice in this book, since she’s practically the only one who has an actual character arc. 

Though, as you’ll see below, she was not actually needed for this story at all.

This Universe Has No God, Just a Tyrannical Plot Outline

Charles Wallace is the protagonist of this story, but probably gets mentioned on fewer than half of its pages. Mostly, he’s just psychically possessing people, during which time he does not control them so much as see their lives and...vaguely influence them, sometimes. What I’m saying is, he doesn’t really do much in this story. His grand moment, in the penultimate chapter, is to vaguely influence Matthew Maddox #1 to vaguely influence Rich Llawcae #3 to not to get stabbed by Gwydyr #2. This saves the world, but seems somewhat anticlimactic after 287 pages of build-up.

What’s worse: he actually tried to make this story shorter, and save me so much suffering. Unfortunately, “God” wouldn’t let him. At least, for a certain sense of the word. 

The Time Quintet is sort of like Chronicles of Narnia in that it’s a Christian story, but you have to dig a little beneath the surface to realize that. L’Engle’s beliefs were also more liberal than Lewis’, and in this book they seem almost pantheistic: Charles Wallace’s help seems to come less from a personal deity and more from a sort of implied sentience of the universe itself. This usually comes in the form of “the wind,” which blows him and the unicorn to different time periods at its own whim. 

Charles Wallace’s arc is that he is apparently a control freak, and needs to trust God/the universe to lead him, or something. He figures out early on that the key to everything is in 1865, but the unicorn says that no, we have to let the wind blow us where it wants. Twice he tries to fast-track things, and each time he and the unicorn almost die as a result; thus he learns that no, he should not be relying on his own intelligence or logic, he should just ~go with the flow~ and assume that things will work out. 

So basically, Charles Wallace has been tasked by Vague God to prevent the apocalypse, but he’s not allowed to do anything to actually try to prevent it---he’s basically just pushed into random corners and told to stay quiet, with the hope that his presence will change history through osmosis. I find myself comparing this to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. While I have some criticisms of this subplot, in that book Harry is presented with a choice: do what he thinks will save the world (looking into the Deathly Hallows), or what the Omniscient God Stand-In says will work (finding Voldemort’s Horcruxes). That works well enough, but here, Charles Wallace is given the choice between his own ideas and no actual instructions. He’s told to save the world, and then criticized for trying. 

There’s a part where the Echthroi (demons who want the nuclear apocalypse to happen) try to trick Charles Wallace by preying on his ego. This involves telling him he was selected to save the world because he’s intelligent and psychic and is a generally moral person, all of which is true. He rejects this, as he is supposed to, and at the end of the book notes that the mission did not succeed “because I was intelligent, or brave, or in control,” but because he let the wind guide him. Which just leads me to wonder why he was the one chosen to save humanity, when Vague God could have sent anyone else, or just cut out the middle-man and had a unicorn tell Bran Maddox #3 whom he was supposed to marry. 

But what really makes this intolerable? Charles Wallace was right. The key to everything is in 1865, he eventually gets blown there anyway, and it’s the only place where he concretely needed to do anything. So why the hell did we need 40 awful pages set during the Salem Witch Trials?! To teach us that the Salem Witch Trials were bad? Even the whole part in ca. 1930s was pointless---the only plot-relevant thing that we got there were hints about 1865′s importance, which Charles Wallace had already figured out but was scolded for suggesting. Other than that, these sections were just used to hammer in the idea that Maddox-Llawcaes are always good and the other families are always evil. 

So, my rewrite: Charles Wallace goes to 1170 and sees Madoc and Gwydyr. Then he either a.) figures out the importance of 1865 with his family’s help, as he does in the book, or b.) goes to the 1930s and figures things out from the clues there, while also learning the fairly-interesting-but-technically-irrelevant backstory about Mrs. O’Keefe. Either way, he decides to go to 1865, thus justifying his role as protagonist, and the fact that he is actively trying to save the world is not treated as a moral failing. 

Comparisons to the Previous Books, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love at Bombs

This is my third Madeline L’Engle book, and really, these problems were present in the first two, even if they were less pronounced. Both ended with the protagonist (Charles Wallace’s older sister Meg, who arguably is more important than him in this book, too) saving the day with the Power of Love---meaning that she didn’t so much do anything as feel a certain way. Here, Charles Wallace does even less, just watching other people fall in love while his own character arc is in opposition to the actual plot. 

L’Engle’s strength does not seem to be coherent stories or complex characterization so much as weird, cool ideas---for example, a time-traveling space unicorn. But compared to previous books, this one is pretty down-to-earth; after hitching a ride on said unicorn, Charles Wallace mostly just watches people live fairly typical lives. While A Wrinkle in Time’s villain, a demonic alien brain, could theoretically wither at the approach of a sibling’s love, it’s harder to imagine a nuclear war being averted by nothing more than some shoehorned character development. 

For the record, I bought the fourth Time Quintet book at the same time as this one. I really, really hope that it’s better, but it will probably be a while before I get to it. 

Other Nitpicks

The whole clue leading to 1865 involves a book written by Matthew Maddox #1, who’s from that time. It’s about time-traveling unicorns and family feuds and the like, the basic idea being that he witnesses Charles Wallace and all the supernatural happenings and writes it down as a novel. Fine, okay, but people who talk about this novel keep emphasizing how revolutionary and amazing it was, which kind of feels like L’Engle just patting herself on the back for this awful, awful story.

At the end of the book, the time-traveling unicorn erases the memories of Charles Wallace and his sister Meg, for...some reason? I honestly don’t know why he did this; the pair knew about supernatural creatures even before this book, and they can still half-remember what happened anyway, so this seems pretty pointless. 

This line, from the 1865 arc: “When the sons of men fight against each other in hardness of heart, why should God not withdraw? Slavery is evil, God knows, but war is evil, too, evil, evil.” Not a bad point, but juxtaposed to the characters’ passivity I can’t help but snark: “Yeah, why can’t people just love at each other and magically fix everything, right?”

I’m Tough But Fair: Some Good Points

There are time-traveling winged unicorns from space. They eat moonlight, drink starlight, and hatch from eggs, as we see on a brief trip to their home planet. So yeah, L’Engle is pretty good at Science Fantasy weirdness.

Honestly, the other filler chapters were pretty good too, if only because they distract from the annoying main story. Even the purple prose about “the harmonies of the universe” are alright sometimes. 

Like I said, Mrs. O’Keefe could have been cut, but her arc, going from innocent little girl to crotchety old lady to redeemed old lady, was a good one. And her brother being named “Chuck,” like Charles Wallace, actually felt like it meant something instead of being yet another case of Generation Xerox. 

Along those lines, I like that the Murrays didn’t turn out to be some distant cousins of the Maddox-Llawcaes. That would have been annoying.

The 1865 arc was easily the best in the book. Even with the blood-based moral alignments, the characters still had actual arcs about overcoming disabilities, PTSD...like, expand this and cut out the stupid Salem Witch Trial arc, which was so, so bad. Also, was I just imagining it, or was Matthew #1 in love with Zillah #1? ‘Cause him arranging for her to marry Bran #3 is even more touching if he did. 

Conclusion

Um...the book sucked. 

I wrote this over three days, and it wound up being more than 2,200 words. Wow.

[backroadblues]

May 30th, 2017 - Grainau, Bavaria, Germany

Today was our first full day in our beautiful Bavarian Apartment. We all agree that this may be the best apartment we’ve rented on our trip. Our German hostess Carolin is so thoughtful in the way she decorates and equips our rooms and the facilities in general. Not to mention how beautiful our setting is at the foot of the Zugspitze mountain.

Our objective today was to get up early so that we could drive over to Fussen where we would meet our driver for a tour of Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau Castle, Linderhoff Castle and the little town of Oberamergau. This was a relatively inexpensive tour and we soon find out why. Our driver, “Laddo” an Aramaic Turk who immigrated to Germany, will largely just take us to each sight and give us some general narration of the landscape and topography along the way. L'addio says, "on zee right you zee trees, on zee left you zee mountains weet trees, here you zee happy cows." Nothing like the private tours we’ve had in Italy. Each of the castles we will be visiting do not allow private tour guides and we will be utilizing the guides at each location. We are staying in Grainau, which is near Garmisch-Partinkirchen and Fussen is only 21 miles to the west of us. However, it will take us about 45 - 50 minutes to get there because there are mountains and lakes between us and Fussen and the route will take us into Austria and back into Germany, plus there is truck traffic and it is difficult to pass them. Our plan is to depart at 7:30am so we can meet our driver at 9:00.

We had hoped to have a healthy and nourishing / low calorie breakfast here in our apartment. But if you read yesterdays Blog, you know that we weren’t able to order groceries. At least we got some water to go with that 15Euro bottle of Barolo that we picked up at the gas station. We scrounge around in the morning and go through provisions we’ve purchased along the way. We have a jar of peanut butter, some jelly and jam, some honey and Elisa has 4 slices of gluten free bread. Now you have to realize that gluten free bread pretty much tastes like cardboard when it is fresh. You have to imagine what it tastes like after it has been sitting in the back of our car for 4 days. Elisa offers up a couple of slices to us, but there are no takers. Instead we opt for some stale Italian breadsticks with peanut butter. Yes, stale breadsticks taste better than gluten free bread. Carolyn was also able to pick up some bananas at the gas station. They are a little green but she has one anyway. Needless to say, our early makeshift breakfast was relatively light but hey - God forbid any one of us should miss a meal. You have to remember, we gorged our way across Italy like a plague of locusts. In fact, they Italians are declaring the day we migrated north into Austria and Germany as a new Holiday - the day the plague was lifted.

We manage to get on the road at 7:30. Navigation on my iPhone says it will be a 51 minute drive. We do encounter traffic and we end up arriving at 8:45. Fortunately, we are on time. Laddo shows up and explains how things will work. He will take us by mini-bus up to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. Arrange for our tickets and leave us to explore and partake in the guides at the castle. He drops us of at the entrance, passes us our tickets and tells us how to get there and what to see. Our tour starts at 9:55am and it will take about 1 hour. We then can explore the Marienbrucke bridge that overlooks Neuschwanstein and then we can make our way down the hill to visit Schwangau and the Hohenschwangau Castle. He will be picking us back up at 1:00PM to take us to Linderhoff and Oberamergau.

First a little background for you. Neuschwanstein is the famous “fairy tale” castle built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. He built a total of three castles during is short reign. Two of them done in a Baroque / Gothic style but Neuschwanstein was a testament to medieval architecture. What is odd about that, is that King Ludwig ruled from 1865 through the time of his death in 1889. He lived well after the times and eras from the castles that influenced his design. Neuschwanstein, is his most famous and of course the inspiration of a young Walt Disney who would go on to construct his own Castle at the Disneyland theme parks. King Ludwig was a man born in the wrong time. By the time he would inherit the throne as a result of his father’s (Maximillian) passing, the monarchy was practically a figurehead position. By the time of his birth, a Bavarian republic would exist and the parliament would largely govern the people. However, the King of Bavaria would be expected to be involved in the politics of the time, but in reality he had very little power. What he did have though was a large family fortune that was augmented regularly by the Government because of the families former sovereignty. At the age of 18, when he would rise to the throne, he was ill prepared. He led a sheltered life under the tutelage of his mother. He was a learned man with a keen interest in science, music and literature. He would spend his childhood growing up in the Castle Hohenschwangau. This castle had very early roots but it was largely renovated by his father, King Maximillian. As a boy, young Ludwig would look up at the rocky crag of a peak known as Schwanstein, atop of which stood the ruined remains of a much older castle originally built in the 1100’s.

When Ludwig became King he made it be know that he would build a new castle atop Schwanstein - hence the name Neu(new)Schwanstein. However, before he would start work on this castle, he would build Linderhoff castle. It is a relatively small castle, and was used by Ludwig as a summer retreat and hunting lodge. It is basically a one bedroom Bachelor pad. Quite a nice place, I might add. Ludwig, would become a patron of Richard Wagner, a famous German composer of operas and music. Ludwig became totally obsessed with Wagner and his tales. Neuschwanstein would be dedicated to the medieval tales expressed by Wagner.

When we arrive, at the site of Neuschwanstein, we see that it is high up on a hill. There are 3 ways to get there. 1) walk up the hill - it will take 40 - 60minutes, 2) horse drawn carts that seat about 11 people and 3) a bus service. We opt for the horse drawn cart. Carolyn and Trent have been keeping tabs on their various modes of transportation on this trip and this will allow them to “tick one more box”. Our horses today are Roxxi and Shotzi. They are ½ bothers - born of the fame father but different mothers. These are big horses that are pulling the wagon and its payload of 11 people up the hill. Our driver tells us that today Shotzi is being lazy and making Roxxi do most of the work. We soon understand why that might be - because after we are part way up the hill, Shotzi decides to take a massive dump. Our driver courteously pauses the wagons so that Shotzi can finish. The only problem with this is that I am seated directly behind Shotzi and I have a prime viewing and smelling location for the entire activity. After what seemed like an entire bale of “used” hay was expelled, our driver uses the reins to give Shotzi i a swat on the rump and tells him to get going. Soon both horses are leaning into their harnesses and they make quick work of the mountain and we are soon there. We see that we still have about another 10 minute walk up the hill to get to the entrance where our tour will start. We begin to make our way up and we come to a fork in the road and Trent tells us that we should go right. After about 5 minutes of walking up hill, we are suddenly reminded of a time when Trent suggested that a steep set of steps in Positano would take us back to our hotel. They didn’t and guess what, the trail we were on wouldn’t get us to where we needed to be either. So, just like in Positano, we have to backtrack. We make our tour with a few minutes to spare.

As imposing as the Neuschwanstein structure appears from the bottom of the hill, the castle is not really that large. Many of the structures surrounding the castle, really had not practical or structural purpose. They were simply built to honor the medieval and fantasy castles suggested in Wagnerian operas. For example, the towers and spires were largely ornamental. Similarly the large keep that served as an entry to the main castle courtyard was not really used for anything either. One other reason that the actual usable portion of the castle is relatively small is that they had to work with the confines of the mountain top. The original intent was to largely use the foundation of the old castle, but it would prove to be in too bad a condition and it would have to be completely removed and a new foundation would need to be laid. It is said that the original cost estimate to build the castle in 1869 expressed in current value would be about $230 million - but with over runs it would be valued at over $800million. Our guide explains that although King Ludwig would complete the exterior of the castle, only a small part of the interior would be completed prior to his untimely death in 1886. It is suggested that because of the cost of the construction of Neuschwanstein, Ludwig would have to borrow heavily significantly draining the family fortunes. He would be arrested in 1869 while residing at Neuschwanstein, overseeing construction. He would be found to be unfit to rule. He would be held under house arrest at a nearby palace on the shores of his beloved Lake Schwangau. But shortly after being commanded to the residence, his body and that of his personal psychiatrist would be found dead. Although the death is suspicious, it is also suggested he may have committed suicide. That mystery has never been solved. However, immediately after his death, his Uncle Maximillian III would take over the throne and he would immediately halt all construction on Neuschwanstein and one other castle Ludwig had under construction. Within 6 weeks after Ludwigs death, both sites would be opened to the public for a fee - so it became a tourist attraction even back then. Today it draws and estimated 1.5million visitors a year. They come year around to see Neuschwanstein in the different seasons. No one is complaining about How much Ludwig spent anymore - it is a huge moneymaker for Bavaria.

The rooms that were completed include his bedchamber, the kitchen, a throne room - sans throne as it was not constructed by the time of his death. Also completed was a large drawing room. The portions that were completed are really amazing. We think he may have been the Michael Jackson of his time. He was very artistic and everything he did was over the top. Although the castle was a tribute to medieval times, it did include some modern conveniences of the 1800’s - including battery and electric power for certain appliances, and a telephone. What he created is truly a one of a kind monument. If you read about Neuschwanstein on Rick Steves website - and if you recall in one of my very first post, some of the members of our traveling group think Rick Steves is an idiot (#rickstevesisanidiot), especially when it comes to packing tips - he sort of suggests that Neuschwanstein is a faux castle and its too touristy. He suggests that why see this when there are so many “real” castles to look at. From our perspective, we agree it is touristy, but we are certainly glad we didn’t miss it. It is really spectacular.

Our tour of the castle takes about 45 minutes and the requisite visit to the gift shop puts us over an hour. We then decide to take the supposed 15 minute walk up to Marienbrucke - it takes us about double that. It is up a steep hill filled with switchbacks. We huff and puff our way to the top and we are glad we did. The bridge is for walking only and it spans a gorge carved by the mountain stream that has been cascading down the hillside for centuries. The narrow wood and steel bridge is jammed with tourists. There is a staff person there at the entrance to the bridge whose job, I can only imagine is to monitor how many people are on the bridge at the same time. From surveying how many people are out there, I surmise that he pretty much “sucks” at his job. Nevertheless, Trent and I push our way through the crowds and step onto the steel and wood bridge. We feel the boards under our feet flex and sway as we and the many others walk along the bridge. I finally find a spot and before I can take any of my own pictures, I am being bombarded with request from other tourists to take their picture on the bridge with the castle in the background. Finally, the crowd begins to thin out and Elisa and Carolyn make their way out onto the bridge, but just far enough to get some photos. The view of Castle Neuschwanstein is magnificent. Once again Minerva, the goddess of hope, has been with us. The weather forecast called for rain starting at about 11:00 am. But the skies remain clear and the temperature is comfortable.

Once we are done taking photos, we take the shuttle bus back down to the bottom of the hill. Make sure you have a 1 Euro coin on you when you head down. The driver does not make change. By the time we get to the bottom of the village and finish looking at the shops it is about 12:00 noon. We look up the smaller hill to Castle Hohenschwangau and we decide, to have lunch instead of making our way up to that castle. After all, this older and more original castle looks like the servants quarters as compared to Neuschwanstein. Also, by now the weather is very warm and a bit more humid, signaling the coming rain. We dine in a nice hotel restaurant and Trent and I have some nice cold beers. Elisa her water and Carolyn a coke. For Lunch, Trent and I have the grilled Schweinewurtzl (pork sausages) mit sauerkraut and kartoffelpuree (mashed potatoes). It’s very good. Elisa and Carolyn both opt for the grilled salmon. It is very well prepared and cooked just perfectly. Their meal comes with the boiled potatoes and grilled vegetables. Elisa complains that the vegetables are more of a garnish for the plate than a side dish. She loves her veggies and they are often hard to come by at restaurants in Germany. With our bellies full - again - we wait for Laddo, our driver to return to pick us up.

