Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“The secret of happiness is not in doing what one wants to do, but is liking what one has to do.”

                                       James Barrie

The mighty University of South Carolina Gamecock baseball team has beaten UCLA two straight games in Omaha to lay claim to the NCAA national championship. The final game ended in the bottom of the 11th inning with second baseman Scott Wingo scampering home after an RBI single to right field delivered by outfielder Whit Merrifield. I have heard from supporters of other teams in the SEC and they are proud that the Gamecocks prevailed. The MVP of the tournament was South Carolina center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. for his timely hitting and sparkling plays in the outfield.

Down on the beaches in the Pensacola, Florida and Gulf Shores, Alabama area a group of environmentalists have gathered 70,000 sea turtle eggs and are going to ship them to NASA at Cape Kennedy. The eggs will be allowed to hatch and then the hatchlings will be released into the unpolluted Atlantic Ocean. There is little doubt that if the hatchlings were allowed to enter the polluted Gulf they would die and an entire generation of sea turtles would be lost. Most naturalists involved with this enterprise say that the stress of this movement will claim the lives of many of the hatchlings but they feel they do not have a choice. Like I say, what a freaking nightmare.

Tuesday 140 law enforcement personnel swarmed over the small South Carolina town of Walterboro. South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster was in attendance and read 20 indictments to those that were arrested. Last November there was a drive-by shooting at a barbeque in Walterboro where 3 people were killed and 6 wounded. The ages of the people that were arrested ranged from 16 to 45. Henry McMasters said that Walterboro had been taken over by a street gang. Also in attendance were representatives of the FBI, US Marshals, ATF, South Carolina Highway Patrol, SLED, and the Walterboro police. How such a sleepy little town near the coast became an attraction for street gangs is beyond me. By the way, South Carolina has the death penalty keeping in mind that one of those killed at the barbeque was a 20 month old toddler.

Hurricane Alex is approaching the Mexican coast just south of McAllen, Texas. The resulting rough seas have put a stop to the clean-up effort because the boats had to run for cover even though Alex is 500 miles away. The rough surf is bringing in the oil in large doses also. I will be going to Pensacola for a couple of months in October. I wonder what the beach will look like then. It worries me, no it angers me.

This Date in History July 1

1863    Two months earlier the Army of Northern Virginia, CSA General Robert E. Lee commanding, even though being out-manned and out-gunned, routed the Army of the Potomac, US General Joseph Hooker commanding at small village named Chancellorsville, Virginia. Lee and CSA President Jefferson Davis decided that the war needed to be introduced to the northern states in the hope that the outcry of the citizenry would force Lincoln to the negotiation table. They also wanted the war out of battle weary Virginia. On June 3 Lee assembled about 80,000 troops and began a slow march northward. The Army of the Potomac, after discovering Lee’s movement, assembled an army of 100,000 and shadowed Lee always staying between Lee’s army and Washington. US General Joseph Hooker was still in command even after the disaster at Chancellorsville. About two weeks later Hooker got fed up with the meddling of those in Washington and resigned. He was replaced with US General George Meade. A Confederate scout detected the lead elements of the Yankee army as being just a few miles from Lee’s right flank. So Lee turned his army eastward down the Chambersburg Pike to meet this threat. On this day, elements of CSA General Harry Heth’s division of A.P. Hill’s Corp engaged the dismounted cavalry of US Colonel John Buford east of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Even though Buford was reinforced by elements of US General John Reynolds Corp, they were severely outnumbered and fell back through the town and dug in on Cemetery Ridge south of town. This was the opening shots of the bloodiest three days of combat ever fought on the North American continent. Incidentally, US General John Reynolds was killed by a Confederate sniper very soon after joining the fray.

1937    On this day in Queens, New York the body of Phennie Perry was found. She had been beaten to death with a concrete block. Strangely, her six month old daughter was lying unharmed at her side. The police were pleased with all the clues that were left on the scene. There were postcards and letters from one Ulysses Palm and bloody rags close by. They come to find out that Mr. Palm lived in the same apartment building as the Perrys. They questioned Palm and he could offer no explanation as to how the letters and postcards arrived at the crime scene. But he did say that he could not have been the perpetrator because on the night of the murder, his boss had held everyone late for inventory giving him an airtight alibi. So the police went to question Phennie’s husband. The husband produced a pornographic letter that he said was sent by Palm to his wife Phennie and there was no doubt in his mind that Palm had killed his wife because she had rejected him. The police smelled a rat and upon examining the pornographic letter and comparing the handwriting with a sample from Palm, they knew the letter was a forgery. Not only that, the paper was a dead on match to what was found in the Perry apartment. The husband was tried and convicted and was executed in 1939 in the electric chair. He went to meet his maker medium rare.

1918    On this day, after days of bombarding the German positions to the tune of over 250,000 artillery shells, the British army unleashes a frontal assault on the German position with 100,000 troops boiling out of their trenches secure in the knowledge that a cockroach could not be alive after such a massive bombardment. They were wrong. This was the opening shots of the so-called Battle of the Somme. The attacking Brits were met with a withering hailstorm of German heavy machine gun fire and at the end of the day they had suffered 20,000 killed and 40,000 wounded. This was the bloodiest day in British military history. But for pure horror it had to be between the time WWI started in August of 1914 and the end of the year. During that time 1,000,000 men of various nationalities died. The Germans used poison gas during this war. The British field commander had no problem organizing massive attacks like this even with the stupefying casualty rates. Eventually, these massive attacks wore down the Germans and they surrendered in 1918. The treaty that the Germans signed was really oppressive to the citizens and they built up a reservoir of hatred for the French, English and nearly everybody else in Europe. The were able to vent their wrath when sixteen years later an Austrian began a rise to power that ended peace in Europe and cost millions of lives. Of course, I am talking about Adolph Hitler.

1887    On this day gunfighter and eccentric Clay Allison is killed in a freak accident. I want to tell you folks, Clay was a wild one. He was born near Waynesboro, Tennessee about 1840. He enlisted in the Confederate Army but soon thereafter he was discharged as being “partly epileptic and partly maniacal”. After this he headed west and became a cowpuncher for the famous Texas cattlemen Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight. After while he set up his own cattle ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico. On one occasion he and a bunch of men went to the local jail, took one Charles Kennedy out and hung him. That was not unheard of in those days. But Clay wasn’t through, he beheaded Charles and impaled it on a stick and displayed it in the local saloon. On one event he was spotted riding naked down the main street of Mobeetie, Texas. And yet another time he and a bunch of men again went to the local jail and broke out a criminal and hung him from a telephone pole. As usual, Clay wasn’t finished. He cut the man down and dragged his body around behind his horse for days until there was almost nothing left. But on this day, he was riding in his wagon and he hit a large bump which threw Clay out and a rear wheel ran over Clay’s neck and head killing him. In 1995 Clay’s remains were dug up and he was reburied in the center of Pecos, Texas, his last home town.

1898    During the Spanish American war, the US was trying to kick the Spanish out of Cuba. One large contingent of Spanish soldiers was on two hills near Santiago. One was San Juan Hill and the other was Kettle Hill. The US army 5th regiment was assigned the task of clearing those hills. Kettle Hill was assigned to a bunch of hard-asses led by a future US President. Of course, I am talking about Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. When the order to attack was given, the Rough Riders charged up the hill without stopping and kicked those Spaniard out. They had a full view Santiago and the next day the siege of Santiago began. The Rough Riders charge up that hill remains legendary in military history. Teddy was a man’s man. We need more like him.

Births and deaths:

1574    English clergyman Joseph Hall is born. He said “Once a reputation is broken it can be repaired, but the world will keep its eyes on the spot where the crack began.” That is really true, isn’t it Governor Sanford?

1902    French director William Wyler is born. He said “The nicest thing I can say about Frances Farmer (US actress) is that she is unbearable.” That sounds like my third ex-wife.

1907    Make-up mogul Estee Lauder is born. She said “Look for a sweet person, not a rich one.” Hey Estee, you need to come to Greenville and talk with these girls.

1915    US writer Jean Stafford is born. She said “From time to time I need a rest from the exercising of my intellect.” Jean, take a break for crying out loud.

1941    US dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp is born. She said “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” Twyla change the way of dance with her creativity.

1961    Princess Diana Spencer is born. She said “Being a princess isn’t all it is cracked up to be.” The world became a worse place when she died.

1977    US actress Liv Tyler is born. She said “Those smells remind me of home. I can smell my Dad (Stephen Tyler of Aerosmith) a mile away. I can smell him whenever he’s worn my clothes. He has that ambery smell that just melts into him.” Wearing your clothes, Liv? Now I know where that “ambery” smell comes from. It comes from too much Jack Daniels and him slipping into one of your teddies and thigh-highs.

1925    French composer Eric Satie died. He said “They kept saying wait until you are fifty and you will see. Well, I am fifty and I haven’t seen a damned thing.”   Me neither.

1997    US actor Robert Mitchum died. He said “I started out to be a sex fiend, but I couldn’t pass the physical”. Me neither.

2004    US actor Marlon Brando died. He said “The only reason I am in Hollywood is that I don’t have the moral courage to turn down the money.” A great actor. I watched “Godfather” for the 13th time yesterday and I am still enthralled by his performance as Don Corleone.

Quotable quote:

“A conclusion is where you go to when you get tired of thinking” Andrew Bloch

“Maybe this world is another planet’s hell” Aldous Huxley. Obviously this man has been to Greenwood, Mississippi.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow