THE NIPPONESE NUMISMATIC NUANCE

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. government was quite concerned about the possibility of a Japanese invasion and occupation of the Hawai'ian Islands. Included among the problems created with such a venture would be the mischief the Japanese could inflict by capturing all of the American currency present on the Islands and using it to buy raw materials or to conduct other transactions with neutral countries. Consequently, on January 10, 1942, the military governor of Hawai'i started recalling US paper money and directed that individuals could not possess more than $200 in bills at one time with businesses allowed to hold up to $500.

On June 25, 1942, replacement bills in the denominations of $1, $5, $10, and $20 were issued by the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco for use in Hawai'i. All of these bills carried a brown seal instead of the usual blue seal found on the $1 silver certificates and the green seal found on the $5, $10, and $20 federal reserve notes. In addition, both sides of each bill were imprinted with "HAWAII." Had there been an invasion, the government would have immediately declared any money so marked invalid and thus useless to the Japanese.

Residents of Hawai'i were ordered on July 15, 1942 to turn in all of their old currency for replacement "HAWAII" bills, and no other paper money could be used on the Islands after August 15, 1942. Rather than ship the recalled currency to the mainland, the government burned the bills in Hawai'i in a crematorium and at a sugar mill.

By October 21, 1944, the government was confident that Hawai'i was no longer at risk of invasion and stopped issuing the special currency. By April of 1946, the HAWAII bills were being recalled and replaced with ordinary money. Many residents (and servicemen stationed on the Islands) kept some of the bills as souvenirs. They are prized by collectors today and command a nice but not particularly exorbitant premium.

NECROPSY OF A TYRANT

 

1941--Drs. Volkov (l) and Federov (r)

If you were to ask certain people about what happened to Adolf Hitler, you might be bombarded with bizarre theories involving trips to Argentina, brain transplants, or, my personal favorite, an article in the National Enquirer revealing that he had been discovered alive in Antarctica in 1999 in suspended animation on a rowboat. However, most historians concur that he committed suicide with his bride Eva Braun in his Berlin bunker on April 30, 1945. Per Hitler’s prior instructions, the SS attempted to burn the corpses beyond recognition but only partially succeeded.

 

Berlin fell to the Russians on May 2, 1945. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was obsessed with the fate of Hitler, and he dispatched several forensic teams to confirm whether or not the German dictator was really dead. At the head of the investigation were two of the Soviet Union’s top pathologists—67-year-old Dr. Petyr Volkov and 45-year-old Dr. Iosif Federov. Federov was a protege of Volkov and had studied under him at Lomonosov Moscow State University. The two men were good friends, had often worked together, and were fierce rivals on the chessboard. Volkov was actually a Grandmaster at the game, but Federov was almost as good.

 

Their task in Berlin was complicated by the fact that battlefields are messy and that many of Hitler’s myrmidons as well as ordinary troops and citizens had died violently in the vicinity of the bunker as a result of bombings, shellings, suicide, vigilante action, enemy small-arms fire, and the like. There were a lot of burned corpses and fragmented bodies for the forensic teams to parse.

 

Volkov and Federov were grimly aware that should they report that Hitler had shuffled off this mortal coil, Stalin would be incensed because his archenemy would then be beyond Stalin’s ability to inflict retribution. Stalin would thereafter be likely to turn his wrath towards those who had provided him with the bad news. On the other hand, the doctors also realized that lying to Stalin could provoke an even more extreme and creative reaction on his part should the ruse be discovered. Therefore, even though the pathologists early on had a pretty good idea on which charred cadaver was Hitler’s, they bought some time by intentionally saving him for last and instead first evaluated all of the generous supply of other bodies and body parts. Due to the volume of raw material and the fact that the NKVD (the predecessor agency to the KGB) was breathing down the doctors’ necks, they worked 20-hour days to the point of exhaustion.

 

Finally, the day they dreaded had arrived. Hitler’s remains were the only ones left. Volkov made the usual Y-shaped incision and started to reveal the contents of the German dictator’s body cavity. Federov then stopped Volkov with a restraining hand, placed a chess board on the end of the autopsy table, pulled up a couple of high stools, uncorked a bottle of vodka, and suggested to his friend that they play one final game before completing what could well be their last autopsy. After a few moves on the board, both men succumbed to the alcohol and fatigue and nodded off to sleep with their heads on the corpse.

