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My first entry for the Summer Joust 2020
12x12 Vignette
Story down below.
Thanks for checking!
"For those in search of the power to stay
White hawks will lead the way"
-Translated from The Myktrodian Verses, MMCXIX
Not far from the trees where she first spotted the birds, Eryxia kept her eyes to the ground.
"There should at least be some of them " She thought, scanning through what seemed like the thirtieth bush.
"So far the translations Uncle left me were correct about everything, so why don't I see any?"
She was looking for Conocybe Vulgariae, one of the most poisonous toadstools to be found anywhere.
More commonly known as ‘gutting shrooms, for when ingested the toxic of this bowl shaped mushroom will cause such convulsions there have been cases of people throwing up their own stomach.
Although not extremely rare, recent discoveries for its use in both the medical as the magical world turned this once demonized fungus into a wanted commodity, so obviously people have searched far and wide to get a piece of that pie.
Eryxia was no such people, and her search for the shrooms was only the beginning of her quest.
She was after the far more rare, little known Conocybe Perpetua.
This white anomaly of the gutting shroom is said to have the power to elongate life exponentially and even cure mortal ailments and fatal wounds when concocted correctly.
Little is known to common folk about where to find gutting shrooms, as competing guilds keep that secret along with the secrets of their trade. Luckily, Eryxia can be very persuasive when needed, so it cost her all but a few drinks to convince a local herbalist to tell her what areas to start searching.
Even less is known about the location or even existence of Conocybe Perpetua;
Aside from a few references in archaic potion rituals and nigh unreadable magical formulae, it has only been mentioned in one document, The Myktrodian Verses, a collection of ancient riddles, songs and poems hinting of legends of yore.
My new novel:
B♭ (B-flat)
There’s still more to come. 😃
(This is not the final draft.)
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Scene: Garden 3‑4
Jack slumped deeply in the commander’s chair, his gaze sweeping across the pale glow of the monitor wall.
Camera feeds A17, A18, A19—all fixed on the arena’s center. Yet the security guard on the west side of the stands wasn’t watching there. His eyes were glued to the emergency exit at Section 212. Its sensor blinked once—a flash of red warning across the screen.
“A suspicious movement… the door sensor just lit up,” Jack's low voice vibrated through Ben’s earpiece.
Ben glanced upward at the monitors and whispered,
“Shall I go?”
“No,” Jack replied, his voice dropping. “Don’t leave your post. I’ll handle it.”
He paused, stern. “It’s probably nothing. But—stay alert. Keep your eyes peeled.”
Silence fell over each earpiece, the tension thickening. On the monitor, the door remained motionless—neither opening nor closing—frozen in stillness.
Jack burst from the briefing room, sprinted up from underground into the arena, his view sweeping the western stand. He looked up at the broad, flat ceiling of Madison Square Garden, sensed it swelling with the heat of the crowd. Cheers greeting the presidential candidate blended with jeers—clearly, anti‑Republicans had infiltrated.
Jack narrowed his gaze on the west stand, then lowered his eyes to his iPhone. Multiple social feeds scrolled with frenetic energy, and one post caught his attention: a murder threat, flashing in angry red text.
He dashed down the crowded corridor and reached the west stand, addressing a nearby guard:
“Evening. Everything clear on your end?”
The guard, clad in plain black suit with no tie—just a discreet earpiece—nodded, calm. He lifted his jacket slightly, revealing the outline of a Glock 19 at his waist. No hostility—just a tacit acknowledgment. Jack responded with a silent nod, their training speaking volumes.
“Door sensor tripped once. I’ll check visually.” Jack seized the cold metal handle and cast a glance down the corridor beyond. Darkness swallowed the path; silence reigned.
He spoke into his earpiece:
“All clear in the west stands. Security is solid.”
He patted the guard’s shoulder. “Stay alert.” The man returned a brief smile—and then lights died across the arena.
In the dark, red lasers lanced from ceiling to floor as a menacing bass drum rolled in from below. A crisp hi‑hat scythed in sixteenth‑notes; a heavy kick drum struck four‑on‑the‑floor. A low, rumbling bass synth layered in—and the very air of the arena began to pulse.
The crowd's heartbeat synchronized with the beat. Swirling smoke and laser cuts, the floor trembling. From deep within the sound, a processed male voice intoned again and again:
“Strength. Order. America.”
As smoke thickened the light, colossal center-hung screens flickered to life:
J U S T I N B R A D F O R D
One spotlight pierced the gloom—red, then blue, finally white—tracing the American tricolor. Within its glow appeared a man: Justin. Clad in a dark‑navy tailored suit, a bold crimson tie signifying the Republican Party, a single white rose pinned to his lapel.
Moments later, another spotlight revealed Eleanor Blake, dressed in an elegant black gown, standing behind him. Hand in hand, they strode center stage, each step purposeful. The audience looked on, awestruck, shouting cheers:
—“Take back America!”—
Red, blue, and white lights danced across their feet. Eleanor paused; Justin stepped forward to the microphone as the music faded and lights dimmed again. Silence engulfed the arena.
He made no sound—only a slight, assured smile. That smile was a declaration of war. Saying everything without uttering a word. That posture—that was the bearing of a man who would become the most powerful leader in the world: President of the United States.
Justin scanned the crowd for a moment, then spoke in calm tones. His golden hair, blue eyes—mirroring Eleanor’s—lent gravity to his words:
“Good evening, New York. How’s your night going so far?”
He smiled at a woman in the front row. Following his father’s advice, he spoke as if addressing just one person, not an entire audience—
—“When I arrived in the parking lot tonight, I felt weighed down by the humidity. Eleanor whispered to me: ‘We chose the best course to protect you. Our team would risk their lives for you.’”
His voice rang clear. Thunderous applause erupted from tens of thousands. A wave of anticipation rolled toward the stage. The spotlight seemed to center itself in his eyes—and likewise in Eleanor’s.
“Tonight, we gather to put our will once again at the heart of this nation. To reclaim the ‘light’ America is forgetting. Over the past four years, our party restored the economy, brought back security, rebuilt national order. Now, it’s time to shine that light brighter—not as mere hope, but as our responsibility. If America shines again, the world will follow. We must seize that stronger, purer light. It will illuminate the world.”
Justin’s voice reverberated through the arena—until… a dry gunshot cracked the air from center stage.
Jack dove instinctively. His eyes darted upward to the giant screens: time froze. He saw Justin’s body convulse backwards, his jacket tail flipping off his left shoulder. The first bullet struck his left arm, the second to his left abdomen. Justin crumpled slowly, falling face‑first.
“Justin!” Eleanor’s scream cut across the stage. Her wide eyes fixed on him, trembling. A haze of tears blurred her vision. Secret Service agents shielded her, pulling her back.
“Hit the deck!” Guards and crowd shouted in chorus. Pandemonium erupted. Women's screams overlapped. The reverberation of gunfire lingered ominously in the cavernous space.
Unbeknownst to most, Jack’s ears had discerned two shots. He closed his eyes and re‑ran the sound—each fired from above—each from perilously close.
“Ben—where are you?” Jack pushed through collapsing spectators, heading to the stage.
“By Justin’s side. Missed his heart—just grazed left arm and abdomen. Not arterial, but bleeding heavily.”
“Medical team’s on the motorcade. Justin has Bombay blood—two bags ready on the ambulance. Start transfusion.”
“If that’s not enough, what about Elijah?”
“Either way, he’s en route. Bellevue Hospital stores Bombay bags—confirmed three days ago.”
Bombay blood: a rare type first found in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1952—not A, B, or O—afflicting about 1 in 10,000 in India, 1 in 2.5 million worldwide. It can only be transfused to someone of the same type.
Ben replied calmly.
They rushed Justin to Bellevue Hospital—the closest to the Garden. Jack called Elijah. Before the first ring ended, Elijah answered, breathless:
“Jack... this is bad. We’ve no blood—no Bombay stock.”
Jack couldn’t believe it.
“I saw the bags in person three days ago!”
Silence, then Elijah replied:
“The blood keeper was killed in a car crash yesterday.”
As Jack absorbed the news, his voice boomed over the arena’s PA, shaking the trembling building. The crowd froze and then shattered. Thousands surged toward exits—only to find them locked.
“There’s explosives in this building. Please, stay calm and head for the exits. I repeat—I am….”
Panic rippled. Eight exits in total—most had been sealed for VIP and motorcade security. The crowd funnelled into the remaining three.
Low moans grew to shrieks. People trampled the fallen. A little girl's white blouse had turned grey, her teddy flattened. During flight, no one looked back. At one exit, dozens collapsed, graves to the trampling. The weight buckled railings, jammed the door.
“Doors won’t open!” “There’s children—!” Screams scattered. Security couldn’t reach the scene. Orders were drowned in noise. Control evaporated.
“The crowd is uncontrollable, Jack,” came Zakaria’s voice through the PA, along with a simultaneous link to staff smartphones.
“You got my email? Open the link. No virus, I promise.”
Hurriedly, Jack checked his phone. The site loaded:
“Good evening, New York—and Los Angeles. My name is Zakaria Haddad. My real name. Five years ago, I lived in Gaza. Now I sit in a room many of you recognize.”
On the screen, a brown-skinned man with a trimmed beard—Zakaria—seated in a chair eerily like the Oval Office. Three green-curtained windows behind him—the color favored by Prophet Muhammad. A portrait of Ibn Sina hung on the wall, his gaze deep, delicate—reaching from time’s past to the present.
Zakaria glanced at his watch, then back at camera—an unreadable dark joy flickering in his eyes.
“Breaking news—watch your phone alerts.” Instantly:
Former Democratic President Owen Reed shot at Los Angeles Convention Center
Zakaria hid a wry smile.
“A sad update, America. But don’t mourn. In Gaza, we suffered 55,000 times this. We lost over 55,000 dear souls—and we wept.”
He averted his gaze, clasped both hands, slammed his fist onto the desk. The air thickened. Yet in his eyes brimmed silent tears—quiet sorrow.
“We do not seek money or glory in death. We seek tears equal to the 55,000. Only tears can heal us.”
He rested his elbows, folded his hands, chin supported. A long pause. His eyes twitched with small sorrowful motions.
Zakaria rotated a framed photo toward the camera.
“My family. More precious than my life. Gone in an instant.”
There was no hatred in his voice—only respect and gentle grief. He began again.
“I was one among those 55,000. Even if I perish, their wills persist. I stand here to voice our will.”
He quietly reached into his right drawer, withdrew a Glock 17, chambered a round, and placed the barrel against his temple. His eyes were merciful—gentle, embracing his lost family.
As a Sunni, he stared straight at the camera:
“God bless America.”
Backlit by three blazing windows, he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The dry crack snapped through the room. The camera jerked—then the screen went black.
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Previous notes
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54639396885/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54628511025/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
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Notes
1. "Bombay Blood Type (hh type)"
•Characteristics: A rare blood type that lacks the usual ABO antigens — cannot be classified as A, B, or O.
•Discovery: First identified in 1952 in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay).
•Prevalence: Roughly 1 in 10,000 people in India; globally, about 1 in 2.5 million.
•Transfusion Compatibility: Only compatible with blood from other Bombay type donors.
2. 2024 Harvard University Valedictorian Speech – The Power of Not Knowing
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3. Shots Fired at Trump Rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
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Saipan. USA. 2016. LUMIX G3 shot … 12 / 12
サイパン。アメリカ。２０１６。LUMIX G3 shot … 12 / 12
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僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
まだまだ投下します。😃
(最終稿ではありません。)
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場面 ガーデン３−４
指揮官席に深く腰を落としていたジャックは、青白いモニター群をくまなく睨んでいた。
カメラ番号A17、A18、A19──いずれもアリーナ中央を捉えている。だが、スタンド席西側の警備員の視線が集中していたのは、そこではなかった。彼が見つめていたのはセクション212の非常扉だった。その扉のセンサーが、わずか一度だけ、反応を示し、ディスプレイに赤い警告が走った。
「不審な動きだな。ドアのセンサーが一瞬、点いた」
ジャックの低い声が、ベンのイヤピースを震わせた。
ベンは即座に 頭上のモニターを見上げ、囁くように言った。
「行くか？」
「…いや。持ち場は離れるな。俺が行く」
ジャックの声がわずかに低くなった。
「たぶん、気のせいだ。ただし──全員、警戒は解くな。そのまま、周囲に意識を集中しておけ」
それぞれのイヤピースに静寂が落ち、張り詰めた空気で満ちた。
モニターに今映っている扉は、開くことも、閉じることもなく、ただ沈黙している。
ジャックはブリーフィングルームを飛び出し、スタンド席、西側が見渡せるアリーナまで、地下から駆け上がった。
マジソンスクエアガーデンの平坦な天井は、吐き出された人の熱気でいつもより膨らんでいるように、ジャックには見えた。大統領候補を歓迎する声とそれを罵倒する叫び声が錯綜し、鼓膜の奥を揺らした。どうやら反共和党も紛れ込んでいるようだ。
ジャックは、スタンド席西側へしばらく目を凝らしてから、手元のアイフォンに目を落とした。画面には、いくつかのSNSが同時に広がっており、それぞれが激しい書き込みによって文字が流れてゆく。右下の、メタの書き込みに、ジャックは目を留めた。殺害予告のメッセージが走り、赤く灯っている。ジャックは喧騒に満ちた通路を駆け抜け、スタンド席西側へ着くと、警備員へ声を掛けた。
「おつかれ。異常はないか？」
ジャックはさりげなく背筋を伸ばした。ジャケットの背中越しに、腰の中央──背骨の下に沿ってぴたりと固定されたグロック19の存在を確かめた。
「どうも。こちらは異常ありませんよ。何かありましたか？」
黒のスーツで、胸元にネクタイはない、プレーン・クロースの私設セキュリティだ。視線は沈着で、イヤピースから伸びるコードが耳の下に覗いている。男は一瞬、ジャックを睨むように見たが、ジャケットの裾を軽く持ち上げ、ホルスターの形をわずかに見せた。男に敵意はなかった。それが合図だった。ジャックも同じように、背筋を伸ばしながら無言で頷いた。この沈黙こそが、互いの訓練と経験を示していた。
「ドアのセンサーが一度反応した。目視で確認する」
ジャックは、冷たい金属の取っ手を掴み、扉の奥を一瞥した。辺りは暗闇に沈み、静まり返っていた。
ジャックはその場からすぐにイヤピースで伝えた。
「スタンド席西側に異常はなかった。セキュリティーにも問題はない」
ジャックは、男の肩を軽く叩いて、いった。
「引き続き、頼む」
男が笑顔でジャックに挨拶すると、アリーナの照明が一気に落ちた。
闇の中、赤いレーザーがガーデンの天井から床まで、縦横に切り裂き、重く低く唸るような打ち込みの硬質なバスドラがアリーナの底から噴き上がった。ハイハットが16分音符で刻まれ、深く沈むキックドラムが四拍を正確に打つ。そこに、低くうねるベース・シンセが重なり、会場全体の空気そのものが脈打つように震え始めた。
観客の鼓動が、低く分厚い音にシンクロし始めた。スモークが舞い、赤いレーザーが切り裂く中、床の震えが増していった。低いベース音に重なった奥から、加工された男性の声が繰り返し聞こえてくる。
“Strength.（強さ） Order.（秩序） America.”
場内のスモークが、光を濁らせるようにさらに舞うと、巨大なセンター・ハング・スクリーンに文字が浮かび上がった。
J U S T I N・B R A D F O R D
その瞬間、中央のスポットライトが、ひとつだけ点いた。赤から青へ──そして白へと、アメリカの三色をなぞるように変化する演出だ。
その光の中、男が姿を現した。
ジャスティンだ。ダークネイビーのテーラードスーツに、共和党を示す真紅のネクタイを巻いている。胸元には一輪の白いバラのピンバッジが添えられていた。
数秒遅れて、彼の背後にもうひとつ光が射した。漆黒のドレスを纏ったエリノア・ブレイクがスポットライトを浴びている。
ふたりは笑顔で手を取り合うと、ゆっくりステージ中央へ歩み始めた。彼らの歩みに迷いはなかった。強さと秩序の意志を現した姿に、観客の誰もがその姿を見上げ、歓声を上げている。
ー アメリカを取り戻せ！ ー
マイクスタンドへ近づくにつれ、アリーナの熱はさらに帯び、波のようにうねった。
赤、青、白の光がジャスティンらの足元を錯綜した。
エリノアを残し、ジャスティンは、一歩前に出て、マイクの前に立った。
音楽が静かにフェードアウトし、照明が再び落ちていく。
── その瞬間、全アリーナが沈黙に包まれた。
彼は、何も言わず、ただ口元に微笑みを浮かべた。その微笑みが、宣戦布告に等しかった。
語らずに、何かを語っている。
それが、世界でもっとも権力を持つ、アメリカ大統領の姿勢なのだ。
ジャスティンは、しばらく観衆を見渡してから、穏やかな口調でいった。エリノアと同じ金色に煌めく髪とブルーの瞳が、彼の言葉をさらに支えるようだ。
「こんばんは。ニューヨーク。今日は、いいことがあったかい？」
ジャスティンは、微笑みながら、最前列の女性に問いかけた。彼は、父のルールを守っていた。多くの聴衆に語るのではなく、たったひとりの身近な人へ言葉を伝えるのだ ーー
「僕は今日、駐車場に着いた時、気が滅入ったよ。ひどい湿気に陰鬱になった。でも、ここにいるエリノアが僕に言ったんだ。あなたを守るために、スタッフは最善の手段を選んだ、とね。そして、スタッフはみな、僕のために命を賭けてくれると」
歯切れよく言い切ったジャスティンの言葉に、再び観衆は沸いた。数万人の熱波がステージへ押し寄せた。
ジャスティンの目には、ステージにあった光を収束させたような輝きがあった。もちろん、エリノアの青い瞳にもだ。
「今夜、僕らがここに集まったのは、それぞれの意志を、再びこの国の中心に叩き込むためだ。アメリカが忘れかけている“光”を、もう一度我々の手に取り戻すためだ。この4年間、我が党は経済を立て直し、治安を取り戻し、国家の秩序を再構築した。今、私たちはその“光”をもっと強く照らす時に来ている。それは、ただの希望ではない。責任だ。アメリカが再び輝けば、世界はそれに倣う。そして、もっと強い、鮮明な光を私たちは手にしなければならない。アメリカが強い光を取り戻すことで、世界をくまなく照らすことができるのだ。私たちには、もっとそれができるはずだ」
ジャスティンの声が、再び会場を震わせた瞬間、乾いた銃声が響いた。ステージ中央あたりからだ。ジャックは音と同時に身を屈め、アリーナの頭上に展開した巨大なセンター・ハング・スクリーンに目をやった。ジャックには映る全ての時間が止まっていた。ジャスティンの身体が弾けたように背後へ揺れた。ジャケットの裾がゆっくり翻り、左肩から崩れてゆく。たぶん、最初の弾は左肩に着弾した。その後、再びジャスティンは前屈みになった。二発目は左腹部だ。ジャスティンの身体は、床へスローモーションのように崩れ落ち、うつぶした。
「ジャスティン！」
エリノアの矯正がステージに響いた。大きく見開いた瞳が、一点を見つめまま、細かく揺れている。一瞬にして透明な薄い膜が幾重にも重なって滲み、零れた。
ジャスティンへ近づこうとするエリノアの体を前面から覆うようにしてSPが抑え込み、引き離している。
「伏せろ！」というSPと観客からの声が同時に周囲を支配した途端、観客席は混乱に包まれた。
女性らの悲鳴が錯綜し、誰か、とやはり別の女性の声がかぶさった。すでに消えている銃声の余韻が、巨大な会場に重く残って覆っている。
ステージにいた者以外は、一聴しただけでは気づかなかったがジャックの耳は聴き分けていた。弾は間違いなく２発だった。騒然とした場内をよそに、ジャックは静かに目を閉じた。発射音から着弾までを想像した。一発目の弾は、ジャスティンのほぼ頭上からだった。そして、もう一発もだ。発射音から着弾までの様子からしておそらくかなりの近距離だ。
「ベン、どこだ」
ジャックは、出口へ卒倒してゆく観客らを抗うようにしてステージへ近づいていく。ベンの冷静な声がすぐに聞こえてきた。
「ジャスティンのそばだ。心臓ははずれているが、左肩と左腹部をかすめているようだ。動脈には達していないが出血がひどい」
「車列にあった救護班がすぐにいく。ジャスティンはボンベイブラッドだ。救急車にブラッドバッグが二つ備えてある。とりあえず輸血するはずだ」
「足らなかった場合は、イライジャのところか？」
「いずれにしても搬入だ。ベルビュー病院にブラッドバッグが保管されている。予備の輸血だ。三日前に確認した」
ボンベイブラッドとは、１９５２年にインドのムンバイ、旧ボンベイで初めて確認された、通常のA、B、Oには分類されない特殊な血液型だ。インドでは１万人にひとり程度だが、世界的には２５０万人に１人ともいわれているもので、同じボンベイ型からボンベイ型への輸血しかできない。
ベンは、冷静にわかったといった。
マジソンスクエアガーデンに最も近いベルビュー病院にジャスティンを運び込む。ジャックは、病院で控えているイライジャに直接電話した。ワンコールが切れる前にすぐイライジャは反応した。
「ジャック、大変だ。血液がない。ボンベイブラッドがないんだ」
ジャックは、耳を疑った。
「三日前に、俺は直接担当の、名前は忘れたな。とにかく目の前でブラッドバッグを確認したぞ」
イライジャは、数秒の沈黙の後、応えた。
「その血液の管理者は、きのう、交通事故で亡くなったんだ」
ジャックがその言葉に沈黙していると、場内にジャックの声でアナウンスが流れた。すでに震えているガーデンをさらにその声が震わせた。ジャックは、再びスクリーンに目をやったが、音声だけがジャックの声だった。
「みなさん、落ち着いてください。私はシークレットサービスのジャック・バンスです。この建物には爆薬が仕掛けられていますが、みなさん、落ち着いて、出口へ向かってください。繰り返します。私は….」
場内の空気が一瞬にして、硬直した。同時に、崩壊した。パニックはすぐに伝染した。数千の観客は、波紋のように大きく揺れ、一斉に出口へ傾れ込んだ。しかし、ジャスティンへの発砲と同時に出口は封鎖されていた。
メインアリーナの出入口は合計8つ――だがその多くは、来賓警備や車列誘導のためにすでに封鎖されていた。群衆の大半が、残された3つの出入口に集中した。
低い声から高い叫び声。倒れた人間を踏みつける足。転倒した白いブラウスの少女はすでに黒ずんでいる。小さな熊のぬいぐるみの顔が真っ平らになっている。
人は、逃げるときに後ろを見ない。出入口の一つでは、すでに数人が折り重なるように倒れ、その上をさらに何十人もの足が越えていった。荷重により手すりが歪み、出口の一部が完全に塞がれる。
「ドアが開かない！」
「子どもが――！」
叫び声が乱れ飛び、場内警備は現場への到達すら困難な状態だった。あらゆる指示が雑音にかき消され、もはや群衆は誰の言葉も聞いていなかった。
制御不能の肉の波――それが、人間の集団というものだった。
「この程度の混乱ではなかったぞ、ジャック」
ザカリアの声が切ったはずのPAから場内へ響いた。同時に、ジャックら警備スタッフへのスマートフォンへリンク先の案内がいっせいに届いた。
「メールが届いただろう？ リンク先を開け。安心しろ、ウィルスは除去済みだ」
ザカリアが笑いを抑え、皮肉混じりにいった。
ジャックは後ろポケットから慌てて、アイフォンを開いた。１件のメール着信を開くと、サイトが現れた。
「こんばんは、ニューヨーク。そしてロサンゼルス。私の名前はザカリア・ハッダード。本名だ。５年前、ガザに住んでいた。今は、みなさんがよく目にする部屋を真似た部屋に私はいる」
褐色の、顎髭をたくわえたザカリアは、アメリカ大統領執務室とほとんど同じ部屋の椅子に座っていた。背後に見える三つの大きな窓には、グリーンのカーテンが掛けられている。預言者ムハンマドが好んだ色だ。
壁面には、剣ではなく詩と理性で世界を導こうとした男、イブン・シーナーの肖像画が掛けられていた。その眼差しは、ワシントンよりも深く、リンカーンよりも繊細なもので、遥か遠く、消え去った時間の底からこちらを見据えているようだった。
ザカリアは腕時計に目を落としてから、再び、カメラに視線を向けた。目には言葉にできない喜びのような暗い影が落ちている。
「そろそろブレイキングニュースだ。スマートフォンの速報に注目して欲しい」
ザカリアがそういった途端、速報が流れた。
【民主党前大統領のオーウェン・リードがロサンゼルス・コンベンション・センターで銃撃された模様です】
ザカリアは、一瞬俯いて笑いを堪えながらいった。
「悲しい速報じゃないか。アメリカのみなさん。でもどうか悲しまないで欲しい。私が経験したガザではこの55,000倍だ。55,000人以上の大切な人を失い、そして、涙を流した」
ザカリアはカメラから目を逸らし、俯いた。そして両手を固く握りしめ、力強く机を叩きつけた。部屋の空気が硬直した。重く固まった空気が画像からも伝わってくる。しかし、顔を上げたザカリアの目にはうっすらと涙が溢れていた。静かな涙だった。
「私たちは、お金を求めない。また、死による名誉も求めない。私たちが欲しいのは、55,000人が流した涙と同じだけの涙だ。流された涙と同じだけの涙だけが、私たちを癒す」
両肘を机につき、両手を組むと、ザカリアは静かに顎を乗せた。目を閉じて、しばらく沈黙が続いた。目尻が細かく震えているようだった。
ザカリアはデスクにあったフォトフレームをカメラへ向け、反転させた。
「私の家族だ。私の命よりも大切な家族だ。すべて一瞬で奪われたよ」
彼の言葉に憎しみはなかった。語尾には、亡くなったものへの敬意とたくさんの優しさを詰め込んだ静けさが含まれている。続けて、ザカリアはゆっくり口を開いた。
「55,000人のうちの私はひとりに過ぎない。私が消えても55,000人もの意思は決して消えず、引き継がれる。私は、私たちの意思をここに表明するためにいる」
ザカリアは、向かって右手の机の引き出しにそっと手を伸ばした。引き出しから、グロック１７を取り出すと、スライドしてチャンバーに弾を流した。そして、銃口を自分のこめかみに当てた。ザカリアの目からは憎悪は消えていた。穏やかで、亡くなった家族を包み込むようなやさしい眼差しだった。
スンニ派である彼は、まっすぐにカメラを見つめ、いった。
「神のご加護を。アメリカ」
執務室の三つの窓から差し込んだ眩い逆光の中、ザカリアは、静かに目を閉じると、トリガーを真っ直ぐに引いた。乾いた銃声が部屋に響いた。一瞬、カメラが横へぶれたが、映像は瞬時に黒へ切り替わった。
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これまでのメモ
3
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54639396885/in/dateposted...
2
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54628511025/in/dateposted...
1
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
追記 この小説を多少説明しました。
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
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メモ
1
「Bombay型（ボンベイ型、hh型）」
•特徴：通常のABO血液型を持たない（A、B、Oに分類されない）特殊な型。
•発見地：1952年、インド・ムンバイ（旧ボンベイ）で初めて確認。
•発生頻度：インドでは1万人に1人程度だが、世界的には約250万人に1人とも。
•輸血制限：同じBombay型しか輸血できない。
2
2024年ハーバード大学首席の卒業式スピーチ『知らないことの力』
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3
Shots fired at Trump rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
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This rather run down Austin is an early Farina A40 Mk l, although the front plate is unreadable enough of the grill is visible to distinguish it from the Mk ll
The car is parked outside the Clement Arms pub, it is on the corner of Upper Trinity Street and Coventry Road, it was listed as Grade ll 10/12/1991. The building remains but is no longer a pub.
Copyright Geoff Dowling 27/12/1990: All rights reserved
D25990. A closer look at the Enigma coding machine as used by the German military to scramble messages during World War II.
The Enigma machines were so complicated that it was thought that the scrambled secret messages would be completely safe and unreadable if intercepted by the British intelligence service. Unbeknown to the Germans however, British code-breakers working at Bletchley Park, a top secret location in Buckinghamshire, were able to de-code the messages and had developed a machine of their own to help speed up the process.
The top secret location is no longer a secret and Bletchley Park, code named ‘Station X’ during the war, is now open to the public and people can see and learn about the vital work carried out there which hastened the Allied victory and is said the have shortened the war by at least two years.
A visit is highly recommended and more details can be found here:
Monday, 17th October, 2022. Copyright © Ron Fisher 2022.
War-time paper shortages continued into the immediate post-war period. Measures to reduce paper consumption such as the re-use of envelopes continued after the war. Gummed labels called "Economy Labels" allowed for the re-use of envelopes. This example shows the economy label usage during the war austerity period.
M.F.B. 490
10M PADS 100 SH.-11-44 (5938)
H.Q. 1772-39-1354
MOISTEN STICKER - these recycle labels were issued - November 1944.
War Economy: Open by slitting the flap edge - Re-Use Envelope by sealing with Economy Label to Cover Old Address and Post Mark.
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On April 1, 1943, a 1 cent War Tax was imposed on the first weight forward and local letter rates, air mail rate, and post card rate. To accommodate the new rates, the Post Office Department issued a new 4 cent King George VI definitive and changed the colour of the 3 cent value from carmine to purple.
Original Mailing on front of cover: unreadable cancel
sent from (back of cover) - / PETAWAWA, CAMP, ONT. / ??? PM / SEP 18 / 1945 / M.P.O. 305 / - (#M13-127) / - machine cancel (RF C).
The earliest known date (EKD) for this machine cancel is 6 May 1941 (Daniel Hunka).
The latest known date (LKD) for this machine cancel is 3 January 1946 (Daniel Hunka).
Addressed to: Life Underwriters Association / Of Canada, / 159 Bay Street, / Toronto, Ont.
P6-4-10-17
D25994. An unremarkable office furnished with unremarkable 1940s office furniture. But this is the office of the famous codebreaker Alan Turin at Bletchley Park, a top secret code-breaking centre around 50 miles north of London.
Thousands of messages were sent by the enemy using wireless transmitters and receivers – and many of these were picked up by secret British listening posts known as ‘Y’ Stations. These were situated across the U.K. and elsewhere in the world but the messages intercepted all ended up at Bletchley Park where the code-breakers would set to work trying to de-cypher what was basically just a jumble of letters.
Because of the sophisticated cypher machines in use by the enemy, it was thought that the scrambled secret messages would be completely safe and unreadable if intercepted by the British intelligence service. But unbeknown to the enemy, British code-breakers working at Bletchley Park were able to de-code the messages and had developed machines of their own to help speed up the process.
The top secret location is no longer a secret and Bletchley Park, code named ‘Station X’ during the war, is now open to the public and people can see and learn about the vital work carried out there which hastened the Allied victory and is said the have shortened the war by at least two years.
A visit is highly recommended and more details can be found here:
Monday, 17th October, 2022. Copyright © Ron Fisher 2022.
© Zoë Murdoch - All Rights Reserved. use without permission is illegal!
CLOSE
Lock the door. In the dark journey of our night
two childhoods stand in the corner of the bedroom
watching the way we take each other to bits
to stare at our heart. I hear a story
told in sleep in a lost accent. You know the truth.
Undress. A suitcase crammed with secrets
bursts in the wardrobe at the foot of the bed.
Dress again. Undress. You have me like a drawing,
erased, coloured in, untitled, signed by your tongue.
The name of a country written in red on my palm,
Unreadable. I tell myself where I live now,
but you move in close till I shake, homeless,
further than that. A coin falls from the bedside table,
spinning its heads and tails. How the hell
can I win. How can I lose. Tell me again.
Love won't give in. It makes a hired room tremble
with the pity of bells, a cigarette smoke itself
next to a full glass of wine, time ache
into space, space, wants no more talk. Now
it has me where I want me, now you, you do.
Put out the light. Years stand outside on the street
looking up to an open window, black as our mouth
which utters its tuneless song. The ghosts of ourselves,
behind and before us, throng in a mirror, blind,
laughing and weeping. They know who we are.
by Carol Ann Duffy
Explore ~ 93
DFP was a minor French car brand, which was active between 1906 to 1926. DFP stands for the three founders Doriot, Flandrin and Parant. Their factory was based in Courbevoie, near Paris.
The 2-litre engine was developed by DFP. It was even used by Bentley.
I have to admit I had never heard of the brandname DFP.
The body of this DFP was designed and manufactured by Taurinya. Ghislain Mahy bought this rare car in the South of France.
Note the brackets for the headlights.
1996 cc L4 petrol engine.
Performance: 12-15 bhp.
Production DFP 12/15 series: 1912-1924.
Original first reg. number: 1913.
With old French painted reg. plate (unreadable).
This temporary exhibition was set up to honour the old Ghislain Mahy, by bringing back some iconic items from his collection to the place where it all began: the Ghent Wintercircus.
Unfortunately there were only 10 vehicles on display.
Ghislain Mahy (1907-1999) was a Fiat car dealer and classic car enthusiast who rented this old Wintercircus building for over forty years. Starting in the early 1950s he built up a collection of old and classical cars from more than 950 items. He bought them mainly in France. And many of them were just saved from the hands of car scrapers.
In 1995 Mahy had to leave this special place. His collection was partly sold, the rest was divided over two museums. Restored top cars went to classic car museum Autoworld, Brussels (about 230 items). But the majority, most unrestored cars, found a new home in a new founded car museum in the south of Belgium called Mahymobiles, Leuze-en-Hainaut.
More photos will follow...
More info about Wintercircus: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintercircus_(Gent), second option!
For Autoworld see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoworld_(museum)
For Mahymobiles see: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahymobiles
Number seen: 1.
Gent (B), Lammerstraat, Sept. 5, 2025.
© 2025 Sander Toonen Halfweg | All Rights Reserved.
Above the chancel arch on what seems almost to be a gallery, is an 18th-century board with the text of the Lord's prayer, apostles' creed and Ten Commandments. It fills the space rather nicely, but is so high up as to be unreadable by the congregation.
"If you don't know what to say, make it unreadable" ("Ne zna da besjedi,a ne umije cutati"), ADER typography
Car: Renault 6 TL.
Year of manufacture: 1972.
Date of first registration in the UK: 1st January 1980.
Region of registration: Isle of Wight.
Latest recorded mileage: Unreadable (MOT 2nd April 2011).
Date taken: 20th July 2019.
Location: Middle Claydon, Buckinghamshire, UK.
A scene that has greatly changed in the passing years. The view is of the top of Tipton Road at Dudley, looking towards its junction with Birmingham Road, with the former Midland Red bus garage (Dudley Garage) seen behind the oncoming bus.
Today, a large traffic roundabout and modified road layout occupies much of the ground in this view. Dudley bus garage is no more, the 'Duncan Edwards' bypass running directly through the site of the former bus garage.
As for the Walsall based Metrobus 2791, this had been an exhibit at the 1984 commercial motor show. Unlike its sisters, the bus sported a digital style dot-matrix destination display housed in a larger than normal aperture. This made the bus easily recognisable when head-on from a distance, setting it apart from it contemporaries.
Electronically controlled dot-matrix destinations were a new fangled thing in the early 1980s, and were of a complex eleco-mechanical design. Consequently, these destination displays could be very temperamental and also difficult to set up. Often when they went wrong, the display became an unreadable scrabble of yellow dots. I do not recall the maker of these destination displays, but it was likely Bright-tech or Hanover Displays? The only other West Midlands Metrobuses fitted with these dot-matrix destinations were the 14 Tracline-65 Metrobuses built for the short-lived guided busway at Short Heath in Birmingham.
2791 was withdrawn in 2004 and sold to Roberts of Hugglescote for further use. There is on Flickr, a 2018 dated image of this bus in use as a burger bus in Półwiejska, Poznań, Poland.
Photo - May 1985.
The old monastery fontain, design 1770
Inscription : Created by Dimitar from the village of Osenovlak, Sponsor : unreadable
Манастир Седемте престола
Rates to Great Britain / October 1, 1921 to June 30, 1926 - On October 1, 1921, the Empire letter rate was increased from 2 cents to 3 cents per ounce. Since the War Tax was still in effect, the total rate for a one ounce letter was 4 cents. To July 31, 1924 - the registration fee was 5 cents. LINK - postalhistorycorner.blogspot.com/2011/05/george-v-admiral...
Vancouver Post Office Sub No. 4
Sub Post Office opened - 1 August 1911 - closed - 1993
Changed to Vancouver 097764 (RPO4)
Link to all the Postmasters who worked at Vancouver Sub 4 - www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/...;
List of Postmasters at Sub Office No. 4:
(1) F. T. Troughton - 1 August 1911 to 5 June 1912
(2) Henry Green - 5 July 1912 to 9 August 1913
(3) Mrs. E. G. Yates - 8 October 1913 to 17 October 1927
(4) Lancelot Manktelow - 4 January 1928 to 8 June 1928
(5) Chas. Herbert Thorne - 31 July 1928 to 5 February 1932
(6) Peter Thos. Kenyon - 17 March 1932 to 19 April 1932
(7) Clarence Stanley Babb - 20 May 1932 to 10 June 1964
(8) Norman Stanley Babb - 11 June 1964 to ?
When this registered cover was posted the Postmistress at Vancouver Sub No. 4 located in "Yates Confectionery Store" was Mrs. E. G. Yates - she served from - 8 October 1913 to 17 October 1927.
Bertram Arthur Yates (b. 23 November 1868 – d. 6 March 1953) had a store at 2210 Cornwall Avenue in Vancouver, B.C. called "Yates Confectionery".
His wife - Ellen Gertrude "Green" Yates (b. 4 August 1874 Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England - d. 11 October 1938 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) was the Postmistress of Sub Station No. 4 and was located at the same address as her husband's Confectionery Store.
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RETURN TO
T. V. SCUDAMORE & CO.
E. H. NEIL
1601 YEW STREET
VANCOUVER, B.C. (corner card)
Thomas Venables Scudamore
(b. 23 February 1889 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England - d. 10 November 1951 at age 62 in Bournemouth, England)
Major T. V. Scudamore, V.D., F.R.G.S., The British Columbia Regiment. Born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, Thomas Venables Scudamore (1889-1951) enlisted in the Canadian infantry in 1914 and spent almost three years as a prisoner of war, 1915-18. He authored two books, "Lighter episodes in the life of a prisoner of war" and "A Short History of the 7th Battalion, C.E.F".
LINK to his Personnel Records from the First World War - www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-wo...
LINK to a newspaper article written about Thomas Venables Scudamore in 1931 - Soldiers Tell of War Cruelties - www.newspapers.com/clip/97288471/soldiers-tell-of-war-cru...
Clipped from - The Province newspaper - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - 19 November 1951 - Thomas Venables Scudamore's obituary - Ex-City Realtor Dies In U.K. Col. T. V. Scudamore. former city realtor, has died at his home near Bournemouth, England, his brother, F. M. Scudamore has learned here. Col. Scudamore, a veteran of both world wars, was 62. Born at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, Col. Scudamore came to British Columbia in 1909 and after farming a year in the Kettle Valley moved to Vancouver and entered the real estate business with T. H. Calland. He later established his own realty firm in Kitsilano. He went overseas in the First World War as a captain in the 7th Battalion and was a prisoner for two years. On his return the DCOR officer published a book on the lighter side of being a prisoner of war and became a major in the British Columbia Regiment. He helped organize the Vancouver Art Gallery and many of his articles appeared in The Daily Province. He returned to England 17 years (1934) ago and became a colonel in a Pioneer Corps at the outbreak of the Second World War. He served also as a linguist with official missions to Syria and Palestine. CoL Scudamore is survived by his wife, Joyce Carr (nee Shields) Scudamore, two daughters, Amoret and Catherine, and three sisters.
His business partner in 1921 was Ernest Henry Neil
(b. 1880 in England - d. 20 September 1943 at age 63 in Vancouver, B.C.) - he was a partner in the T. V. Scudamore & Company (real estate / mortgage). He played cricket for the Vancouver Cricket Club around 1910 and later was secretary of the Mainland Cricket League. He later formed the "Neil & Brown Company" (Leo Joseph Brown).
- sent from - / VANCOUVER - B.C. / OC 1 / 21 / S.O.4. / - cds cancel - this cds hammer was proofed - 2 August 1911 - this cover is the ERD (1 October 1921) for this hammer. The LRD is - 20 April 1940.
- sent by registered mail - / R / - large "R" in large oval.
- via - / VANCOUVER / OC 1 / 21 / B.C. / - cds backstamp
- arrived at England on - 17 OC 21 / - unreadable oval backstamp in red ink.
Addressed to: Miss Vera Oakes. Nowton Court / Bury St. Edmunds / Suffolk, England
Vera Albinia Oakes
(b. 4 April 1892 in Pollokahields, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom - d.)
In 1901 she was living with her mother Laura Oakes in Nowton, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom - her siblings were - Orbell Oakes, Eva Oakes, Maude Oakes, Gladys Oakes, Beryl Oakes, Claude Oakes.
She served during WWI as a nurse in Egypt - LINK - vad.redcross.org.uk/en/Card?fname&sname=oakes&sor...
Her father: Orbell Henry Oakes (b. 19 June 1851 in Hawkedon, Suffolk - d. in 1939 (age 87) at Nowton Court, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England) - retired army officer - On the 2nd March 1899, promoted to Lieut.-Colonel and took command of the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment which he commanded for the duration of the Boer War 1899-1902. Took part in operations in Orange River Colony, including the action at Wittebergen. LINK to his life story - www.worcestershireregiment.com/wr.php?main=inc/o_oakes
Her mother: Laura Eliza Josephine (nee Clifton) Oakes
(b. 31 May 1856 in Fremantle, Western Australia - d. abt 1925 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England) - they were married - 22 November 1877 in Weymouth, Dorset, England, United Kingdom. They had eight children.
Nowton is a small village and civil parish in the St Edmundsbury district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the southern edge of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 140. To the south of the park lies Nowton Court which was built in 1837 and was owned by the Oakes family. Orbell Ray Oakes was given a piece of land by his father, James Oakes, the Bury banker, in 1801, and between his death in 1837 gradually expanded his property and created a series of gardens and pleasure grounds. The house itself, then called Nowton Cottage, was particularly picturesque, on a large scale. His son, H J Oakes renamed the house Nowton Court in 1837; it was also further enlarged. The result is a sort of Tudor style with red brick and stone dressings; tall ornate chimneys of white brick. For several years it was run as a boarding prep school until it closed and pupils and staff moved to Old Buckenham Hall School in Brettenham. Its most famous alumnus is Nigel Havers. Nowton Court is now a retirement home called ‘Nowton Court Village’. LINK to the complete article - www.nowtonvillage.co.uk/about/building-history/
D25994. An unremarkable office furnished with unremarkable 1940s office furniture. But this is the office of the famous codebreaker Alan Turin at Bletchley Park, a top secret code-breaking centre around 50 miles north of London.
Thousands of messages were sent by the enemy using wireless transmitters and receivers – and many of these were picked up by secret British listening posts known as ‘Y’ Stations. These were situated across the U.K. and elsewhere in the world but the messages intercepted all ended up at Bletchley Park where the code-breakers would set to work trying to de-cypher what was basically just a jumble of letters.
Because of the sophisticated cypher machines in use by the enemy, it was thought that the scrambled secret messages would be completely safe and unreadable if intercepted by the British intelligence service. But unbeknown to the enemy, British code-breakers working at Bletchley Park were able to de-code the messages and had developed machines of their own to help speed up the process.
The top secret location is no longer a secret and Bletchley Park, code named ‘Station X’ during the war, is now open to the public and people can see and learn about the vital work carried out there which hastened the Allied victory and is said the have shortened the war by at least two years.
A visit is highly recommended and more details can be found here:
Monday, 17th October, 2022. Copyright © Ron Fisher 2022.
This is getting to be a rare bus nowadays. Unfortunately my ISO wasn't set right, and the DC plate, being white, is almost entirely unreadable. I would not be surprised if this is from Prince Georges's County originally.
Peter was quite overwhelmed with trains on this day therefore he has a question mark against the locomotive numbers, unfortunately both are unreadable. A Stanier Black Five 45263 is on the fast towards Birmingham New Street, speeding past the lower quadrant Midland signals. Waiting at the island platform, presumably to head towards Washwood Heath is Stanier 8F 48638, meanwhile another train is leaving the Camp Hill line with a westbound freight.
The picture is taken from the Pershore Road South exit which today is a covered walkway and the footbridge has acquired a roof as well.
Assuming Peter was correct: 45263 was built by Armstrong Whitworth in October 1936, it was withdrawn August 1968 and scrapped at Cashmores (Newport) September 1968, at the time of this photograph it was based at Burton 17B
48638 was built at Brighton in September 1943, it was withdrawn 22/01/1966 and scrapped at Cashmores (Great Bridge) in April 1966 at this time it was 18A Toton based.
Peter Shoesmith 02/05/1956
Copyright John Whitehouse & Geoff Dowling: All rights reserved
It took me an hour today to decipher how to do selective color in our new G12, which has a strange, almost unreadable instruction manual that is only available onllne. I never found the explanation online. Instead, I tripped across it while going through shooting modes on the camera's screen. Shame on Canon for the way they set up this camera. My EOS 5D is pure simplicity in its operation; not so the G12. And you almost need a magnifying glass to read the dials. However, it is fun, and I like it. So, although it was raining, I went outside with an umbrella and took this shot, which seemed to fit the mood of the day - a little bit of color amid the gray.
D25989. This is an Enigma coding machine as used by the German military to scramble messages during World War II.
The Enigma machines were so complicated that it was thought that the scrambled secret messages would be completely safe and unreadable if intercepted by the British intelligence service. Unbeknown to the Germans however, British code-breakers working at Bletchley Park, a top secret location in Buckinghamshire, were able to de-code the messages and had developed a machine of their own to help speed up the process.
The top secret location is no longer a secret and Bletchley Park, code named ‘Station X’ during the war, is now open to the public and people can see and learn about the vital work carried out there which hastened the Allied victory and is said the have shortened the war by at least two years.
A visit is highly recommended and more details can be found here:
Monday, 17th October, 2022. Copyright © Ron Fisher 2022.
D25992. A radio receiver of the type used to intercept coded enemy messages during World War II.
Thousands of enemy messages were sent by the enemy using wireless transmitters and receivers – and many of these were picked up by secret British listening posts known as ‘Y’ Stations. These were situated across the U.K. and elsewhere in the world but the messages intercepted all ended up at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire around 50 miles north of London.
Because of the sophisticated cypher machines in use by the enemy, it was thought that the scrambled secret messages would be completely safe and unreadable if intercepted by the British intelligence service. Unbeknown to the enemy however, British code-breakers working at Bletchley Park, a top secret location, were able to de-code the messages and had developed machines of their own to help speed up the process.
The top secret location is no longer a secret and Bletchley Park, code named ‘Station X’ during the war, is now open to the public and people can see and learn about the vital work carried out there which hastened the Allied victory and is said the have shortened the war by at least two years.
A visit is highly recommended and more details can be found here:
Monday, 17th October, 2022. Copyright © Ron Fisher 2022.
RISKE CREEK, originally Chilcoten and also Chilcotin, is a ranching and First Nations community located on the Fraser River just southwest of the city of Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada. It is the location of the offices of the Toosey First Nation, a band government of Tsilhqot'in people in the vicinity, and also of two of the bridges crossing the Fraser. The name is an adaptation of that of Polish immigrant and rancher, L.W. Riskie, who settled here sometime before 1872, and was the first postmaster as of 1886. The post office was then named "Chilcoten" and then renamed "Chilcotin" in 1911, with the current name being adopted in 1912. In the spring of 1944, the Canadian Army established (#4) Special Wireless Station presumably to intercept Japanese radio communications. However, the station closed in July of the same year without ever becoming operational.
- from 1908 "Lovell's Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada" - CHILCOTEN, a post settlement in Cariboo District, B.C.; 40 miles from Soda Creek and 220 miles from Ashcroft Station. It contains flour and saw mills, 2 stores and 1 hotel, and is situated in a good hunting district. The population in 1908 was 110.
The CHILCOTEN Post Office was established - 1 May 1886 - the name changed to CHILCOTIN - 1 May 1911 and to RISKE CREEK - 1 November 1912.
LINK to a list of the Postmasters who served at the CHILCOTEN / CHILCOTIN Post Office - www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/... and the RISKE CREEK Post Office - www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/...
Sent by: A. Rafferty / Chilcotin Lodge / Riske Creek, B.C.
Arthur Thomas Rafferty
(b. 4 February 1903 in London, England - d. 27 August 1965 at age 62 in Williams Lake, British Columbia) - he was the Postmaster at Riske Lake, B.C. serving from - 1 April 1944 to - 1 June 1963.
His wife - Marion Janet (nee Smith) Rafferty
(b. 13 August 1902 in Truro, Nova Scotia - d. 4 May 1958 at age 55 in Williams Lake, B.C. / Riske Creek, British Columbia) - they were married - 30 December 1935 at Vancouver, British Columbia - she arrived in British Columbia in 1921. Her occupation was school teacher at Vancouver, B.C. - this letter was addressed to Mrs. Emmet Morton (nee Jane Rae Shand) who was also a Vancouver school teacher.
Clipped from - Quesnel Cariboo Observer newspaper - Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada - 2 November 2011 - Arthur Thomas Rafferty and his wife Marion, like so many of the early settlers, came from elsewhere to our area, the dad from England and the mum from Eastern Canada. They independently worked their way west. They met in Vancouver where Marian was a teacher and Anglican Church member. Marriage for Arthur and Marian was in 1935. In 1941 they moved to Riske Creek and into Chilcotin Lodge. The lodge was built in the 1930s by a wealthy chain store owner, George Christianson and was to be the base for guided hunting expeditions in the area around Riske Creek, outstanding for upland and migrating game birds. Outpost cabins were to be built at several more westerly locations such as Kleena Kleene. That project was never fully completed and in 1941 the Raffertys came to prepare the lodge for a home for delinquent boys. The Second World War instead, recruited the boys. Arthur Rafferty finished the interior and bought the place. In late 1944 the army commandeered the lodge for a wireless station, but that use was short-lived as the war ended in 1945 and the Raffertys reclaimed the lodge. They operated it in the 1940s to 1950s as a store, Post Office and hunting lodge.
- sent from - / RISKE CREEK / NO 23 / 43 / B.C / - split ring cancel - this split ring hammer (A1-1) was not listed in the Proof Book - it was most likely proofed c. 1912 - (RF B).
- arrived at - / WILLSBORO, / 6 - PM / NOV 30 / 1943 / N.Y. / - machine cancel backstamp.
- forwarded to - Florencia 33, Mexico, D.F. - arriving in Mexico on - 10 December 1943 - two unreadable Mexican arrival backstamps.
Postal censorship at Mexico - censor tape - / EXAMINADO / CENSOR (501) / MEXICO / SCP1 /
Addressed to: Mrs. Emmet Morton, / Willsboro. New York / U.S.A. forwarded to - c/o E.C. Cuilty / Florencia 33, Mexico D.F. (Distrito Federal)
Eduardo Cárlos (Edward Charles) Cuilty
(b. 14 January 1874 in Chihuahua, Mexico – d. 15 September 1950 at age 76 in Mexico City, Mexico) - he was a banker in New York who did a lot of traveling with his wife Virginia.
His wife - Virginia Austin (nee Wyatt) Cuilty
(b. 23 December 1877 in Richmond, Henrico, Virginia, USA – d. 14 March 1965 at age 87 in Pineville, Rapides, Louisiana, USA) - they were married - 6 September 1897 in El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States. - LINK to her obituary - www.newspapers.com/clip/102500963/mrs-edward-charles-cuil...
Jane Rae (nee Shand) Morton
(b. 30 April 1898 in Vancouver, British Columbia - d. 13 January 1996 (aged 97) in Washington, District of Columbia, United States - buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA) - Daughter of Francis A. and Mae E. Furley Shand; married Lieut. Col. (US Army) Emmet Morton on March 25, 1941, in Seattle, Washington.
Her husband - Emmet Crawford Morton
(b. 29 October 1877 in Fort Laramie, Goshen, Wyoming, United States – 10 December 1953 at age 76 in Westmoreland, Albemarle, Virginia, USA) - Lieutenant colonel HQ 2nd CORPS Gov. Island, New York.
EMD Switcher on BM fITCHBURG DIV. MAINLINE - SCANNED FROM A GAF SLIDE WITH UNREADABLE DATE. Probably early or mid 1970's
The Inscription Reads,
In Memory of William Billinge who was born in a cornfield at Fawfield Head in this Parish in the year 1679,At the age of 23yrs he enlisted into his Majesty`s Service under Sir George Rooke and he was at the taking of the Fortress of Gibralter in 1704,He afterwards served under the Duke of Marlborough at Ramilles fought on the 23rd of May 1706 where he was wounded from a musket shot in the thigh,Afterwards he returned to his native country and with manly courage defended his Sovereigns rights in the Rebellion in 1715 and 1745,
He Died within the space of 150yds of where he was born and was interred here on the 30th January 1791 aged 112 years.
Billeted by Death i Quartered here remain and when the trumpet sounds i will rise and march again.The Original Gravestone was replaced by this one in 1903 by the people of the Parish,The inscription on the original rough Gritstone Headstone had become unreadable through the passing of time.
DFP was a minor French car brand, which was active between 1906 to 1926. DFP stands for the three founders Doriot, Flandrin and Parant. Their factory was based in Courbevoie, near Paris.
The 2-litre engine was developed by DFP. It was even used by Bentley.
I have to admit I had never heard of the brandname DFP.
The body of this DFP was designed and manufactured by Taurinya. Ghislain Mahy bought this rare car in the South of France.
1996 cc L4 petrol engine.
Performance: 12-15 bhp.
Production DFP 12/15 series: 1912-1924.
Original first reg. number: 1913.
With old French painted reg. plate (unreadable).
This temporary exhibition was set up to honour the old Ghislain Mahy, by bringing back some iconic items from his collection to the place where it all began: the Ghent Wintercircus.
Unfortunately there were only 10 vehicles on display.
Ghislain Mahy (1907-1999) was a Fiat car dealer and classic car enthusiast who rented this old Wintercircus building for over forty years. Starting in the early 1950s he built up a collection of old and classical cars from more than 950 items. He bought them mainly in France. And many of them were just saved from the hands of car scrapers.
In 1995 Mahy had to leave this special place. His collection was partly sold, the rest was divided over two museums. Restored top cars went to classic car museum Autoworld, Brussels (about 230 items). But the majority, most unrestored cars, found a new home in a new founded car museum in the south of Belgium called Mahymobiles, Leuze-en-Hainaut.
More photos will follow...
More info about Wintercircus: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintercircus_(Gent), second option!
For Autoworld see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoworld_(museum)
For Mahymobiles see: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahymobiles
Number seen: 1.
Gent (B), Lammerstraat, Sept. 5, 2025.
© 2025 Sander Toonen Halfweg | All Rights Reserved.
ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved
Do not use without permission
The biographical part of the monument reads:
He was born at EXETER. on the 20th. of September 1710.
and died in this City. on the 23rd. of March 1807.
Also to the Memory of ELIZABETH his Wife
who departed this Life
on the 25th of August 1820. Aged 62.
This is written below a dedication to the man's memory:
Sacred to the Memory of HERMAN KATENCAMP Esquire.
many Years His Majesty's Consul General for the Protection of Trade.
in the TWO SICILIES and in SPAIN.
He asserted & maintainted with Dignity. Firmness. and incorruptible Integrity.
the Liberty and Privileges of the British Flag.
Many brave Seamen.
who. but for his Energy and Preserverance in the Performance of his Duty.
would have perished in a Foreign land.
are now living to serve their Country & bless the memory of their beneficient Protector.
His Charity was unbounded:
Friendless Strangers of whatever Nation never left his Door without Relief.
and were frequently heard to exclaim.
"This Man is indeed a Representative of his Country."
His Manners were aimable. his Disposition warm sincere, candid and affectionate
He never injured or offended any Man and never with held even for a Moment.
his Pity and Forgivness from those who offended him.
His Mind strong. clear and comprehnsive was cultivated by a liberal Education.
His Faults were but as transiem Shades on his many and brilliant Virtues.
which rendered their Possessor an Honour to Human Nature.
His Widow. the Partner of his Bosom for thirty-four Years.
knows what she has here written to be a true though faint Portrait of the excellent man.
to whose Memory the [unreadable] this poor Token of Gratitude and Love.
In the church mostly known as Bath abbey - but the full name is the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The abbey contains 617 wall memorials and 847 floor stones.
It is now an Anglican church, but started out as an abbey church to a Benedictine monastery. A church was first built on this spot in the 7th century - but the current building dates from the 12th to the 16th century (with some major restorations made in the 1860s) and is a prime example of the perpendicular style.
Drs 66433 top n tail 66424 on rhtt at Thurston on 071116
Note the grimy 66424 on the rear number nearly unreadable!
Big up to TH DRs finest at the helm!
Once there lived a girl who absolutely loved Hello Kitty. She had a huge collection of Hello Kitty merchandise. However, she was a quiet, reserved, soft spoken meek little girl. There were a gang of girls with a mean streak in her class. They saw her as the prime target for their bullying and tormented her each and every schooling day without fail. She was physically, emotionally and verbally abused by them. They sought every opportunity to inflict harm on her. Being experienced bullies, they knew that they had to hit the parts of her body that were covered by her clothes to avoid getting into trouble. They knew that the girl could not and would not retaliate nor would she report any of these incidents to the teacher or her parents.
However as the beatings and tauntings progressed the girl would start to mumble "Someday... Someday..." to herself while she winced in pain at the impact and hurt cause by their vicious attacks, but never did she scream or cry out in pain, she did not cry or try to fight back either. She just let it happen, her eyes would turn blank and glassy.
This scared the girls, they were afraid of what she meant by "Someday" they knew that she probably would not be able to take her revenge but still, it disturbed them. Angry that the weak little girl could instill fear in her, the leader of the gang of girls decided that they should get rid of her, to make it such that that "Someday" she constantly mumbled to herself about would not come.
One day late at night, they snuck into the girl's home through an open window, the girl was sleeping in her favourite Hello Kitty pajamas. Her pillowcases, bedsheets, wallpaper, her whole room was decorated with Hello Kitty. But there was no time to waste admiring the decor, they locked the door and shook the girl awake, roughly. Her eyes flew open, they expected to see fear in her dark brown eyes but instead her eyes darkened and became unreadable. Feeling a strange chill run her body cold with dread, the leader of the gang of girls grabbed a fistful of the girl's hair and yanked it hard screaming into her face "WHAT DOES HELLO KITTY SAY?"
The girl did not reply, she just stared blankly at her. Infuriated and afraid the leader commanded her members to hold the girl down, she brandished a knife and shouted "NOTHING because Hello Kitty has NO MOUTH!" With that she sliced off the girl's upper lip. For once, the girl let out a cry of pain, blood rushed out quickly, turning the candy pink bedsheets bloody. But her eyes still remained emotionless. Fear overtook the girls, they were not sure of what to do, they stabbed her brutally in her chest several times before escaping.
The girl died, but the gang of girls would not be able to escape, they only made the situation worse for themselves because now they would be unable to escape her.
[Credits to StruckDumb for the texture]
Explored #391! Thanks <3
MK1 Lagunas are pretty scarce now so always nice to see these. Last mileage show is 111k in 2013, from then on its unreadable.
The image actually shows a binary clock installed at the St. Gallen train station, which has lead to some discussion about it being “unreadable” for most passengers.
Shot on Minolta x-700 using Kodak Gold 200
McArras Brook is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Antigonish County. It was named for the original settler, James McCara from Perthshire, Scotland. The population in 1921 was 61.
LINK to 1921 Census - central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1921&op=img&am... (page 81 - 6 people, page 82 - 50 people, page 83 - 5 people)
- from 1908 "Lovell's Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada" - McARRAS BROOK, a post settlement in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia, 13 miles from Merigomish, on the Truro & Sydney branch of the Intercolonial Railway.
- from Charles Bruce Fergusson's "Place-Names and Places of Nova Scotia" book - McARRAS BROOK (McAra's) A brook and a settlement northwest of Antigonish. A corruption of McCara's, for it was named after James McCara, who received a grant of five hundred acres there in 1796 for his loyal services to the Crown in the American Revolution. He was a native of Perthshire, Scotland, who had emigrated to New York State and had joined General Burgoyne's forces in 1777. Several other soldiers, namely Alexander McDonald. Samuel Thompson, Alexander McPherson and James Peacock settled in the neighborhood of McCara but later sold their farms and moved away. In 1827 there was a school at McCara but later sold their farms and moved away. In 1827 there was a school at McCara's Brook and in 1865 a new school-house was erected there.
The McArra's Brook Postal Way Office was established - 1 August 1874 - it was upgraded to a Post Office - c. 1877 and closed - 30 September 1947 owing to the provision of mail delivery service via Rural Mail Delivery (RMD).
Distributing point - Merigomish
Post Office was located in a dwelling
Mail route - Merigomish RR No. 1
LINK to a list of all the Postmasters who served at the McArra's Brook Post Office - central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=posoffposmas&id=2...
sent from - / McARRAS BROOK / AP 4 / 35 / N.S. / - split ring cancel - this split ring hammer (A-2) was listed in the Proof Book (19 November) but the year is unreadable - (#1557 / RF D).
Addressed to: Campana Corporation Limited / N4-3 Caledonia Rd., / Toronto, Ontario, Canada
So i go to edit my last 3 days 365 shots and 90% of my photos over the last few days are unreadable on the card. So thursdays and todays shots are missing. I climbed a tree and hung my camera in it today for nothing. Well.... not nothing. Still fun climbing trees. :D
So there's these 2 muffins in an oven.
They're both sitting, just chilling and getting baked.
And one of them yells "God Damn, it's hot in here!"
And the other muffin replies "Holy Crap, a talking muffin!"
© MK (Kinda)
The Church is dedicated to St. Peter and consists of a tower of four stages, surmounted by a peculiar little spire, a Nave with North and South Aisles and a South Porch; and a Chancel with a North Aisle or Chapel.
From a close examination of the fabric it would appear that the Church passed through the following main changes.
The first Norman Church was built about 1150 and would have a tower of three stages (lower than the existing tower) an aisleless nave and a small Chancel, probably apsidal (i.e. semi-circular at the East end).
Barnburgh would be one of very few places in this district where the original church had a tower, the usual Norman construction was without a tower.
The first enlargement was some fifty years later in the Transitional Norman period, when a North Aisle was added to the Nave. It is invariably found that the first enlargements to our churches were made on the North side. This was done because there would be fewer graves to disturb, it being remembered that the people of those days, steeped as they were in superstition, avoided being buried on the North side where the shadow of the church would fall upon them.
The Chancel built by the Normans would, no doubt, as I have said, be small and as the ritual of the church became more elaborate the need for extension would arise. Furthermore there were two great families in the district at that time (the Cresacres and the Bella Aqua's or Bellews) and instead of founding monasteries as in earlier times, the idea had sprung up among many of these great families to institute Chantries. These usually took the form of little chapels inside the church but screened off, where a priest was maintained to pray for the soul of the founder and his family. Chantry certificates show that two chantries were founded in Barnburgh Church, of which more later.
All appearances therefore suggest that about 1330 the church underwent what was almost a rebuilding, and practically only the bottom two stages of the tower remained of the original church. These alterations would include the addition of the South Aisle and Porch, enlargement of the North Aisle, and the rebuilding of the Chancel with the addition of the North Chapel, and also the top two stages of the tower with the little spire. With the raising of the tower the corner buttresses would be built.
At this period there was a famous church architect, Henry de Eynsham, living at Bolton-upon-Dearne and it is probably he who planned the rebuilding. The greater part of the cost would no doubt be borne by the two ruling families of the neighbourhood, and the arms of the Cresacres were placed on the South side and those of the Bella Aqua's on the East side of the tower at the rebuilding.
As the church was then, it would be rather dark in the Nave somewhat similar to what Hickleton is to this day and so it was that about 1410 the earlier 'Decorated' style windows of the Aisles, with one exception, were replaced by the larger ones of the "perpendicular" style, the roof and walls of the Nave were made higher, and the clerestory windows inserted to give extra light. The original pitch of the roof can still be seen low down in the East wall of the tower.
From that date there has been little alteration to the appearance of the church. There have, of course, been restorations, for instance in 1859 part of the top storey of the tower was taken down and rebuilt, and it will also be noted that the windows of the Chancel, including the great East window, are modern, but are no doubt careful reproductions of the originals. This work would probably be done during the restoration of 1869, the cost of which was borne by John Hartop.
Whilst looking round the exterior of the church you will notice other features; the Priest's Door in the South of the Chancel, which is of the 'Decorated period', and on the North side, two blocked up doorways. The one which gave entrance to the North Chapel is of the Perpendicular period and no doubt, was constructed during the last alterations to the Church. This entrance would be used solely by the Cresacre family and their Chantry Priest. The other built-up door near the tower was the "Devil's Door" and would be disused after the Reformation. When in existence it would be opened during baptisms and similar ceremonies, to let the Devil out.
And so we come back to the Porch, which is of 'Decorated' style, with a ribbed and slabbed room. Notice on the spring of the innermost arch on the right hand side, the Mason's mark chiselled in stone : This was his signature to his work.
Notice also the stone benches on either side which remind us of the days when the Church Porch was a very important place, used for many purposes. Here it was that official notices were published (and indeed still are), here that the Coroner held his court, and here that people found guilty of breaking the religious laws had to do penance. Porches were used for many other purposes such as the sale of merchandise, the arranging of fairs, the ratifying of bargains and deals, and sometimes a plough was kept there for Plough Monday which was the Monday after Epiphany when ploughing and rustic toil was restarted.
On entering the church we first notice the font which appears to be of the Transitional Norman period, dating to the latter half of the twelfth century, and as such is most probably the original font.
At the other side of the main entrance is the South Chapel, which, at the Reformation was bereft of its altar, but the mutilated piscina still remains to remind us of its original use for rinsing the sacred vessels at Mass in the days when this was the private Chantry Chapel of the Bella Aqua family.
Returning to the tower we quickly see the indications of the first church in the lower two storeys of the tower which are of a fine type of masonry of the late Norman era, and there is a good example of a deeply splayed Norman window, now blocked up, probably to give added strength when the tower was raised.
The Tower Arch and Chancel Arch are unmistakably the result of the great rebuilding in about 1330 and are of this period.
Looking down the church from under the tower there are a number of features which catch the eye. The fine roofs of the Nave and of the Chancel should be noticed, and although there do not seem to be any marks which give any guide to dates, I have no doubt that this was the roof installed in the fifteenth century when the walls of the Nave were made higher. The massive tie beams each with a different carved boss show unmistakable signs of great age.
Some years ago it was found that some of the ends were rotting and a kind of wall plate was inserted on the South wall and stone corbels were placed here and there without any attempt at uniformity. A piece of one of the tie beams was taken out and may now be seen in a corner of the Chancel doing duty as a table. An examination of this shows the finely moulded carving of which the earlier woodworkers were capable.
A puzzling feature to be noticed from the tower arch is the clerestory which is of perpendicular style and was made in 1410 (or thereabouts) when the roof was lifted. Although the clerestory windows on both sides were inserted at the same time it will be seen that those on the South are two light windows and those on the North three light.
Why was this unusual procedure adopted? Could it be that the two wealthy families who then owned Barnburgh and who would most likely bear most of the expense of the alterations, differed as to the style and finally decided each to have its own way on its own side. It will also be noticed (but more distinctly from the Chancel) that when the clerestory windows were put in they used as lintels, tomb slabs, probably taken from the church floor. This ruthless despoiling of graves can be seen in a number of churches. It has been suggested that they were brought here from the demolished St. Helen's chapel, but I cannot agree with this as it is more than likely that St. Helen's was still in use when the clerestory of St. Peter's was built.
The next thing which draws our attention from under the Tower Arch is the beautiful screenwork for which Barnburgh church is noted, for though it as been damaged much of it remains as it was in pre-Reformation days. In most churches such woodwork as this was utterly destroyed during the Reformation and we at Barnburgh should feel thankful that we have some that escaped this wanton destruction. The entire screenwork of the South Chapel remains and also that at the North end of the Cresacre Chapel, with its original door still doing service.
The woodwork under the Chancel Arch which now forms a screen about four feet high is all that remains of the rood screen. Try to visualise this screen as it was before it was destroyed about four hundred years ago. It would almost entirely fill the arch and high up in the screen would be the Rood Loft or gallery from which certain parts of the services would be conducted. On this Rood Loft would be the great crucifix and a number of beautifully coloured statues. The rood screen in most churches was a thing of beauty and it is little wonder that special windows were inserted and existing ones enlarged to throw more light on the screen.
Fairly high in the walls on both sides of the Chancel Arch (which, by the way, is much wider than is usual in a church such as Barnburgh) can be traced signs of stones having been cut away in order to provide support for the floor beams of the rood loft. At Barnburgh the ascent to the loft was by wooden ladder, but often a stone stairway was hollowed out in the stone pillar. A close examination of the fragment of the rood screen left to us will give some indication of its antiquity and original beauty.
And now let us commence a tour of the church. In the North Wall of the North Aisle will be found a diamond shaped hole cut out in one of the stones. It is a few inches across and has a recess of about the same depth. Four holes filled with lead show that a small iron or wooden door covered the recess at one time. This hole or recess has been the subject of much conjecture, and popular rumour has it that it is a "Lepers Squint." I do not agree with this, as if it had been intended as such it would have been placed in such a position that the lepers (who were not allowed in church) might see the high altar. I am more inclined to the opinion that it was made as a reliquary (a place for relics).
The family of Cresacres is reputed to have had more than one member taking part in the Crusades and it was a common custom when a knight died in the Holy Land to bring back his heart which was then blessed and placed in a box, or hole similar to that at Barnburgh, to be preserved for all time. Often valuable articles of gold or precious stones were placed with them. At the Reformation, however, these reliquaries were completely destroyed and their contents scattered.
The next item is the shaft of what was a cross near the first pillar of the North Aisle. This would be the original praying or preaching cross around which the people of Barnburgh would gather before they had a church. It is of Saxon origin and is older than anything else about the church in which it now stands. It was found last century, buried in the churchyard, in two pieces, one piece it is said was actually under the foundations of the church. Fortunately it was brought and re-erected in its present position some years ago by the Rev. W. R. Hartley. It lacks arms and is much decayed but it can be seen that it must have been a piece of fine workmanship for its day. The carvings show the figure of a priest with a kind of interlacing work acting as a support for the body. A very careful examination will also show pilasters with voluted capitals, and it is this that helps us to arrive at the period of its construction, which would be about a 1,000 years ago. This cross is one of few of its kind remaining in the country and is mentioned in every book I have seen on such subjects.
The bases of the pillars of the North Aisle should next be noticed. They are of late (or Transitional) Norman style and are remnants of the first enlargement which took place to the original church, about 1200. The Transitional Norman arches would be taken down and replaced, and the bases of the pillars lifted when the clerestory was built.
And now we come to the Cresacre Chapel which is of course the great attraction to many visitors to Barnburgh church. There is enough here to interest us for half a day if we examine carefully all it contains. The first thing to attract us is the Cresacre Tomb with the "Cat and Man" effigy which is the centre of one of the most remarkable legends in the land. The tomb and the legend I have dealt with fully earlier in this volume, but there is one thing to which I would draw attention. It will be noted that the two arches between the Chapel and the Chancel are modern (though to be sure they do blend well with the remainder of the church), and these replaced a single arch under which the Cresacre tomb originally stood. These alterations were probably carried out early last century, for the organ, which stands almost under one of the arches was put there in 1829, the gift of Henrietta Griffith of Barnburgh. It may be that these arches were inserted at the same time.
Of the other items of interest in the chapel I have already mentioned elsewhere the two mural tombstones to the Vincents of Barnburgh Grange, the slab tombstone of Alice Cresacre, wife of Sir Percival, and the brass to the memory of Anna Cresacre, the last of that name.
On the wall of the chapel there are three boards which record the charities of the Parish and as they are almost unreadable. Behind one of the boards, the oaken door by which the Cresacres made their entrance can be seen, still hung, the walling up of the doorway having been done on the outside only.
The screen which now encloses the East end of the chapel to form a vestry for the clergy, is part of a much older one than the rest of the screen work in the church and may have been part of the screen which stood in the original arch dividing the chapel and the chancel. It is of excellent though rather crude workmanship and of a design peculiar to South Yorkshire.
This North Chapel is now almost filled by the Organ, the Cresacre Tomb and the Choir and Priest's Vestries so that it is not easy to try to see it as it was when it functioned as the Cresacre Chapel with its own altar under the East window. However, the piscina remains, although its front edge has been shorn off. It is probable that this Chapel continued as a private place of worship to a much later date than the South Chapel.
It is a surprising thing that the North Chapel, which was undoubtedly in the possession of the Cresacre family for several centuries before, was, apparently, not founded as a Chantry Chapel until 1507.
In the Chancel there is a seat for about three persons which, though restored, is extremely old and is of the same workmanship as the small screen at the East End of the North Chapel. Indeed the Rev. E. P. Cook suggests it is part of that screen reconstructed to form a seat.
In the Chancel also may be noted the piece of a roof beam end (now serving as a small table) which I have mentioned earlier, and a number of brasses and tombstones of interest, all of which I also covered in parts of this little book.
Before the Reformation many of the windows of the church would be filled with beautiful stained glass, but unfortunately all was destroyed, with the exception of a few fragments which still remain in the small upper lights of the East window of the South Chapel, during Oliver Cromwell's time when his soldiers even used the churches as stables for their horses.
For two or three centuries after that the windows were filled with plain glass, but to-day there are several windows which once again fill the church with many colours. These are :
Part of the Great East window, given in memory of the Rector who built the present Rectory and gave us our greens the Rev. T, C. Percival and his wife.
In the South wall of the Chancel there is a window given in 1904 to the memory of John Hartop of Barnburgh Hall by his nephews and nieces. He was a great lover and benefactor of Barnburgh Church.
The window behind the font was given in the year 1906 to the memory of her sister by Mrs. Mary Hartop, and the window on the other side of the Tower Arch, in the North Aisle, was given in 1914 to the memory of this same Mary Hartop.
The latest coloured window to be inserted was that in the East end of the South Chapel which was given in 1946 by Archdeacon Clarke in memory of his wife, nee Christabel Marie Lockwood, formerly headmistress of Becket Road Infant School at Doncaster.
Barnburgh Church has a peal of three very fine bells, and although they are of no outstanding historical interest (none of them are pre-Reformation and none have inscriptions apart from being dated) they are of excellent workmanship and have a fine mellow tone. They were cast in the early part of the seventeenth century.
Sign: "Paul Bunyan, 1937." Caption (the white lettering at the bottom is almost unreadable): "Paul Bunyan and Babe, His Blue Ox. HAK, Bemidji, Minn."
A real photo postcard of a man standing between the statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, which were originally constructed for a winter carnival in Bemidji, Minnesota, in 1937.
Compare this image with a snapshot of similar statues in Ossineke, Michigan.
Originally posted on Ipernity: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, Bemidji, Minnesota.
F. C. B. - (Markings on swords varied widely. Most swords were inscribed with the acronym "FCB", which stands for the Pythian motto "Friendship, Charity, Benevolence".)
If not called for in ten days return to
G. T. MALLERY
K. OF R. & S.
Primrose Lodge No. 20, Kamloops.
British Columbia - (corner card)
For a “secret society” the Knights of Pythias were not very secretive about their existence in Kamloops! The Kamloops branch, Primrose Lodge No. 20, was formed in 1894, and would quickly get involved in Kamloops’ social society by hosting open houses, balls, and concerts, and by participating in parades.
The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on 19 February 1864. The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been inspired by a play by the Irish poet John Banim about the legend of Damon and Pythias. This legend illustrates the ideals of loyalty, honor, and friendship that are the center of the order. The order has over 2,000 lodges in the United States and around the world, with a total membership of over 50,000 in 2003. The order is headquartered in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Some lodges meet in structures referred to as Pythian Castles.
Trail is a city in the West Kootenay region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was named after the Dewdney Trail, which passed through the area. The town was first call Trail Creek or Trail Creek Landing, and the name was shortened to Trail in 1897. The history of Trail really began in 1891 when the first ore from the nearby Le Roi mine was taken to the landing here for shipment, via the Columbia River, to the smelters at Butte, Montana.
The TRAIL CREEK Post Office was opened - 1 July 1891; renamed TRAIL Post Office - 1 January 1897.
LINK to a list of the Postmasters who served at the TRAIL Post Office - recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record...
