FurryBall

FurryBall is 3D computer graphics software and Plug-in_(computing) for real-time GPU production quality unbiased. It is also biased final frame render used for many short and full length animated movies. FurryBall was used for rendering the feature animated movie Goat story with Cheese - it was probably the first world feature animated movie rendered completely only on GPU in 2012.
Overview.
FurryBall RT offers advanced rendering techniques, implemented directly into Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max and Cinema 4D with multi-GPU support. FurryBall was developed for in-house Art And Animation studio purposes since 2009.
FurryBall was used for rendering a whole feature movie, Goat Story 2 in 2008. It's probably the first world rendered CGI feature movie for cinemas rendered only on GPUs.
In 2015, the latest version of FurryBall RT was released with a completely rewritten core.
Features.
FurryBall Render (commercial version) comes with free export scripts for the following software:
PLUGINS


Underwater Construction Teams

Underwater Construction Teams (UCT) are the Navy Seabee's underwater construction units numbered 1 and 2 that were created in 1974. A team is composed of divers qualified in both underwater construction and underwater demolition. Possible tasks can be: battle damage repairs, structural inspections and accessments, demolition of waterline facilities or submerged obstructions, installation of submerged surveillance systems, or harbor and channel clearance. As needed, teams may test and or evaluate new or existing aquatic systems or equipment. Extending construction, whether vertical or horizontal, beyond the shoreline and waterline is their specialty. Reflecting Seabee tradition, teams are expected to execute underwater construction anywhere, anytime, under any conditions.
History.
Almost as soon as Naval Construction Battalions were created submerged construction tasks were being brought to the Seabees. In 1942 a second class divers school was created at Camp Peary and Seabees have fielded divers ever since. WWII battalions typically had a complement of 4 qualified divers. In the field, CBs would tap other battalions for additional divers to get the job done as needed. It was common for battalions to not have organic diving gear. Divers were taught in diving school how to fabricate a breathing apparatus from Navy MK-III gas masks for surface support. Most of the work was in less than 60' of water, but the WWII cruisebooks indicate men pushed the limits of what they could do with what they had. Divers in the 301st CB placed as much as 50 tons of explosives a day to keep their dredges productive. However, the divers of CB 96 used 1,727,250 lbs of dynamite to blast 423,300 cubic yards of coral for the ship repair facility on Manicani Island, as an element of the Naval Operating Base Leyte-Samar. Their primary diving gear was modified Navy Mk III and Navy Mk IV gas masks.
At Chu Lai in 1967 MCB 71 had an Under Water Construction Team search the Tra Bong River for a missing Squad of Marines that the Marines wanted back no matter what. Their efforts made publication in Stars and Stripes.
Diving Commands.
UCT divers are attached to five principal commands outside the NCF:
The UCTs have a Shore Duty component and a Sea Duty component. Sea Duty personnel are divided into three Air Detachments that deploy worldwide in support of both peacetime or combat missions as needed. The Shore Duty component contains all of the staff and support functions such as Administration, Supply, Logistics, Table of Allowance Maintenance, and Training.
Underwater Construction Technicians.
UCT training is 26 weeks at Dive school in Panama City, Florida. There is a tactical training phase for advanced expeditionary combat skills and demolitions.
After Basic Underwater Construction Technician training a diver is qualified as a (2nd Class Diver). UCTs are members of the Naval Special Operations (NSO) community, however tactical operations are almost never a Seabee task.
With their skills sets UCTs can deploy to support a Naval Special Warfare Command, either with SEAL teams, Special Boat Teams, Navy EOD Teams, or other dive elements. They also can apply for selection to support Naval Special Warfare Development Group.
Diver Qualification Insignia.
Diver : is a qualification that the various rates can obtain with three grades: Basic Underwater Construction Technician/ NEC 5932 (2nd Class Diver), Advanced Underwater Construction Technician/ NEC 5931 (1st Class Diver), and Master Underwater Construction Technician/ NEC 5933 (Master diver).


Susan Dart Butler

Susan Dart Butler (1888 – June 24, 1959) was an American librarian and milliner.
Early life and education.
Susan Dart was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1888 as the oldest child of Reverend John Lewis Dart (1854-1915) and Julia Pierre. She was named after her grandmother, Susan Fenwick, who prior to the Civil War was able to purchase her husband as a free person of color. Reverend Dart, a Baptist, was born free and attended Newton Theological Seminary. Butler attended a private school in 1895, but due to overcrowding, her father established the Charleston Normal and Industrial Institute known locally as Dart Hall, which was located on their property able to serve 150 African American schoolchildren.
Butler attended Atlanta University and later lived in Boston to attend the McDowell Millinery School from 1908 to 1912. In 1912, she married to Nathaniel Lowe Butler, a building contractor and real estate agent, and the couple relocated to Charleston where she was a milliner until 1918. In 1918, she gave birth to her only child, Nathaniel Lowe Butler, Jr. She co-founded the Charleston Federation of Women's Clubs, helping improve community life for South Carolina youth.
Career.
In 1917, Butler became the treasurer and highest-ranking member of the Charleston branch in the NAAP. One of the campaigns of the newly established branch was for Black teachers to teach Black youth in the schools and in 1920, the school district began to employ African American teachers. In 1918, she ended her millinery business and returned to Reverend Dart's school to reestablish the kindergarten program after his death.
As a member of the Charleston Interracial Committee, Butler and other prominent women within the community, including her mother Julia and Clelia McGowan the city's first alderwoman, turned their attention to convincing residents of Charleston of the need for a library. McGowan began to distribute traveling libraries throughout South Carolina. Butler happened to see a young student request a poetry book that her school didn't have from Dart Hall and recognized chaired a subcommittee to survey the quality and condition of books found in local black schools, churches and civic organizations. The survey found that many books were in poor condition.
In 1927, Butler opened a reading room three days a week for African Americans at Dart Hall. The room was previously used for printing the newspaper Southern Reporter from 1905-1913 and the damage to the floor prompted Butler to replace the floorboards. She used books from her father's collection, operating the room at her expense. The Charleston Free Library was founded in 1929 with financing from the Rosenwald Fund and the Carnegie Fund. The library received much of the funding because of Dart Hall because the funds were looking to finance libraries for Black patrons. The library consisted of two branches, one for White patrons and the other, Dart Hall, for Black patrons. White patrons were able to use the temporary location until the library was completed but Black patrons needed to wait until July 1931 when Charleston Free Library adopted Dart Hall as a branch. The Dart family rented it to Charleston County for $1 a year until 1952 when the County purchased it as a branch.
The branch was staffed by three African American librarians and 3,600 books were in circulation. Helen Virginia Stelle oversaw the creation of the new library. While the majority of white librarians employed weren't trained as librarians, Stelle was particularly critical of Dart Hall librarians in her review wrote that Dart Hall was in terrible condition and the head librarian, Julia Macbeth, was incompetent. Stelle though Butler would be competent as a librarian but technical work would be too complicated. Stelle proposed Butler attend Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia with pay for training in library science to complement her previously informal training at Dart Hall Library and traveling throughout the South to see how various libraries were organized. Butler became head librarian in 1932 upon her return. Stelle also recommended that circulating children's books be very simple since elementary county students were perceived as having limited reading skills and often rejected requests for challenging adult material as well. Butler actively contested these ideas telling children to "pick something harder" and receiving financial assistance from outside sources to purchased more intellectual materials and the acquisition of secondhand books. Butler also worked with the librarians to create programs for children and adults to encourage reading and use of the library which resulted in an increase of patronage.
In May 1957, Susan Dart Butler retired from the library. She died June 24, 1959.


Superburial

A superburial is similar to a mass grave, but is a term typically used by archaeologists to denote an area of dense burial activity without the negative connotations often associated with mass graves. A superburial may also span a much longer time period than is typical for a mass grave, such as a cemetery in constant use for centuries.


Nicholas Kratzer

Nicholas Kratzer (1487? – 1550), also known as Nicolaus Kratzer and Nicholas Crutcher, was a German mathematician, astronomer, and horologist. Much of Kratzer's professional life was spent in England, where he was appointed as astronomer to King Henry VIII.
Life.
Born in Munich in 1486 or 1487, Kratzer was the son of a saw-smith, and was educated at the Universities of Cologne (B.A. 1509) and Wittenberg. He came to England in 1516 and established himself as part of the artistic and scientific circle around Sir Thomas More. Kratzer tutored More's children in mathematics and astronomy and More introduced him at court in much the same way as he had their mutual friend Hans Holbein, who produced a portrait of Kratzer. In the same manner as Holbein, Kratzer's talents obtained him a court position as astronomer and clock maker to the king.
Kratzer also collaborated with Holbein on producing maps, and in return the artist produced a portrait of Kratzer in 1528 that now hangs in the Louvre; it depicts the craftsman surrounded by the tools of his trade, and with an unfinished polyhedral sundial. His close relationship with Holbein and More also may be observed in his annotations of Holbein's draft for his portrait of the More family. Kratzer identifies the various family members and their ages for the benefit of More's friend, the theologian Erasmus.
Kratzer (under the name Nich. Cratcherus) is recorded as a reader of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he is presumed to have taught mathematics. He designed at least two fixed sundials in Oxford, neither of which now exist. One was in St Mary's churchyard, the other in the garden of Corpus Christi. He also designed a portable dial for Cardinal Wolsey, which is now in the Oxford Museum of the History of Science. Another dial attributed to Kratzer was found at Acton Court, near Bristol, in the 1980s.
Peter Drinkwater has presented a critical evaluation of the sundials attributed to Kratzer, in particular the one in the Holbein portrait. He comments that "Kratzer triumphed, not through genius or creativity, but through having learned what others had discovered and invented, and by being the first to apply that learning in England". John North concurs: "Kratzer doubtless had nothing new to offer of a fundamental kind. Many of his dials were unusual, but his favorite polyhedral dial was perhaps more useful as a repository of verses [...] than for actually announcing the time with any accuracy". Nonetheless, Kratzer brought useful German skills and knowledge to the English court and was well-regarded over a period of nearly 30 years.


Huntly railway station, Victoria

Huntly railway station is a proposed railway station near the town of Huntly, Victoria, Australia. It is scheduled to open in 2022 as part of the Regional Rail Revival project, and will be located on the Echuca line between the disused Huntly and Bagshot railway stations.
External links.
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Charles Ball (politician)

Charles Ball (April 4, 1819 – March 4, 1903) was the third and fifth President of the Chico Board of Trustees, the governing body of the city of Chico, California from 1876 to 1879, and from 1882 to 1885. He was a jeweler and watchmaker.
He was the son of Jacob Green Ball from New Jersey and Lucretia Hoyt, from Norwalk, Connecticut. His mother Lucretia was the third great-granddaughter of Walter Hoyt, one of the founding settlers of Norwalk.
He left from Poughkeepsie, New York to go west while his wife was still pregnant, and his son, Alanson was only two years old in 1848. He departed from New York City on a ship that sailed to Nicaragua, where he crossed over land to the Pacific shore. From there, he sailed to Yerba Buena (the early name of San Francisco) arriving in 1849.
He made a return trip in 1850, and he is listed in the 1850 census living in Poughkeepsie on August 20.
He returned again to California, arriving in Sacramento in 1851. We know he practiced his trade there, presumably relieving miners and prospectors of gold, in exchange for watches and jewelry. He is believed to have made at least two more return trips to New York before finally bringing his wife Rebecca and now, three children, to California in late 1857 or early 1858, again by ship/land/ship crossing. He chose to relocate to Marysville, setting up his shop there.
The 1860 Census lists him with three children, in Marysville, Yuba County. He was still in Marysville at the time of Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865. A letter to the Governor, with his signature, is in the California Archives. He was serving as the Adjutant to the Colonel in charge of the Marysville Rifles, a unit of the California Militia. The letter states the Militia's allegiance to the Union following the assassination, that they were wearing black armbands in mourning and would control and suppress any rabblerousing perpetrated by Confederate sympathizers.
The 1870 Census lists him as residing in Chico. The Charles Ball House (later called the International House) was built in 1869, and is one of the oldest extant structures in the city of Chico. It is one of the Third Street Language Houses located at 536 West Third Street and used to be owned by California State University, Chico. It was moved this location in the 1920s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, as a contributor to the South Campus Neighborhood.
He served as President of the Chico Board of Trustees, from 1876 to 1879, and from 1882 to 1885.


Du Shi

Du Shi (, d. 38) was a Chinese inventor, mechanical engineer, metallurgist, and politician of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Du Shi is credited with being the first to apply hydraulic power (i.e. a waterwheel) to operate bellows (air-blowing device) in metallurgy. His invention was used to operate piston-bellows of the blast furnace and then cupola furnace in order to forge cast iron, which had been known in China since the 6th century BC. He worked as a censorial officer and administrator of several places during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han. He also led a brief military campaign in which he eliminated a small bandit army under Yang Yi (d. 26).
Life.
Early career.
Although the year of his birth is uncertain, it is known that Du Shi was born in Henei, Henan province. Du Shi became an Officer of Merit in his local commandery before receiving an appointment in 23 as a government clerk under Gengshi Emperor (r. 23–25), following the revolt against the Xin Dynasty usurper Wang Mang (r. 9–23). However, Du soon after swore his allegiance to Emperor Guangwu of Han (r. 25–57), who is considered the true founder of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220).
Censorate officer.
Under Emperor Guangwu, Du Shi was appointed as an officer in the Censorate and was in charge of monitoring affairs and upholding law and order within the new capital at Luoyang. When the undisciplined troops of the military officer Xiao Guang (d. 26) ran rampant in the capital city and terrorized its inhabitants without any perceivable action on Xiao's part to prevent it, Du Shi had him arrested. Du had Xiao summarily executed without explicit consent from the throne, sending in a report of the event only after the execution. Guangwu was not displeased with this, as he called him into his court to grant him an insignia which justified his actions. Shortly after this event, the bandit leader Yang Yi (d. 26) caused a major disturbance in Hedong Commandery, which Du Shi was sent to quell. When word of the arrival of Du Shi's forces in the region reached Yang Yi, he planned to flee across the Yellow River. However, Du Shi anticipated this, sending a raiding party to burn the boats Yang Yi intended to use for his escape. After conscripting troops from the Hedong Commandery, Du Shi led a surprise ambush with a cavalry unit that dispersed Yang's bandits and annihilated them.
Administrator.
For three years, Du served as a county magistrate in Henan province where his administration gained wide acclaim from provincial authorities. Afterwards, Du distinguished himself as a Commandant in Pei and in Runan. In 31 he was appointed as an administrator over Nanyang. While serving there, he had an array of dykes and canals built for land reclamation and growth of local agriculture. It is here that he also developed a water-powered reciprocator for bellows in smelting cast iron, a machine which reportedly saved an enormous amount of physical labor. It is recorded that the locals were so fond of him that they often referred to him as "Mother Du" and compared him to noteworthy figures of history, such as Shao Xinchen of the Western Han era.
Du Shi was by all means a local administrator, yet he also made recommendations to the imperial court on policy issues. He recommended that the Tiger Tallies system be reinstated. This was a means for imperial authorities to check possible official corruption in the forgery of mobilization of troops for war. Du also nominated several minor officials he deemed worthy as candidates for higher posts in the capital, including Fu Zhang. In a memorial of 37, he urged the court to consider Fu as the next Imperial Secretary.
Death.
Du Shi's reputation was damaged in 38 when he was accused of having one of his retainers sent to kill a man out of vengeance for his brother. In that same year, Du became ill and died. Despite Du's long-standing official career, the Director of Retainers Bao Yong reported that no proper funeral ceremony could be arranged for Du, since Du was nearly broke when he died. However, the Emperor had an imperial edict made which granted Du a proper funeral ceremony at his commandery residence in the capital, along with silk to pay for the expenditures.
The Water-Powered Blast Furnace.
Book of Later Han account.
The engineer and statesman Du Shi is mentioned briefly in the "Book of Later Han" ("Hou Han Shu") as follows (in Wade-Giles spelling):
Donald B. Wagner writes that there is no remaining physical evidence of the bellows which Du Shi used, so modern scholars are still unable to determine whether or not they were made of leather or giant wooden fans as described later in the 14th century.
Spread of Use.
The historical text "Sanguo Zhi" (Records of the Three Kingdoms) records the use of both human labor and horse-power to operate metallurgic bellows of a blast furnace before water-power was applied. It also records that the engineer and Prefect of Luoling Han Ji (d. 238) reinvented a similar water-powered bellows that Du Shi had earlier pioneered. Two decades after this, it is recorded that another design for water-powered bellows was created by Du Yu (222–285). In the 5th-century text of the "Wu Chang Ji", its author Pi Ling wrote that a planned, artificial lake had been constructed in the Yuanjia reign period (424–429) for the sole purpose of powering water wheels aiding the smelting and casting processes of the Chinese iron industry. The 5th-century text "Shui Jing Zhu" mentions the use of rushing river water to power waterwheels, as does the Tang Dynasty (618–907) geography text of the "Yuanhe Jun Xian Tu Chi", written in 814 AD.
Although Du Shi is the first historical figure to apply water power to metallurgic bellows, the oldest extant Chinese illustration depicting such a device in operation can be seen in a picture of the "Nong Shu", printed by 1313 AD during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) of China. The text was written by Wang Zhen, who explained the methods used for a water-powered blast-furnace (Wade-Giles spelling):


