In the 18th century and the early days of the 19th, the seagoing war ships had a problem of what appeared to be a perfectly fine cannon that would with a normal load blow up, destroying the gun and a few bystanders who loaded it correctly. The problem was caused by some water getting into the metal …
Monthly Archives: January 2020
For Those Who Won’t Live Forever
Quite a few of us will live forever because of the makeup of our genes which include a small touch of West Canadian husky. But this is intended for the less fortunate whose days are numbered and in the process of running out. When I was still in grade school, Bob Patterson, a classmate, secured …
Don’t Get Your Knickers In A Twist
Which is what the Brits used to say when advancing an idea contrary to the popular ideas at the time. But women can and often are better shots than men. A gentleman of one of the Carolinas first tipped me off to this when he told me he had a muzzleloading rifle that was so …
Ignorance, Knowledge and Wisdom
The first time I addressed a class at Washington University, a student asked me a question and, telling the truth, I said I didn’t know. The next class, half the students were gone and they never came back. “Why should they listen to some jerk who didn’t know everything?” That, of course was a stupid …
My Purpose
I was doing some some research on my late brother who was a Vice Admiral and who went by the same name as I, and stumbled across a lot of posts on The American Long Rifle Forum regarding my efforts. They were not uncomplimentary but a tad short sighted. They all objected that I was …