Friday

                            Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“What is wrong with this country is an ineffective immigration policy enacted by the American Indian.”

                                                       Pat Paulsen

A short while ago I struck up a conversation with a lady that was obviously in transit. I come to find out that she was originally from Greenville but had married a man of means and had been living in Huntsville, Al. She appeared to be in her early 40's. To get a feel as to where she was on the social scale I asked her where she went to high school. She said she went to Christ Church Episcopal School. That's right, it is as fancy-schmantzy as it sounds. The tuition for grades 9-12 is about $17,000/yr. Now I figured out where she was. I asked for her maiden name and it was one that is well known in old money circles in this community. She said that her husband and her had came to a parting of the ways and it was amiable until she found out he had a girlfriend that he had bought a condo for in Huntsville...then she became vicious. She was going to get as much from him as she could.

She moved back to Greenville and was living with her parents over in Foxcroft (a fancy neighborhood on the east side) while she figured out which direction her life was going. From then on all she could talk about was how affluent she, her parents and her soon to be ex-husband was. Neither me not my friend Doug the hairdresser was impressed. It seemed to be of ultimate importance that others recognize her wealth. She will have a hard time with that attitude in my social arena. Perhaps she should start hanging around n the Commerce Club or the Poinsett Club with the rest of the phonies.

         This Date in History   December 30

1916 Earlier Czar Nicholas of Russia and his wife the Czarina Alexandra fell under the spell of a holy man named Rasputin. The Czar and Czarina had a son that was a hemophiliac and had suffered a cut and no one could stop the bleeding. Rasputin was called and somehow he was able to stop the bleeding and saved the boy’s life. From this time on Rasputin was in favor with the royal family. In addition to being a holy man, Rasputin was known to be a heavy drinker and skank chaser. Well, the best possible thing happened for Rasputin. Czar Nicholas was called away to a foreign war. This left the Czarina in control of Russia and Rasputin in charge of her. Eventually the other member of royalty got fed up with Rasputin and decided to cap this bastard. A group of them invited Rasputin to dinner in a fancy mansion. What Rasputin did not know was that his food and drink had been heavily poisoned but he swallowed everything with great relish with no apparent ill effects so they shot him. Rasputin fell and as the others try to drag him out of the room, Rasputin got up and knocked one of them out and then ran outside trying to escape. He was shot once again and fell face down. The others jump on top of him, tied his hands and feet and threw him in a near freezing river never to be seen again. The Czarina was heartbroken at the loss of her lover but the Czar was ecstatic.

1853 Earlier the United States Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce, Jefferson Davis (later to become the President of the Confederate States of America) sent the Ambassador to Mexico named James Gadsden to visit with the President of Mexico, General Santa Ana. Gadsden’s job was to settle the squabbles the United States had been having with Mexico about the lands in the southwestern area of the present day United States. Gadsden and Santa Ana set down with a map and drew up a new border for northern Mexico and the southwestern United States that formed the area known as the Gadsden Purchase and that map became the present day southern border of Arizona and New Mexico. We offered Santa Ana $12 million that was later lowered to $10 million. The United States felt that this strip of land was vital for the development of a transcontinental railroad. In 1861 the “big four” in railroading, Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker got together and decided that a railroad was to be built on the newly acquired land and make it a branch of the Central Pacific Railroad known later as the immortal Southern Pacific Railroad.

1862 Earlier the United States ironclad U.S.S. Monitor had dueled with the Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Virginia (originally known as the Merrimac) on the James River near Hampton Roads. They battled to a draw but this duel signaled the end of wooden warships. The Monitor was used also to support U.S. General George B. McClellan’s ill fated Peninsular Campaign. The Monitor was effective in the relatively clam waters of bays and rivers, but it was decided that it would be very effective in the attempt to capture the city of Charleston, South Carolina so they started towing it down the east coast with the side wheeler U.S.S. Rhode Island. Very early on the Monitor started leaking around its turret but the onboard pumps were adequate to keep her afloat. Then they ran across a storm near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and the leaks got worse to the point that the pumps were overcome and the Monitor began sinking. On this date Captain Bankhead of the Monitor signaled the Rhode Island that they were going to abandon ship so the Rhode Island pulled as close as safety allowed and started taking aboard the crew of the Monitor. But there were 16 sailors aboard the Monitor that were not about to get up on the pitching deck and they went to the bottom with the Monitor. A few years ago the remains of the Monitor was located and photographed.

1803 One of the most important but least known Patriots in America died on this date. Francis Lewis was born in Llandaff, Wales and immigrated to the colonies when he was 22. He started a very lucrative business supplying provisions to the British army in the colonies. He was an aide to General Hugh Mercer during the Seven Years War and was captured by the Oswego Indians and sent to France as a prisoner of war. Upon his return he was granted 3,000 acres by the New York Government as a reward for his services. In 1765 he sold his mercantile business and retired to Whitestone, Long Island. His retirement gave him a lot of time to get involved in the Revolution. He was a member of Congress, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, a member of those wild and crazy guys, the Sons of Liberty who made themselves famous at the Boston Tea Party. He served as a member of the Continental Congress until 1779 when he resigned and became a commissioner of the Board of the Admiralty. His patriotism came at a tall price, however. In 1776 the British destroyed his estate on Long Island and captured his wife and kept her as a prisoner of war. The problem with this was that George Washington had no British women to trade for Mrs. Lewis. It was reported that the British kept her without a change of clothes or a bath for some time and it affected her health. The destruction of his estate adversely affected Francis Lewis financially from which he never recovered completely. The time his wife spent as a prisoner of war affected her health to a point that she never completely recovered.

Born today:

1982 Canadian actress Kristin Kreuk. She said “Just because I don’t do bad things does not mean that I don’t have bad thoughts.” I have bad thoughts all the time, Kristin.

Died today:

2006 Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein. After he was caught he said “If you want to execute me, I will bring my own f---k---g rope.” He did not have to.

                  Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow.