Author: NewMexiKen

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

… was assassinated in Sarajevo on this date in 1914, igniting what we know as World War I. Before the war had ended as many as 16 million or more had died, about 40% of them civilians.

Franz Ferdinand was the nephew of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary. After the Emperor’s son had committed suicide and Ferdinand’s own father had died, Ferdinand was first in succession to the 83-year-old Emperor (Franz Josef had been emperor for 65 years).

Austria-Hungary had annexed Bosnia Herzegovina in 1909. Serbian radicals believed that Franz Ferdinand, once he became emperor, would move to strengthen the empire’s Balkan control. That would diminish, of course, Serbia’s own plans to dominate the area.

In all, there were seven assassins along the route of the Archduke’s car, all Bosnian. The third of the seven, Nedelko Cabrinovic

threw a bomb, but failed to see the car in time to aim well: he missed the heir’s car and hit the next one, injuring several people. Cabrinovic swallowed poison and jumped into a canal, but he was saved from suicide and arrested. He died of tuberculosis in prison in 1916.

The seventh assassin was 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip.

Princip heard Cabrinovic’s bomb go off and assumed that the Archduke was dead. By the time he heard what had really happened, the cars had driven by. By bad luck, a little later the returning procession missed a turn and stopped to back up at a corner just as Princip happened to walk by. Princip fired two shots: one killed the archduke, the other his wife. Princip was arrested before he could swallow his poison capsule or shoot himself. Princip too was a minor under Austrian law, so he could not be executed. Instead he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and died of tuberculosis in 1916.

It was the Archduke and Sophie’s fourteenth wedding anniversary. The Archduke’s last words were, “Sophie dear, Sophie dear, don’t die! Stay alive for our children.”

In the aftermath of the assassination, diplomatic efforts failed, as both Austria and Serbia feared loss of national prestige. Austria declared war on Serbia. Germany sided with Austria. Russia supported Serbia as required by treaty. France was obligated to support Russia in any war with Germany or Austria-Hungary. Britain was obligated to support France in any war with Germany.

Source for quotes and some background: The Balkan Causes of World War One.

A 2/4 rain

Dad, official late dad of NewMexiKen, provided this report on seasonal change in Tucson back in 2004:

Those of you familiar with the desert know that after two or three months of no rain we expect thunderheads to build up every afternoon south east of us. These are the rain clouds from the Gulf of Mexico, pushing up into the Sierra Madres in Mexico. Day by day they creep closer to us.

Yesterday while reading I was surprised by a loud clap of thunder. Glancing out the window it was true….. Rain………

I raced to the kitchen to gather my rain gauges and ruler; ran out the door and proceeded to record the event.

Taking numerous measurements, I concluded the drops averaged two inches apart and the rain had lasted four minutes…..a 2/4 rain.

Fort Union National Monument (New Mexico)

… was created on this date in 1954, when President Eisenhower signed a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the site and remaining structures.

Fort Union

Fort Union was established in 1851 by Lieutenant Colonel Edwin V. Sumner as a guardian and protector of the Santa Fe Trail. During it’s forty-year history, three different forts were constructed close together. The third and final Fort Union was the largest in the American Southwest, and functioned as a military garrison, territorial arsenal, and military supply depot for the southwest. Today, visitors use a self-guided tour path to visit the second fort and the large, impressive ruins of the third Fort Union. The largest visible network of Santa Fe Trail ruts can be seen here.

Fort Union National Monument

Fort Union is the fourth least-visited national monument (2009).

1%

The relative humidity reached 1% this afternoon is Las Vegas, Nevada. The air temperature was 107° and the dew point minus 22°.

Humidity is 12% at just before 10 at Casa NewMexiKen, up from 5% this afternoon. There have actually been sprinkles at some higher altitudes — reportedly people on the patio at one bar broke into cheers when the few drops fell.

Lots of gusty wind tonight with the front moving through. Wind bad; humidity good.

Los Alamos

Los Alamos, America’s most unusual community, is being evacuated as the fire threatens. KRSN AM 1490 is covering the fire, interspersed with songs about rain. It is really remarkable listening. KRSN AM 1490

Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and URS for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.

LANL

Best line of the day

“Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have, too.”

Michele Bachmann

The John Wayne from Waterloo, Iowa, is John Wayne GACY, the serial killer.

Marion Robert Morrison, aka THE John Wayne, was from Winterset, Iowa.

Could You Have Passed the 8th Grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam in 1895 from Salina, Kansas. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7 – 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per m?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per are, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates:
1607
1620
1800
1849
1865

Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u’.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e’. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced andindicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

Pecos National Monument (New Mexico)

… was redesignated Pecos National Historical Park on this date in 1990. It had been made a national monument in 1965.