Crankpin

A crankpin is a mechanical device in an engine which connects the crankshaft to the connecting rod for each cylinder. It has a cylindrical surface, to allow the crankpin to rotate relative to the "big end" of the connecting rod.
The most common configuration is for a crankpin to serve one cylinder. However, many V engines have each crankpin shared by each pair of cylinders.
Design.
The crankpin connects to the larger end of the connecting rod for each cylinder. This end of the connecting rod is called the "big end", as opposed to the "small end" (which connects to the wrist/gudgeon pin in the piston).
The bearing which allows the crankpin to rotate around its shaft is called the "rod bearing". In automotive engines, the most common type of rod bearing is the plain bearing, however bushings or roller bearings are also used in some engines.
Configurations.
In a single-cylinder engine, straight engine or flat engine, each crankpin normally serves just one cylinder. This results for a relatively simple design which is the cheapest to produce. Some V-twin engines use a single cylinder per crankpin.
Most V engines have each pair of cylinders sharing a crankpin. This usually requires an offset between the cylinders in each bank, resulting in a simple connecting rod design. If a cylinder offset is not used, then the connecting rods must be articulated or forked at the big end. Forked connecting rods are mainly used in V-twin motorcycle engines, but in the past were found on a number of automobile and aero engines, such as the Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engine of the WWII era. Articulated connecting rods consist of a "master" rod attached to the crank pin, with a "slave" rod connected to the big end of master rod. This design was used in older or exotic V engines.
Radial engines use a more complicated version of articulated connecting rods, where a single "master" connecting rod attached to the single crankpin (one for each row in multi-row designs), and smaller bearings for each of the corresponding cylinders machined into the big end of the master rod.


William Willett

William Willett (10 August 1856 – 4 March 1915) was a British builder and a promoter of British Summer Time.
Biography.
Willett was born in Farnham, Surrey, and educated at the Philological School. After some commercial experience, he entered his father's building business, Willett Building Services. Between them they created a reputation for "Willett built" quality houses in choice parts of London and the south, including Chelsea and Hove, including Derwent House. He lived most of his life in Chislehurst, Kent, where, it is said, after riding his horse in Petts Wood near his home early one summer morning and noticing how many blinds were still down, the idea for daylight saving time first occurred to him.
This was not the first time that the idea of adapting to daylight hours had been mooted, however. It was common practice in the ancient world, and Benjamin Franklin's light-hearted 1784 satire resulted in resurrecting the idea. Although Franklin's facetious suggestion was simply that people should get up earlier in summer, he is often erroneously attributed as the inventor of DST while Willett is often ignored. Modern DST was first proposed by New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson, although many publications incorrectly credit Willett.
Using his own financial resources, in 1907 William published a pamphlet "The Waste of Daylight". In it he proposed that the clocks should be advanced by 80 minutes in four incremental steps during April and reversed the same way during September. The evenings would then remain light for longer, increasing daylight recreation time and also saving £2.5 million in lighting costs. He suggested that the clocks should be advanced by 20 minutes at a time at 2 am on successive Sundays in April and be reversed in September.
Through vigorous campaigning, by 1908 Willett had managed to gain the support of a member of parliament (MP), Robert Pearce, who made several unsuccessful attempts to get it passed into law. A young Winston Churchill promoted it for a time, and the idea was examined again by a parliamentary select committee in 1909 but again nothing was done. The outbreak of the First World War made the issue more important primarily because of the need to save coal. Germany had already introduced the scheme when the bill was finally passed in Britain on 17 May 1916 and the clocks were advanced by an hour on the following Sunday, 21 May, enacted as a wartime production-boosting device under the Defence of the Realm Act. It was subsequently adopted in many other countries.
William Willett did not live to see daylight saving become law, as he died of influenza in 1915 at the age of 58. He is commemorated in Petts Wood by a memorial sundial, set permanently to daylight saving time. The Daylight Inn in Petts Wood is named in his honour and the road Willett Way. His house in Chislehurst is marked with a blue plaque. He is buried in St Nicholas' Churchyard, Chislehurst, although a memorial to his family stands in the churchyard at St Wulfran's Church, Ovingdean, in Brighton and Hove.
Family.
William Willett married twice:
Firstly in 1879 Sussex to Maria Mills (1858–1905), with issue:
Secondly in 1910 Christchurch to Florence Mary A. Strickland (born Florence Rose Stickland , Fishbourne, Isle of Wight 1883–died), with issue:
Willett is a great-great-grandfather of Coldplay singer Chris Martin.


