Dear Editor:
This is my third attempt to conjure a smorgasbord of historical and geographical tidbits that will hopefully prove of interest to your readers.
A true pioneer of the West End, LeRoy Smith, wrote in his memoir, “Pioneers of the Olympic Peninsula,” that he killed about 69 cougars before he moved to Port Angeles. One wonders how many deer and elk were saved, albeit temporarily, by his prowess.
Waves as high as 80 feet have been recorded off a small town on the Portuguese coast.
Has anyone ever found the pork in a can of pork and beans? Maybe we should go to Arby’s because they advertise “We have the meat.”
A Harris poll this year found 40 percent of Americans would rather live in a socialist country than a capitalist one. At the very least it’s an indication of considerable unhappiness.
An axiom that would seem to benefit most politicians: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” (Sir Walter Scott)
Unless you believe in reincarnation, you have only one birthday. The rest are anniversaries.
The word “former” seems to be in short supply. Kids must be puzzled when they constantly hear about President Bush or Carter or Clinton.
The best example of an oxymoron I can think of is “friendly fire.”
Would you believe the Mississippi River could flow backward? It did. briefly, in the winter of 1811-12 when three powerful earthquakes struck in the area of New Madrid (MADrid) in the central Mississippi valley. The geology of the area was considerably altered.
During Israel’s war of 1967, a tragedy occurred that was given the hush-hush treatment by the Johnson administration. Israeli jets and torpedo boats attacked the “U.S.S. Liberty,” inflicting heavy damage while killing 34 crew members and wounding 171. The ship flew a large U.S. flag and carried large identifying numbers on the bow.
Israel later paid several million dollars in compensation.
It is probably not common knowledge that Dwight Eisenhower’s parents were Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Is the name “Sultana” familiar to the reader? It is the name of a sternwheeler that sank on April 1, 1865, in the lower Mississippi River when its boilers exploded. It was vastly overloaded with former Union prisoners, many of them from the notorious Southern prison camp of Andersonville. Of the 2,300 passengers approximately 1,700 died. Irony. indeed.
On September 7, 1857, a wagon train of more than 100 emigrants from Arkansas reached Mt. Meadows in southern Utah. They were attacked by a group of Mormons and Indians. When their store of ammunition was nearly exhausted, they were promised safe passage if they turned in their weapons. As soon as they did the slaughter began. All of them were massacred except the small children, who were farmed out among local Mormon families. Brigham Young’s implication was never proven.
I believe “gun regulation” is a more apt term than “gun control.”
Big pharma is spending billions trying to reverse the doctor-patient relationship by trying to persuade us to sell their drugs to our doctors
Mt. McKinley is now officially Mt.Denali, the native name. Why was the name Alcan abandoned for the less appropriate Alaska Highway?
Sincerely,
Bob Hall
Bellingham