When he comes, he explains that we will be driving for 35 minutes toward the East to get to LInderhoff and then on to Oberamergau. He suggest that we take our car and follow him, as we will be much closer to Garmisch when we end our tour at Oberamergau. We agree, because if we were to return to Fussen with him, we would have an hour drive back to our apartment. The tour is now turned over to his son Auggie. He will be driving us to Linderhoff. We stop along the way for photos at Plansee, the largest lake in all of Austria. It is a beautiful mountain lake with a surface area of approx 3 sq km. and it is about 78 meters deep. The water is a cool blue color from the minerals that runoff the mountains into the lake. It is much cooler here because the weather is beginning to change. The rain clouds called for in the forecast are beginning to form. An interesting side fact about Plansee, is that during WWII, this area was also home to a sub-camp of the infamous Dachau concentration camp. It was here that descendants of the Maximillian royal family were held during the war as they opposed the Nazi regime. At the outbreak of the war the family had fled to Hungary for safety, but were eventually captured. They were then held at this sub-camp of Dachau near the lake. The family members survived their internment at the camp and were released at the end of the war. The one remaining heir to the throne now lives in Munich.

With the photos now complete we head off to Linderhoff. This castle is tucked into the woods, it is so unlike Ludwig’s other castle Neuschwanstein which projects itself into the air and surrounding landscape. Auggie explains that Linderhoff was Ludwig’s summer home a place where he could get away from the politics he detested and where he could be alone. As we walk down a winding gravel lane and emerge from behind a stand of trees there lies Linderhoff. Having just come from Neuschwanstein, we are first taken by its modest size - modest at least when it comes to castles. Ludwig had this castle constructed in the 1860’s. We take our tour with a young man who is very knowledgeable about the castle and speaks perfect English. He explains that Ludwig would come this castle to be “alone” - meaning he would have only 20 staff attending to his needs while at the castle. This castle is a testament to Ludwig’s love of the French monarchies of Louis XIV and XV - the last absolutist monarchs of Europe. This is what he longs for; he would prefer not to have to cede his power to a parliament. He would come to Linderhoff to get away from such politics. This castle is laid out in a symmetrical plan. It has only one bedroom (excluding the smaller rooms for the staff on the lower level). It has a number of drawing rooms for the display of art or musical instruments. It has a throne room where he would receive visitors (but he did not accept visitors here). It has a dining room that is relatively small, because he would typically be dining alone. The dining room had a smallish dining table that would sit atop a platform that could be lowered into the floor where kitchen staff would set his table and food and raise it back up to him, this way he did not even have to see his staff, It was reported by staff that Ludwig would often have the table set for 2 or more people so that he could engage in an imaginary dinner with musicians, artists and other royalty from times gone by. The staff would say they could hear Ludwig have animated discussions with his imaginary guests. Ludwig’s bedroom is huge, measuring about 10 meters square and over 20 feet high. It is designed to reflect the size and adornment of Louis the XIV’s bedroom. Once again with all of its Baroque grandeur it is over the top. The woodwork is all adorned with gold and so many object d'arts are displayed, just as it was during Ludwig’s time. The furnishings, art work and drapes are all original Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take photographs inside of the castles. The tour is relatively quick due to the small size of this 1 Bedroom “bachelor pad”. We spend a little more time walking the grounds. There is some renovation work going on in the “water feature” in the back yard of the castle. This feature is a tall set of cascading steps, where water from nearby springs would feed the fountain. This feature that extends more than 100 meters up the hill side culminates in an ornate fountain of horses. Ludwig had this built so that he could look out at something other than the hillside when he was in bed. Once again a little over the top.

We meet back up with Auggie and he leads us to Oberamergau. This little town is a very well preserved Bavarian villiage. Many of its buildings are painted with storied themes taken from folklore and fairy tales. One such home has scenes taken from Grimm’s fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood. Oberamergau is also famous for the performance of the Passion Play once every 10 years during Christmas. Many of the shops are dedicated to selling Christmas ornaments and decorations. Carolyn and Elisa set off and begin shopping and Trent and I do what we do best and find a sidewalk beer hall. Finally, the weather that had been predicted befalls us and it begins to rain. It is not falling very hard but it falls steadily for about 20 minutes and then stops. By then Elisa and Carolyn are ready to be picked up.

By now it is about 5:00 pm and we find that we have spent the entire day on the road seeing these sites. We also note that once again our step count is at about 15000. We’ve been regularly averaging about 5 to 10 miles per day of walking. We must all be losing weight - oh yeah - I forgot about the plague of locusts thing. Hopefully, we won’t be going home with a lot of “excess baggage” - if you know what I mean. Then I remember an old Italian saying that was shared with us, “tonite we eat - tomorrow we diet”. As we head back to our little apartment we decide that we will stop at a grocery store along the way to pick up just enough provisions to have dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning. Elisa has missed cooking the most so far on our 18 days on the road. So tonight she will cook and with the limited items we have, she manages to make a lovely sautéed chicken dish served over pasta. We have a large dinner salad and fresh fruit cocktail to cap it off. We opened the 15Euro bottle of Barolo that we purchased at the gas station and as you might have guessed, it is not very good and barely drinkable. Imaging that, a gas station not having decent wine. Well, it does come in handy as Elisa uses it in the making of her chicken dish.

For probably the first time on our trip we push ourselves away from the dinner table feeling pretty comfortable and far from stuffed. It is a good feeling. We all relax and catch up on phone calls to loved ones back home, read our email, and do our social media thing. Then 3 of us enjoy the last of our limoncello that we picked up in Italy - we are a little sad. We should have picked up 2 bottles. With the washing machine and dryer available - yes they have a real dryer here - no need to hang clothes out to dry - we catch up on our laundry. Before you know it, it is going on midnight and it is time for bed.

What a wonderful day - again.

Aufwiedersehen!

More later.

[investmart007]

TUSKEGEE, Ala. | History shared but unreconciled in city's Confederate statue

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TUSKEGEE, Ala. | History shared but unreconciled in city's Confederate statue

TUSKEGEE, Ala. — In 1906, when aging, white Confederate veterans of the Civil War and black ex-slaves still lived on the old plantations of the Deep South, two very different celebrations were afoot in this city known even then as a beacon of black empowerment.

Tuskegee Institute, founded to educate Southern blacks whose families had lived in bondage for generations, was saluting its 25th anniversary.

Meanwhile, area whites were preparing to dedicate a monument to rebel soldiers in a downtown park set aside exclusively for white people.

Flash forward to today and that same Confederate monument still stands in the same park, both of them owned by a Confederate heritage group. They sit in the heart of a poor, black-controlled town of 9,800 people that’s less than 3 percent white.

Students from what’s now Tuskegee University once tried and failed to tear down the old gray statue, which has since become a target for vandals. But critics who want it gone aren’t optimistic about removing it, even as similar monuments come down nationwide. “I think it would probably take a bomb to get it down,” said Dyann Robinson, president of the Tuskegee Historic Preservation Commission.

The story of how such a monument could be erected and still remain in place a century later offers lessons in just how hard it can be to confront a shared history that still divides a nation. ___

In 1860, before the Civil War began, Census records show 1,020 white people owned 18,176 black people in Macon County, where Tuskegee sits. The enslaved were mostly kept uneducated. Schooling became nearly as big a need as food and shelter once the fighting stopped in 1865.

Established by the Alabama Legislature through the joint work of a freed slave and a former slave owner, the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute was founded in 1881, according to the school’s official history. Booker T. Washington built it into a leading institution for educating blacks. To this day, it remains a leading historically black university.

By the time of Tuskegee’s 25th anniversary, Washington was widely acclaimed for advocating practical education, character building and hard work to lift blacks from the poverty of the postwar South. William Howard Taft, who would become U.S. president a few years later, attended the celebration; so did industrialist and donor Andrew Carnegie.

Coverage of the anniversary festivities in The Tuskegee News, a white-owned newspaper, emphasized that blacks needed to get along with the whites who had near total control in the old Confederate states.

“Every address from northerner, or southerner, and black gave forth the unmistakable tribute to the value, yea, the absolute necessity of the southern negro doing all in his power to merit the confidence and friendly cooperation of the southern white man …,” the paper reported on its front page. ___

Meanwhile, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, composed of female descendants of Confederate veterans, was erecting monuments glorifying the “lost cause” of the South all over the region in the early 1900s. The women of the Tuskegee chapter planned one for their town.

They staged a musical performance and a chrysanthemum show to raise money for a Confederate statue, according to Tuskegee News accounts. Then, two months after the Tuskegee Institute anniversary, leaders of the white-controlled county government gave the United Daughters the main downtown square to serve as a “park for white people” around a memorial to Macon County’s Confederate veterans, city records show.

The monument, which included the inscribed admonition to “honor the brave,” finally was dedicated on Oct. 6, 1909. The Montgomery Advertiser called the ceremony “one of the largest masses of white people ever before witnessed in Tuskegee.” Confederate flags waved and 13 young women were dressed in crimson and white to represent the Confederate states.

Newspaper stories from the time don’t say whether any blacks attended the event, which included a parade through town, but they most certainly were around. Macon County was around 82 percent black at the time, Census records show, although Jim Crow laws kept whites in firm political control.

The nation’s first black combat pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen, trained in the town in the 1940s, but not until the 1960s did the civil rights movement start changing political dynamics. ___ Blacks were first elected to office in Tuskegee in 1964, but whites still controlled most of Alabama. Frustrated after an all-white jury in another county acquitted a white man accused of murder in the shooting death of a civil rights worker, blacks took out their anger on the Confederate monument in 1966.

A crowd described in news reports as Tuskegee students converged downtown after jurors acquitted white gas station attendant Marvin Segrest in the killing of black Navy veteran and civil rights worker Samuel L. Younge Jr., who was gunned down after asking to use a whites-only bathroom. It took only 70 minutes or so for jurors to side with Segrest.

On a night when rocks flew through windows around the town square, demonstrators went after the Confederate monument. Simuel Schutz Jr., a friend of Younge who participated in the demonstration, said protesters attached a chain or rope to the monument in a bid to pull it down, but failed.

“We didn’t have a vehicle to topple it that night and that’s why it’s still there,” said Schutz, 72, now a contractor in Trenton, New Jersey. But protesters did have spray paint. The next morning, the soldier atop the monument had a yellow stripe down its back with the words “black power” scrawled on the base in black paint.

First elected mayor in 1972, Johnny Ford said he tried to have the monument relocated after taking office and again in 2015. Both efforts failed, as did a few similar attempts during the intervening years.

“Whites oppose moving it and older blacks didn’t want to for fear of upsetting race relations,” said Ford, now out of office after serving more than three decades both as mayor and a state representative from the area.

For some, the statue is just part of the city’s landscape and isn’t much of an issue. “It’s just part of Tuskegee, part of its history,” said Kelvin Stephens, a black man who works in a computer shop across a street from the memorial. ___

The United Daughters of the Confederacy still owns the square where the monument stands, and they don’t plan to remove it. “It is a wonderful addition to the downtown area and has been there for over 100 years, and the United Daughters see no reason for it to change,” said a letter to the city by an attorney for the group, Richard L. Wyatt.

The 2-acre square has been open to everyone for years despite records that show it was supposed to be for only whites originally.

Community members of all colors regularly gather on the green for events including the upcoming All Macon County Day, an annual event that will include hip-hop and rap music.

The city cuts the grass on the square and trims the rose bushes around the monument, but the United Daughters are in charge of the statue itself, officials said.

A United Daughters newsletter posted online shows the Tuskegee chapter faded away in 2001 only to be reactivated with eight members in 2014. A member of the United Daughters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic in town, said the chapter was revived in large part to protect and maintain the memorial.

The few members still in town cleaned the statue after vandals tagged it with spray paint about three years ago, Wyatt said in an interview, but they’ve yet to remove black paint that stains the gray stone following a similar incident in October. No one was charged in the vandalism.

The United Daughters member said the group decided against cleaning the statue after the latest incident out of fear it would only be repeated. “We started to but we decided to just let sleeping dogs lie,” she said.

Mayor Lawrence F. Haygood Jr. has said he understands why some people want the statue gone, but there are no moves afoot to remove it as the one-year anniversary approaches of a deadly confrontation over a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia.

It’s unclear whether anything can be done anyway, since Alabama legislators passed a law last year banning the removal or alteration of sites including Confederate monuments.

In Birmingham, city officials built a wooden box around a 52-foot-tall obelisk that was erected to honor Confederate veterans in 1905 in a downtown park, and the state sued to enforce the law. A judge’s upcoming ruling could clarify whether cities like Tuskegee can do anything about memorials that some find offensive and others revere.

In the meantime, Tuskegee’s stone Confederate stands in the middle of a nearly all-black city, the butt of his musket resting near the feet and the hands gripping the barrel.

“It’s just there in town like it’s always been,” said the mayor.

By JAY REEVES , Associated Press

[rollinpage]

    A large tunnel, for a small island anyway, with several doors set into the sides. There are labels on the doors, but they are all in Japanese.

It’s 1854.  Commodore Matthew Perry has just sailed his black ships into Tokyo bay and forced the Tokugawa Shogunate to open Japan to foreign trade for the first time in more than 200 years.  The sudden appearance of large, modern warships on Japanese shores served as a wake up call and made it clear that Japan couldn’t ignore the march of technology anymore.  Of course, Japan in the late Edo period was not in some kind of dark age, completely cut off from the outside world.  The Dutch had been bringing news, books, ideas, and stories of the outside world into Nagasaki Prefecture the entire time the country was closed. So in spite of the country’s relative isolation, the Japanese government knew what was going on in outside the world.  In fact, I have heard it said that, when Commodore Perry finally met with the Shogun’s representatives, they asked about the recent war the U.S. fought against Mexico.  To the Japanese at the time, though, all of this was so far away. But with the U.S. demanding trade and the British, French, and others waiting in line behind them, it was becoming clear that Japan needed a much stronger navy.  At first, this meant buying used ships from other naval powers, but that was just a starting point.  In 1865, French naval engineer François Léonce Verny was hired by the Tokugawa Shogunate to build two modern military shipyards – the first of these would transform a small fishing village on Tokyo Bay called Yokosuka into a naval powerhouse.

The modern city of Yokosuka as seen from the old battery on Sarushima.

Through out the Edo Period, Yokosuka and the surrounding area was under the direct control of the Tokugawa Clan and the Shogun directly, who had built a few small fortifications control watch traffic in and out of Tokyo Bay, inspecting cargo, and ensuring that no foreign ships or illegal goods entered the country.  Of course, this didn’t stop Commodore Perry and his fleet – a fact not lost on the Shogun and his advisers.  That is why they hired Verny and he got right to work, building dry-docks, repair facilities, and iron works, and even launching the Yokosuka-maru, Japan’s first domestically produced steam ship, in 1866.  This also resulted in the expansion of defensive fortifications into modern coastal artillery batteries.  Following the fall of the Shogunate, the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy took over the Yokosuka Shipyard in 1871, keeping Verny and the other French engineers on until 1878 while they trained the Japanese engineers who would continue their work.  Over time, the Yokosuka Shipyardl became the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal which served as the backbone of the larger Yokosuka Naval District. As the shipyard and port facilities were expanded and additional sites were built and consolidated, Yokosuka became the first of four major naval districts in Japan due to its size and close proximity to the capital in Tokyo.

Battleship Mikasa stands on the waterfront, as seen from the ferry to Sarushima.

Some of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s most impressive and important ships were built and berthed in Yokosuka.   Japan’s first submarines, purchased from the U.S., were brought to Yokosuka,  Japan’s first domestically produced battleship, the Satsuma, was built in the Yokosuka dry docks.  Several of the battleships and carriers Japan used in WWII were built and maintained in Yokosuka.  Like carrier Shikoku and battleship Yamashiro.  Technical schools and research stations were established throughout the Yokosuka Naval District and Eventually and Air Technical Arsenal was established to design new naval aircraft for the Japanese.  Throughout the Imperial era, and right up until Japan’s formal surrender at the end of WWII, Yokosuka maintained its position as the most important naval headquarters in the country.  But, the end did eventually come.  The Naval Arsenal and shipyard were taken over post war by the U.S. Navy, who still use the original dry docks designed by Verny in the 1800s.   In fact, what little still exists of the original Yokosuka Naval Arsenal are mostly on the current American Fleet Activities Yokosuka navy base, where several sites, like the dry docks and headquarters buildings, are still in use.  Even so, many of the bunkers are walled off and off limits, – both on base and off.  This is probably the biggest difference between Yokosuka and the other formal Naval Districts from this time period.  While places like Kure and Nagasaki own their naval heritage and seem proud to show it off to the public, Yokosuka has hidden much of it away, leaving only a few traces of what once was.

The path through the former barracks, carved into the stone of the small island. Today, a raised wooden walkway leads past the fenced, locked structures.

However, there are a couple places that remains of the old Naval Arsenal can still be found.  The best known of these is probably Sarushima, or Monkey Island.  This small island is located a short ferry ride from the battleship Mikasa park and contains the mostly preserved ruins of the old Meiji Period defensive gun battery that once inhabited the island.  It also boasts that it is the only island in Tokyo Bay that hasn’t been extensively altered, expanded, or otherwise changed to make it inhabitable.  The island had been used as a small fortification by the Tokugawa Shogunate for much of the Edo Period, but when the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was established, the island’s defenses were expanded into a modern shore based artillery battery to protect the approaches to Tokyo from hostile ships.  From 1881 until the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the shore battery occupied the entire island with further support buildings on shore nearby.  After the earthquake, however, many of the gun emplacements were damaged, and as technology marched on, they were not repaired.  Rather, the island was converted into a smaller anti-aircraft battery, which was abandoned after the war.  Shortly after the U.S. Navy took over the area, the city started using the island as a marine park, which it still is today.