256th Tunnelling Company

The 256th Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps (a narrow trench dug to approach enemy trenches), cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.
Background.
By January 1915 it had become evident to the BEF at the Western Front that the Germans were mining to a planned system. As the British had failed to develop suitable counter-tactics or underground listening devices before the war, field marshals French and Kitchener agreed to investigate the suitability of forming British mining units. Following consultations between the Engineer-in-Chief of the BEF, Brigadier George Fowke, and the mining specialist John Norton-Griffiths, the War Office formally approved the tunnelling company scheme on 19 February 1915.
Norton-Griffiths ensured that tunnelling companies numbers 170 to 177 were ready for deployment in mid-February 1915. In the spring of that year, there was constant underground fighting in the Ypres Salient at Hooge, Hill 60, Railway Wood, Sanctuary Wood, St Eloi and The Bluff which required the deployment of new drafts of tunnellers for several months after the formation of the first eight companies. The lack of suitably experienced men led to some tunnelling companies starting work later than others. The number of units available to the BEF was also restricted by the need to provide effective counter-measures to the German mining activities. To make the tunnels safer and quicker to deploy, the British Army enlisted experienced coal miners, many outside their nominal recruitment policy. The first nine companies, numbers 170 to 178, were each commanded by a regular Royal Engineers officer. These companies each comprised 5 officers and 269 sappers; they were aided by additional infantrymen who were temporarily attached to the tunnellers as required, which almost doubled their numbers. The success of the first tunnelling companies formed under Norton-Griffiths' command led to mining being made a separate branch of the Engineer-in-Chief's office under Major-General S.R. Rice, and the appointment of an 'Inspector of Mines' at the GHQ Saint-Omer office of the Engineer-in-Chief. A second group of tunnelling companies were formed from Welsh miners from the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Monmouthshire Regiment, who were attached to the 1st Northumberland Field Company of the Royal Engineers, which was a Territorial unit. The formation of twelve new tunnelling companies, between July and October 1915, helped to bring more men into action in other parts of the Western Front.
Most tunnelling companies were formed under Norton-Griffiths' leadership during 1915, and one more was added in 1916. On 10 September 1915, the British government sent an appeal to Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to raise tunnelling companies in the Dominions of the British Empire. On 17 September, New Zealand became the first Dominion to agree the formation of a tunnelling unit. The New Zealand Tunnelling Company arrived at Plymouth on 3 February 1916 and was deployed to the Western Front in northern France. A Canadian unit was formed from men on the battlefield, plus two other companies trained in Canada and then shipped to France. Three Australian tunnelling companies were formed by March 1916, resulting in 30 tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers being available by the summer of 1916.
Unit history.
256th Tunnelling Company was the last tunnelling company of the Royal Engineers to be formed, in July 1916. It was sent to the BEF and served under Fourth Army until after the end of the war.
256th Tunnelling Company initially moved to the Vimy front. The unit then moved to Nieuwpoort in June 1917, to construct shelters and wells for Operation Hush. 256th Tunnelling Company was involved in enemy attack - Operation Strandfest - in this coastal sector in July 1917. In addition to 256th Tunnelling Company, also 257th Tunnelling Company and 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company were involved in this part of Operation Strandfest.
References.
An overview of the history of 256th Tunnelling Company is also available in Robert K. Johns, "Battle Beneath the Trenches: The Cornish Miners of 251 Tunnelling Company RE", Pen & Sword Military 2015 (), p. 229 see online


John Albro

John Albro (May 6, 1764 – October 23, 1839) was a merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax Township in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1818 to 1826. He was also a Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th Regiment of Halifax militia.
He was born in Newport Township, Nova Scotia, the son of Samuel Albro and Jane Cole, who had come from Rhode Island. He was buried in the Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia).
Background.
Albro operated a tannery in Halifax, later operating as a butcher and then a hardware merchant. In 1793, he married Elizabeth Margaret Vandergrift. He married Elizabeth Margaret Dupuy in 1803. He helped establish the Fire Insurance Association of Halifax in 1809. Albro was a grand master in the freemasons. He also served as a road commissioner and fire warden for Halifax and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the local militia. He was a member of the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax. He was defeated in a bid for re-election to the House of Assembly in 1826. Albro died in Halifax at the age of 75.
Ancestry.
Albro is a descendant of early Rhode Island settlers John Albro and Samuel Wilbore, as well as Wilbore's son, Samuel Wilbur, Jr.. He also descends from the first Innkeeper of Boston, Massachusetts, Samuel Cole, and from Indian captive Susanna (Hutchinson) Cole, her father, Rhode Island magistrate William Hutchinson, and his famous wife, the religious heretic, Anne Hutchinson.


David Esterly

James David Esterly Jr. (May 10, 1944 – June 15, 2019) was an American limewood carver, self-described sculptor and writer. He was known as an exponent of the high-relief naturalistic style of the British carver Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721).
Early life and education.
Esterly was born in Akron, Ohio but raised in Orange County, California. He received a BA from Harvard and a BA and Ph.D. from Cambridge, where he read English at St Catharine's College and was a Fulbright Scholar. His doctoral dissertation on Yeats and Plotinus was supervised by Thomas Rice Henn.
He had rejected the idea of an academic career even before a conversion experience in 1974, when the sight of a Grinling Gibbons carving behind the altar at St. James, Piccadilly turned him towards woodcarving. Esterly retreated to a cottage in Sussex where he taught himself to carve in the high-relief illusionistic style of Gibbons.
After the 1986 fire at Hampton Court he spent a year re-carving the seven foot long Gibbons drop destroyed in the flames. The experience inspired his memoir "The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making" (2012). In 1998 he curated the Grinling Gibbons exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which was named as one of the exhibitions of the year by the art journal Apollo. His accompanying book, "Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving" (fifth printing, March 2013), was described as “a marvelous study” that has “a rare intimacy with its subject."
Esterly’s own carving began as decorative foliage work but developed in the direction of still life sculpture, trophy-like tableaus, and botanical heads in the manner of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, which he began carving in 2002 while a guest artist at the American Academy in Rome. He worked on commission for patrons in the United States, Britain, and Europe. Retrospective exhibitions took place in 2013 in New York City and at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute in Utica, NY.
Personal life.
Esterly was married to Marietta von Bernuth and lived in the rural hamlet of Barneveld in upstate New York.
In 2019, at the age of 74, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with ALS. With the help of assistants, he completed his final commission for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. He died at his home in Barneveld on June 15, 2019.


Timothy Mason (clockmaker)

Timothy Mason (1695–1734) was a clockmaker based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England.
Mason was known for constructing longcase clocks with eight-day movements, with two keyholes on either side of the dial. They were driven by two weights; one driving the pendulum and the other the striking mechanism. His clock faces were always signed Tim Mason.
He was known to be working at an address given as Lords Street in Gainsborough. A copy of Tim Mason’s inventory and personal estate dated 22 January 1734 does not contain any items of trade listed and the certified value of his assets is £9.13.6. From this it appears that he was retired when he died in 1734 having disposed of his stock, work in progress and tools of his trade.
From the records held by the Derbyshire Record Office, Reference D37 M/T693-694:
“The Crossells Farm, Stretton: Lease and release by Timothy Mason of Gainsborough (co. Lincoln) clock-maker and Elizabeth his wife , and John Clay of Hartsloft in the parish of Ault Hucknall yeoman to Hannah Holland o Ford widow of the Overclose in Stretton, Consideration £42. Dated 3–4 December 1714.”


Skew gears


Rangi Te Kanawa

Rangituatahi Te Kanawa (married name Rangi Warnes) is a New Zealand textile conservator and weaver. She is affiliated with the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi.
Biography.
Te Kanawa received a scholarship from the Department of Internal Affairs to train in conservation of textiles. The committee of the Aotearoa Moananui a Kiwa Weavers were keen for Māori to be involved in the conservation of Māori textile artefacts held by museums and other cultural institutions. Her introductory training on conservation of cultural material was in Canberra, after which she completed a year of pre-training at the conservation unit of the National Museum in Wellington. As a prerequisite of the three-year Conservation in Cultural Materials course at Canberra University, she also had to pass sixth-form chemistry, which she did through Wellington Boys' High School. The degree was followed by a six-month internship at the Textile Conservation Centre, Hampton Court Palace, and time at the British Museum.
Te Kanawa works at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) and specialises in the conservation of and research about Māori textiles. She has been collaborating with a GNS forensic scientist on a project called the 'Whakapapa of Paru' to identify the provenance of cloaks in Te Papa's archives. Weaving by Te Kanawa has also been collected by Te Papa. Te Kanawa is a member of the New Zealand conservators of cultural materials association.
Family.
Te Kanawa is the daughter of Diggeress Te Kanawa and the granddaughter of Dame Rangimarie Hetet.


Toussaint Dubreuil

Toussaint Dubreuil ( – 22 November 1602) was a French painter associated (from 1594) with the second School of Fontainebleau (together with the artists Martin Fréminet and Ambroise Dubois) and Italianism, a transitional art style.
Dubreuil was born in Paris. His works in the late Mannerist style, many of which have been lost, continue in the use of highly elongated and undulating forms and crowded compositions reminiscent of the work of Francesco Primaticcio (–1570). Many of Dubreuil's subjects include mythological scenes and scenes from works of fiction by such writers as the Italian Torquato Tasso, the ancient Greek novelist Heliodorus of Emesa and French poet Pierre de Ronsard.


Leitrim station

Leitrim is an OC Transpo transit station in the suburban community of Leitrim in Ottawa, Ontario. It is located on Gilligan Road, which is just west of Albion Road and south off Leitrim Road, near the former Bytown and Prescott Railway Line.
The Trillium Line will be extended to Leitrim in 2022. The station will consist of two side platforms and will connect to the existing bus platforms. The Park and ride will be expanded to 330 spaces, with the possibility to expand to 925 spaces in the future.


John Murphy (contractor)

John Murphy (5 October 1913 – 7 May 2009) was an Irish business man who established the construction and infrastructure contractor J. Murphy & Sons. The company, based in Kentish Town, with its green vans and lorries, works on building sites across the UK and Ireland. His late brother Joe also went into construction in London, trading as Murphy Ltd and using grey vehicles, but that company went into administration and closed in 2013.
Biography.
Murphy was born at Loughmark, near Cahersiveen, County Kerry. He left school at 15 but found work hard to come by. He travelled to London and started up as a subcontractor in the building trade. The Second World War offered him a golden opportunity. New airfields were urgently needed and later on runway repairs were needed also. He was successful in providing this service and at end of the war was well placed to help with large-scale reconstruction. Other ventures included electrification, cable installation, water facilities and road-building.
At his death in 2009, his worth was estimated at about £190 million. He valued his privacy and was known to spend little on luxuries, instead preferring to spend time with his own workmen and other Irish friends.
J Murphy & Sons.
In the 1970s a specialist division of the company worked on the development of natural gas. Later projects included the Stansted Airport Rail Link, work in the City of London, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and London’s Olympic Park.
In 2007 J Murphy and Sons generated nearly £500 million of revenue and made pre-tax profits of £60 million. It was appointed lead contractor in the £125 million Liverpool-Manchester water pipeline project, which is to carry up to 100 million litres of water per day.
After Murphy's death in May 2009, leadership of the company passed initially to his daughter Caroline, who had been appointed deputy chairperson of the group in 2007. She later planned to turn the business into a worker’s Co-op owned by its 3,500 employees, but other board members — notably her mother, brother and half-brother — resisted, and she resigned in 2014.
The company was then led by Steve Hollingshead until the appointment in 2017 of John Murphy's grandson, John B Murphy.
In the year to 31 December 2017 the company made a pre-tax profit of £12.43m from a turnover of £711m, and had 3,878 employees. In 2018, it experienced a slow down in growth, and cancelled its Christmas Party as part of a cost-cutting drive affecting jobs across the business.


