View from the past

 Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  The early days.

Early photos of my town are not abundant.  Above is what I think is the earliest one that shows anything of real interest.  It is in the archives of the State Historical Society and is thought to be circa 1870.  This is a time period I've written a fair bit about, so I thought it might be interesting to try and identify places that I've "visited".  

Of course we need to first establish the actual perspective.  I don't feel like waiting for snow, but at least in November 2024 the leaves are mostly gone. 

Okay, its not perfect.  I'm off to the right and about 30 feet lower in elevation than the original perspective.  Hey, they tore out a big chunk of hill to make the street I'm standing in, and if I went off to the left I'd have to explain to the property owners why I'm standing on their deck!  For a more recent perspective the 1874 "Birds Eye" view of Chippewa Falls makes a good reference, although many things changed from circa 1870 to four years later.  I'll mark the spot from where the picture would have been taken....

This is on the "East Hill" looking straight down Spring Street.  And how do I know this?  Well, there are three places where streets cross Duncan Creek.  River Street, Spring Street and Central Street in order.  It can't be River Street as the photo would then be centered on the river front.  And we know that there was a bridge on Central Street going back to 1858.  But Spring Street?  Why that bridge was only constructed in 1872!  

The above info helps date the vintage photo.  It is known that Chippewa Falls had a major fire in 1869, as a result of which most subsequent downtown construction was in brick or stone.  So let's say it is 1870 or 1871.  What else can we glimpse in the photo?

Well, less than I'd like.  The Schmidmeyer brewery was at the far end of Spring Street but that's out of sight.  Guess telephoto lenses had not been invented.  And the mysterious Union Brewery should be at the indicated arrow if this was say, 1871 or so.  Is there a roof peeking out behind those trees?

I wish I could point out some of the other places I've written about in my local history rambles.  But some are obscured by the larger buildings - most of those are hotels - others are frustratingly off the the left or right by, in some cases, only a few hundred yards.

The Virtues and Vices of Dogs

You don't gain the status of Man's Best Friend without having a lot going for you as a species.  Dogs have almost all the best human virtues - loyalty, kindness, bravery, a sense of humor - with few of our vices.  Just about the only thing they have against them is a total lack of moderation.  When they see something to eat they wolf it down.  If there is something smelly on the ground, they'll roll around in it as long as you'll let them.

This deficiency does encourage in them a minor degree of deceit.  But you can't actually call them Scamsters because they are so ludicrously bad at it!

Hank is always looking for food.  Sometimes my wife and I are in and out of the house at about "Chow-O-Clock" and he will always try to persuade the person just coming in the house that he needs a bowl full.  So I have a note that I leave on the table.  It says: I fed the Dog.  But it has also started to acquire a bit of "marginalia", little captions and cartoons appearing on the fringes.  Nice try, Hank.

Recently at a grand kid bed time we came up with some additional ones.  Hank seemed to be listening intently.  My personal favorite:

"Yes he fed me, but it was just broccoli, that does not count and I barfed it up in the corner. "

Up in the Air. Also, straight down.

Tree stands going up.  The younger hunter on the right has already gotten the family "on the board" with a nice deer during the special youth hunt weekend.  He may be the best shot in the crew, as one might expect from a kid who can make a soccer ball, baseball or hockey puck go where ever he directs it.

That stand is for the gun season that starts 8 days from now.  After my misadventures with getting deer tags I had to switch tactics this year.  I've been down on The Homestead with a crossbow.  It is a different sort of hunting.  It takes time and patience.  You see deer that you can't reach, given the roughly 40 yard range of my bow.  Well, 30 given my skill level.  And....when a deer unexpectedly steps out from behind a bush and walks directly UNDER your tree stand, well, that's an impossible shot, leaning over the railing and twisting up and over.  I think the grand kids will have some new works of taunting art for the fridge over that one.

Eventually a deer did turn up in the right spot, and I will have venison for the year ahead.

Tree Shaped Tombstones - Morbid Puns in Neilsville Wisconsin?

I had some time to kill the other day.  Hey, this happens when you hunt from sunrise to 10 am, then again from 3 to sunset.  So I drove over to Neilsville, Wisconsin.  There were a few things I wanted to look into.  A couple of former brewery sites, and, while I was in town, a big cemetery.  Seems like the place you'd find a bit crop of Tree Shaped Tombstones.