Pecos National Historical Park

Pecos preserves 12,000 years of history including the ancient pueblo of Pecos, two Spanish Colonial Missions, Santa Fe Trail sites, 20th century ranch history of Forked Lightning Ranch, and the site of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass.

Pecos National Historical Park

Petroglyph National Monument (New Mexico)

… was authorized on this date in 1990. It is owned and managed jointly by the National Park Service, the city of Albuquerque and the state of New Mexico.

Petroglyph National Monument

As you walk among the petroglyphs, you are not alone. This world is alive with the sights and sounds of the high desert – a hawk spirals down from the mesa top, a roadrunner scurries into fragrant sage, a desert millipede traces waves in the sand. There is another presence beyond what we can see or hear. People who have lived along the Rio Grande for many centuries come alive again through images they carved on the shiny black rocks. These images, and associated archeological sites in the Albuquerque area, provide glimpses into a 12,000 year long story of human life in this area.

Petroglyph National Monument stretches 17 miles along Albuquerque’s West Mesa, a volcanic basalt escarpment that dominates the city’s western horizon. . . .

Petroglyph National Monument protects a variety of cultural and natural resources including five volcanic cones, hundreds of archeological sites and an estimated 25,000 images carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers. Many of the images are recognizable as animals, people, brands and crosses; others are more complex. Their meaning, possibly, understood only by the carver. These images are inseparable from the greater cultural landscape, from the spirits of the people who created them, and all who appreciate them.

Petroglyph National Monument is a place of respect, awe and wonderment.

Petroglyph National Monument

June 27th

Today is the birthday

… of Ross Perot. He’s 81.

… of Bruce Babbitt. The former Governor of Arizona and Secretary of the Interior is 73.

… of Vera Wang. The designer is 62.

… of Tobey Maguire. Peter Parker is 36.

Robert James Keeshan was born on this date in 1927. He was known as Bob Keeshan, and even better known as Captain Kangaroo. Before that he was know as Clarabell the Clown.

As the easy-going Captain with his big pockets and his bushy mustache, Keeshan lured children into close engagement with literature, science, and especially music, adopting an approach which mixed pleasure and pedagogy. Children learned most easily, he argued, when information and knowledge became a source of delight. Keeshan’s approach represented a rejection of pressures towards the increased commercialization of children’s programming as well as a toning-down of the high volume, slapstick style associated with earlier kid show hosts, such as Pinky Lee, Soupy Sales and Howdy Doody‘s Buffalo Bob.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications

Jerome Solon Felder was born 86 years ago today. As Doc Pomus he wrote such songs as “A Teenager in Love,” “Save The Last Dance For Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” “Little Sister,” “Suspicion” and “Viva Las Vegas.” He also wrote, though it was radically changed for The Coasters by Leiber and Stoller, “Young Blood.” Pomus died in 1991.

Helen Keller was born on June 27 in 1880. The following is from her obituary in The New York Times when she died in 1968.

For the first 18 months of her life Helen Keller was a normal infant who cooed and cried, learned to recognize the voices of her father and mother and took joy in looking at their faces and at objects about her home. “Then” as she recalled later, “came the illness which closed my eyes and ears and plunged me into the unconsciousness of a newborn baby.”

The illness, perhaps scarlet fever, vanished as quickly as it struck, but it erased not only the child’s vision and hearing but also, as a result, her powers of articulate speech.

Her life thereafter, as a girl and as a woman, became a triumph over crushing adversity and shattering affliction. In time, Miss Keller learned to circumvent her blindness, deafness and muteness; she could “see” and “hear” with exceptional acuity; she even learned to talk passably and to dance in time to a fox trot or a waltz. Her remarkable mind unfolded, and she was in and of the world, a full and happy participant in life.

What set Miss Keller apart was that no similarly afflicted person before had done more than acquire the simplest skills.

But she was graduated from Radcliffe; she became an artful and subtle writer; she led a vigorous life; she developed into a crusading humanitarian who espoused Socialism; and she energized movements that revolutionized help for the blind and the deaf.

Photo of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan, 1888.

Los Conchas Wildfire

Fire closer to home this time, in the Jemez Mountains, about 50 miles north of Albuquerque, 30 west of Santa Fe. The fire began at 1PM yesterday, grew to 3,500 acres by evening and 43,000+ acres by now. So far, few if any structures have been lost, but smoke is back in our air and America’s nuclear weapons laboratory is closed — the fire is over the ridge from the lab at Los Alamos.

And this report:

Dixon Apple Orchard, a landmark northern New Mexico business that is a popular travel destination during the fall harvest season, has burned as part of the massive Las Conchas wildfire, according to Annette Narvaiz, town clerk for nearby Cochiti Lake.

Narvaiz also said at about 11:30 a.m. that the Pueblo de Cochiti golf course was on fire. “It’s headed toward the 15th hole,” she said.