Otta seal

Otta seal is a type of bituminous surface treatment that was developed by the Norwegian Road Research Laboratory (NRRL). Its name is based on the location in which it was created, the Otta Valley. Otta seal was developed to be used as a temporary surfacing on new roads; however, after seeing its strength, it has been used as permanent roads as well.
Composition and application.
Otta seal is formed by adding graded aggregate to a soft bituminous binding agent. The agent is usually emulsified asphalt. Bituminous binder application rates are between 1.9 liter/m2 (0.42 US gallon/yard2) and 2.4 liter/m2 (0.53 US gallon/yard2) – the value is dependent on aggregate gradation and type. Low quality, local aggregates are often used in Otta seal. The largest aggregate size used is between 13 and 25mm (0.5 and 1 inch). The aggregate can contain up to 10% fine gravels. Aggregate quantities are usually close to 27 kg/m2 (50 lbs/yard2). Otta seal is easily cured by blinding with sand because of its soft binders. The soft binders quickly coat the sand; This is not possible for seals with harder binders. Cutback bitumens in the viscosity range of MC3000 to MC800 are the most common binders used.
Otta seal is formed in the following procedure:
Where Otta seal is used.
Otta seal is primarily used in places that do not have strict requirements for strength, grading, particle shape, binder adhesion, and dust content, which have low capital and expect relatively low traffic (up to 500 vehicles per day). Currently, Otta seal is most prevalent in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Botswana and common in Bangladesh, Australia, and parts of Africa.
Political impact.
Politically Otta seal is a useful alternative versus other types of road surfaces. A city council member of a city that uses Otta seal explained that it is very cost efficient since with Otta seal they can resurface a road every 5–10 years without having to tear the whole road up every time it needs to be resurfaced. This lengthens the road life and makes it very economical.
Social impact.
Otta seal does not cause prolonged delays in traffic, it takes few hours to resurface a road and is usable almost immediately afterwards. Since this is mainly used on side roads it is important that it is done quickly to prevent people from not being able to get to their houses. One negative impact is the loose gravel can cause chips or damage to windshields, but odds of this happening is lowered in slower moving traffic areas.
Environmental impact.
Environmentally Otta seal helps to lower the dust level. This helps the environment in many ways; helps with driving visibility, decrease health problems caused by dust, and reduce harm done to crops. Another environmental benefit is that the materials used in its production are easily acceptable. There is also a reduction in environmental degradation.
Costs.
Otta seal is considered to be a low cost seal. With its low initial cost and less demanding maintenance, it is a very cheap alternative for road surfaces. The cost for a double layer Otta seal is about US $2.00 to US $2.70 per square meter (US $2.40 to US $3.25 per square yard) and will last from 8 to 15 years. For a road that is 1.6 km (1 mile) long and 12 m (40 feet) wide it would cost between US $39,000 to US $52,000.
Physical properties.
Otta seal is a type of road surfacing consisting of a bituminous binding substance and aggregate rocks ranging from gravel to fine particles. It is stronger than similar inexpensive surfacing techniques such as chip seal.
The type of bitumen used can greatly affect the strength of the road. Bitumen binders that are more viscous tend to move through the aggregate faster, but are not as hard and cannot handle heavier loads.
A huge advantage of Otta seal over other seals is the ability to use almost any type or size of crushed rocks as the aggregate. Depending on where in the world the road is being constructed and therefore what types of rock are available, the strength of an Otta seal can vary greatly. Commonly, the gravel used contains sandstone, basalt, and even coral or volcanic stones. Also, size of the particles varies greatly, with a preferred maximum of 16 mm and 19 mm (0.63 inch and 0.75 inch) for single and double Otta seals, respectively. Typically, the concentration of fine particles of less than 0.075 mm (0.003 inch) should be less than 10%.
Adhesive agents are generally added to increase the strength between the aggregate and the bituminous binder. It is this interaction that gives Otta seal its strength and durability.
Molecular structure.
Since Otta seal is a combination of materials, it is beneficial to look at the molecular structures of the materials used.
Rocks are in the material family of ceramics. They have very rigid crystalline structures that stand up well to compressive forces. In contrast, sheer or tensile forces can easily form cracks in ceramics and cause failure. The bitumen acts the opposite way. It is more amorphous, meaning it is weaker under compressive forces, but can hold the rocks together and limit cracking under tensile stress.
The bitumen molecular structure is composed mostly of compressed hydrocarbons, sometimes containing many other elements like nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and nickel.
Pros and cons of Otta seal.
There are many factors when considering what type of road surfacing is necessary. Most advantages to Otta seal over other inexpensive surfacing techniques spring from its ability to use a wide range of materials and material sizes during construction. Pros and cons are listed here:
Durability and weathering.
Otta seal is more durable than many alternative seals. It is impermeable and resistant to cracking from the sun’s radiation. Cracks form in all roads due to changes in temperature, but Otta seal performs better than other seals. Overall, Otta seal can be expected to last 50 to 60 percent longer than a chip seal. This results in a lifespan between 6 and 12 years if properly maintained, and even longer if a sand seal is used on top of the Otta seal.


