Fact Or Fiction?

As an avid fan of the Bathroom Reader series by Uncle John, I was reading a story entitled Buried Treasure, which told tales of large fortunes lost but never found around the U.S.  One of the stories especially piqued my interest as it happened near the area in which I live.

It's the story of a gang of outlaws who roamed the countryside in the mid to late 1800's called the Reno Gang.  This particular story takes place in southern Indiana, near the now defunct town of Marshfield, which was located near the present day town of Scottsburg.  There is some discrepancy in the amount taken in the train robbery, but suffice to say it was between $80,000 - $100,000.

Now the story in the book I read seems to depart from the more official version of the story in that it told that the outlaws were killed before they could tell anyone where the loot was buried.  But I read more than one other account which says this is not the case.

Still it made for some very interesting reading, especially the way the criminals met their fate at the end of a rope by a group of men who referred to themselves as the Jackson County Vigilance Committee.  I seriously doubt any of the loot was ever buried nearby, but it does make one wonder a bit.

Along these same lines are those who still think you can strike it rich by finding gold here in southern Indiana.  Although they are quick to tell you it is not that easy, it can be found nearby.  A Google search for southern indiana gold will show you just what I mean.  A lot of the sites point to areas in and around Brown county, which is a great place to visit even if you aren't looking for the heavy metal.

For more info on the Reno Gang's Marshfield train robbery, here are a couple of links to check out:

http://home.mindspring.com/~railroadstories/rrmmv1n1/great1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reno_Gang

American Automotive History - Part 4: The Supporting Cast

Okay, you've now heard a lot about the so-called big three in the American automobile beginning chapter, but what about the minor players, how much of a role did they play?  Here are just a few a the ones who made an impact for their contributions to the scene.

Studebaker

Already a major player in the carriage market at the turn of the century, Studebaker decided to enter the automobile market with a gas powered car in 1904, which was produced in cooperation with a company named Garford.  As Garford began to have problems honoring their agreement with Studebaker, the decision was made to replace Garford with a company named E-M-F.  But this proved to be even worse as the E-M-F produced vehicles were less reliable which reflected badly on Studebaker.  So in 1911, Studebaker took over operations at E-M-F and began producing their own automobiles.  Although they were an innovative company, the hand writing was on the wall for the company even as early as 1954 when they were forced to merge with Packard in an attempt to cure their ailments.  Other fixes were tried over the years, but nothing could save the company.  The last Studebaker rolled off the assembly line in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on March 16, 1966.  Although they had a pretty good run over the years, they finally could no longer compete with the big three.

Willys

This company in the early American auto scene was started by John Willys as the  Willys-Overland Motor Company in 1912.  It held it's own until the 1920 recession when Walter Chrysler was brought in by banking interests to fix the company.  Changes were made and the company survived.  A lot of changes came over the next years until more financial problems forced Willys to go in a different direction.  Reorganized in 1936 as the Willys-Overland Motors, the company continued to struggle until the U.S. war effort chose them, along with Ford and American Bantam, to produce Jeeps.  359,851 units were produced before the end of WWII.  After the war, Willys filed a successful trademark claim for the name and began producing a civilian version of the Jeep (CJ-2A).  In the years since the war, the company has had many owners, Kaiser, AMC and finally Chrysler LLC which still produces Jeep vehicles.

Packard

Formed in October of 1902, this company was born out of a desire for a better automobile than had been previously made available.  Started by brothers James and William Packard, along with their partner, George Weiss, the company was known for it's luxury automobiles almost from the start.  From the beginning Packard automobiles introduced an number of innovations in designs, including the modern steering wheel and later on the first production 12 cylinder engine.  Although it faired well for a number of years, the Great Depression in the 30's took it's toll and the company never really regained it's place in the market.  Forced to produce cars in the medium price range and with no large corporation to absorb losses as Cadillac and Lincoln had, the company continued to struggle for survival.  However, after the war, the company found itself in excellent financial condition, but unfortunately, management mistakes were apparent as time went on.  Even after a major redesign in 1955, it was too late.  Cadillac had already captured the luxury market, with Lincoln and Imperial close behind.  Reliability problems caused further declines in sales and although it had merged with Studeaker in 1954, the last model, simply called a Packard, was produced for the 1958 model year.

Other minor players, such as Nash and Hudson, will be covered in the next installment of this series.

Did you know?

A Car Without A Name, was an automobile built in 1900.  The idea was that you could name it whatever you wanted to.

The Checker Motors Corporation produced Checker automobiles (1922-1982). The vehicles were primarily sold to taxi cab companies.

American Chocolate was an American assembled car manufactured by a noted vending machine company (1903-1906). The car was built primarily from imported components.

The Playboy Motor Car Company (1947-1951) only produced 97 cars before going bankrupt in 1951.

Some Kind Of HOT!

Wow, here it is going on 10:00 PM and it's still 85 degrees outside!  Is that hot or what?  It was pretty bad out there today delivering the mail, but I managed to survive.  I had several packages which I had to get out to deliver, which actually turned out to be a good thing today as it allowed me to get some relief from riding around in my little tin oven.

At least the A/C at the post office is working once again, funny how it seems to go out each and every time it gets really hot out.  This time the problem was due to a power outage from a bad thunderstorm which came through the area several days ago.  And in it's usual state of deficiency, the postal service had to send a tech down from the main office instead of just telling our own maintenance guy which fuse to replace.  It's no big surprise the USPS is losing billions of dollars.

One bonus to the heat wave though, the girls sure like to dress cooler.  That's nice to see, at least for me, being a man and all.  I don't know if you gals get the same kind of kick out of seeing guys running around without a shirt on while mowing the grass, but I suppose it's possible.  Of course you probably wouldn't admit to it if you did, right?

Just think, we still have the last of July and all of August yet to go.  And traditionally, August is the hottest month of the year.  Yay!  Can't wait.  Maybe mother nature will pull a fast one and we will have a mild August.  That would be nice, but don't count on it.

Stay cool y'all...

What's In A Name?

Just a short explanation of why I use mosslack as my online persona for those who have asked.  It stands for Multi Operating System SLACKware, and stems from my earlier experiments into multi OS systems.  The partition on which I had installed the Slackware Linux OS was named mosslack for purposes of identification on my network.  I thought it was a catchy name and I started using it to refer to myself on various online lists and forums.  The name kind of stuck and so here we are!  Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

My Three Displays

Some of you may know that my computer setup has 3 displays, with two 24" wide-screen Asus monitors flanking my Acer 22" wide-screen monitor in the middle.  What you may not know is how I have the displays setup, what is on each one, etc.  In other words, how do I have the apps arranged so that I can keep up on everything which is going on around me.

The monitor on the right has Google Chrome on it, and I use an add-on named SpeedDial to simulate the Safari top sites feature.  SpeedDial is even more customizable and very easy to use.  Here is a screen shot of how I have mine setup:

On the left, I currently have the SeaMonkey web browser, which I use for those times when I need to look something up while using Google Chrome for something else.  There isn't really anything exciting to see, but I will toss in a screen shot just to show you what it looks like:

The middle screen is perhaps the busiest, having both the email portion of SeaMonkey, as well as my IM client, Adium.  Here is a what it looks like:



I'm not sure it will pan out, but I would like to have six displays on my next system!  I have plenty of room on the desk I am using currently, but lack the capability to do six monitors with my current GA-EP45-UD3P system.

A lot of the newer iCore based system boards have provisions for 3 video cards, which could make my 6 display dream come true.  Of course that takes money which I don't have at the moment, so that will have to come later on.

Also at my desk, I have an additional computer system which is able to access all three monitors also.  It's a GA-P35-DS3L, but it only has a single video card.  To access the 3rd display I use a USB based video card which works pretty well.

I recently added a new Mac mini to the whole mess, but it is only able to access 2 of the 3 monitors at the present time.  To access the third I would have to add another USB video card as the Mac mini only has provisions for 2 video displays on board.

Just a quick look at some of the junk which clutters up my desk space...

Where Do You Come Up With This Stuff?

