“Sending Vessels Over Niagara Falls”

“SENDING VESSELS OVER NIAGARA FALLS. — There have been three such instances. The first was in 1827. Some men got an old ship — the Michigan — which had been used on Lake Erie, and had been pronounced unseaworthy. For mere wantonness they put aboard a bear, a fox, a buffalo, a dog and some geese and sent it over the cataract. The bear jumped from the vessel before it reached the rapids, swam toward the shore, and was rescued by some humane persons. The geese went over the falls, and came to the shore below alive, and, therefore, became objects of great interest, and were sold at high prices to visitors at the Falls. The dog, fox, and buffalo were not heard of or seen again.

“Another condemned vessel, the Detroit, that had belonged to Commodore Perry’s victorious fleet, was started over the cataract in the winter of 1841, but grounded about midway in the rapids, and lay there till knocked to pieces by the ice.

“A somewhat more picturesque instance was the sending over the Canada side of a ship on fire. This occurred in 1837. The vessel was the Caroline, which had been run in the interest of the insurgents in the Canadian rebellion. It was captured by Colonel McNabb, an officer of the Canada militia, and by his orders it was set on fire then cut loose from its moorings. All in flames, it went glaring and hissing down the rapids and over the precipice, and smothered its ruddy blaze in the boiling chasm below. This was witnessed by large crowds on both sides of the falls, and was described as a most magnificent sight. Of course there was no one on board the vessel.”

— From Barkham Burroughs’ Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889

| Entertainment · History

An Unlikely Spy

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Velvaleedickinsonmay201942letter.jpg

Looks pretty innocuous, right? This is part of a letter composed by New York doll shop owner Velvalee Dickinson in May 1942. The FBI decoded it as follows:

I just secured information on an aircraft carrier warship. It had been damaged, that is, torpedoed in the middle. But it is now repaired. … They could not get a mate for this, so a plain ordinary warship is being converted into a second aircraft carrier. …

Probably she was referring to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Saratoga. Apparently Dickinson had been operating as a Japanese spy throughout the war — her letters to Buenos Aires, ostensibly about doll collecting, had actually contained detailed information about U.S. warships, coastal defenses, and repair operations.

She protested her innocence but got the maximum sentence, 10 years and a $10,000 fine. She died in 1980.

| Crime · History

Wisdom of the Seven Sages

The condensed wisdom of Greece’s “seven sages,” as recorded on the temple wall at Delphi:

  • Solon of Athens – “Nothing in excess.”
  • Chilon of Sparta – “Know thyself.”
  • Thales of Miletus – “To bring surety brings ruin.”
  • Bias of Priene – “Too many workers spoil the work.”
  • Cleobulus of Lindos – “Moderation is the chief good.”
  • Pittacus of Mitylene – “Know thine opportunity.”
  • Periander of Corinth – “Forethought in all things.”
| History

“… Except for All Those Others”

Dubious states:

  • albocracy – government by white people
  • argentocracy – government by money
  • barbarocracy – government by barbarians
  • cannonarchy – government by superior firepower
  • capelocracy – government by shopkeepers
  • chiliarchy – government by one thousand people
  • chirocracy – government by physical force
  • corpocracy – government by corporate bureaucrats
  • demonarchy – government by a demon
  • dulocracy – government by slaves
  • foolocracy – government by fools
  • iatrarchy – government by physicians
  • infantocracy – government by an infant
  • millionocracy – government by millionaires
  • neocracy – government by new or inexperienced rulers
  • partocracy – government by a single unopposed political party
  • pollarchy – government by the multitude or a mob
  • squarsonocracy – government by landholding clergymen
  • tritheocracy – government by three gods
  • xenocracy – government by a body of foreigners
| Society

No Handicap

Achievements of Carl Herman Unthan (1848-1928), who was born without hands:

  • He could feed himself at age 2.
  • At age 10 he taught himself the violin.
  • At 16 he was sent to a music conservatory.
  • At 20 he was performing to full concert halls. During his first performance he replaced a broken string with his toes.
  • As a marksman, operating a rifle with his feet, he could shoot the spots out of a playing card.
  • He married Antonie Neschta, whom he met while touring Cuba, Mexico, South America, and Europe.
  • He moved to the United States and eventually gained citizenship.

In 1925, Unthan published an autobiography, Das Pediscript (not “manuscript,” because he typed it with his toes). It was published in English in 1935, seven years after his death.

| Oddities

“The Dovetailed Block”

Another puzzle from Henry Ernest Dudeney:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16713/16713-h/16713-h.htm

“Here is a curious mechanical puzzle that was given to me some years ago, but I cannot say who first invented it. It consists of two solid blocks of wood securely dovetailed together. On the other two vertical sides that are not visible the appearance is precisely the same as on those shown. How were the pieces put together?”

Click for Answer
| Puzzles