 

One of the NKVD agents, concerned that no one had heard from the doctors for a couple of hours, entered the autopsy room and then reported back to his comrades. They asked him what he saw, and he responded,

 

  

 

 

 

“Chess nuts resting on an open Führer.”

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PRIVY COUNSEL

Why does an outhouse usually have a a crescent moon cut into it? No doubt this question has perplexed great minds everywhere.

The most often touted theory is that the crescent moon arose in American colonial times when many folks were not literate and could not read "MEN" or "WOMEN." The outhouse for males would instead be designated by a sun or star and the one for females by a moon (in tribute to the goddess Luna, who was, of course, female). 

If so, then why are there so many more outhouses with moons than stars or suns? Purportedly, because males were uncouth pigs who did not properly take care of their facilities, which would then decay and collapse, while the women kept their buildings clean and maintained in prime condition.

Skeptics, on the other hand, believe that the lunar symbol was mainly a device used by cartoonists in the 1930s and was incorporated into huge numbers of outhouses built by the WPA (Works Progress Administration). They further believe that the lunar outlines on outhouses currently in use are largely a result of a self-fulfilling prophesy, where the builders mimic what the cartoonists have put in their outhouse drawings for decades. In addition, lunar patterns are relatively easy to cut. The skeptics may also question the very premise of the ubiquitousness of the crescent moon as a design by pointing out that many outhouses in the field have other devices cut into them such as hearts, simple geometric patterns, or, yes, even stars. Sometimes, they even have normal windows.

Why cut a design into the outhouse at all? You could argue that trying to beautify a feces shack is like putting lipstick on a sow. The design actually does serve more than one function. First of all, it provides highly-desirable ventilation. Second, it lets daylight in to illuminate activities which are best not undertaken in total darkness--be it reading the Sears catalog or doing something else. And, finally, on your basic no-frills outhouse without a doorknob, a pattern cut into the door provides the user with something to grasp in order to close and open the door.

And, on a side note, there are in fact legitimate two-story outhouses, as represented by the lower photo. Despite appearances and gag post cards to the contrary, the occupant on the bottom is actually not at risk, as the products from the second-story user are channeled by a chute into an appropriate location.

View image | gettyimages.com

By Appraiser (self-made Photo by William
 Wesen) [GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)
  via Wikimedia Commons

STRAY VOLTAGE

In 2006, a 14-year old girl, Deanna Green, touched a metal fence in Baltimore while she was playing in a church softball game. She was instantly killed by 280 volts of electricity that leaked from a damaged underground cable. 

Deanna was cut down by the phenomena of stray voltage. When electrical cable remains in the ground for a long time, the insulation deteriorates and the current can leak to a nearby metal source such as a lamppost, manhole cover, or fence. It could also electrify a nearby water pipe which ultimately leads to an exposed fire hydrant. Even the sidewalk itself can be electrified. Sometimes, the connection is more direct, when sloppy work crews installing a sign or lamppost may actually plant it right in the middle of underground wires.

If a person is standing in a puddle or is otherwise grounded and touches such an electrified item, the current will pass through his body. Pets are even more susceptible to this danger, as they wander around with bare feet which are in direct contact with the ground. Dogs urinating on an electrified fire hydrant are especially at risk.

A crew from NBC Today show recently rode along one night in Washington, D.C. with Power Survey Company, a firm hired by power companies or cities to search for stray voltage.  In that one night alone, Power Survey located over forty objects such as street signs, light poles, and manhole covers which were electrified by stray voltage.  If you view the video report of the story, you will witness Power Service using these fixtures to illuminate a light bulb and to generate huge electrical sparks.

Unfortunately, Deanna Green is not an isolated case, nor will she be the last one. Less than two percent of municipalities routinely check for stray voltage. The only reason why there are not thousands of fatalities each year is that under normal dry conditions, the soles of a person's shoes will usually, but not always, keep him from being grounded.

Therefore, when you perambulate around the city, avoid touching metal objects--even those which are not normally wired, such as signs. Obviously, if you do touch such an object and receive a shock, no matter how slight, you should report it immediately.

THE GOMER PYLE HANDGUN TEST

REVOLVER

SEMI-AUTOMATIC

In the 1960s, many law enforcement agencies started trading in their revolvers for semi-automatic pistols. This change was primarily because the pistols were faster to load than the revolvers and could carry more rounds than revolvers before reloading was necessary--even though a semi-automatic pistol was often perceived as less accurate, less reliable, and more complex than a high-quality revolver.

However, some police departments favored the semi-automatic pistols specifically because they were more complicated to use. Those in charge in these departments wanted to make it more difficult for an untrained assailant who wrested away a police officer's weapon to be able to deploy it quickly against the officer. Purportedly, one police agency devised what it called a "Gomer Pyle" test where civilians unfamiliar with weapons were asked to seize an officer's handgun (unloaded) and pretend to use it against him. When the test subjects had a revolver, they instinctively were able to "shoot" the cop within an average of 2.1 seconds after the seizure. In the case of an M1911* semi-automatic pistol, however, the average time rose to 16 seconds before the citizen could figure out how to "fire" the sidearm.

The assassination attempt by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme using an M1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol against President Gerald Ford in 1975 illustrates the principle in question. Fromme, not being experienced with the operation of the semi-auto, tried to shoot Ford but was unable to fire the gun because she failed to rack the slide to cycle a round into the chamber. Had she instead used a double-action revolver (the type of handgun which used to be the mainstay of law enforcement), her pulling of the trigger would have been enough to kill the President.  

Improvements in design, materials, and manufacturing techniques have now made most major brands and models of semi-automatic pistols as accurate and reliable as a revolver while retaining the semi-automatic's advantage of holding more cartridges and being quicker and easier to reload. Semi-autos are currently the standard issue for almost all law enforcement and military agencies.

Oh, and Squeaky Fromme's pistol? It is on display in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.      

Photo courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum

*The M1911 and closely related M1911A1 pistols were the primary sidearms for American armed forces for over seven decades during the 20th Century. Numerous varieties of them are still being made by a host of manufacturers today for the police and civilian markets.

THE UNWELCOME IMPERIAL

Photo courtesy of Leslie Hellrung

Aficionados of county fairs are familiar with the demolition derby, where contestants crash into each other with automobiles until only one car still running (called "the winner") is left. Because the sport is dangerous, the event usually takes place on a muddy field or arena in order to reduce speed, and participants can be disqualified if they hit the driver's door of their opponents. The specific rules for the event vary from venue to venue.

The traditional equipment for this endeavor was a 1960s or 1970s full-sized American sedan or station wagon which could withstand more abuse than its smaller, less beefy brethren. Due to the limited availability of such behemoths in modern times, many derbies now are devoted to the more plentiful and newer smaller vehicles.

One contestant, however, has been traditionally banned from almost all variations of the demolition derby. We are talking, of course, about the Chrysler Imperial--especially the 1964-1966 version. Its size, ruggedness, and crashworthiness were deemed to make it an unfair competitor. Chrysler executives were probably not all that displeased about their product being disqualified because it was "too tough."

By Crwpitman (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

STILL PAYING FOR THE CIVIL WAR

Photo courtesy of National Archives

Like millions of other Americans, Irene Triplett of North Carolina receives a monthly government payment as a matter of law. However, unlike Social Security and other entitlement programs which were enacted by Democrats, Ms. Triplett's source of funds was championed by a Republican--Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln advocated in his Second Inaugural Address that all Americans should care for Civil War veterans and their survivors. "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Yes, that is correct. Irene Triplett is getting approximately $75 a month from the Department of Veterans Affairs through a Civil War pension. The enabling legislation provided funds not only for Civil War veterans but also their surviving spouses and children. Ms. Triplett legally qualifies as a surviving child of Civil War veteran Moses (or, depending on the source of information, Mose) Triplett, who was born in 1846. Moses started out fighting for the Confederacy, but he deserted prior to the Battle of Gettysburg and thereafter enlisted with the Union Army. 

Moses survived the war and, in due course, married. His first wife died in the 1920s. Moses remarried in 1924 to a woman 50 years younger than him and sired Irene, who was born in 1930. Moses Triplett died in 1938.

For more information on the Tripletts and how they have contributed to the massive national debt of the USA, click here.