But actually, no.  The few specimens represented were of one of the boring subtypes, basically just a log with a name on it.  But wait a minute.  That name.  Manes.*

You'd have to be a fan of both tombstones and Roman stuff to make this connection.

Roman tombstones often have the notation DM.  It is short hand for Dis Manibis.  Or in translation "To the Manes".  

The Manes were the spirits of the dead.  Or more correctly, one sort of spirits.  Lares were the good spirits.  They were assumed to already be on your side.  Lemures ** were the evil spirits.  You did not invoke them.  Manes were the the sort of generic spirits of the dead and definitely worth trying to appease.  So, a dedication to the Manes was customary.

Did this 19th century citizen of Neilsville know this fact?  Did he recognize the irony?  I'm thinking yes.  People paid much more attention to the classics in the pre-Tik Tok age.

But perhaps this was a coincidence, a one off. Surely there could not be another tombstone six rows over with a bit of  pun in the inscription?

Or maybe there could be.  Stone representing Wood.

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*As a surname Manes probably has nothing to do with Latin at all.  If English or Scottish, it is probably a variant of Mains.

** Lemurs got their generic name - and from Linneaus himself no less - because they are nocturnal, creepy looking and make weird noises in the dark.  I think they've earned their association with evil spirits of the dead....

Hearth and Home - Fall 2024

 

For those who have been following the "Homesteaders" project.  Warmth and light.  Of course you can finish building your house, but you never finish building your home.

Killer Shrews and The Family Business

I enjoy really bad movies.  Oh, not modern ones that I'd have to pay to see, but the classics.  And among them is a gem called The Killer Shrews.  It is from 1959, pretty much the pinnacle of cheesy, black and white sci-fi schlock.  

It has several special charms.  Oh, not the plot.  It's the usual Science Goes Wrong stuff, specifically biological research that makes teeny little voracious shrews grow to giant size while their appetites grow accordingly.  The titular shrews, delightfully, were played by dogs with fake fangs, tails and mangy hides added!

Here you can see the deadly creatures as they gnaw futilely at the oil drums the humans are using to stage an escape attempt.  I bet they had all sorts of dog treats in these to attract their attention.  "Who's a Good Boy?"  Yes, Good Dogs and Good Sports.

I also like this film for a small but remarkable fact I just learned recently.  Now, in most such movies you had stock characters.  Here we see the Girl Scientist, the Dweeby Beta Male love interest of same, and the Macho Can Do guy who comes to save the day.  Oh, and in the middle of the scene we have The Science Guy.  His real life name?  Baruch Lumet.  Sound just a tad familiar?  Hmmmmm?

Well, Baruch did not have much of a film career.  In fact prior to The Killer Shrews he had but a single credit.  Twenty years earlier he had a small role in a film called "One Third of a Nation".  Also appearing in it was his son, Sidney.

Sidney Lumet.  One of the most acclaimed directors in history, he made such classics as 12 Angry Men, Fail Safe, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network.  Somehow despite being often nominated for an Oscar, he only won once and late in his career and as an Honorary Oscar.  

As for Lumet Senior, it seems as if Baruch was not all that interested in being in front of the camera.  He took on a few small parts, especially in the 1960's, but was primarily an acting coach and casting director.  I hope most of his students - Jayne Mansfield was one - went on to greater accomplishments than appearing with collies dressed up as voracious predators!

A Busy 24 hours

Well, lets see.

Monday, 7pm, first official meeting of the robotics team.  Various organizational stuff.  Should be a strong group this year.

Tuesday, 5am.  Got up to be ready at 6 for Vindolanda signup.  You have to be quick on the mouse to get a spot.  Success.

Tuesday morning.  Spent with a grand kid.  Doing play stuff.

Tuesday 4pm, Robot School.  Hitting the home stretch now.  This was the assignment board.  They did get it running and the paddle mechanism operating.  All wires now better secured.  We had a vote on the robot's name.  It shall be known as.....Jeff.  I don't know why.

Here is some frenzied end of session work to get it operating.  There are two sessions left, and plenty of shoring up and tweaking ahead.  But the basic mechanisms all work.

Oh, there's some kind of election going on as well.  Probably others will have things to say about that.