At the Fort Lawton military cemetery there is a lonely grave next to an old shack, it reads Albert Marquardt, Captain, German POW, Oct 1, 1945. Who was Albert Marquardt? Well for starters he was a senior private, 1st class, not a Captain more on that later. Albert was the father of two from Klein Stittkeim, a small hamlet of 92 inhabits in East Prussia. He was captured in March of 1945 by the American forces near Kaiserlautern. He was then sent to the states and eventually to Fort Lawton. It was there in late September Albert drank cocktails of orange juice and wood alcohol, a long with several other POWs. Albert feel ill, but didn't stop drinking the cocktails and after having two more on October 1st he succumbed and died. There is much speculation to whether it was lack of education or a death wish to led to Albert's death.
Regardless Albert was accorded a full military funeral and committed to the ground on October 8, 1945. For some 30 years Albert's grave read, Albert Marquardt German October 1, 1945. How and when Albert's grave was upgraded to the current grave is unknown, nor is it known who promoted Albert to a Captain.
On this day in 1890, the town of Fremont got it's very own post office. Fremont would later be swallowed up by Seattle and even later would have its soul swallowed up by housing booms, gentrification and Norm Rice.
I will begin a new chapter in the morning, I am starting a new job. I am a bit scared, I have never really interviewed for and have gotten a real job. The other jobs I have had, never started as something significant or important. So tonight, I will sleep uneasy. I am excited though I will miss the old office.
Well, I am sure there are two types of people ready to do that, considering the Cyprus' financial bailout plan and well the next failure of your elected officials in Washington to actually do anything about the debt or the budget. What two types are ready to panic? There are the ultra right wing types that have enough arms and MREs for a small army and of course the tea party. Not to agree with the far right folks, especially since I am an optimist and believe the elected ones will figure it out, but considering the negligible rates on saving accounts, maybe it is better to put your money under your mattress.
Here at America's Finest Blog we love fire in old western towns. Call me crazy but, there is something assuming about these events. Mostly because they are almost always a result of dry conditions, open flames, poor city planning and wind. Ephrata is no different, on this date in 1910 the town burned. The fire started in the Club Cafe and quickly destroyed the whole downtown, added by the wind and lack of firefighting equipment and personal. Firefighter from Quincy and Wilson Creek had to come to the rescue. In the end it took 300 people to save the town of 325 or so residents. Happy times returned quickly to the burned out town, as locals remembered that there was a large amount of whisky stored in cellar of the burned out saloon.
Please note, The Chinese American Restaurant has no significance to the story other than this is the best picture I have of Ephrata.
Today is Johnny Appleseed day, a day to celebrate a tin hat wearing, barefoot hobo. A day that in our state is largely overlooked. Why is it overlooked? Probably because that free roamer, Johnny Appleseed made it no further west than Illinois.
I must confess that until my kid was born, I hadn't really thought too much about Johnny Appleseed since I was five or six years old. I do remember being taught about him in school, I getting this vision in my head that he traveled the whole country planting apples. That vision is mostly true, by eighteenth century standards, the country didn't extend much further west than Illinois.
Johnny so loved for a few reasons, he seems as if he was a real nice guy for starters, second for a period in the Midwest it was required to plant an orchard to uphold the right to a land claim, so Johnny Appleseed orchards made for prime real estate. Third, apples from seeds are not good for eating. Why would that make Johnny so loved? Sour apples from Johnny's trees are perfect for making hard cider and apple jack. That is something that I don't remember being taught in grade school.
365 days ago, I returned to work from a wonderful vacation to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Spring Training, only to be told that I was losing my job. What a year it has been, I some of the work and I miss some of the people, I must admit, but I didn't really ever miss getting up and going to work. I didn't miss traffic, or conference calls or committee meetings, I've really enjoyed being free. I also was lucky enough to have my wife along for the ride, oh and one of the nicest summers on record also helped. Tonight some of the old timers from the VzW years.
D.C.Co are on the bricks that made Seattle, or at least post fire Seattle. D.C.Co, stand for Denny Clay Company, that operated out of the town of Taylor, in the Cascade foothills. Denny Clay Company existed in that name from 1892 through 1910. Taylor grew with the company, it was located 3.5 miles east of present day Hobert and lasted until 1947, when the city of Seattle, purchased the town, and removed the structures. Taylor had operated for years within the boundaries of the Cedar River watershed. Being in the watershed did not stop Taylor from flourishing, in the twenties several hundred people lived and worked in Taylor, at either the coal or clay mines or in factory. At Taylor they made fire brick, sewer pipes, fire proofing materials and roofing among other things. The goods were shipped down to Renton on the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad and then to Seattle to help build the city. So if you ever see a brick with D.C.Co you know it came from Taylor, Washington. Tonight's photos are of a Denny Clay Company paving stone, in Discovery Park and of the townsite, the road in the picture was once a rail line between two of the main building of the factory.
This is Guglielmo Olivotto's grave, it can be found in the back corner of the Fort Lawton Military cemetery. Who was Guglielmo Olivotto? He was an Italian POW being held at Fort Lawton in August of 1944, when he met an unfortunate end. Guglielmo was the only casualty of a riot that broke out on the night of August 14, 1944. It is unclear whether Guglielmo committed suicide or was hung by an angry mod of mostly African American soldiers. What is known is 43 soldiers faced court marshal, all of them African Americans. In the end 28 were convicted of rioting and two were convicted of the manslaughter or Guglielmo. The sad story is told in the book On American Soil, a good read.
The Harlem Shake is taking over the universe with nearly everyone on earth up loading a video to YouTube. Which is great and utterly unoriginal. It probably only irritates people like me, so I have learned or I am trying to learn to deal with it. It reminds me of a day back in the summer of 1996 when I sat listening to the Mariners play the Yankees on KXLE. The M's were in New York, I believe that Dan Wilson our beloved catcher hit a ball into the upper deck in left field in that game, anyway listening to this game gave me one of those moments in life that just don't ever repeat. I got to listen to Dave Niehaus give the play by play description to 50,000 Yankee fans doing the Macarena. The Macarena was the Harlem Shake of 1996, every political and sporting event (save the Republican Convention), and not mention most rodeos, state fairs and church picnics, featured the Macarena. It to was neither original or amusing to people like me.
Tonight a picture in Ellensburg, circa 1996, myself and my dog.
Today marks the openning of the short lived Interbay Post Office, called Boulevard when it openned in 1891. It 1894, it became the the Interbay Post Office. It closed in 1898. The point of interest here is that Seattle did not include Interbay in 1891. Interbay these days is mostly the BNSF's Balmer Yard and Red Mill Burgers. I lived on Queen Anne a stones throw from Interbay, I always found it an interesting place, maybe because there were so many hobos.
Well, they said that government does work anymore and that nothing can be done. Well today proves that wrong, the Census Bureau has voted to cease referring to African Americans as Negros on census forms. Again proving that the government is a step ahead of the curve, I think that this change in terminology might just catch on. On another note, change isn't always good for everyone, the big coal magnates have tapped the greener PR firms in the Northwest to convince us that coal is good and that sending it to China is liking leasing it to them, after all the prevailing winds will bring the stuff back to us after they burn it. Coal does look greener when there are a lot of Benjamins covering it. Since the United States has become too green for coal, maybe our exports to China can also work off some of our indebtedness with that nation. Anyway, a coal train is tonight's photo. Note that is photo is 15 or so years old so coal has been transported through the Northwest for years, heck we mined the stuff way back when.
Dan
On this date 34 years ago, a ferry ran for the first time in 40 years, it was the Edmonds to Port Townsend run. The run returned due to the Hood Canal bridge sinking in a wind storm earlier in the month. That is another story all together, I remember being woken up by my Dad in the middle of the night as the wind howled outside, I remember lighting too, but that probably didn't happen. Any back to the ferry, I remember taking that ferry during spring break with my Mom, sister and some friends. We spent the day in Port Townsend, climbing the stairs and hills of the town, which is probably the most exercise I can ever remember my Mom doing at one time. Tonight's photo the ferry dock that we used.
Today the Post Office turns 221. One must consider how many more birthdays it may have, before it is put out of it's misery. The Post Office has of course, given us the term, "Going Postal," the forever stamp, the worst customer service on earth and a book by Bukowski. It really isn't all that bad, think about life without it. I remember at YMCA camp in the 5th grade, the Post Office was threatening to strike, we wondered how we would get our letters from home during our eight days of camp. Lucky for us, the Post Office didn't strike and we all got letters mailed probably the same day we were all dropped off at camp.