- sent from - Kamloops, B.C. - unreadable cancel
arrived at - / TRAIL / JY 16 / 00 / B.C. / - cds arrival backstamp / left Trail on the same date - strike on front
redirected to - / SPOKANE, WASH. / JUL 18 / 8 PM / 1900 / REC'D. / - cds backstamp
- left - / SPOKANE, WASH. / JUL 21 / 12 M / 1900 / - duplex strike on front
redirected to - / SEATTLE / JUL 22 / 4 - PM / 1900 / WASH. / RECEIVED / 1 / - arrival backstamp
- sent by - G. T. MALLERY
George Thomas Mallery
Birth - 29 September 1863 in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
Death - 26 June 1950 (aged 86) in San Bernardino
Burial - Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California, USA
George Thomas Mallery was a druggist who owned a Drug Store (The Mallery Drug Co) in Kamloops, B.C. The Mallery family immigrated to the USA in 1906 where he was the proprietor of the "Central Drug Company" store which was located in the Chamber of Commerce building in San Bernardino, California. LINK to and article about the "The Mallery Drug Co" in Kamloops, B.C. - chinookjargon.com/2016/11/19/the-mallery-drug-co-ad-1902/
His wife - Carrie Maud (nee Eaton) Mallery
Birth - 1869 in Nova Scotia
Death - 1928 (aged 58–59) in San Bernardino
Burial - Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, California, USA - they were married - 8 June 1888 in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
Addressed to: Mr. R. J. Geddis / Trail / B.C. - redirected to Spokane, Washington / and then redirected to General Delivery Seattle, Washington
- from - BRITISH COLUMBIA P0STAL HISTORY RESEARCH GR0UP / Volume 3 - Number 1 - Whole number 15 - September 1995 - ROBERT JAMES GEDDIS - Locomotive Fireman - Based on information supplied by Alex Price. Robert James Geddis came to British Columbia as a Canadian Pacific Railway fireman on April 19, 1886. He was active in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and as a result received a large amount of mail from various parts of the country. Although Geddis did not save the envelopes addressed to him much of his mail has survived. Alex Price, as a result of his interest in all things CPR, has developed a fascinating collection of Geddis material and is looking for reports on other items addressed to R.J. Geddis. Robert James Geddis was born in Ontario, June 16, 1860 and joined the Western Division of the CPR on October 23, 1883 as a fireman and moved the Pacific Division April 3, 1886. He became a locomotive turner or hostler in 1887 and was promoted to Engineer January 29, 1890. In the same year, on July 14, he married to Hiss Melissa Parker at New Westminster, at which time he was working at Rogers Pass. On December 27, 1898 he was "dismissed" for reckless running and neglect of orders to look out for work train, causing collision at Nicomen, B.C." He was rehired by the CPR as a hostler at Vancouver on October 5, 1901 and became a yard engineer in 1904. He retired on December 1, 1927 on a pension of $38.65 a month. He died February 31, 1931. LINK to the complete article - (pages 116 to 118) - bnaps.org/hhl/newsletters/bcr/bcr-1995-09-v004n03-w015.pdf
Robert James Geddis was an official in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers - (there is correspondence on him from - 1884 to 1921).
Clipped from - The Province newspaper - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - 1 March 1931 - Obituary for Robert James Geddis (Aged 71) - Old-time Resident Of British Columbia Dies in California - Word has been received In Vancouver of the recent death In San Francisco of Robert James Geddis, aged 71, former well-known resident of this city and an employee of the C.P.R. for more than forty-five years. The deceased, who had been in ill-health for the past five years, went south several months ago. The remains are being forwarded to Vancouver. Funeral arrangements will be announced later. Born in Ontario, in 1860, the deceased married Miss. Melissa Parker of Strathcona, Ont., at New Westminster in 1890. He was a member of I.O.O.F. at Revelstoke and the Moose and Knights of Pythias lodges in Vancouver. He is survived by one son, Robert Hamilton at Riley, Alta, and two daughters. Lila May and Myrtle of San Francisco.
This story is a direct sequel to this one: www.flickr.com/photos/strintfire/6207596882/in/photostream
Previously, it was... pretty unreadable, so I corrected it, now it should be better. My english is shit thom so you will help me, if you will point to some mistakes.
The Spectre slowly floated from behind of the cliff, winking with bright yellow eyes.
Commander raised his fist. "Stop."
The Spectre was graceful, majestic.
Spectres are occasionally seen in the different corners of the planet. Usually they were immovable distant figures disappearing into nowhere, if someone will try to get closer.
However, some people saw them close enough to distinguish several basic external features - a long cloak (presumably tissued), metal collar or breastplate and large, not always anthropomorphic helmet.
These observations have allowed to identify a few monuments, found in different parts of the world with the Spectres. Monuments represent an "armor" of Spectre, opened like a flower and interwoven in an intricate design. Cloak always tosses over the monument, like a flag. Has been suggested that it is dead Spectres, although it isn’t clear how they could be killed – because those monuments are indestructible, scientists failed either to budge nor to damage them.
In a further researches this material demonstrated the ability to absorb the entire spectrum of light at certain angles of observation, so for this Spectres was named.
Later the material itself was called “deusite” for the unfathomable propeties.
However, later scientists found out that the esper’s nerves are covered with a thin layer of deusite, which gives them their powers, however, if deusite somehow separated from the body of the esper, it instantly evaporates and desintegrates, so it did not allow further researches.
Spectre was three meters tall, in the dark-purple cloak, covered with golden ornaments, his breastplate and helmet lookes like a polished silver, and four of his round eyes softly glowed with golden shine.
He slowly and carefully, under the wary eye on the squad, work free a long shiny tentacle from under the cloak and... waved with a six-fingered palm in a welcoming gesture.
- Kira, what’s happening? – commander asked.
Spectre, gaze swept (no one could figure out how he did it, not even moving his eyes) the team and stopped at Kira.
Looked right into her eyes. It was inexplicable, how the four lamps can look in the eyes, but so it was.
- I don’t know. – Kira clearly said.
And then the time seems stopped for her.
A voice started to sound in her head. Soft and deep, it wasn’t heard with ears, but with the mind, it wasn’t poured into her head, but arisen from within it.
"The time has come."
These were not the words, but the antecessors of words, pure meaning, unencumbered with the standards of language. Kira’s mind itself built it in the voice and words.
"I am The One Who Watching, overseer of the White Monolith."
The image of a huge white stone ran along the border of Kira’s mind.
"We were watching your people. We watched you. "
Stream of thoughts and memories. Recognizable, like her own. Yet they were strangers. In these memories, she saw herself from a side.
"We saw your awakening."
Image of a scorched wasteland. Smoldering crater in the center of a huge crevice. Fragile white body curled up in the middle of it. Defenseless. Unique…
"We saw awakening of your people."
Thin radiant wave, covering the entire planet in a few seconds and closing at the other pole. Wave of pure energy, not clouded by laws of physics and common sense.
"It's time to learn the truth. And your purpose. "
Time dramatically returned to normal.
Spectre slowly turned his hand into a fist, leaving only one finger sticking.
He stretched out his hand and slowly ran his finger along the string, quietly hanging two meters away from him. String opened up with the movement of the finger, like a giant flower, and soon became a large rose-like vortex, glowing with soft yellow light.
Spectre gaze swept the squad and crooked his finger.
"Follow me."
Then he quickly bounced back and passed through the vortex, and instantly disappeared in it. String carried away a little bright spark.
Kira stepped to the vortex.
- Kira, respond! What is this light, what happened to the spectre? - Commander's voice sounded surprised.
Clips on the Kira’s helmet opened up, enabling the helmet to fall into the Kira’s hands. She turned to the squad, the wind blowed her hair like a red hurricane.
- Excuse me. I'll be back soon. - she said with a smile, and then, in three steps, she covered the distance to the vortex and jumped into it.
Portal quickly began to shrink.
- What the ... - said the Monk, took his sword and tried to block the portal, but vortex just huddled for a second around the sword, then uttered a melodious rang and finally shrunk, leaving the Monk with half of the blade in his hand.
The sun slowly rised over the valley.
Engraving is part of the Hippocrates aphorism, " What medicines will not cure, iron will cure"
Credits to the Arch and SPW.
Enjoy and don't forget to comment.
I took this yesterday in candle light. Took many more this afternoon but now it seems the memory stick has been corrupted and is unreadable and the card slot in the camera needs looking at too. So off to the service centre tomorrow.
Spotted in the remote village of Arolla (1998 meters over the sea), this plate for special vehicles, which is almost unreadable!
Addressed to: David Irving Esq / New Westminster / B.C. - with no return address.
- sent from - / VICTORIA, B.C. / APR / 1 / 1916 / CANADA • / - double ring cds in violet ink - stamps have cancelled with an unreadable roller cancel.
- sent by registered mail - / R / - large "R" in oval marking in black ink.
- arrived at / NEW WESTMINSTER / AP 4 / 16 / B.C. / - cds arrival backstamp
registered letter was - NOT CALLED FOR (4 strikes) marking in black ink.
- It was then sent to the Dead Letter Office in Vancouver for processing - left - / New Westminster, B.C. / APR / 22 / 1916 / CANADA / - double ring cds in purple ink.
- arrived at / BRANCH DEAD LETTER OFFICE / APR 26 1916 / VANCOUVER; B.C. / - double rim oval handstamp with serif letters - (type VAN2b-c1) in purple ink.
The double rim marking: VAN2b-c1; 8 reports; EKD - 17 August 1912; LKD 15 July 1918 [note the semi-colon after the ‘R’ in Vancouver]
Link to all of the Dead Letter Office Study Group newsletters - www.bnaps.org/hhl/n-dlo.htm
A dead letter office (DLO) is a facility within a postal system where undeliverable mail is processed. Mail is considered to be undeliverable when the address is invalid so it cannot be delivered to addressee, and there is no return address so it cannot be returned to the sender. At a DLO, mail is usually opened to try to find an address to forward to. If an address is found, the envelope is usually sealed using tape or postal seals, or enclosed in plastic bags and delivered. If the letter or parcel is still undeliverable, valuable items are then auctioned off while the correspondence is usually destroyed. Despite this practice, in the past some undeliverable envelopes were acquired by philatelists.
D25998. A closer look at the Enigma coding machine as used by the German military to scramble messages during World War II.
The Enigma machines were so complicated that it was thought that the scrambled secret messages would be completely safe and unreadable if intercepted by the British intelligence service. Unbeknown to the Germans however, British code-breakers working at Bletchley Park, a top secret location in Buckinghamshire, were able to de-code the messages and had developed a machine of their own to help speed up the process.
The top secret location is no longer a secret and Bletchley Park, code named ‘Station X’ during the war, is now open to the public and people can see and learn about the vital work carried out there which hastened the Allied victory and is said the have shortened the war by at least two years.
A visit is highly recommended and more details can be found here:
Monday, 17th October, 2022. Copyright © Ron Fisher 2022.
Another trip in my van past the MCV place at Sutton. Looks to be another pair for Warrington, but couldn’t get closer.
I've never used the word "shortshrift" in a sentence (or a title) before, to the best of my knowledge.
On the back of this photo (pulled out of an album by some flea market vendor, no doubt) there's a stamp (unreadable) for the studio that developed the picture, and you can just make out "......field, Missouri," which is probably Springfield. Springfield is famously "not the asshole of the universe," but also, "rotten at the core."
But that's another story, as they say. This girl is kinda cute,
and, judging by the photo, if she's still out there, she's probably ninetish. Well, I hope she's still enjoying life, and fits into this bathing suit.
Around mid-late 1890s according to the children's clothing.
Taken in their backyard in front of a studio backdrop on a rug, probably by an itinerant photographer.
I like the kids' outfits (the girls' matching dresses, the dark ribbons with bows hanging from their shoulders, I've never seen any like those before), love the kids' different expressions, the reactions about to be photographed.
Photo on cardboard.
On the reverse: unreadable date, Rózsahegy (Hungary it belongs today to Slovakia, known as Ruzomberok)
Found photograph.
Ismeretlen gyermekek, valószínűleg az udvarban vette le őket egy vándorfényképész.
I think this photo is taken at the same time and spot as the last one I uploaded of the Royal Scot, but with a train heading in the other direction. The weather conditions are the same and I acquired them together.
This time we have a Class 40 piloting what I think is a Royal Scot (not my strong point so please correct me if necessary) on load at least 12. The class 40 was given as D230, the number this time is unreadable so if that is the case the photo has to be pre April 1961 when it acquired the name Scythia.
D230 was new to Carlisle Upperby in September 1959 and a Midland loco all its life was withdrawn in April 1983.
Image from a slide in my collection by an unknown photographer.