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Anthony's Wireless Airship: 1912
... Delightful article from July 1910, reprinted in new Zealand. A lot more detailed than you usually got in those days. The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/04/2012 - 2:17pm -

"Anthony's Wireless Airship." A small powered blimp used in 1912 to demonstrate remote control of aircraft by wireless telegraphy. ("Professor Anthony has exhibited a method of airship control of his own by wireless. He and Leo Stephens recently gave an exhibition of starting, controlling, turning and stopping an airship by wireless which was quite a long distance from the station which controlled its action.") View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. telegram to mechanical pilot:TAKEOFF STOP TURN LEFT STOP GO FORWARD STOP WAIT I DIDNT MEAN TO REALLY STOP I JUST DO THAT TO END SENTENCES STOP NO THAT ONE DIDNT COUNT EITHER STOP GAHHH JUST COME BACK HERE WE NEED TO FIGURE THIS OUT BETTER STOP AirshipFantastic and to think this was done in 1912, these two gentlemen were way ahead of their time in concieving this. early ufosYou have to wonder if this or something like it was responsible for at least some of the mystery airship sightings which were so common around the turn of the century. It's funny how it seems like we've come so far, yet a lot of what we have today was actually possible back then, just not common. Airships I agree.I recently read a book that claimed the same thing. It even gave a list of names of inventors involved in building and flying the Airships in 1896 and 1897. Ground based aeronautRemote control not that unusual by 1912. Radio control of a model airship had been demonstrated in England in 1909/1910. From a keyboard not unlike a typewriter! Delightful article from July 1910, reprinted in new Zealand. A lot more detailed than you usually got in those days. The description of sparks is delicious. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA19100701.2.9 (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Zeppelins & Blimps)
Iron Pony: 1905
New Zealand circa 1905. "E class locomotive, E 66, at the Petone Railway Workshops, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/11/2014 - 9:17pm -

New Zealand circa 1905. "E class locomotive, E 66, at the Petone Railway Workshops, with William Godber standing on the front. Known as 'Pearson's Dream,' designed by G.A. Pearson, and built in 1905 for use on the Rimutaka Incline; written off in 1917." Glass negative by A.P. Godber. View full size. Fairlie and Vauclain patents?!If I'm not mistaken, this uses Fairle's patent and the Vauclain patent patent for compound cylinders. The problem with the Vauclain compounds was that they tended to be high maintenance, which mitigated against the efficiency in fuel and water consumption. Most Vauclain locos in the US were converted to simple locomotives. Articulated? Is that a 2-6-6-2 non-articulated? Must be a pretty straight railway. Vauclain yes, Fairlie no.This locomotive was a Vauclain compound, but not built to Fairlie's Patent. It is actually an articulated compound Mallet locomotive. For some reason the high pressure cylinders were reversed from the normal configuration and placed in the same location as those on a Fairlie. Not only did it look like a Fairlie, but the NZR used the E classification for previous Fairlie engines. All were withdrawn by the time E66 entered service, so the class designation was available to re-use. Double or Triple Expansion Cylinders?It sure looks like deemery nailed it, the multiple cylinder functions similar to a marine steam engine in that the steam is expanded two, or possibly here three times -- is that a third cylinder in the cluster or the valve gear? Third cylinder is the valve - and a correctionThe third cylinder you see tucked inside the smaller high pressure cylinder on the bottom is the valve that routed steam to the high/low pressure cylinders. On narrow gauge locomotives, the smaller high pressure cylinder was often placed on the bottom for clearance reasons. The correction is from my previous post. I said E66 was a compound Mallet locomotive. It is a compound by virtue of the Vauclain system. However, it does not use the Mallet system of compounding. The cylinder sets on the two locomotive units were the same size fore and aft. A true Mallet would have smaller high pressure cylinders on the rear engine unit exhausting into larger low pressure cylinders on the front. Tablet Anyone?The object on the cab-side is a tablet catcher. It swings out through 90 degrees to allow an automatic exchange of single line tablets (or tokens). Common on Scottish single line railways, right up to the diesel era. It meant that you did not need to slow to walking pace for an exchange to take place. UniqueE 66 was the only locomotive of its class and therefore unique. It was experimental, and was powerful, but due to its high consumption of coal no more of that class were built. See this. Almost a Meyer 2-6-6-0E 66's wheel arrangement was 2-6-6-0. Unlike a Mallet articulated, both its engine units were arranged as pivoting bogies, and the boiler, tanks, cab and bunker were carried on a separate frame. In that respect E66 is best described as a form of Meyer articulated, although the drawgear was attached to the main frame in the manner of a Du Bosquet loco. This photo shows the frame and engine units: http://library.techs.co.nz/picturewairarapa/90-017-135.jpg It also had a Vanderbilt patent firebox, which was a circular, stayless, dryback design derived from marine practice. In the confined space of E 66's cab the crew suffered badly from the excess heat generated by this type of firebox. This photo shows the firebox without its backplate: http://library.techs.co.nz/picturewairarapa/90-017-137.jpg http://www.sdrm.org/faqs/boilers/fig37.jpg All in all a rather peculiar design. (The Gallery, A.P. Godber, Railroads)
Bed and Breakfast: 1939
... - Dave] Coal Gas Smell The South Island of New Zealand continued to produce coal gas into the 1980s in Dunedin, Christchurch ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/21/2017 - 8:56am -

July 1939. "Washington, D.C. — Government worker's room." Equipped with a kerosene stove. Medium format negative by David Moffat Myers. View full size. Take your LumpsThat mattress is making my back hurt just by looking at it. The stove... is an Ivanhoe "Perfection" made in Cleveland, likely in the mid-1930s. [Or perhaps made by the Florence Stove Company of Gardner, Mass. - Dave] Gas JetSure looks like a gas connector just above the right side of the stove. Wonder if that was only for gas light? Why was it on the wall? If it was for a heater, that connector would have been mounted down on the floor.I can remember gas valves like that with a rubber hose connected to a gas heater in bathrooms, living rooms, or other rooms that needed some extra heat. Not very safe but it was used extensively. So efficientYou can practically cook your own breakfast in bed! [I am stealing your idea for the title of this post. Well done and over easy! - Dave] Odd no flue or chimney ventTank on the left was for the coal oil as we called it when I grew up. You can see the fuel line to stove. Beautiful kerosene can with wooden handle and its partner the funnel filled the tank. Heck of a lampshadeNo fire hazard there in the breakfast nook. Gas and KeroseneI think if you look very closely next to the alarm clock, you will see the edge of a second gas fixture that was probably left over from a pair of gas wall sconces for lighting. Obviously, this room was converted into a bed-sit room from a single-family home with the stove added as an afterthought (probably to increase the rent obtained from the room). Interesting that in spite of the proximity of gas lines, they chose to install a kerosene cooking stove, probably because it required no other plumbing. You can see the kerosene can sitting under the store. It was probably up to the renter to supply the fuel. [Those jets are relics of the gaslight era, when coal gas was a primary source of illumination in many cities. With natural gas coming into wide use in the 1940s, Washington Gas Light ended production of "city gas" (which was extremely poisonous) and scrapped its distribution system of holding tanks and pipelines. - Dave] Coal Gas SmellThe South Island of New Zealand continued to produce coal gas into the 1980s in Dunedin, Christchurch and Invercargill. When our family lived in Melbourne in the 1960s, coal gas was still in use. There is an easy way to tell you what coal gas smelled like: moth balls! And it was more explosive than natural gas. When you lit the burner, it ignited with quite a sharp "POP" sound. (The Gallery, D.C., David Myers)
Custom Bodies: 1924
... drive? Are they, or were they, part of an export order to New Zealand or Australia, where big custom-bodied American limousines were favored ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/21/2016 - 1:37pm -

San Francisco, 1924. "Pierce-Arrow autos at Gillig Bros." Specialists in Body Building, Seat Covers, Auto Painting and Upholstery. Now playing at the Royal: "Single Wives." 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. Gillis Brothers.They later moved out to Hayward. I rode on many of their school buses back in the day. Google eyesYou can always spot a Pierce-Arrow by the headlamps built into the front fenders. Definitely a car for the well-to-do, even if they were regular factory models. [The ones here seem to have been stretched, with an extra row of seats. - Dave] 2015 GilligStill in business, but vehicle is a bit larger! Crown or GilligIf you rode a school bus in the last 40 years on the West Coast, it was either one or the other. Pass on the MoviesPhotoplay does not think much of the films at the Royal: Single Wives -- Once again the wife-neglected-by-her-business-mad-husband theme reappears...Reminiscent of a thousand films and has as its only interest the orchidaceous Corrine Griffith. Considerable bad acting surrounds her. (Photoplay, October 1924) For Sale -- Stock Plot 2A: the girl who is put upon the matrimonial auction block to save her bankrupt father....Obvious tale with artificial "big scenes". (Photoplay, September 1924) Right-hard drive?Why are all three of these vehicles right-hand drive? Are they, or were they, part of an export order to New Zealand or Australia, where big custom-bodied American limousines were favored for use on sparsely populated and largely unpaved rural routes? The rear two cars, at least, seem to have more than the normal amount of ground clearance, which suggests that they might be, or have been, intended for export to Down Under. The photos are not reversed; the signage on the building and the license plates read normally, and the car in the background is (as one would expect in the USA) left-hand drive. Is There Something Missing from the Fire Escape?How would one get to the sidewalk from the lower fire escape platform ? Most I've seen have a vertical ladder which slides down or a stairway which pivots down, both with counterweights to hold them in the up position. John Ruth (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco)
Sign Here: 1924
... to Joseph’s giant books of autographs. New York Times, September 2, 1923. Autograph Collector Here in World ... he returned to his wanderings and visited Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, India, Egypt, the Holy Land and South Africa. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/08/2015 - 1:09am -

        UPDATE: This is the Croatian-American "world walker" Joseph (Josip) Frank Mikulec. More here and here. And here. August 6, 1924. "Joseph Frank [illegible] at White House with album for autographs." His pencil, however, was not allowed in. View full size. Joseph Frank Mikulec No word on what happened to Joseph’s giant books of autographs. New York Times, September 2, 1923. Autograph Collector Here in World Tours Joseph Mikulec, autograph collector, has covered several hundred thousand miles and twice traveled around the world to get signatures of prominent persons in all countries. In travel-stained clothes and with his huge book strapped upon his back, he went to City Hall a few days ago and got the signature of Mayor Hylan. After visiting several local celebrities in financial circles, Mikulec started West again. His leather-bound book, which weighs fifty-seven pounds, is the second he has carried to the far corners of the world. In it he proudly exhibits the signatures of five Presidents—Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. The book is heavy with seals of many States and cities, and contains the names of Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, the Prince of Wales, Prince Lubormirski, the President of China, Admiral Togo of Japan, J. Pierpont Morgan, a long list of United States Senators, American Ambassadors, Ambassadors to the United States and many editors and noted writers. Mikulec left his home in Stubica, Croatia, twenty-two years ago, when he was 23 years old, and began his long pilgrimage on foot, traveling from city to city in Central Europe. After several years of incessant travel on the Continent he visited the United States, making his home in Philadelphia and becoming a citizen in December, 1910. Later he returned to his wanderings and visited Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, India, Egypt, the Holy Land and South Africa. Mikulec said he was now about ready to settle down. He hoped to see his autograph books placed in a position of honor in a museum. Then, he said, he would get a small farm of his own somewhere in the Middle West. The Baltimore Sun, July 1928. Tracking down the Autograph … The enlightened collector seeks items which stir his feelings for the past. This change in the aim of autograph collecting has been the tragedy of one man, Joseph Frank Mikulec, who twenty-nine years ago started around the world collecting the autographs of the great ones of every land. When he ran out of money he painted portraits, houses and landscapes until he had a stake for his next pilgrimage. As he circumpedaled the globe his album grew until it became a sort of great register of the noted men and women of the nineteenth century. Mikulec developed a set of Atlas-like shoulder muscles from packing his giant album on his back. Finally, when he found himself staggering under the fifty-eight pounds of autographs, he had a perambulator made and today he wheels his life work about. A generation ago his book might have been a treasure, but today dealers are not interested. Trend SetterAbout fifty years thence, his carry style would make a big hit with owners of portable stereos. Dream StirringI'm really disappointed the book is missing because this post really piqued my interest. I think to view it would be utterly fascinating the way Mikulec attached notes, photos, seals and postage stamps of the people concerned. I need to do some researchI'd be interested to see if he's in our family tree somewhere down the line. My dad's parents emigrated from that area back before World War 2. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Ahoy, Matey: 1921
... two countries. The photo below shows the ship departing New South Wales sometime in the 1920s. A passenger who contracted ... aide of the sinking ship RMS Tahiti, on voyage between New Zealand and San Fransisco. Ventura picked up all of the passengers after they ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/14/2017 - 5:45pm -

