Saturday, September 07, 2002
COLONIAL COINS
We hear about bartering and the exchange of valued holdings for other properties and we assume people in the l700’s had currency and coins.
In 1764 the David Cloyd place located in what was then Augusta County, Virginia - now Montgomery, near Blacksburg, was pillaged by Indians. Details of the attack are extant and among those items stolen was
two hundred Pounds of gold and silver coins.. One Indian raider was killed who was carrying 138-Pounds 18 Shillings of the coins. He actually made it thirty miles from the Cloyd farm, but the sheer weight of the money may well have
been the cause of his death.
We know about the exact nature of the money because the recapture resulted in a somewhat bizzare law suit. The militia who recovered the money claimed it belonged to them’ while others thought it belong to
the previous owner David Cloyd. The mlitia divided the money among its members, some of whom returned their share to Cloyd. He sued the head of the militia for 137-Pounds, 19-Shillings remainder.
It is interesting to see the type of coinage early settlers used in their business transactions. The Court Records show the Cloyd’s coins involved in the suit itself, consisted of 137-Pounds, 19 -Shillings and 8-1/2 Pence
with the breakdown being as follows:
“3 Double Loons” - a Spanish coin worth about $7.20.
“36 Pistoles” - a Spanish coin worth about $3.60.
“1 Half Double Loon” - Spanish and worth half of $7.20.
“ 4 Guineas” - an English coin worth, perhaps, $4.66.
“4 Louis-d’or,called loodore” - French - $4.44.
“16 Round Pistoles” - Spanish and one assumes worth $3.60 , the same as the regular postole.
“3 Half Pistoles”. - Spanish and worth half of $3.60.
“2 Half Johannas” (or “Joe”) - a Portugese coin worth $8.00.
Plus 9 “Dollars” and “some small change.“
Try paying for a bag of beans with that selection of coins! Small wonder early business was often conducted with tobacco or whiskey as a means of payment.
By the way, with the help of one of the frontiers’s leading lawyers - Gabriel Jones, David Cloyd won the lawsuit ordering the return of the rest of his money but the ruling was appealed to a higher court and we
don’t know where it went from there!
Watch it, now! Don’t take any wooden piostoles.
A.L.M. Sepember 6, 2002 [c-396wds]
Friday, September 06, 2002
MY SOLE HOLE IN ONE
During the later days of World War II when the presence of the 8th Air Force was no longer needed in England we were looking forward to a short stay at home and then, almost certainly, we would be reformed
and ship out for the Pacific theater, since the war with Japan was still in progress. During those months of 1945 we had more duty-free time.
Three of my friends were going to play golf and I joined them to make up a foursome . We went to a place called, I’m sure, Eton Golf course near Norwich, Norfolk County, England, by means of several changes of
double-decker busses.
On the course we came to, as I remember, the third hole and it proved to be a wild one. We were to tee off across a deep ravine toward a green we could not actually see. We were told the hole was just beyond
the high bunker which was build along the far edge of the ravine. So, that was the area to which we would want to direct our drives.
We did so, and all four of us made it across the ravine. We had to walk down a series of hairpin curved pathways to get to the bottom of the chasm and, then, up the other. It was the shortest hole on the entire
course, but one of the most demanding because of the mountain climbing training required.
We arrived at the bunker knoll to see that a foursome of British soldiers had been playing just ahead of us. They were just starting into the next fairway having driven off, no doubt in a bombardment of four whizzing
balls as we drove off across the ravine behind them.
We found our golf balls, all except mine, and the first man to make the cup let out a scream. ”It’s here, Andy! Your ball is in here! In the cup!
You made a hole in one!”
On my way to the hole from where I had been searching for my lost ball, I noticed the British foursome ahead had gathered in a knot and they seemed to be enjoying my hole in as much as were my friends! They
whooped and waved; shook hands with themselves above their heads...shouted their congratulations and waved! They knew more about it, obviously, than we did and being as sharp as the well-known tack, I decided that we
have been set up. I knew at once that my hole in one was a set-up by the British military establishment.
My drive must have struck near on to the Brits- or, I hope actually clipped his rear end, and , as joke - just to see what “those crazy Yanks would do” ‘ - he, or they, had dropped the ball into the cup as they moved
out.
They moved off and so did we. There was a sleepy old-timer at the Field House where we turned in our rented equipment. We had agreed not to mention any holes-in-one. have often wished I had bought that
driver and I still have the marked ball. It is a token of my one great golfing achievement - a superbly rigged hole in one - courtesy of a fine trooper of His and Her Majesty’s stalwart troops.
Thank you, Matey - wherever you may be.
A.L.M. September 5, 2002 [c-571wds]
Thursday, September 05, 2002
CURIOUS TIME
.I find it dificult to recall a time when we, as a nation, have been in such a strange
situation . Give it a moment of special consideration.
We are a nation “at war” against Terrorism. Our enemy, once again, a multi-faced group
Some of those who oppose us are mere shadows and cannot be readily singled out as nations.
There is a disturbing undercurrent involving religion which is, to me,the true danger we must
ultimately face.
President George W. Bush has been doing what is expected of our president in time
of war. He has been actively speaking to remind us that we are in such a national state
of emergency. That, oddly enough, is a point the Congress seems all too ready to ignore
overlook in it while eagerly seeking partisan entrenchment during a time of urgency.
Keeping the nation alert has been made a presidential function by a Congress in default
which is more concerned with the next election than with the conduct of a vague,
unpredictable war situation
Because of the complex make up of our “enemy”, President Bush has dealt with
one of the more obvious threats to our well-bring - Saddam Huessien and the potential
threat from Iraq. Along with a politically based refusal to see what he is doing in a
rhetorical sense, many say he has overdone the Saddam theme.
I don’t feel that he has feel exceeded logical bounds at all. The previously known
enemy of our is one the general public can see as a real threat and dwelling on the Iraq
question has been one way of keeping national attention alive concerning the war in
which we are now engaged. It is obvious that President Bush will lose much of his present
popularity with the American public as long as he insists on this emphasis on Iraq. World
opinion is against his plans to invade Iraq. The media is making much of these refusals of
foreign powers to back Bush’s stated intentions in regard to Iraq. Oddly enough we are
also aware of the fact that foreign leaders, such as Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great
Britain who has been quoted as saying: George Bush “operates on security issues in a
calm, sensible and measured way.” Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has recently
said: “This is no time to go wobbly, George.”
President Bush has, this week, shown signs of - not “backing off”, as much of the
media suggests - but rather of letting it be known that he fully intends to ask the
approval of Congress and of the UN Security Council for whatever he plans to undertake.
This action reinforces his views and puts a traditional stamp on his theme.
The nation will feel better about it all.
A.L.M. September 4, 2002 [c475wds]
Wednesday, September 04, 2002
ROCKERS, ON AND OFF
What, precisely, is this “rocker” we are supposed to be “off of” so often?
May I withdraw that word “we”?
It is always some other person...never ourselves...who are in this
condition of “being off one’s rocker” and we seem to hold them in low esteem because of their plight. There is a tangent thought which says they could do something about it ,too, if they wished to do so.
The illustration of the term could be as real as it seems to be and make reference to a rocking chair without a rocker. In such condition it is useless and could create real problems if used as intended. Without a
rocker, it could not function at all. Or, if one abandoned it, as well.
Judging by previous experience with such folksy expressions and their beginnings, it would not prove to be a disappointment to me to find that the expession has nothing whatever to do with rocking chairs. We
have other expressions containing the same idea - “off base”, “off keel”,
“off limits” plus others.
It is, then, a standard , shall we agree, which we have set arbitrarily, by which we can judge a person’s conduct in relation to his or her success in meeting those standards or qualifications for holding active,
membership cards in the community of human beings.
How accurate is such a standard? Does it need revisions?
Have we set low standards to assure personal membership in the group? That has happened in many aspects of our living today, such as in the educational field and, to a degree in competitive sports. Rules are
tempered to suit the need of the average participant rather than the super-star. For those who excel in an endeavor the rules are tightened up a bit; just enough to make it difficult for the non-pro types to win consistently.
In general application, however, the term “off his rocker” has come to be associated with mental deficiencies or with temporary instances of poor judgment. A person who simply disagrees with you concerning a
stated subject judged by you to be “off his rocker”.. “a nut”... some one suffering from hallucinations, delusions“ or worse.
Are not inventors people who go against the accepted rules and standards of their time? They do not accept the idea that such a thing as they wish to do or make is “impossible.” They just go on and do it, and
often they have been aware of the fact hat they were breaking temporal or religious rules in doing so.
In recent years baseball and rock music have added new dimensions to the term “rocker” so the saying comes to mean less and less. If by “off his rocker” you mean that the individual plainly indicates by his
conduct, language or statements that his mental elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor; or that his or her mind is stuck in skid condition and not always tracking well on life’s surfaces, then you are not alone.
The important thing about it all may well be that we never know when someone is estimating where we stand on the charts. Be careful of statements and acts which may seem to be “too far out” or “too far in”.
Politically-minded individuals have put great store in that sort of classifying in recent years. It may be that someone you know who thinks you are a bit “off your rocker” when you do something you’ve been doing all along for years.
People ask me why, at eighty six years of age, I write every day; play guitar and sing a bit, as if I expected something to come of it all. I know what some of them are thinking, especially the couch potatoes, who
are doing the same thing watching TV reruns.
Which of us can be said to be: “ off his rocker?”
A.M.. Sept 4, 2002 [c658wds]
Tuesday, September 03, 2002
CRYSTAL BALL
I saw a survey recently which determined that people, in general, do not place any trust at all in those people who claim they can foretell coming events.
In a nearby city, some years ago, I can remember a lady who was established as a local clairvoyant and who had set up residence in a low field. Hers was what we then called, quite properly a movable trailer
home, the early version of today’s much more mobile and modular homes. She had set up a rather large, gaudy sign which said “Know What Tomorrow Will Bring! Be Ready! Psychic Readings by Madam_____! Day or Evening Hours.”
She supplied ample, free parking, too.
I drove to work one rain-swept morning and the police and local firemen were busy rescuing her from her floating mobile home doorway in a boat. She had failed to foresee the rapid flooding from a nearby creek
which caused by excessive rains upstream and surrounded her home.
She was dried out and back in business a week so or
so later, once again foretelling the future for all comers. Business, I think, must have been less than good, however, because I drove past one day and noticed her trailer home had been moved out.
If the survey is correct and so few people say they do believe in and consult such wonder workers an a regular basis, it stands to reason their fees must be high enough to sustain a life with even just a few patrons.
Their customers do remain loyal and gullible to extremes, it seems. Advertising for such business firms has again become obvious in many newspapers, some magazines, and on Internet pages, than every before. I can’t imagine any
of them being approved by the Better Business Bureau, Consumer’s Union, or any other approvals organizations. Yet, they seem to prosper and proliferate everywhere... at least for a time. They come and go at regular intervals filling
empty store-front locations in decadent downtown areas in many cities, in small towns on spare building sites, in resort areas and in the edge of both shanty-towns and up-scale residential developments.
The clientele is varied it seems and their telephone and e-mail accounts probably take in more revenue than actual visits to their “studios.” A great many people seem to feel about the same as if they
were seen entering an Adult Toys and Books Store. The electronic branch of the business is growing and it is not uncommon for several such far-out know-it-alls to sell their product by wire and wireless means from the same, small,
rented office space shared with others.
Such scams are, it seems, “feline” by nature and have, at least, nine lives or, perhaps a few more. Senior citizens are, for too often, key targets for some such devilish doings and it is not the sort of thing victims like to
talk about either. As a result, much of the harm being done goes unreported and unpunished. “Unrecorded” as it is often said to be.
If you are, in any way, responsible for older friends or relatives, take some time to determine what their feelings are in regard to these and other scams. Take action to curb such impulsive interests.
A.L.M. September 3, 2002 [c-548wds]
Monday, September 02, 2002
CC APPLICATION FORMS
I would estimate I have three or four credit card application appeals delivered to my mailbox at curbside each week. Since we live in a development area which has streets but no curbs, that’s quite an
accomplishment in itself, but I wonder how the stability of those people in banks, and others, who expend so much money in the distribution of their sometimes gaudy printed forms. I keep thinking there must be a
hugh-mongous profit involved in handling credit card accounts just to pay for keeping the junk mail channel so jammed all the time.
It is not unusual to get four or five such appeals in unmatched sets in one mail delivery and from all over the country ... not just locally originated. They don’t know me from - well, they might actually mail to Adam
and, what was his wife’s name ---Eve. That’s right! They’ve gone back a long way to sign people up. I usually open them and why I do so Will be revealed before we finish.
I have never replied to one of them. I have heard of some nasty individuals who know how to “get even with” these senders of unsolicited
mails, too. While I have been tempted to follow their advice, I have not fallen that low yet. They mail the postage permit return envelopes back empty or with the literature enclosed. If you have every worked with such postage-paid
mailings you know you pay a pretty steep and , no doubt rising price for each return, and “empties” coming back in any amount can ruin the budget.
I have never had the nerve to do such a thing, but I have long felt I could cause a commotion in the offices by filling out the portion for the form which, commonly, asks for my annual anticipated income. I can
honestly and truthfully check the box which reads “less than $11,000.” I can be fairly sure I will be dropped form their mailing lists in the future by doing so. After all, they have been offering me credit as high as Mt. Everest is tall! My
mole hill income would caused consternation in the mailroom.
Some of the credit card application forms try to make us think they are the greatest thing since Santa Claus and without all that clatter of reindeer hooves on your roof and the chatter of elves unloading gifts for
you. (Anyone who thinks S. Claus still does the physical part of his job has not kept in touch with Claus’ contract clauses at all.
Among the application forms senders, I dislike most those cheapskates who print on both sides of the good quality paper most of them use. That inconsiderate act on their part means I cannot re-cycle their
sheets as scratch paper, doodle pads and for other uses around my cluttered desk. One can build a ream of such one-sided, re-useable paper quickly on credit card application forms alone.
There are numerous types with Visa and Master Card tie-ins and before long every known business will have their own version.
I’m waiting for one which will combine all of them into one and select the one which gives you the best deal on whatever you buy. It will be called a “Card Card”.
I must be sure to get several of those.
A.L.M. September 1, 2002 [c 568wds]
Sunday, September 01, 2002
IT’S A WRAP
What did we use to wrap things with in the days before we had sturdy aluminum foil and clear, plastic materials?
I ask it in that rather generic manner for two reasons: (1) to avoid the use of any specific, registered trademarks and terms of a specific nature setting certain products aside from all others and (2) to give you a bit
of time to think about what we did use either to protect, carry or to keep things from mussing in with something else.
What did you use?
I can remember wrapping a great many things in discarded newspapers. How could I forget working a soggy crossword puzzle after another member of the family had, thoughtlessly, made use of today’s paper as
a wrapper instead of yesterday’s or one from some day in the previous week. Old newspapers were used to wrap muddy or wet shoes; to protect glassware being stored away in a carton for some reason or another other, to contain
the peelings and other garbage items on the way to the alley cans for collection by the city trucks.
We saved brown paper, grocery bags, too of all sizes for use as wrappers. We even cut them up to make durable book covers for our school books, too. That was an important step, too, because by wrapping our
books, which we had to buy in those days, we could keep them looking bright, clean and colorful longer and get better, second, third and fourth- handed prices for them. That lasted until some demonic force within the school system
called for new editions or completely new textbooks each and every year. And, for some strange reason I cannot explain, we called paper bags “sacks” while we called burlap sacks ”bags”.
We used “butcher’s paper” usually white and semi-slick on the inside for wrapping meats and vegetables, as I recall. If you used newspaper because you didn’t have a supply of butcher’s white paper at the
moment, you could very often enjoy a reversed version of “The Katzenjammer Kids” comics on the white patty-pa n squash hide or ,perhaps, “Day-By-Day” a newsy column by O. O. MacIntyre - a favorite of mine - on a long, yellow
crook-necked squash - which was also a favorite of mine.
Seriously, though, we have cause to rejoice at the manner in which science and industry have developed new and better ways in which to wrap things today.
Have you every wondered why the bagger at your local super market asks you: “Paper or Plastic?” The reason is pure economics. To bring in one large truckload of plastic bags costs about the same as, I’ve heard
anywhere from three to five trucks of the same size containing the same total number of paper bags, and they store in a fraction of the space, too.
They both are essentials for wrapping things are home for cooking, for freezing, for movement from place to place, or even for serving.
Plastic sheets and aluminum foil! How did we get along without them?
A.M.. August 31, 2002 [c-518wds]
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