Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Humans are the only mammals that blush...or need to.”

Mark Twain

Recently down in an upscale neighborhood in the town of St. Mary in central Florida a forty-something year old woman went into her garage to retrieve a couple of bicycles for her and her friend to peddle the neighborhood. As soon as she stepped out of the house she was attacked by a sizable black bear. The bear stood on his hind legs and grabbed her by her head and dragged her out onto the sidewalk. Somehow she escaped the grasp of this beast and then she saw that there was not just this one attacker, there were 5 bears within sight but she was able to get back inside the house. All of the bears were into people's garbage near houses in the neighborhood. She suffered puncture wounds in her skull and received 40 stitches but she is alive, as unlikely as it seems. The State of Florida Wildlife is looking hard for this bear because it is a fact that once a wild predator like a bear or a big cat tastes human blood without a lot of trouble they add it to their menu.

Back to the history of the Comanche. After the honkies settlers began showing up in the Comancherio (territory claimed by the Comanche) the Comanche found out that the powers that be would pay a ransom for captured settlers. They did not want paper money and they knew guns and ammo was out of the question. They asked for anything metal like knives, axes, utensils, pots and pans but mostly horses and gold. They could trade horses and the gold for guns, powder and ammo with the illegal gunrunners. They found out that after a while those that paid the ransoms would stop paying. But they still captured the honkies and either sold the boys and men to the Zuni, Hopi, Navaho and others to work as slaves in their turquoise and gold mines. And would sell the young and women as replacements to those tribes that had suffered epidemics of smallpox, measles, etc.

This Date in History April 16

1947 The port of Texas City, Texas was a town of about 18,000 people. It was a seaport on Galveston Bay teeming with oil refineries and chemical plants so a chemical fire was not unusual. On this date a fire broke out on the French freighter Grandcamp that was tied up to the pier. Many of the seasoned locals stood fascinated by the orange glow coming from the fire as the 27 members of the Texas City Fire Department tried to put out the fire. The fire was so hot that the water sprayed onto the fire was instantly vaporized. Little did the observers realize that in the hold of that ship was tons of ammonium nitrate and TNT. As you may or may not know, ammonium nitrate is the prime ingredient in many powerful explosives including the infamous bomb in Oklahoma, City. At 9:12a the tons of ammonium nitrate and TNT in the hold ignited and one of the most powerful explosions on American soil occurred. Essentially the entire town of Texas City of frame houses was flattened to the tune of 600 killed and 3,000 wounded. Pieces of the ship were tossed high into the air and landed on houses and people. The ships 1.5 ton anchor was found a mile and a half away 10 feet into the ground. The mushroom shaped cloud rose thousands of feet into the air and the explosion was heard 150 miles away. Also docked on the other side of the lagoon was the freighter High Flyer also loaded with nitrates. The resulting fires from the Grandcamp burned for days an eventually on he 17^th the High Flyer also exploded sending even more devastation across the landscape and igniting even more explosions in nearby chemical plants. But as you might expect nearly all of the people in Texas City had been evacuated including the crew of the High Flyer. Finally in the evening of the 18^th emergency crew from all across Texas got the fires under control. Veterans of WWII said that the devastation was a bad as any they had seen in Europe.

1881 On this date the famous lawman/gunfighter Bartholomew “Bat” Masterson was enjoined in the last gunfight of his life. As you might expect if was on the streets of Dodge City, Kansas. Bat came to Dodge City at an early age and worked as a buffalo hunter, army scout and participated in the Indian Wars with the plains tribes. He got involved in his first gunfight in 1876 when he got into a scrape with a soldier over the affections of a dance hall girl named Molly Brennan. The argument heated up to the point that both men drew their hog legs and opened fire. After the smoke cleared both the soldier and Molly were dead and Bat was severely wounded. After Bat had recovered enough he was brought to trial and a plea of self-defense was accepted and Bat was freed. Bat decided to become a lawman and became sheriff of Dodge City and was a part time saloon/gambling hall operator and gained a reputation as a tough but reliable lawman. Bat lost his bid for reelection in 1879 and began drifting around the west ending up in Tombstone, Arizona. While there he received a telegram from his brother Jim back in Dodge City. The telegram said that Jim had got into an argument with his business partners, A.J. Peacock and Al Updegraff and shots had been fired. Jim was not a gunfighter like his brother and said he was afraid for his life. Bat was on the next train to Dodge. On this date Bat confronted Peacock and Updegraff and yelled “I know you two are heeled (armed), now fight.” Almost simultaneously the three drew their guns and opened fire. Bat hid behind a railroad embankment and Peacock and Updegraff darted behind the city jail and a vigorous exchange of gunfire ensued when a few other people joined in. One bullet meant for Bat ricocheted off a rock and injured a bystander and Updegraff took a bullet in the lung. Then the sheriff and his deputies showed up armed to the teeth with shotguns and the fight was immediately over. Both the injured bystander and Updegraff recovered. In typical Dodge City fashion, Bat went on trial that day and was convicted of disturbing the peace and was fined $8.00. Bat paid the fine and was on a train out of town that night. He eventually ended up in New York City as a sports writer for a newspaper. What a change in lifestyle, huh?

Born today:

1867 US inventor Orville Wright. Commenting on working at Kill Devil Hill on the airplane he said “We could hardly wait to get up in the morning.” I would have been just as excited myself.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow