Podcasts about colombian exposition

Welcome to March 19th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the great outdoors and one man's sweet dream. For years, American backyards were very functional. They were mainly used for gardening or as workspaces. But after World War II, people had more disposable income and moved to the suburbs. Plus, there was a surplus of materials like aluminum and concrete, which meant that it was inexpensive to build pools, patios, and lawn furniture. In short, the backyard became a place for leisure and entertaining—an extension of the living space. And now that warmer weather is returning, what better time to celebrate National Backyard Day? While Milton Hershey is best known for making chocolate, he started his confectionary career with caramel. When the World's Colombian Exposition came to Chicago, Milton became fascinated by the machinery that made German chocolate. Deciding that milk chocolate was the way of the future, he purchased the entire exhibit and shipped it to his Pennsylvania factory. The Hershey bars we still enjoy today prove that Milton was onto something and his addition of caramel only sweetened the success. On National Chocolate Caramel Day, celebrate the legacy of Milton Hersheys sweet tooth.   I'm Anna Devere and I'm Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The twins discuss what drove them - what defined them when they were younger. Perhaps getting reconnected with that is the key to a more meaningful life now. And Judas Priest, chemistry sets, Ken Kesey, Sherlock Holmes, stamps, comics and much more, including a gem from the archive. PHOTO: Yale Brothers at House of Blues Myrtle Beach (PHOTO: Mike Heidtman) SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Chris messing around in GarageBand 1:41 - Greetings / K.K. Downing book / Judas Priest 2:45 - More about Downing / If you cut an old rocker's hair / Judas Priest / Rock 'n' Roll Church / Living After Midnight 4:28 - Remembering who we are / Buster and his cone / Sentient dog / Scientology 6:03 - Roger's blog post: Remember Who You Are 6:32 - "Clear" / Scientology and Chris' Scientologist girlfriend back in the day 7:07 - Roger reads part of his blog post: Remember Who You Are 9:34 - Comic shopping in Hollywood / Chris liked chemistry 9:45 - The Yale Brothers at 17 11:03 - Younger Chris: Sherlock Holmes / Chemistry sets / drums / Magic / Stamps / Secret Crime Fighting Service 11:23 - Chris' stamp collection / Mint never hinged / Old stamp collectors / Columbian Exposition versus Colombian Exposition 13:45 - Chemistry sets as presents 14:55 - Riffing on alchemy 15:25 - Chris' drums / First talks about playing music / Later talks about starting a band / The move to Los Angeles / School bands / Steve Kobashigawa and the glockenspiel 17:54 - Are we who we thought we would be? 18:11 - More from Roger's blog post / Our first band with Pascal Srabian / Bla Bla Cafe Studio City / Gazzarri's Hollywood / Lee Newman / Jimmy McHugh / Eddie Cantor 20:03 - Ditching at "Liverpool" 20:31 - More about Pascal (RIP) / Did we work hard enough? / Variables / 20/20 Hindsight / Collaboration / This podcast / "If You Walk Away" By Chris and Roger Yale / Influences 25:00 - Chris' definition of "hindsight" 26:30 - Who Chris wanted to be 27:29 - Rising above it 28:26 - Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out. Is Chris a hippie? / Sir versus dude 32:04 - More about K.K. Downing / Rob Halford 33:17 - Punk ethos versus corporate rock 33:48 - Divided only by ideas 34:57 - Getting on the bus / Ken Kesey / tripping for the first time / "Are we here?" /"The Bible Bus" 36:55 - Chris gets out of pulling weeds 38:56 - "Rise Above It"

For most historians if you mention Chicago and the year 1893, they will immediately think of the World's Colombian Exposition. However, there was much more going on in Chicago during that year that still resonates today. Beyond the excitement surrounding the Fair, 1893 was pivotal for the many new contributions, innovations, and changes that impacted the city and beyond. Many Chicago institutions we know today are tied to or originated during that year. A short list would include the first Chicago Cubs stadium, the tamale, the hot dog, Wrigley chewing gum, and much more. This monumental year holds many interesting stories well beyond the White City as a backdrop that was in direct contrast with Chicago's work-a-day world, some would call "Gray City." Join us in this episode for the extraordinary changes and important events of 1893, as we speak with historian and author Joe Gustaitis to set the scene for an upcoming episode focused on the Colombian Exposition and the White City. author Findley Peter Dunneauthor Henry Blake Fullerauthor George AdeMarshall FieldBusy State Street c.1893Swami Vivekananda Three successive buildings of the Marshall Field & Company Store on State StreetThe very first World's Parliament of Religions held at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1893West Side Grounds from 1906 World Series Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox Links to Research and Historic Sources: 1893, Chicago's Greatest Year, by Joseph Gustaitis Chicago Literary Renaissance, Encyclopedia of ChicagoA History of Midland Authors, Part 1, by Robert Loerzel on the Society of Midland AuthorsParliament of the World's Religions in 1893, from the Harvard University's Pluralism ProjectBio of Swami Vivekananda who brought Yoga to the United StatesBio of Julius RosenwaldMarshall Field & Company State Street Stores, ChicaogologyBio of Hamlin Garland who helped create The Attic Club, which two years later was renamed The Cliff Dwellers ClubSelfridge'sHistory of the Vienna Beef Co.The history of Chicago National League Ball Parks including the West Side Grounds on ChicagologyGeneral Santa Anna and chicleChicle the natural chewing gumHistory of the Wrigley Company, from the Made In Chicago websiteFrancis Willard House Museum & Archives in Evanston, ILWomen's (Bike) History Month: Francis Willard, by Liz MurphyCycling in Chicago, by Chris McAuliffe as reviewed by Zachary Schuster in Cyclocross Magazine

Chicago has a long history of brewing and distilling; of taverns, pubs, and saloons; of alcohol distribution and consumption so we hope you will soak up this episode on the history of alcohol and its impact on the city. This episode of the Windy City Historians podcast is a historic concoction ranging across Chicago's history to explore the interplay of sociability and society around beer, spirits, and brewing to create, support, and shape the development of this toddling town and vice versa. We hope this will whet your appetite and briefly quench your thirst for history through a unique take on the City of Big Shoulders. In this episode co-hosts Christopher Lynch and Patrick McBriarty talk with Chicago historian Liz Garibay to discuss her research and fascinating stories of American and Chicago history as viewed through the lens of alcohol. Learn the true origin of PBR's Blue Ribbon -- it's NOT from the World's Colombian Exposition of 1893 -- OR about the Lager Beer Riots of 1855 -- as we serve up another interesting brew of Windy City history. Cheers! Beer for Chicago intercepted in Zion, IL during ProhibitionE. Josetti Brewing Co. of Chicago advertisementSchlitz Brewing Company in Milwaukee, WIServing Beer in a Tavern in ChicagoChicago Harbor Mouth ca. 1900 Links to Research and Historic Documents Latest Chicago Beer News -- Historic Seipp Brewing Returns to Chicago a revival of a historic beer from the great-great-great-granddaughter of Conrad Seipp -- look for it at Metropolitan Brewing Co.Bygone Breweries from the Forgotten Chicago website The Oxford Companion to Beer definition of Chicago from the Craft Beer & Brewing website Chicago Breweries from the Chicagology websiteHistory of Lill & Diversy Brewing from the Digital Research Library of Illinois History JournalHistory of the Schoenhofen Brewery from the Forgotten Chicago websiteThe book Al Capone's Beer Wars by John J. BinderChicago's Brewseum's exhibit at the Field Museum and the video on the 1855 Lager Beer Riot videoHistory on Tap -- historian Liz Garibay's website of events, tours, and more...

What do you know about the historical figure of Little Egypt? Be ready to be shocked after listening to this episode, because Donna Carlton shares her extensive research on this topic, and unveils a lot of misinformation circulating on the Internet!Donna Carlton established the International Dance Discovery in 1987, selling dance accoutrement. She began teaching group classes at Lynda Mitchell Yoga Studio in 1989. She published the “Middle Eastern Dance Video Sourcebook” annually from 1989-2005. In 1995, she published her book “Looking for Little Egypt” about the history and perceptions of Middle Eastern Dance in USA.In this interview we discussed such questions and topics:- How did Donna get involved in the research project about Little Egypt?- What was significance of the 1893 Colombian Exposition in Chicago?- Scandalous performances of Little Egypt.- Was Little Egypt a real person?- The origins of Hoochy Kootchy melody.- Does Little Egypt have anything to do with original Middle-Eastern dancers?- The origins of the term “belly dance” in English language.- The influence of Little Egypt on the modern belly dance scene.Show Notes to this episode:Find Donna Carlton on Instagram, FB, her website. Her book Looking for Little Egypt is available at lulu.com. Also check Donna’s Fb page All About Bellydance.Find Iana on Instagram, FB, Youtube, website .My Inner Dancer: myinnerdancer.comPodcast: www.ianadance.com/podcastBellydance Evolution and information about their new program and casting: bellydanceevolution.com

On tonight’s stream of the Red Eye Report, we talk about the World’s Fair a.k.a the biggest dick measuring contest on the planet. With me tonight is Teddy. He was actually a part of the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. Teddy was inside one of those little R2D2 robots until a horse from one of the exhibitions kicks him over the rail and into the river. His life is showbiz hasn’t improved since. Next to Teddy we have Ashtray. He was the DJ at the turn of the millennium party held in Hannover, Germany in 2000. Ashtray played all the big hits: Brittany Spears, Cher, Christina Aguilera. Then he tried slipping in some Limp Bizkit. Let’s just say they went Du Hast on his ass and he was never invited back. We also have Mistic. He was at the expo of ‘74 in Spokane, Washington. The event was supposed to be about “Celebrating Tomorrow’s Fresh Environment.” The global hippies couldn’t have anticipated Mistic’s unique scent of 4 month without a shower ball cheese, regurgitated pubes, and taco bell diarrhea. Attendance for the expo ended up being the lowest recorded in 100 years. Finally there's me, Oracle. My last fair was 1893 in Chicago— you know, the most important one, The World’s Colombian Exposition. There was a lot of cocaine. Oh yeah, and some dipshit invented the zipper….because he was high on cocaine. Ohhhh the good ole days. This is the Red Eye Report. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Welcome to Stamp Show Here Today Episode #197 - Today we are discussing the Colombian Exposition of 1893 including its link to H. H. Holmes, the nations first serial killer. Also the U.S. Supreme Court is going to hear a patent case involving the USPS, and the Colombian Issue of stamps that came out for the Exposition. We also discuss United Kingdom and Canada Christmas issues and upcoming shows, including the Black River Stamp Clubs Ohio show that is going to feature an airmail exhibit. Enjoy.

Chicago Theological Seminary is located just south of the Midway Plaisance in Hyde Park. Many of you probably know that this stretch of green space, stretching more than a mile from Jackson Park and Lake Michigan on the east to Washington Park on the west, was created as part of the World’s Fair, the Colombian Exposition, held in 1893 and attracting some 27 million visitors. One of the most amazing events that was convened as part of the Exposition was the first World’s Parliament of Religions. This was the first formal gathering of Eastern and Western spiritual and religious leaders and we recognize it as the beginning of interfaith dialogue. Hindus, Buddhists, Bahais, Jains, Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Unitarians, and adherents of the Shinto and Zoroastrian traditions gathered for the first time ever in one place. This history continues to amaze me. I can’t imagine the logistics ... in 1893 ... of creating, organizing, and implementing an event so large and so far-reaching. I admit to a lack of imagination here but seriously ... invitations had to cross oceans by boat! No one was arriving on frequent flyer miles and plans couldn’t be confirmed via email accessible on smart phones. I confess, this simply astounds me. Often on my lunch hour, I will walk over to the Midway and contemplate that history and its legacy. I think of the audacity, the courage, and the vision of those who convened the Parliament in particular. The whole idea of it is incredulous and must have been met with skepticism in some circles and ridicule in others. Think about it. This had never happened before. Imagine the concerns about bringing together this mixed bag of religious leaders. Imagine the hand wringing and the naysayers. The “we’ve never done this before” attitudes. The worries that the difference is too much, the world views too disparate. And yet ... Here we are some 125 years later and the Parliament of the World’s Religions has its global offices here in Chicago, we continue to have a rich multiplicity of religious and faith communities, we have more theological schools than any other place in the world except Vatican City, we are the headquarters of the Interfaith Youth Core, and honestly, every time we step on the CTA, it’s an interfaith experience. I suspect that we owe this incredible religious diversity to that audacity, courage, and vision. I’ve been asked to share with you some of my thoughts on doing congregational ministry in the religious diversity of our city and our time. And I think, in order to do that, we have to hold that legacy and history in our minds. I also think I need to share with you a little bit of my own story and how I’ve come to this work. I’m truly an unlikely candidate for leading an interfaith project. I grew up in a household that was entirely non-religious. I can’t say we were atheist. We just weren’t anything. I suppose I could say we were trend-setters. I’m old enough that my public elementary school sent students to “Wednesday school” every week after lunch. At the beginning of the school year, families had to select which church they wanted their child to attend for that weekly program. My Jewish friend, Shoshana, and I were the “Nones” of our day, hanging back to help teachers organize classrooms or work on special art projects while all our other classmates headed off for a mid-week dose of religious instruction. So with today’s headlines proclaiming and sometimes fretting over the rise of the “nones,” I’m here as a reminder that we’ve always had nones in our midst. In any case, my adolescence, college and young adult years are an interfaith journey of their own as my then “Spiritual but not religious” self sought out a community in which to make meaning and wrestle with those “meaning of life” age-old questions that kept me awake at night from my youngest memories. I fell into a UCC church when my children were young and attending a co-op preschool housed in the church. The signs on the wall intrigued me. And the community welcomed and nurtured me, giving me space to question, think, and be authentic. Eventually the pastor invited me to lead the youth program. When I reminded him I didn’t own a Bible and certainly couldn’t believe Jesus was the only way to God, he told me the youth didn’t need pat answers, they needed someone to make space for their questions and accompany them on their journeys. And he gave me my first Bible. I found that though I didn’t have answers, I could make space for questions and journeys. And I did. And as I did, my own questions grew and my own journey deepened and eventually, in a wonderfully surprising way, I was led to the classrooms of CTS for my MDiv and then a second master’s of sacred theology degree. And to ordination in this denomination that has always made space for my questions, accompanied me on my journey, and never offered me pat answers. Throughout my work in youth ministry and my seminary studies, I was drawn and committed to interfaith engagement. Sharing Seders with a Jewish community every Passover, building Habitat for Humanity homes with youth and leaders from the local Muslim community center, spending time at the Lakeshore Interfaith Center where we encountered Eastern traditions, native traditions, healing traditions. I interned with an interfaith community organizing group, building interfaith coalitions to address issues including early childhood education, access to housing, and food security in local communities. I worked with Jewish and Muslim youth groups on a play called Children of Abraham, where we shared our tellings of the stories of Isaac and Ishmael as a way to see our shared roots. After graduation, I first worked at CTS as the Director of Admission, taking special care to recruit and welcome non-Christian students. I helped to facilitate a cohort program of religiously diverse students and gave workshops on college campuses, at IFYC events, at the Parliament of the World’s Religions. I blogged, and posted on social media, and marched with my arms joined with a myriad of friends from all kinds of traditions. Not just the usual suspects but also Jains, Pagans, ecowarriors, queer Muslims, indigenous leaders, and of course, the Nones. I share this litany not so much to highlight what I did but to demonstrate my commitment to this work. How I believed in the power of interfaith work, of dialoguing, of building bridges across lines of difference, of creating coalitions to address injustice. In December of 2016 I was speaking on a panel at CTS. One of my Muslim friends who works at IFYC was also on the panel. We each gave our usual spiel about the importance of interfaith work. And after the panel, when we were munching on hummus (because the mark of interfaith work is always hummus), we found ourselves having an honest conversation. A heartbreaking, challenging, honest conversation. You see, the rhetoric of the 2016 election, the rise of hate crimes against Muslims, the overt religious bigotry evident in proposed legislation and policies, a rabid nationalism couched in a version of Christianity so far from the gospel it makes me wretch ... it was affecting me. And it was affecting my friend. With tears in her eyes, she said, “Honestly, Lisa, what’s the point? We’ve been doing this work, sharing on these panels, we’ve eaten so much hummus together ...” Unable to finish her sentence, I completed it for her, “...and it feels like we’re moving backward. It feels like we haven’t made a difference.” We didn’t say much after that. We hugged goodbye shortly afterward, a wistful look in her eye as she walked out the door. Don’t get me wrong here. It’s not that the things my IFYC friend and I were doing for those many years were wrong. Not at all. I think we need to keep doing all that and do more of it. It’s just that, alone, those efforts are not enough, they haven’t been effective in creating the kind of solidarity that insists on religious pluralism and refuses bigotry, hate speech, and violence. The tiki torches in Charlottesville show me that we haven’t been effective. The targeted surveillance of mosques tells me we haven’t been effective. My Iranian-born, green-card holding friend Sarvin coming home from a visit to Australia, detained for four days in the first Muslim travel ban tells me we haven’t been effective. The question becomes, how do we create and discover new and deepened ways of truly being in community in solidarity? How do we as Christians create partnerships and alliances that help to change public opinion and policy, moving us to a lived ethic of religious pluralism? Where there is truly space for a multiplicity of religious and non- religious identities? As I consider these questions, I think what’s required is something with the kind of audacity, courage, and vision that the creators of that first Parliament had. I think we need to be bold, to push beyond existing models and frameworks, to not only stay in tried and true models and methods. In fact, if I can be so bold, I think, for us as Christians, we need to bring more of the Gospel to our interfaith work. And by this I don’t mean we need to proselytize or seek to convert anyone. Truly, I don’t think that’s the intention of the Gospel. I believe the power of the Gospel lies in the ability to go beyond what seems possible, to imagine and live in ways that truly counter reality. And I think perhaps that’s where the audacious vision might arise. I’d like to tell you I have this all figured out but, once again, pat answers aren’t at hand, instead I’m inviting you to question, explore, and to journey with me. And I do have some thoughts about at least part of what we might envision. First, I think we need to intentionally move from coalitions to community. Pulling from a gospel framework, I don’t think Jesus gathered people simply to address issues or inequities of his time. I think he gathered people, people who were radically different, who shouldn’t have been at the table together, who didn’t belong ... he gathered for the sake of being community, of being whole, of being healed. He demonstrated that if even one is left out, one sheep, one coin, we are not complete. I think a gospel-ized interfaith movement cannot be content with coalition building. Second, I think we have work to do to move us from tolerance to beloved. Too often our interfaith efforts end with religious communities moving from animosity to tolerance. From saying, “I don’t want a mosque in my backyard” to saying, “Fine; I’m okay with a mosque being here,” and again... this is good ... but not enough and certainly not what I think our faith calls us to. What would it take for us to insist that our Muslim, our humanist, our Jewish neighbors belong, not as tolerated groups, but as beloved, affirmed, welcomed, members of our society? Not that we’re simply okay with their presence but that we are incomplete without each other. Where a Muslim citizen could of course run for and be elected to president of this nation. What does that even look like? I’m not sure I know yet. Third, we have to see our religious identities as part of our overall complicated, messy, intersectional identities. Race matters in this work. Gender matters. Sexuality matters. Class matters. First language matters. National identity matters. Age matters. Ability matters. We can’t imagine that when we engage in interfaith work, we leave those other identities on the doorstep. And we shouldn’t imagine that our religious identities are as clear and delineated as we might like to think. I doubt there is one definition of Christian that would fit everyone in this room. And yet, too often in our interfaith work, we as Christians assume Muslims, or Jews, or even the Nones are definable groups, all on the same page. I think we need an audacious vision that says we can make space for all our authentic, messy, complicated identities. I think we need courage because bringing all that into the room means there will be conflict but perhaps authenticity is more important than a false sense of peace that requires us to silence or stifle parts of ourselves. And last, I think for us in this moment, we need to have courage. Faced with trends that show declines in church attendance, the rise of the nones, and aging congregations, it’s easy to turn inward and to pour our energy into maintaining what feels comfortable and familiar. But nothing about the Gospel is comfortable or familiar. And we risk isolating ourselves into oblivion. With audacious courage, let’s engage with the nones, with the spiritual but not religious, with those of a multitude of faiths, building community, being beloved, opening ourselves authentically to receive one another ... not in hopes that they will join our traditions or fill our pews and not to simply build bridges across our differences but truly to become beloved community to one another. We are here in Chicago, the birthplace of interfaith work, standing on a legacy of audacity, courage, and vision, living in a community steeped in diversity, where we don’t have to go far to encounter the other. And we are here in Chicago as people of faith, a faith that reminds us God is already doing a new thing, and that urges us to have the kind of audacity in being assured of things we have not yet seen. Theologian Marjorie Suchocki writes, “In our newly small earth, where we are forced to know one another or die, could we be experiencing a new direction from God toward human community through the affirmation of many who remain many and yet are as one? If that were the case, and if we responded, we might know something of the kingdom of God on earth.” This my friends, is where I believe our ministry is called. I believe God is already doing a new thing, and I have conviction that though we have not yet seen it, living as beloved, as members of God’s kin-dom on earth, is indeed possible. May our audacity, courage, and vision take us there. Amen.

Gold forms in the heart of dying stars and as a result of their explosions, or novas, it is spread throughout the cosmos as one of the heavier elements. All the gold on earth no doubt came from such an explosion, just as all of the matter for all of the planets and the sun did, too. Maine does, in fact, have some gold in its ground, the first being struck in 1854 in Madrid and later, gold and silver were found in Acton, too. Gold can be found in deposits in the earth, but also dissolved in the waters of Earth's oceans. Since 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water, it might make sense that all one needs to do is find a cheap way to extract that gold from the water to make a fortune.  Maine is ideally situated for mining gold from water, if that was indeed possible, with its 3, 478 miles of coastline. But there is no method or invention to do the hard work of filtering out the gold. However, such a device was invented in 1897 and put into use in the small Maine town of Lubec. Why it worked and then, all of a sudden, didn't work, is part of the strange history of New England. Lubec, Maine is the northeastern-most town in the United States. It is closer to Africa than any other location in the country.  With a population of 1,359 (2010 census), this community is situated on the very edge of things, snug next to Canada and only separated from it by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge, which spans the Lubec Narrows and leads to Campbello Island. Change comes creeping slowly to this Washington County hamlet, but sometimes, something comes along that summons a whirlwind of alternation in circumstances and acts to bring such small places notoriety and fame. Lubec had its moment in 1897 and became host to Maine's one and only Saltwater Gold Rush. To set the stage, one must remember that in 1897, science was beginning to take the main guiding role in the state of American life.  In May of 1893, the World's Fair, known as the Colombian Exposition, opened in Chicago. Thomas Edison had just invented the first motion pictures and in 1895, the White House Christmas Tree was decorated with Edison's own light bulbs. The world had telephones and electric fans, Kodak cameras and zippers. Even people in far flung places like Lubec knew of such inventions because of the ubiquitous newspapers that gave such places a daily connection with the world at large. Great faith was put in industry and the power that steam, oil and now electricity promised would means that even one such industry for a small town might mean prosperity for all. Lubec was a fishing and lumbering village and people there lived a hard existence.  It was into that setting in October of 1897 that a pair of men from Edgartown, Massachusetts arrived and set a plan into motion that would net them, in today's money, over a million dollars and bring about financial disaster for investors throughout New England. It was a boom followed by the usual bust, but with a bit of wonder, too. Prescott Ford Jernegan, a Baptist minister, and his good friend Charles Fisher, rolled quietly into town one day and took up shop at an old grist mill at Mill Creek in North Lubec. The two had a business plan that, like most, required investors to open their pocketbooks and take a chance on what they assured people was a sure thing. We still have the prospectus for their enterprise, which they dubbed the Electrolytic Marine Salts Company, or EMS. Their claim was something that many people knew to be true - gold was in the water that flowed through Lubec Narrows. However, unlike anyone before them, they claimed to have hit upon a device that could use electricity and chemistry to  grab the microscopic pieces of gold and accumulate it, and best of all, it could happen overnight, while the good people of Lubec  and all of the investors slept. Everyone would go to sleep and then wake up in the morning much, much richer. Why Lubec? Why not Boston or New York? Jernegan answered investors with the fact that Lubec is on Passamaquoddy Bay which experiences some of the highest tides on the planet and as a result, more seawater rushes in and out of the narrows than out of any other harbor in the Northeast.  When asked how a minister and not an inventor had come across the idea involved in the accumulator device, Jernegan claimed divine inspiration.  God wanted him to build this device and share the wealth and sent him the entire idea in a 'vision.' Today, that alone might stop serious inventors from opening their checkbooks, but in 1897, not everyone was so suspicious of claims of divine visions. Such a connection might even serve to make it more of a sure bet for the investor. It didn't hurt their enterprise to be surrounded by folk who had only a rudientary knowledge of electricity and and chemistry. There were fewer people to discover their duplicity. The machine that he 'invented' to siphon gold from seawater is quite simple in its design. Imagine a large cast iron tub with two platinum rods inserted into a proprietary mixture of chemicals at the bottom. A battery supposedly ran the accumulator, along with the addition of some mercury. Other than that, all that was needed to collect the gold from the seawater was seawater itself. Twenty-four hours after lowering the accumulator into the water, it would be raised and little nuggets of gold would be found in the mixture - nuggets, not a film or specs of gold, but nuggets. That should have been the first clue that these two men were not what they purported to be and that this was a dubious device, indeed. Imagine you are an investor. You have made the journey to Lubec, Maine, a rather long distance journey into the wilder regions, just to see if some crackpot invention really works. You are suspicious at first that such a thing is possible. But then you watch as the accumulators are lowered into the channel and at the same time the next day, you watch as they are pulled up and cracked open. There in front you is the proof that it is a sound investment - gold, in all of its glory.  One after another, people with a bit of money to invest, or a lot of money, couldn't give the pair of inventors money fast enough. It was simply too good to be true. Everyone wanted in on it. Hundreds of local people were involved in the new industry - mining gold from seawater. Not that they were easily swayed. There is nothing like a downeast yankee for doubt and discovery, but they had the proof in front of their eyes and if that wasn't enough, the newspapers they all read had articles claiming success in the venture. On January 5, 1898, a year after the EMS Company started business in Lubec, the Portland Transcript ran a story that resonated with the locals and investors. "It is reported that gold and silver were taken from the sea water at North Lubec at the rate of $2 worth per hour, a few days ago, and that the company intends putting in two hundred machines of that capacity." That many accumulators cost money - platinum wasn't cheap. Also, there were operating costs and investors had to be paid. As time passed, more and more money was needed to make the venture work. Over two hundred and fifty boxes at a time were being processed in the waters off Lubec. With the rumor that a new plant with five thousand boxes would soon be added to the company's assets, stocks skyrocketed. In fact, an actual 900,000 shares of the stock were sold by that July. Over 800 men were working for the EMS company. It looked like the little town of Lubec was going to be put on the map as the first place on Earth were gold was successfully and profitably 'mined' from the sea. Chemistry, electricity, and invention were the new paradigm. They had replaced logging, fishing and farming with an exciting new industry. But all good things must come to an end. When Fisher left for a business trip in late July of the next year, no one took much notice, but his absence was soon followed by Jernegan and his entire family. There was neither hide nor hair of the pair of inventors who had promised to make everyone investing in their plans rich beyond the dreams of Midas.  