Yeah, I get asked this question a lot, but the answer is fairly obvious if you know me at all.  Working for the USPS as a rural mail carrier, I have a lot of time to think.  My route is about 4 hours long and most of that time is spent driving from one box to the next.  What better way to spend that time than thinking of what to do when I get home or on the weekend, etc.

A lot of times this will get me into trouble as I will be deep in thought and completely forget what I am doing.  I have driven past boxes, put the wrong mail in boxes and from time to time even forget that I had serviced a box and find myself at a place I didn't realize I was at!  Thankfully, most of the time I realize my mistake before it's too late, but I have had to backup and correct mistakes from time to time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing anything unsafe as in situations where immediate action is required it becomes second nature and you instantly snap back to reality.  Thank goodness for that, but it is rather difficult to keep your mind from wandering when you do this job and have been doing it for 17 years now.

A lot of time is spent thinking about what to have for supper as that is one of the highlights of my day!  I do like to eat.  But that is usually decided rather quickly which leaves a lot of time to think about other things, among which have been in the past, how make a car go further on a gallon of gas, how to generate your own electricity, and the ever popular, how to make a million dollars!

Since I started blogging, a lot of time is spent thinking up new topics for the blog, which is where the idea for this one came from.  I've always had a desire to be a writer, but never could come up with something to write about.  It just never occurred to me to write about my own thoughts, which is why blogging is so popular these days.

The series on American automobile history was a no brainer for me.  As a car guy from the start, I have always been fascinated by cars and history, so combining the two just came natural for me.  I have a few more installments of that left in me before I have to come up with something new, so I guess it's time to start thinking again.

So next time you see the mailman coming your way, ask him or her what they are thinking about.  The answer just may surprise you a bit!

Part 3 - The Chrysler Corporation

I think you know where this is headed, the man's name was Walter Chrysler.  Some may say Walter came to the party too late, but I don't think so.  While he may not have been a player until later on, Walter knew a lot about automobiles when he was hired to be the head of production at Buick in 1911.  But he knew even more about how to produce higher quality goods for less money.  One of the most significant changes he made was to eliminate the finishing of Buick undercarriages with the same quality of finish as the body.

In 1916, when Billy Durant had retaken GM back from the bankers, Walter submitted his resignation as he had close ties to the former administration.  Durant made a special trip from NYC to Flint in an attempt to keep Walter at the helm of Buick.  He offered Chrysler the unheard of (at the time) amount of $10,000 a month for 3 years, plus a bonus of $500,000 (cash or stock) at the end of each year!  Apparently in shock, Walter asked him to repeat the offer, which Durant did, and so Chrysler immediately accepted.  Walter was to report directly to Durant and would have full run of Buick without interference from anyone.

After this agreement ran it's course, Walter resigned his position as president of Buick.  He did not agree with Durant's vision for the future of GM.  At that time, Billy paid Chrysler $10 million for his GM stock.  Walter Chrysler had started at Buick in 1911 for $6,000 a year and left in 1919 as one of the richest men in America!  But as I'm sure you know by now, this is not the end of our story.

Walter decided he needed a little more jingle in his pocket, so he accepted an offer by bankers who were worried about their investment in Willys-Overland Motor Company to attempt a turnaround for that operation.  He demanded, and got, a salary of $ 1,000,000 a year for 2 years.  He left in 1921 after an unsuccessful attempt to wrest control of the company from John Willys.

Not to be denied his place in automotive history, Walter did manage to acquire a controlling interest in the ailing Maxwell Motor Company.  He phased out Maxwell and absorbed it into his new venture, The Chrysler Corporation in 1925.  In addition to his own line of Chrysler automobiles, Walter added the marques of Plymouth and DeSoto, as well as purchasing Dodge Brothers, Inc., in 1928.

Walter also financed construction of the Chrysler building in NYC in 1928, it was completed in 1930 and was, for a short time (11 months), the tallest building in the world.  He had also been named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1929.  He ran the company until 1936 and considered himself semi-retired.  He suffered a stroke in 1938 and died as a result in 1940 at his Forker House estate on Long Island, NY.

Did you know?

John Dodge died from pneumonia in January, 1920, his brother Horace died in December of the same year from Cirrhosis.