Why such large fires in Arizona and New Mexico this year? It comes down to this. Albuquerque, by example, has had rain on January 31st/February 1st, April 7th and May 18th/19th. That’s it! Three incidents of measurable precip in six months for a grand total of 2/10ths of an inch.

Now you may say, but it’s a desert. True enough, but even so this is a tiny fraction of the usual moisture. Some areas have had even less; some have had none. It’s the driest six-eight months ever recorded.

And, of course, the fires are in the mountains with plenty of fuel.

Eleven years ago the Cerro Grande Fire destroyed over 400 homes in the Los Alamos area.

Fatal Distraction

While I was in Virginia a neighborhood infant there was left in the car all day. It was the last day of school, schedules were altered, routines were disrupted; the result was fatal.

Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post won the 2010 Pulitizer Prize for Feature Writing for a piece on this subject, Fatal Distraction. I encourage you to read his superlative report. An excerpt, giving the basics:

Death by hyperthermia is the official designation. When it happens to young children, the facts are often the same: An otherwise loving and attentive parent one day gets busy, or distracted, or upset, or confused by a change in his or her daily routine, and just… forgets a child is in the car. It happens that way somewhere in the United States 15 to 25 times a year, parceled out through the spring, summer and early fall. The season is almost upon us.

Two decades ago, this was relatively rare. But in the early 1990s, car-safety experts declared that passenger-side front airbags could kill children, and they recommended that child seats be moved to the back of the car; then, for even more safety for the very young, that the baby seats be pivoted to face the rear. If few foresaw the tragic consequence of the lessened visibility of the child . . . well, who can blame them? What kind of person forgets a baby?

I’ve seen our future and it ain’t pretty

Reposted from one year ago.

Last evening my friend Donna got back from Washington and we decided to meet for some pie at a Flying Star, one of the local coffee shop chain. It was nearing 9.

I had to make a left turn on the way and it required a wait for traffic to clear. Opposite me turning left from the oncoming traffic was a vehicle with its bright lights on. I tried to avoid looking at the lights, of course, but couldn’t help it somewhat as I watched the oncoming traffic in the adjacent lanes. Finally I was able to turn left, then I took the first right.

It was an unlit street and the glare from the bright lights was still bouncing around my retinas. At first I thought I was seeing things. And then I did see it.

It was an elderly man in a wheel chair crossing the street. No lights, no reflecting tape, only my headlights barely illuminating him. I slowed and went around; by the time I passed he was nearly on the dirt next to the street along a large undeveloped field. He was moving slowly, Fred Flintstone style.

I continued the quarter mile or so to the parking lot of the Flying Star, recovering from being startled and wondering what to do. There were two long-term care facilities back where the man was. One was assisted care apartments; the other what used to be called a nursing home. It might be he was fine; it might be he was not. Was it my business?

Donna arrived and I told her about it. We decided to go back and see if he was still there.

He was, just about where he’d been a few minutes earlier. We drove past and went to the nursing care facility.

I wandered in. No locks, no receptionist. But it was clean and it was nice and it was as scary as hell. (Perhaps it is hell.)

I continued back, finally seeing a nurse or orderly down the hall. I called to him, eventually got his attention and told him about the man. We ran out a back door and I showed him my apparition in the dark on the other side of the street about 100 yards away.

The attendant went and got John and wheeled him back across the street. John did not want to come this way; it was “goddam this and goddammit that”. His arms were heavily bruised and bandaged. I helped lift John, a big man, and his wheelchair over a curb. The attendant thanked me for saving the man’s life. I told him there was no need to get dramatic, but I was glad I saw him and could help. I left them there, outside the door we’d come out. The attendant called someone to unlock the door. It was raining lightly.

We had coconut cream pie.

Best historical line of the day

“Ich bin ein Berliner”

President John F. Kennedy, 48 years ago today.

As The New York Times put it at the time:

President Kennedy, inspired by a tumultuous welcome from more than a million of the inhabitants of this isolated and divided city, declared today he was proud to be “a Berliner.”

He said his claim to being a Berliner was based on the fact that “all free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin.”

The Jefferson Memorial (Washington, D.C.)

A national memorial to Thomas Jefferson was authorized 77 years ago today. It was dedicated in 1943.

Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson-political philosopher, architect, musician, book collector, scientist, horticulturist, diplomat, inventor, and third President of the United States-looms large in any discussion of what Americans are as a people. Jefferson left to the future not only ideas but also a great body of practical achievements. President John F. Kennedy recognized Jefferson’s accomplishments when he told a gathering of American Nobel Prize winners that they were the greatest assemblage of talent in the White House since Jefferson had dinner there alone. With his strong beliefs in the rights of man and a government derived from the people, in freedom of religion and the separation between church and state, and in education available to all. Thomas Jefferson struck a chord for human liberty 200 years ago that resounds through the decades. But in the end, Jefferson’s own appraisal of his life, and the one that he wrote for use on his own tombstone, suffices: “Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.”