The good people of the EMS company found that the accumulators no longer worked now that their inventors had absconded. The locals who worked for the company were paid their final paycheck but the investors were left holding the bag for all of their hopeful monetary dreams. It was, it seems, too good to be true, after all. So what happened? Why didn't the accumulators work anymore? Probably because they never actually worked in the first place. In later years, the pair of inventors who had successfully evaded justice by never coming back to America from their exile in places like Australia and the islands of the Pacific,  had found themselves feeling somewhat guilty and returned some  of the money, between $75,000 and $85,000, to some of their investors. How did they do it? Fisher was an adept diver, able to don a helmeted, weighted diver's suit and make his way into the water under the cover of darkness to add small nuggets and chunks of gold to the accumulators. Every night, he added the same pieces of gold into the pots that were pulled out the next day. The problem they had was finding enough gold to put into the new additional accumulators. Like so many schemers, they let their initial success drive them forward too quickly to keep up with the demand. When they were beyond the failsafe point, they left. Their criminal act, for which they were never prosecuted, was the ruin of many investors up and down the East Coast.  Fisher may or may not have died in Australia and Jernegan became a teacher in the far-flung Philippines, safe from prosecution. We know truly know what happened to either of them. But in every dark cloud there is a silver lining. The EMS plant, now standing empty, proved to be the ideal place to implement another, new, far more lucrative industry, one that kept the families of Lubec safe from wolves at the door. It was converted for use as a sardine factory, an extremely lucrative venture for the town for a very long time to come.  Gold from seawater? Well, not quite, but the dark schemes of two con artists set up the town of Lubec for another industry that became one of the town's hallmarks. By the way, if you can figure out a way to extract gold from the oceans, there's a lot of it. Current estimates tell us that there are at least 20 million tons of it there, just floating around, not to mention gold beneath the ocean floor. However, be aware that the ocean is so dilute that the concentration of gold in it is measured in parts per trillion, or, more precisely, for every liter of seawater, there is about 13 billionths if a gram of the yellow stuff.  Still, that's enough gold to give every man, woman and child on earth nine pounds of it. Now, wouldn't that be nice? By the way, if you're ever in Lubec, stop by the Historical Society's museum. They have a replica of the ill-famed accumulator set up for your inspection. Too bad it doesn't really work. SOURCES http://lubec.mainememory.net/page/960/display.html Is There Gold in the Ocean http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/gold.html Parker, Gail, It Happened in Maine: Remarkable Events That Shaped History, 2013, Globe Pequot Press, Lubec Historical Society http://www.lubechistoricalsociety.com/ "Is There Gold in the Ocean?" http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/gold.html

With no actual guests this week, SK was forced to rely heavily on his tried-and-true practice of lulling listeners into a catatonic state by reading emails, plugging his Lousy Walking Tour, disparaging Daryl Hannah and, finally - desperately - doing voices. Unfortunately, this segment would prove to be the meat and potatoes portion of the podcast and they will be hard to keep down. SK might have resorted to pies in the face were it not for the help of Shantwon, Squidge and SK's own brain, KS Notrom, when discussing the latest installment of Animal Obituaries. The majestic humpback whales and their navigation challenges are discussed as well as the elusive chickens of Golden Gate Park. They might not be so cocky with the grand opening of San Francisco's first SKFC. After, what looks to be the last straw for the Bridal Fitness Coach commercials starring Chewbrokaw, we spend quite a bit of time learning nothing about San Francisco's 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition Extravaganza. When the PPIE's connection to the 1894 Mid-winter's fair or the 1893 Colombian Exposition come up SK is distracted by shiny Mercury capsules; When he tries to explain the expo's scale model of the Panama Canal he is derailed by an escalator; His tidbits about the 1st inter-continental telephone call and Ukelele performance get roasted by bits of pineapple on pizza; His stories of aeronautical pioneers, Lincoln Beachey and the Lockheed brothers crash and burn; and the origins of the fortune cookie and Disneyland's best known attractions simply refuse to shine. We offer for your consideration one Lousy Podcast. The place is the bomb shelter; the time is a couple of weeks ago; the subject is the 1915 PPIE. And that's where SK hoped it would get scintillating. Instead it was just fair.