The Plymouth brand name came from Plymouth Binder Twine.

The DeSoto brand would have never been created if Chrysler had been successful in his first attempt to purchase Dodge in 1926.

Chrysler Corporation was the second-largest automobile producer in the nation in 1928.

American Automotive History - Part 2

As promised, this installment will be about the man whose name is instantly recognized by most every person in this country, Henry Ford.  Recognized yes, but how much do you really know about the founder of FoMoCo?  Born in 1863, Henry was the oldest of five children of his parents, William and Mary Ford.  His father expected Henry to eventually take over the family farm in Dearborn, Michigan, but Henry was having none of that.  Instead, he left home in 1879 to become a machinist in Detroit.

Although he briefly returned home and worked on the family farm in 1882, it wasn't so much for the farming as it was for operating and maintaining the portable steam engine.  The Westinghouse company was so impressed by his ability to service this engine that they hired him to do likewise for their engines owned by others.

He married Clara Bryant in 1888 and the couple had one son, Edsel Ford, born in 1893.  At the time he was married, Henry supported himself by farming and running a sawmill, but that didn't last long.  In 1891 he became an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company and was promoted to chief engineer just 2 years later.  It was during this time that Henry became fascinated with the gasoline engine and he began experimenting with building an automobile with the blessing of Thomas Edison.  This experimentation culminated in 1896 with the Ford Quadricycle.

Now completely smitten with the automobile bug, Henry left the Edison company and started the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899.  The company was not very successful and dissolved in 1901.  Of course that didn't stop Mr. Ford, with a lot of the same backers, he started the Henry Ford Company later in the same year.  Although much more successful than his previous business, Henry's personal success was not to be at this time.

Enter Henry Leland, who you may remember from our last installment, formed a little company named Cadillac.  Mr. Leland was brought into the Henry Ford Company as a consultant by Ford's backers, but this did not sit well with Henry.  So he left the company bearing his name in 1902.  With Ford gone, the company was renamed to Cadillac and you pretty much know what happened to that company.

Still, Henry was not quite through with the automobile business, with a new partner (Alexander Malcomson), they formed Ford & Malcomson, Ltd. in October of 1902, and went to work designing an inexpensive automobile.  Unfortunately, their parts supplier, John and Horace Dodge (yep, they started making their own cars later on as the Dodge Brothers company), demanded payment for $160,000 worth of parts, which left Henry no alternative other than to make them partners and reorganize once again.

So, on June 16, 1903, the Ford Motor Company was formed and eventually Henry managed to buy out all of his partners to solely control the company.  He remained in control for most of his life, even though he installed his son, Edsel as president of the company in 1918.  Henry assumed the presidency again briefly in 1943 after the death of his son, but ceded the position to his grandson, Henry Ford II, in 1945 due to ill health.  Henry died in 1947 at the age of 83 from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Did You Know?

The Ford Motor Company was never audited under Henry's administration, he didn't believe in accountants.

Henry was credited with "Fordism", which is basically the mass production of large numbers of inexpensive automobiles using the assembly line, coupled with high wages for his workers.

The Model T was produced from 1908 to 1927, the final total production was 15,007,034.  The price for the car in 1908 was $825, and the price fell every year.

Ransom Eli Olds invented the basic concept of the assembly line, but Henry Ford improved it to the point where he is often mistakenly credited with it's invention.

A Summer Tradition

Ah, July 4th, time for relaxing in the shade, or sipping a cool beverage by the pool.  Hopefully most of the fireworks have burnt down to the last wick and the peaceful sounds of summer have taken the place of crack, boom, bang!

Of course, there is another summer tradition which is sure to arouse a feeling of anger or angst among all of you who dabble in the age old ritual of roasting something in the backyard.  That's right, it's grilling season once again, and it's just not the same unless you actually get to assemble a new grill.  The joy, the fun, the swear words flying out of your mouth as you drop one of those small hard to find pieces and it gets lost in the grass.

To that end, I thought you might want to see our version this year as I have it posted on YouTube.  Check it out here and for those of you who didn't get to do that this year, there's always next year!