Thomas Jefferson Memorial (National Park Service)

Jefferson Memorial Wedding Party

Some fortunate wedding parties are able to have photos taken at the Jefferson Memorial among architect John Russell Pope’s beautiful columns and curves. (That’s Emily and Rob, co-official daughter and son-in-law of NewMexiKen.)

June 26th

Today is the birthday

… of three-time Oscar nominee for best actress Eleanor Parker. She’s 89. Ms. Parker was nominated for Caged in 1950, Detective Story in 1951 and Interrupted Melody in 1955.

… of Gilberto Gil. The Brazilian singer is 69.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3e1S2UGHA0

… of Chris Isaak, 55.

… of Derek Jeter, 37.

… of Michael Vick, 31.

Author Walter Farley was born on June 26, 1916.

He grew up loving horses and went on to write the novel The Black Stallion (1941). It’s the story of a boy and a wild stallion who survive a shipwreck and become friends on a deserted island. The book was so popular that Farley went on to write twenty novels about the horse, including The Black Stallion Returns (1945), The Black Stallion Revolts (1953), and The Black Stallion’s Ghost (1969).

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media (2007)

NewMexiKen’s favorite was always The Island Stallion.

Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias was born 100 years ago today. Ms. Zaharias was named the top female athlete of the first half of the 20th century. She excelled in track and field, then took up golf at age 21, often hitting more than 1,000 golf balls a day as she learned the game. Eventually she won every important championship. Babe Zaharias died of colon cancer at age 42.

Pearl S. Buck was born on June 26, 1892. Ms. Buck won the Noble Prize for literature in 1938 “for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces.”

Yuck, just yuck!

Albuquerque air quality is reportedly the worst it has ever been and the smoke from Arizona is expected to continue for days. We’re being told even healthy individuals should avoid outdoor activity. Swamp coolers that most of us depend on for cooling should not be used (they draw in outside air without any serious filtering).

The smoke particles in the air are much finer than dust — and much more dangerous.

I am running fans and a humidifier. 80 degrees inside.

This isn’t fair

And they both are lovely, but doesn’t looking at James Taylor (with his wife Caroline at last night’s White House State Dinner), make you feel a little older than you did a minute ago? He looks like he’s seen plenty of fire and plenty of rain by now.

June Eighth

LeRoy Neiman was born Leroy Runquist 90 years ago today. This painting is featured today at Neiman’s website.

Barbara Bush is 86.

Jerry Stiller is 84. Stiller and Anne Meara have been married since 1954 and they are, of course, Ben and Amy Stiller’s parents.

Joan Alexandra Molinsky is 78. That’s Joan Rivers. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College.

Moondoggie is 75. James Darren to us; born James William Ercolani.

Nancy Sinatra is 71. Her boots have done a lot of walkin’.

Robbie Douglas is 67. That’s the second of “My Three Sons,” Don Grady.

Boz Scaggs is 67, Kathy Baker is 61 and Tony Rice, the guitarist, is 60.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is 56 today. He is credited with the invention of the World Wide Web (in 1990, more or less). In the simplest terms, Sir Tim, with the help of Robert Cailliau, developed the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for managing documents on the Internet.

Scott Adams (“Dilbert”) is 54.

Keenen Ivory Wayans is 53.

Julianna Margulies is 45.

Kanye West is 34.

Eddie Gaedel was born on this date in 1925. The 3-feet 7-inch Gaedel came to bat for the St. Louis Browns in 1951. He was, according to Browns owner Bill Veeck, “the best darn midget who ever played big-league ball.” As told in the first chapter of Veeck’s autobiography, Veeck as in Wreck — “When Eddie went into that crouch, his strike zone was just about visible to the naked eye. I picked up a ruler and measured it for posterity. It was 1½ inches. Marvelous.”

Francis Crick was born on June 8th in 1916. Crick is best known as one of two co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953, along with James D. Watson.

Frank Lloyd Wright was born on this date in 1867. PBS has a locator to the more than 60 Wright buildings open to the public. It includes building names, locations, photographs and maps.

Wright.jpg

For more than 70 years, Frank Lloyd Wright showed his countrymen new ways to build their homes and see the world around them. He created some of the most monumental, and some of the most intimate spaces in America. He designed everything: banks and resorts, office buildings and churches, a filling station and a synagogue, a beer garden and an art museum.

Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)

… was designated a national monument on this date in 1923. It became a national park in 1928.

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon, famous for its worldly unique geology, consists of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. The erosional force of frost-wedging and the dissolving power of rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock of the Claron Formation into bizarre shapes including slot canyons, windows, fins, and spires called “hoodoos.”

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce is named for Mormon pioneer Ebenezer Bryce.