"Jordan touring car at San Francisco piers, 1921." The S.S. Ventura at dock. 8x6 inch glass negative, photographer unknown. View full size. The Shorpy connectionThe S.S. Ventura was owned and operated by J.D. Spreckels & Bros. of San Francisco through their Oceanic Steamship Company. Among those Bros. was Aldolph Spreckels, who built the Spreckels Mansion at 2080 Washington St., the backdrop for many a Chris Helin photo of Antique Automotive Anachronisms seen here. Love the saddle shoes.Kinda takes your mind off of the hat. Whazzit?... loaded high into that lo-boy wagon in the left background? A Ship, A Sickness, A Seaman, A Sinking, & A Sedan SellerThe Oceanic ship S.S. Ventura was a 6,282 ton passenger liner which was built at Philadelphia in 1900 for Oceanic. The ship was scrapped in 1934. The vessel, along with its sister ships Sierra and Sonoma, regularly sailed between San Francisco and Sydney, Australia. In addition to passenger service, from 1912 Oceanic held a contract with the U.S. Government to ferry mail between the two countries. The photo below shows the ship departing New South Wales sometime in the 1920s. A passenger who contracted smallpox forced the Ventura to be quarantined on January 18, 1921 when it arrived in Sydney. After the case of smallpox was found to be minor, the ship was allowed to dock at the North Head Quarantine Station in Sydney, but only passengers with a valid smallpox vaccination certificate were allowed to leave the station. Although the ship headed out for San Francisco as scheduled on January 25th, some passengers were not released from quarantine to return home until February 7th. On February 26, 1921, Miss Frances Power, a stewardess on the S.S. Ventura became one of the first woman to become a naturalized citizen of the United States by virtue of having served on an American flag ship for three continuous years. The Sacramento Call newspaper story from February 27, 1921 announcing her citizenship is below, but it leaves out the fact that there are other requirements, such as five years of U.S. residency, that also apply in order to be naturalized in this way. Miss Power was born in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada on March 22, 1888. On the morning of August 17, 1930 the Ventura came to the aide of the sinking ship RMS Tahiti, on voyage between New Zealand and San Fransisco. Ventura picked up all of the passengers after they abandoned ship in life boats. No lives were lost. A broken propeller shaft had created a hole in the hull and a bulkhead of the Tahiti on August 12, 1930. The Tahiti ultimately sank on the afternoon of August 17th after the crew was able to return to her, save the mail and bullion on board, and then return to the Ventura. Based on the license plate, the Jordan car was being sold by the C.D. Rand agency, which sold both Jordan and Mercer automobiles, at 1519 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. Rand was Clinton DeWitt Rand, 1884 - 1957, and he spent most of his life selling automobiles and tires. It's quite possible that he is shaking the woman's hand in the photo. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cars, Trucks, Buses, San Francisco)
Odd Jobs: 1902
... delighted to have your sister or daughter to tea." New Zealand circa 1902. "Three men at campsite doing odd jobs, showing one man ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2014 - 10:26am -

        "We are decent lads and would be delighted to have your sister or daughter to tea." New Zealand circa 1902. "Three men at campsite doing odd jobs, showing one man chopping wood, one man doing dishes and the other man cooking, possibly Christchurch district." Glass negative by Adam Maclay. View full size. BrothersThe two on "kitchen duty" must be brothers, if not twins. They are kind of cute, too! (The Gallery, Adam Maclay, Camping)
The Whole Fam Damily: 1927
... of the Lusitania. Some of the family moved to Canada or New Zealand, but most stayed in England. I wish I’d been able to know them ... 
 
Posted by Rute Boye - 09/28/2012 - 8:17pm -

This is a portrait of my mother’s side of the family, taken about 1927. That’s her in the top right corner, at about the age of one, being held by my grandfather. My grandmother is in the dark dress, seated directly in front of them. Across the back row are my great-uncles, whom I don’t know too much about except that one of them suffered from “shell shock” during the Great War and was never the same afterward. I think he died an early death. Seated in front of them in the middle row are my great aunts. I don’t recall too much about them either, except that I think the one seated third from the right developed a very healthy dark mustache in her old age. Funny the stuff a kid remembers! In the front row, far left, is my uncle Jack (seen here 25 years later). Also in the front row, third from the left is my aunt Peggy. The two people in the middle row center are my great-grandfather and my great-grandmother. On the table of honor in the epicenter of it all are the smiling visages of my great-great-grandfather and my great-great-grandmother. Quite a clan! View full size. That side of my family hails from England; my grandfather emigrated to the US in 1911 and my grandmother followed him in 1915 on the last passenger steamer to sail from England before the sinking of the Lusitania. Some of the family moved to Canada or New Zealand, but most stayed in England. I wish I’d been able to know them better! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
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