I have spent the last two weekends at Gas Works Park and as I stood in one spot or another I could remember other trips to the park. Some, as a kid, I remember a thunder storm ruining a day at the park. Some, when I was there to take photos, or a birthday eating dinner watching the sailboats. Tonight a couple of my favorite Gas Works photos.
Enjoy
Dan
Well, it would be all together improper to not mention my wife on Valentines Day. She is a beautiful, strong and loving woman and mother. I really enjoy our time together and in the last couple months have realized just how great it was to have her near at both work and home for 12 years.
I just read an article that says that kindergartners are lacking in math skills. Being a father of a kindergartner, I wasn't shocked and I wasn't shock by the statement in the piece that noted we expect more from kindergartners than ever before. What did perplex me some was the statement many kindergarten children are scoring at 3 year old math levels. By using the term "scoring," this implies someplace that 3 year olds are being give math tests. That seems wrong on many levels. The article also suggests more "school" be involved in preschool.
I am old fashioned, I am out of step, I am apparently completely insane, because I have this idea that children should be given at least sometime in their lives to be children. I have a hard time believing that the human race will be better off giving 3 year olds standard math tests. I say this even though I know, various high tech manufacturing and software companies in the state want more more math, science and computer skills taught to our kiddies. Which on it's face is a nice idea, however if you want a forth grader to learn more science, I would suggest that instead of replacing social studies or music, or art or PE to teach it, how about we find actual teachers that can teach the subject properly. After all, what good is four and half hours of science taught to you by a person that is better suited to teach you spelling, Palmer cursive and potato stamp art. Other than the cost, won't one hour of really good science taught by a person that gets it and can teach it, be better than four and half hours of the other?
Cost of course is the problem, those higher tech companies that are pushing for the publicly funded K-12 vo tech for their job pool, really don't want to pay for it and a more disciplined structure of math and science first, will possibly create a better employee that doesn't think for to much for themselves. This whole thing seems rather like A Brave New World to me, as if we will only stand for free thinking for the very elite or the those too inferior to take tech jobs.
On this date Boeing marked the sixth anniversary of the maiden flight of the 727 with the maiden flight of the 747. This of course is important to us in Western Washington since Boeing is so much apart of the our lives. Here are a few photos of 747 number one.
Tonight's photo is of Alaskan Way on the Seattle waterfront. It is here on this date in 1947, that good ol' Ivar Haglund took full advantage of a tank car spill to become the "prince of corn." A tank car of corn syrup had ruptured and began to spill on the street, about 1000 gallons of the stuff. The action all took place in front of Ivar's Acres of Claim restaurant. Ivar being Ivar, had some pancakes made and he then pull on hip waders and grabbed a box and sat down in the middle of the street and began spooning the syrup on his stack of pancakes. Of course the news photographers ate it up and the photo was picked up by the wire services.
My photo was taken from the sky bridge at Pier 66, the cruise ship terminal looking south toward the sticky scene of the 1947 spill. It is hard to believe that our waterfront was once a functioning working waterfront, not just a tourist trap.
So, I read an AP article about rising gas prices today, it contained the usual reasons for price increases, the improving economy, refinery maintenance and a million barrel drop in gasoline supplies, which sounds like a big number until you find out that we use 87 million barrels a day. The article then got real good, it quotes an oil and gas analyst that noted gas was 32 cents a gallon when the first Super Bowl was played and ticket to the game was about $10, now gas is $3.42 nationally and a ticket to the big game is about $2200, the according to this analyst fuel really hasn't increased in value that much. I know I feel it each time I stop on my way to work to pick up a ticket for the big game. Really, I am astounded by comparison.
At the Fort Lawton military cemetery there is a lonely grave next to an old shack, it reads Albert Marquardt, Captain, German POW, Oct 1, 1945. Who was Albert Marquardt? Well for starters he was a senior private, 1st class, not a Captain more on that later. Albert was the father of two from Klein Stittkeim, a small hamlet of 92 inhabits in East Prussia. He was captured in March of 1945 by the American forces near Kaiserlautern. He was then sent to the states and eventually to Fort Lawton. It was there in late September Albert drank cocktails of orange juice and wood alcohol, a long with several other POWs. Albert feel ill, but didn't stop drinking the cocktails and after having two more on October 1st he succumbed and died. There is much speculation to whether it was lack of education or a death wish to led to Albert's death.