Sarushima, or Monkey Island. It is said that, during the Kamakura Period, a monk was traveling across Tokyo Bay on a boat when he was suddenly caught up in a storm. which wrecked his boat and tossed him into the sea. When he woke up on the beach, he was certain monkeys had some from the island and saved him, in spite of the fact that no monkeys have ever lived on the island.

So, a few weeks ago, I headed over to Yokosuka, hopped on a boat, and had a look for myself.  In all honesty, from a historical standpoint, it was a little disappointing.  The island itself is a cool place to walk around, appreciate the view of Tokyo Bay, and enjoy a little hiking, BBQ, and nature.  But all of the old buildings and structures are locked and sealed.  Most of the gun emplacements are poorly preserved with just the concrete circle marking where they once stood, with many of the structures around them erased and no other markers indicating what was there.  One emplacement even had a hiking path carved through it.  The observatory at the island’s highest point is chained shut and cut off from visitors.  Meanwhile, there are cones, plastic gates, and caution tape everywhere, almost as if someone considered preserving the remains as a proper museum, but then just couldn’t be bothered.  When you consider the fact that the battery had been reduced by the time of WWII war, and the fact that there are far better sites preserved elsewhere, it hardly seems worth the 1,500 yen for the ferry if you are going to the island for the gun battery.  If you want to see better preserved gun batteries in Yokosuka that were in use during the war, I suggest taking the bus to Kannonzaki Park and hiking up the mountain to see the remains of the old fortress there.  But that is another article for another day.

the path toward the main tunnel,

If you are in the area and have a day to kill, Sarushima is a nice place to visit.  But at 1,500 yen per person just to get there, if you are serious about history, it may not be worth the cost.

  the small cutout in this wooden walkway shows the old, worn stone path soldiers would have walked when the battery was in place.

A path winds around Sarushima

The earthworks and concrete of a large gun emplacement on Sarushima. This is the largest emplacement we saw on the island and the only one with the ammo storage and earthworks still intact.

ammunition storage in a large gun emplacement.

this smaller side tunnel

the current walking path cuts across a smaller gun emplacement.

A locked door and window set into the hillside lined in moss stained bricks. As with most other locations, the small placard is only in Japanese.

Barracks windows set into the brickwork

A locked gate leading into one of the many chambers cut into the hillside on Sarushima.

A sign stands over the pier on arrival to Sarushima, Yokosuka, Japan

  Yokosuka Naval Arsenal: Sarushima Battery It's 1854.  Commodore Matthew Perry has just sailed his black ships into Tokyo bay and forced the Tokugawa Shogunate to open Japan to foreign trade for the first time in more than 200 years. 

[andrea-cristina-travel-blog]

Top “13” Most Haunted U.S. Hotels

(Okay, so 1 in London makes 14, but 13 is spookier.) ? What’sa Matta? U Scurrd? Attention ghost busters and wobbly-kneed chickens, alike. Behold! Here’s your access to the haunted list of lists. Enter at your own risk … Muuuuahahahahaha! Stanley Hotel | Estes Park, Colorado Red Rum!Haunted events have been recorded at the Stanley Hotel since 1911. It was then that housekeeper Ms. Elizabeth Wilson was shocked during a lightning storm. Room 217, where it happened, has become a hotbed for paranormal activity. She may or may not think she is the “gate keeper.” Wha? You say this place looks familiar? Better tighten those boot straps, Pardner. The Stanley was made famous in the movie “The Shining.” And even before the movie, it was known for a deep connection to the paranormal. Haunted events have been recorded at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, as far back as 1911. Be sure to ask for Room 217 (so we don’t have to). Red Rum … Red Rum … Bourbon Orleans Hotel | New Orleans The grand, historic Bourbon Orleans Hotel originally opened in 1827 as a ballroom for glamorous events. By the late 1800s the hotel was acquired by the Sisters of the Holy Family. Their idea was to use it as a school, orphanage, medical ward, and convent. It was then that the yellow fever epidemic struck and leading to the death of many children. It’s said that the ghosts of children and nuns can be seen and heard throughout the hotel. Additionally, there have been several reports of a ghost dancer in the famous Orleans Ballroom. You can book a Ghosts & Spirits Walking Tour, which stops at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel during your visit to New Orleans. Let the creeping begin! Emily Morgan | San Antonio Emily Morgan HotelHoused in a historic neo-Gothic building with a reputation for paranormal activity, the 177-room boutique Emily Morgan Hotel has a prime downtown location across from the Alamo. It also at one time was a medical facility, so the property housed a morgue and a psychiatric ward. Reports of unexplained noises, apparitions, and the feeling of being touched (go ahead and book now if you like) are fairly frequent. If you want to up your chances of a paranormal encounter, book a room on the seventh, ninth, eleventh, or twelfth floors. Also, as a nod to the hotel’s notoriety for paranormal activity, the on-site Oro Restaurant and Bar offers a Psychic Happy Hour with palm readings on Thursday nights – if you DARE! Omni Parker House | Boston Steeped in history, stuffed with ghost lore, and teeming with old-world grandeur, the surprisingly affordable Omni Parker House is the place to stay for a taste of Boston’s literary and political past. The original hotel opened in 1855 and was run by founder Harvey Parker until his death in 1884. Many guests have reported seeing him in their guest rooms, where he’s asked about their stay. After a businessman died in room 303, there were multiple reports of laughter and the smell of whiskey. Stephen King’s short story 1408, which was made into a movie with John Cusack, centers on a writer who experiences a haunted stay at a New York hotel; the story was based on the supernatural activity in room 303. If you plan on staying, do not watch the movie. In fact, you should probably steer clear anyway. It is terrifying … you’re welcome. Langham Hotel | London Not in U.S. – more than creepy enough for this list One of the more notable historical hotels in London, the Langham Hotel has been around since 1865 — when it opened as the city’s first purpose-built luxury hotel. The hotel is a frequent place of lodging for celebrities and royals, and apparently, ghosts. Guests have reported seeing the apparition of a German prince, a German solider and a doctor who murdered his wife and then killed himself on their honeymoon, among others. The spirit of Emperor Napoleon III, who lived at the Langham during his last days in exile, has also been said to occupy the basement. Room 333 is supposedly the most haunted of the guest rooms and is available for booking for any brave travelers and, of course, the unbeknownst (insert creepy laughter here.)   The Marshall House | Savannah Built in 1851, the charming 68-room Marshall House accommodated Union soldiers during the Civil War — and some guests say their spirits still walk the hallways. The oldest hotel in Savannah, it also acted as a hospital three times (always a red flag for hotel conversions) — once for soldiers and twice for yellow fever epidemic victims. During renovations, workers found human remains under the floorboards from long-ago surgeries when the ground was frozen and nothing could be buried. In addition to seeing ghosts throughout the property, guests report hearing children run down the halls, faucets turning on by themselves, and the rattling of doorknobs. The Hay-Adams | Washington D.C. Another spooky thing about Washington Quite possibly the most famous hotel in the capital, The Hay-Adams has hosted many a politician, including the Obamas before inauguration. In 1884, best friends John Hay (Abraham Lincoln’s private secretary and later a Secretary of State) and Henry Adams (the author, and descendant of John Quincy) built their homes on the plot of land where the hotel now sits. In 1927, nine years after Adams’ death, the houses were razed and replaced by the hotel that stands today. Adams’ wife, Marian Hooper Adams, committed suicide on the site in 1885 and her spirit reportedly haunts the hotel. Guests and staff say they can hear a woman crying softly, disembodied voices, and doors opening and closing on their own. Hotel Sorrento | Seattle Built at the turn of the 20th century, the upscale Hotel Sorrento is an iconic Seattle boutique property. It’s said that the ghost of Alice B. Toklas, a woman credited with the invention of pot brownies, can often be seen roaming the halls, particularly around room 408 (you would think it would be 420). Guests have also reported their drinks being moved at the Dunbar Room. To honor her, they have a Ms. Toklas cocktail on the menu that includes lucid absinthe, elderflower, chamomile, honey, and lemon juice — so you can get both a trick and a treat at the Sorrento. Of course, all of this could just be absinthe related … Hotel Provincial | New Orleans What isn’t a little haunted in French Quarter? The two-story Hotel Provincial — with 94 rooms in the historic French Quarter — is a retreat into old New Orleans. Like many New Orleans properties, it also claims to be a popular paranormal activity hub. Like other area hotels, the property acted as a medical facility for wounded confederate soldiers and is said to still possess their spirits. From distressed soldiers and operating doctors to pools of blood, guests have reported it all. If actually staying at the property seems too spooky, it’s also a stop on many walking ghost tours of the city. 11. Omni Shoreham | Washington D.C. Built in 1930, the Omni Shoreham Hotel has echoing ceilings, grand chandeliers, and an allegedly haunted suite. The Ghost Suite, a two-bedroom apartment-style suite with a full kitchen, is reportedly haunted; spirits of the original owner, his daughter, and the housekeeper supposedly linger here. Both the housekeeper, Juliette, and the owner’s daughter, Helen, died in the suite. Once the family was gone, reports of unexplained noises, lights being turned on, and the feeling of someone running by, were made. Travelers can book the suite if they’re looking for the chance of a paranormal encounter – or just need someone to jog with, indoors. Le Pavilion | New Orleans Another New Orleans HauntOften called by many locals “The Belle of New Orleans.”  The Le Pavilion Hotel offers guests turn-of-the-century charm in the heart of downtown Haunted New Orleans.  At one point a few years ago the hotel management hired several local paranormal investigators. They identified several ghosts in the hotel and recorded EVP’s saying “Please, get out” and “Hold on I see you now.”  Another team said they documented 100+ individual ghost and haunted hotspots in the hotel. A third team said this hotel was actually a portal to the other side. We hope you don’t accidentally walk through THAT door. Crescent Hotel & Spa | Eureka Springs Guests who want an extra scare can take a nightly ghost tour of the Crescent. And you may want to. This historic Victorian-style claims to be “America’s most haunted hotel.”  Members of Historic Hotels of America can watch ghost videos and even learn about Eureka Springs’ unusual history. The “fun” peaks during Paranormal Weekend, a three-day, hands-on paranormal investigation event in January. It even includes and everybody is welcome ghost hunt. While completely unrelated, the French Onion Soup is said to be excellent. Queen Mary | Long Beach We’re Just Gonna Take Their Word for ItThis historic ocean liner in Long Beach is considered one of the most haunted places in the the nation, and even beyond. Visitors can sign up for special haunted twilight tours of the Queen Mary. A guide will take you through the ship, right to the supposed paranormal epicenters. Some visitors claim to experience the ghost of a dead sailor. Others say they see children who drowned in the pool or a woman in white. The Queen Mary’s tours even include séances, for the bravest guests. There is even an option for “dining with the spirits.”   Want to save big on your up coming trips? Of course you do. We can HELP YOU BIG TIME at club.mustdotravels.com The post Top “13” Most Haunted U.S. Hotels appeared first on Must Do Travels.

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[belaborthepoint]

How I lost weight and got pretty by contracting gangrene

I want to share a weight loss secret that changed my life. I’ve been struggling to lose weight for a really long time. I ate right, I exercised on a regular basis, but no matter what I did, I still weighed more than a cat. Throughout my life, my only goal was to be featured in a Cosmo article about being skinny and pretty. But every time I tried, some editor would tell me that I was at a healthy weight, and they needed to stay on brand.

So I had an idea. A quick, easy way to lose weight FAST. All I had to do was contract gangrene. First, I consulted my friend who knows about science. She’s really smart and does science for her major. She said the first step would be to build a time machine so I could transport myself back to 1865. Brilliant. I went to Lowes, picked up some slabs of wood, nails, a hammer, and I got to work. I did a lot of construction with my tools and I built my time machine!

Then, I pressed the button that said “1865.” There were a bunch of flashing lights and all of a sudden I realized I was in 1865. I opened the door, and there were all of these people wearing all this stuff that people were wearing in 1865 and saying stuff that they probably would have said. People were churning butter and inventing electricity and everything, it was just bananas, I couldn’t believe it. I was like, “wow.”

The next step was to cut off all my hair and change my clothes since women weren’t allowed to fight in the civil war. I asked some guy to exchange outfits with me and he was like, “okay,” and then I did. This is me in this picture wearing an outfit from the civil war:

As you can see, I also decided to dye my hair and eyebrows just for fun. I couldn’t find a CVS so I just used some mud that I found. That is how people used to dye their hair back in the olden days.

So anyways, I went to the army recruiter and I said, “I would like to defend my country and my homeland!” And he said “okay,” and then he showed me how to use a bayonet and push big cannons around. Then I joined in and starting fighting in the Civil War. I ran around a lot with my bayonet until I got injuries all over my body.

When I got to the hospital, I asked the doctor to kindly refrain from washing his hands before attending to my wounds, and I explained that I was trying to contract gangrene so I could lose a lot of weight and then be pretty and then be featured in an article in Cosmo. He was very understanding and went outside to rub his hands in some dirt before coming into direct contact with my open, festering wounds.

Before I knew it, I got gangrene in all of my limbs, and I had to get them amputated! I started seeing weight loss results immediately after removing my arms and legs. After I removed my torso, I weighed almost nothing and I looked HOT. I got someone to place my head inside of my time machine and press the button for 2017, and then when I got here I just screamed until someone saw my disembodied head and picked me up and was like “HOW did you lose SO MUCH weight??! Tell me your secret!!!!!” Everyone was just dying to know.

Of course Cosmo heard about it immediately and ran a story within the next few days, and suddenly everyone is so inspired to contract gangrene. I tell people that the only downside is that because I don’t have a heart anymore, I’m technically dead, but that’s kind of overshadowed by the fact that I lost so much weight in such a short amount of time, so no one really cares. It just feels so good to be skinny and pretty and achieve your dreams.

[gringaofthebarrio-blog]

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, The Racist Agenda Behind American Propaganda of Liberty and Equality

(Shared from Read With The Gringa)

After the United States had passed the Fourteenth Amendment on July 9, 1868, declaring that all persons born in the United States are citizens, entitled to equal liberty and protection, then later passed the Naturalization Act of 1870, specifically section 7, declaring all African descendants the right to citizenship, this gringa thought that the U.S. was moving away from creating immigration policies that were motivated by power and greed politics. Unfortunately, the administrations of Presidents Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) and Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) seemed to follow a capitalist economic agenda that profited from racist policies designed to exploit a specific immigrant labor class.

The image the United States portrayed to the world of having the moral high ground as a nation of liberty built on Christian principals was, in reality, a sham to dupe the masses. The passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, along with friendly political conversations between Hayes and a racist national labor party leader, reveal the truth behind the wholesome propaganda America peddled to an unsuspecting China during the time of Reconstruction.

Immigration requirements in effect before the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 were:

Eligible for citizenship were free, white, male immigrants, both genders of African descendants of U.S. slaves, and both genders of Chinese peoples.

Specifically excluded from immigration were felons (except for political prisoners), prostitutes of all races, and Chinese men, commonly called “coolies”, who immigrated under a labor contract

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a series of stipulations to affect the conditions of the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868, signed under President Andrew Johnson’s term. That treaty, establishing favored nation status for China, opened up the borders of the United States in order that the Chinese could freely immigrate. In the course of the fourteen years that elapsed between the Treaty and the Exclusion Act, what happened for public sentiment to become so hostile to the Chinese peoples? To understand, we must go back in time seventeen years prior to 1882.

1865 was the year of Union victory over the South in the Civil War. However, this was no time for celebration. The end of the war simply meant that the nation had to be rebuilt. Half of the nation, the South, had been stripped of the labor force that had created its wealth when slavery was abolished. Property values plummeted and vital railroad arteries were damaged. The administration of President Ulysses S. Grant, elected in 1868, would be responsible for overseeing the rebuilding of a nation.

How, then, would the country be able to afford to rebuild? President Andrew Johnson’s great idea was to turn to China and import cheap labor, hence the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868. When Grant took office the following year, his ideas on how to fund the rebuilding of a nation either failed or were exposed for their corruption. One of his first bright ideas was to sign the Public Credit Act in March 1869. Yes, President Grant, let’s solve the problem of not having enough money by paying for goods and services with imaginary money. The gringa thinks Grant might have been a great general, but he obviously never balanced a checkbook.

Later in the same year, Grant would get himself in trouble again by enabling guys, who were already millionaires, to artificially inflate the gold market so they could make themselves some more money. One million dollars in 1869 would be worth about $17.5 million today. Gee, I guess Grant’s buddies, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, were high maintenance if what they already had was not enough so they felt it was okay to rip off a nation of people who were struggling to recover from the destruction of their country. Does the term “war profiteer” come to mind? Yep, it’s nothing new. So, as Grant went along with the plan and the price of gold rose, he ordered the Treasury to sell a big mess of it which then caused the bubble to burst. Wham, take that hard-working Americans scraping to make a dime.

And if that wasn’t a big enough insult to the whole of America that Grant was supposed to be working for, he then got into bed with Union Pacific Railroad during the 1872 re-election campaign, which he needed lots of money to fund. As President, Grant was the leader of the Republican party, thus, whether directly involved or not, he was still accountable for the actions of the other Republicans in office. Oakes Ames, Republican House member from Massachusetts, distributed amongst fellow Congressmen shares of the construction company Credit Mobilier, a company contracted to build a large portion of the Union Pacific Railroad. Ames stated that the stock was “where it will produce the most good to us.” Among the recipients of these shares was the incumbent Vice President, a Vice Presidential candidate, the current Speaker of the House, and future President James Garfield. All being Republican cronies of Grant’s, I find it hard to believe Grant didn’t know how his campaign was being bankrolled.

Shortly after Grant won Presidential re-election in 1872, the railroad building business roared into a construction frenzy. No big surprise there. Unfortunately, this was the catalyst for one of the worst, and longest, economic depressions the U.S. had ever experienced up to that time. The gringa says, “Muchas gracias, Grant.”

Now, what would be the big plan to get all of these angry Americans off the backs of the political leaders? Hmm, how about fanning the flames of a race and labor war? That might do the trick! Seems to me that was the strategy of the Grant administration, and, later, President Rutherford B. Hayes followed his lead. I think, perhaps, presidential thinking went something like this, “So, after reaching out to another nation and selling them on the propaganda that America is the land of the free, where everyone is equal and enjoys equal protection of their liberty, thus tricking them into immigrating so we could exploit them for cheap labor, now we don’t need them for labor anymore. Instead, to get the heat off our backs, we can use them for a scapegoat and get rid of them for good. I mean, after all, we are actually capitalist racists, aren’t we? We don’t really like their kind anyway, do we? I mean, that was how we were able to exploit them in the first place without bad feelings weighing down our conscience, wasn’t it? We made a huge profit, after all, didn’t we?” Yep, that seems to me to be the very line of logic all of America eventually followed thanks to the leadership of President Ulysses S. Grant. What a model of all things American.

In 1868 when the treaty was signed allowing for open immigration of all Chinese, Reconstruction was in full swing but, soon after, the country was beginning to feel the sting of Grant’s cronyism that drove his economic policy. The California Gold Rush was winding down and the Chinese were finding work in the construction of the railroad. Despite the fact that only about .002 percent of the American population was Chinese, they were still blamed for dropping wage rates and all the problems with the American economy. Sounds familiar to the cries heard round the country today about how the undocumented workers are “stealing” all the jobs. There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to political disinformation campaigns.

I mean, I see plenty of “for hire” signs and want ads. I’m pretty confident there are enough jobs to go around. If you are having trouble getting a job, rather than poke your finger at an undocumented worker, go take a good hard look in the mirror. If an undocumented worker can travel to another country, not speak the language, and have no legal identification yet still manage to find a job, then why the heck can’t an American citizen, with all the privileges and advantages that goes with such a position, find a darn job? Methinks the problem is NOT with the undocumented worker. But, I digress, back to the Chinese labor problem of the 1880’s.

So, now it’s been established that the country, after the economic distress of the Reconstruction period, is slowly starting to enjoy a little progress. With the construction of the railroad and what that will mean to moving goods across the country, hopes are high for the economy to grow. The racist opportunists in Washington were now primed to get rid of the Chinese so the real Americans could keep the expected future wealth amongst themselves. So, by the time 1878 rolled around and President Grant had been replaced by President Hayes (big difference), how do we know Hayes felt this way? Well, he had a meeting with firebrand, labor leader, Dennis Kearney, who was well known for his passionate racism against the Chinese. This meeting, as well as many of Dennis Kearney’s stirring speeches, became a recorded, historical document. Back then, political correctness was not around so U.S. politicians opined freely and openly about racism, as indicated by the following excerpts from Kearney’s book “Speeches of Dennis Kearney, Labor Champion”:

From Kearney’s speech to Boston Workingmen’s party August 5, 1878: “The workingmen of California are becoming overpressed. The capitalistic thief and land pirate of California, instead of employing the poor white man of that beautiful and golden State, send across to Asia, the oldest despotism on earth, and there contracting with a band of leprous Chinese pirates, brought them to California, and now uses them as a knife to cut the throats of honest laboring men in that State. A Chinaman will live on rice and rats… They will sleep one hundred in a room that one white man wants for his wife and family… and every man for the past fifteen years… that was elected upon the workingmen’s platform… was chosen upon an anti-Chinese plank.”

From Kearney’s speech to Boston Workingmen’s party August 5, 1878: “by the earth and all its inhabitants, and by hell beneath us, the Chinese must go”

From Kearney’s speech to Boston Workingmen’s party August 8, 1878: “Let me caution working men not to employ Chinese laundry men. They are filthy; they spit on clothes, and if they have any disease it is transmitted to men and women through such washed clothing when the body perspires. Do you want leprosy here?”

From Kearney’s speech to Boston Workingmen’s party August 8, 1878: “We will do it with our bullets if our ballots fail. We will drive these moon-eyed lepers back by steamship and by sail”

From Kearney’s speech to Lynn, Massachusetts, Workingmen’s party August 12, 1878: “They are going to import 1,500 pig-tailed lepers into Chicago”

From Kearney’s speech to Lynn, Massachusetts, Workingmen’s party August 12, 1878: “All we ask of you is to help us to rid that beautiful golden State of these lepers”

August 28, 1878, discussion between President Rutherford B. Hayes and Dennis Kearney: “Kearney – ‘Well, Mr. Hayes, how do you account for the depression in business?’ Hayes then with a great many graceful gestures, and with much earnestness, discussed the subject, speaking about the war, the extravagance of flush times, and the reaction. ‘I think’, he [Hayes] continued, ‘it is at its lowest ebb. I think the tide will soon turn, even without a war. Every fifteen or twenty years, as regular as the ebb of the tide, there is a depression in business that is hard to account for…’ Hayes nodded, and answered, ‘Yes, Mr. Kearney, and without agreeing with you in a great many propositions you advance, I wish to say this: That your going about the country and speaking in the manner you do you are doing good work, noble service. You are concentrating the minds of the people on these evils, and the people are bound to rectify the great wrongs perpetrated by the system growing out of the war.’”

Hayes was more than willing to let the Chinese be the scapegoat for the failure of the American economy to thrive. If he had been more interested in dealing with the truth in an effort to correct the real reasons for the depressed national economy, the need to deflect the anger of the masses toward the Chinese might not have been necessary.

The treaty with China had enabled American industry to profit during Reconstruction by effectively enslaving the Chinese with extremely low wages. These fiscal politics resulted in labor class competition between the Chinese and the homegrown U.S. labor class, a class with a standard of living that could not be maintained if they accepted lower pay on par with what the Chinese were making. Rather than American labor recognize the right for any person, Chinese included, to determine what they will or will not find acceptable as a wage, they chose racist demonization of the Chinese. Although the Chinese were made out to be the villains, it was American politics of greed and power that were actually to blame for America’s economic woes.

What has the gringa learned from all this?  It’s all propaganda that America is equal opportunity. This is a bill of goods sold to the average working person who is too busy grubbing away at their regular jobs, paying the bills and tending to their family to bother with effecting change of the real America, a nation designed and orchestrated by wealthy elites who continue to capitalize off the backs of the working class. And if they get exposed and the labor class brings down the heat on them, they in turn sow the seed of conflict in order to create class wars so that the population starts blaming each other rather than staying focused on the truth.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I enjoy my working class life. I’m just tired of die-hard Patriots getting apoplectic and calling people nasty names like “unpatriotic” when someone speaks the truth about how America really operates and how it was really designed. I’m not advocating class warfare, I’m just saying the labor class has been purposely created and carefully groomed and maintained for the purpose of enriching those who created it and their successors. The truth is the truth whether it’s a pleasant truth or a harsh truth. Stating a harsh truth is not criticizing, it’s simply pointing out what’s true. I, for one, do not go around setting myself up to be lied to. I’ll be the first to tell you to shut up if I think I’m being fed a line of horse crap. So, the propaganda that the founding fathers of America were these high-minded, religious freedom fighters who were wanting to build a new nation where everyone could be equal and free is a bunch of nonsense. I say, “Shut up! No they were not!”

In my opinion they were a bunch of rebellious British subjects who had wealth that they wanted to protect and keep private rather than let the King claim it as crown property. The only way to do that would be for them to flee the kingdom with their wealth and travel to a place out of the King’s reach. The best chance they had to leave the country with all of their wealth in their possession, would be to go with the King’s blessing. I think their cunning plan was to convince the King that they were volunteers who wanted to settle the colonies of the New World. And, so, they ran off, far off, far enough that their king could not effectively monitor what they were actually up to. Then, upon arrival,  they cried foul due to religious oppression and began the propaganda campaign to brainwash the masses into cooperating with their desire to create a capitalist nation.

Why do American historians try to convince us of untruths simply because they sound more noble? Is there anything so terribly wrong with the Puritans running off in order to keep their hard earned money to themselves? I don’t see the need to lie about the Puritans’ motives.

A careful study of Britain’s religious climate at that time tells a different story than the one our historians credit to the Puritans. The reality is that the first colonial arrivals at Plymouth in 1620 were ruled over by King James I who was a devout Protestant. He desired to blend the faiths of Anglicanism, Catholicism and Presbyterianism in order to create a sense of national unity.  The Puritans real issue of religious intolerance was not that England was intolerant, but, that they, the Puritans, were intolerant of anything resembling Catholicism. The religious intolerance argument then falls flat with the gringa. So, if they didn’t come here to escape religious intolerance, it had to be the money. Nothing else makes sense.

Judging by the subsequent actions throughout the years of colonization in the New World, it would seem that the true motivator for the Puritans was that they wanted to keep their personal wealth. The Puritans were not victims. They ran off to the new world, seeded their wealth in the fledgling economies of new colonies, then nurtured these economies until they were strong enough to finance a war in order to completely break the yoke of the crown. And, they designed the laws of the colonies, and eventually the country, to benefit the wealthy in order that they maintain their wealth and power by the fruits of the labor class. And political power was also vested in the same people who controlled the wealth. That is the truth about America. It’s always been about the money, and it always will be.

And it was all about the money, with a side order of racism, in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Sources:

www.ourdocuments.gov, Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, (transcript)

http://racism.org, Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868 (transcript)

www.american-historama.org, “Credit Mobilier Scandal”, by Linda Alchin

www.history.com, “Chinese Exclusion Act”, “The Reader’s Companion to American History”, by Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors

archive.org, “Speeches of Dennis Kearney, Labor Champion (1878)”, by Dennis Kearney

http://www.oxfordreference.com/, “James I & VI – Religious Policy”

Photo credit: http://cndls.georgetown.edu

[andrea-cristina-travel-blog]

Top “13” Most Haunted U.S. Hotels

(Okay, so 1 in London makes 14, but 13 is spookier.) What’sa Matta? U Scurrd? Attention ghost busters and wobbly-kneed chickens, alike. Behold! Here’s your access to the haunted list of lists. Enter at your own risk … Muuuuahahahahaha! Stanley Hotel | Estes Park, Colorado Red Rum!Haunted events have been recorded at the Stanley Hotel since 1911, when Ms. Elizabeth Wilson, a housekeeper, was shocked during a lightning storm. Though she wasn’t killed, the room where it happened, Room 217, has become a hotbed of paranormal activity. She may or may not think she is the “gate keeper.” Wha? You say this place looks familiar? Better tighten those boot straps, partner, ‘cause you’re right on point! Made famous in the movie “The Shining,” The Stanley is known for a creepily deep connection to the paranormal. Haunted events have been recorded at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, as far back as 1911. Be sure to ask for Room 127 (so we don’t have to). Red Rum … Red Rum … Bourbon Orleans Hotel | New Orleans The grand, historic Bourbon Orleans Hotel originally opened in 1827 as a ballroom for glamorous events. By the late 1800s the hotel was acquired by the Sisters of the Holy Family to be used as a school, orphanage, medical ward, and convent; a yellow fever epidemic struck at this time and led to the death of many children. It’s said that the ghosts of children and nuns can be seen and heard throughout the hotel. Additionally, several reports of a ghost dancer in the famous Orleans Ballroom have been made. You can book a Ghosts & Spirits Walking Tour, which stops at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, during your visit to New Orleans. Let the creeping begin! Emily Morgan | San Antonio Emily Morgan HotelHoused in a historic neo-Gothic building with a reputation for paranormal activity, the 177-room boutique Emily Morgan Hotel has a prime downtown location across from the Alamo. It also at one time was a medical facility, so the property housed a morgue and a psychiatric ward. Reports of unexplained noises, apparitions, and the feeling of being touched (go ahead and book now if you like) are fairly frequent. If you want to up your chances of a paranormal encounter, book a room on the seventh, ninth, eleventh, or twelfth floors. Also, as a nod to the hotel’s notoriety for paranormal activity, the on-site Oro Restaurant and Bar offers a Psychic Happy Hour with palm readings on Thursday nights – if you DARE! Omni Parker House | Boston Steeped in history, stuffed with ghost lore, and teeming with old-world grandeur, the surprisingly affordable Omni Parker House is the place to stay for a taste of Boston’s literary and political past. The original hotel opened in 1855 and was run by founder Harvey Parker until his death in 1884. Many guests have reported seeing him in their guest rooms, where he’s asked about their stay. After a businessman died in room 303, there were multiple reports of laughter and the smell of whiskey. Stephen King’s short story 1408, which was made into a movie with John Cusack, centers on a writer who experiences a haunted stay at a New York hotel; the story was based on the supernatural activity in room 303. If you plan on staying, do not watch the movie. In fact, you should probably steer clear anyway. It is terrifying … you’re welcome. Langham Hotel | London Not in U.S. – more than creepy enough for this list One of the more notable historical hotels in London, the Langham Hotel has been around since 1865 — when it opened as the city’s first purpose-built luxury hotel. The hotel is a frequent place of lodging for celebrities and royals, and apparently, ghosts. Guests have reported seeing the apparition of a German prince, a German solider and a doctor who murdered his wife and then killed himself on their honeymoon, among others. The spirit of Emperor Napoleon III, who lived at the Langham during his last days in exile, has also been said to occupy the basement. Room 333 is supposedly the most haunted of the guest rooms and is available for booking for any brave travelers and, of course, the unbeknownst (insert creepy laughter here.)   The Marshall House | Savannah Built in 1851, the charming 68-room Marshall House accommodated Union soldiers during the Civil War — and some guests say their spirits still walk the hallways. The oldest hotel in Savannah, it also acted as a hospital three times (always a red flag for hotel conversions) — once for soldiers and twice for yellow fever epidemic victims. During renovations, workers found human remains under the floorboards from long-ago surgeries when the ground was frozen and nothing could be buried. In addition to seeing ghosts throughout the property, guests report hearing children run down the halls, faucets turning on by themselves, and the rattling of doorknobs. The Hay-Adams | Washington D.C. Another spooky thing about Washington Quite possibly the most famous hotel in the capital, The Hay-Adams has hosted many a politician, including the Obamas before inauguration. In 1884, best friends John Hay (Abraham Lincoln’s private secretary and later a Secretary of State) and Henry Adams (the author, and descendant of John Quincy) built their homes on the plot of land where the hotel now sits. In 1927, nine years after Adams’ death, the houses were razed and replaced by the hotel that stands today. Adams’ wife, Marian Hooper Adams, committed suicide on the site in 1885 and her spirit reportedly haunts the hotel. Guests and staff say they can hear a woman crying softly, disembodied voices, and doors opening and closing on their own. Hotel Sorrento | Seattle Built at the turn of the 20th century, the upscale Hotel Sorrento is an iconic Seattle boutique property. It’s said that the ghost of Alice B. Toklas, a woman credited with the invention of pot brownies, can often be seen roaming the halls, particularly around room 408 (you would think it would be 420). Guests have also reported their drinks being moved at the Dunbar Room. To honor her, they have a Ms. Toklas cocktail on the menu that includes lucid absinthe, elderflower, chamomile, honey, and lemon juice — so you can get both a trick and a treat at the Sorrento. Of course, all of this could just be absinthe related … Hotel Provincial | New Orleans What isn’t a little haunted in French Quarter? The two-story Hotel Provincial — with 94 rooms in the historic French Quarter — is a retreat into old New Orleans. Like many New Orleans properties, it also claims to be a popular paranormal activity hub. Like other area hotels, the property acted as a medical facility for wounded confederate soldiers and is said to still possess their spirits. From distressed soldiers and operating doctors to pools of blood, guests have reported it all. If actually staying at the property seems too spooky, it’s also a stop on many walking ghost tours of the city. 11. Omni Shoreham | Washington D.C. Built in 1930, the Omni Shoreham Hotel has echoing ceilings, grand chandeliers, and an allegedly haunted suite. The Ghost Suite, a two-bedroom apartment-style suite with a full kitchen, is reportedly haunted; spirits of the original owner, his daughter, and the housekeeper supposedly linger here. Both the housekeeper, Juliette, and the owner’s daughter, Helen, died in the suite. Once the family was gone, reports of unexplained noises, lights being turned on, and the feeling of someone running by, were made. Travelers can book the suite if they’re looking for the chance of a paranormal encounter – or just need someone to jog with, indoors. Le Pavilion | New Orleans Another New Orleans HauntOften called by many locals “The Belle of New Orleans.”  The Le Pavilion Hotel offers guests turn-of-the-century charm in the heart of downtown Haunted New Orleans.  At one point a few years ago the hotel management was said to have hired several local well known paranormal investigators, who identified several ghosts in the hotel and recorded EVP’s saying “Please, get out” and “Hold on I see you now.”  Another investigative team said they documented over 100 individual ghost and haunted hotspots in the hotel. A third team said this hotel was actually a portal to the other side – hope you don’t accidentally walk through THAT door. Crescent Hotel & Spa | Eureka Springs Guests who want an extra scare can take a nightly ghost tour of this historic Victorian-style hotel that claims to be “America’s most haunted hotel.” Visitors at the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa, a member of Historic Hotels of America, can watch ghost videos, learn about Eureka Springs’ unusual history and go on a massive ghost hunt during the Eureka Springs Paranormal Weekend, a three-day, hands-on paranormal investigation event in January. While completely unrelated, the French Onion Soup is said to be excellent. Queen Mary | Long Beach We’re Just Gonna Take Their Word for ItThis historic ocean liner in Long Beach is considered one of the most haunted places in the the nation, and even beyond. Visitors can sign up for special haunted twilight tours of the Queen Mary, which will bring them throughout the ship and into the supposed paranormal epicenters. Some visitors claim to experience the ghost of a dead sailor, children who drown in the pool or a woman in white. The Queen Mary’s tours even include séances, for the bravest guests, or the option for “dining with the spirits.” The post Top “13” Most Haunted U.S. Hotels appeared first on Must Do Travels.

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