Dry Canyon Reservoir

Dry Canyon Reservoir is a small reservoir formed by an embankment dam on Dry Canyon Creek in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of northern Los Angeles County, California, just north of the city of Santa Clarita. It was designed a part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct system.
History.
Constructed from 1910 to 1912, the lake with a surface elevation of approximately above sea level regulated the flow of water from the irregular flow discharged from the power plants in San Francisquito Canyon. The incoming water from San Francisquito came from Tunnel 77 and the outgoing water went out Tunnel 78. Water from the lake was distributed via the Los Angeles Aqueduct to the northern portion of the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Draining the Reservoir.
Following damages incurred by the dam itself during the 1952 Kern County earthquake and growing concerns over its structural integrity, the reservoir was drained in 1966. Since the early 1970s, efforts had been made to refill the reservoir but these plans have since been abandoned due to high costs. In the decades that followed, the suburban communities of Santa Clarita had grown northward to fill the narrow valley just downstream. The course of Dry Canyon Creek south of the reservoir was then funneled down a concrete wash to prevent flooding of the surrounding communities.


Bartholomew Newsam

Bartholomew Newsam (died 1593), was clockmaker to Queen Elizabeth I, probably born at York.
Biography.
Newsam carried on business in London as a clockmaker, apparently from the date of Queen Elizabeth's accession in 1558. He obtained from the crown a thirty years' lease of premises in the Strand, near Somerset House, on 8 April 1565, and there he resided through life.
Newsam was skilled in his craft, and was on familiar terms with Sir Philip Sidney and other men of influence at court. About 1572 the post of Clock-master to the Queen was promised him on the death of Nicholas Urseau (Ursiu, Veseau, or Orshowe). The latter had held the office under Queen Mary, and was reappointed to it by Queen Elizabeth. Newsam succeeded to the office before 1582. On 4 June 1583 he received, under the privy seal dated 27 May previous, "32s. 8d. for mending of clockes" during the past year. With the post of clockmaker he combined that of clock-keeper; the two offices had been held by different persons in Queen Mary's reign, and Newsam appears to have been the first Englishman appointed as clock-keeper.
On 5 August 1583 Newsam wrote "to the ryghte honorable his very speciall good ffriend Sr ffrancis Walsingham, knighte", beseeching him "to be mindfull unto her Ma[jes]tie of my booke concerninge my long and chargeable suite, wherein I have procured Sir Philipp Sidney to move you for th' augmentinge of the yeares (if by any meanes the same may be)"; i.e. probably for an extension of his lease of the house in the Strand. On 6 September 1583, by letters patent, a lease for twenty-one years was granted to Newsam of lands "at Fleete in Lincolnshire, formerly the property of Henry, marquis of Dorset, late duke of Suffolk; also a water-mill at Wymondham, Norfolk, with fishings, &c., formerly property of the monastery of Wymondham … also all the weare of Llanlluney, co. Pembroke, and two garden plots lying in Firkett's Fields, in the parish of St. Clement Danes without Temple Bar", etc. The property in Pembroke had formerly belonged to Jasper, Duke of Bedford. Newsam also owned lands in Coney Street, in the parish of St. Martin, York. He died before 18 December 1593, when his will was proved by Parnell, his widow.
There is in the British Museum a striking clock made by Newsam, which is still in almost untouched condition. It is of gilded brass, richly engraved. It is very small, not more than four inches high, and contains a compass; it has, of course, no pendulum, and but one hand. It is signed "Bartilmewe Newsum". The case is divided into two stories, the going train being in the upper, and the striking train in the lower storey. Both the trains are arranged vertically, so that the clock is wound from underneath. The wheels are of iron, or perhaps steel, the plates and frames being of brass. It has fusees cut for catgut, which are long, and only slightly tapered. The hand is driven directly from the going fusee at right angles, by means of a contrate-wheel. The escapement is of the verge kind, and it has no balance-spring.
The bequests in Newsam's will confirm the evidence of his skill afforded by this clock. Mention is made there of:
Family.
Newsam married Parnell Younge, in the church of St. Mary-le-Strand on 10 September 1565. He left four children: William (born 27 December 1570), Edward, Margaret, and Rose.
Edward, "on condicion that he become a clockmaker as I am", was to have his father's tools, except his "best Vice save one, a beckhorne to stand upon borde, a greate fore-hammer, and [two] hand hammers, and a grete long beckhorne in my back shoppe"; all these were to go to John Newsam of York, a clockmaker, and presumably a relative.


Clear Path International

Clear Path International (CPI) is a non-profit organization based in the United States. The organization assists civilian victims of war in post-conflict zones. This assistance takes the form of direct medical and social services to survivors and their families as well as equipment support to hospitals. Clear Path International's projects are in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia and on the border of Burma and Thailand.
In 2000, Clear Path began working to remove unexploded ordnance in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam which was, at the time, the largest unexploded ordnance removal effort by an NGO in Vietnam's history.
In 2001 CPI established a vocational skills training program for landmine survivors in Kampong Cham, Cambodia.
Specializing in victim assistance.
In 2002, CPI dropped ordnance removal from its mission and narrowed its scope of work to assisting civilian victims of landmines and other explosive remnants of war.
In the same year, CPI began supporting clinics on the Thai-Myanmar border that serve ethnic minority refugees escaping Myanmar's oppressive regime.
Clear Path International has received support from Adopt-a-Minefield, The McKnight Foundation, The Freeman Foundation, The United States Department of State Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, The Open Society Institute, Johnson & Widdifield Charitable Trust, Susila Dharma USA, and a wide range of grass roots support.


Carl Johan Trygg

Carl Johan Trygg, formally "Carl Johan Thrygg", also knowns as C. J. Trygg, woodcarver, (1887 – 1954) was one of the recognized masters of twentieth century woodcarving, most famous for Scandinavian flat-plane style of woodcarving. Between C. J. Trygg and his sons they carved over 10,000 figures. Many of his carvings were sold to tourists for approximately $10.00 USD. Adjusted for inflation what cost $10.00 in 1929 would cost $108.05 in 2005.
Early years.
Carl Johan Trygg was born in 1887 in Skagershult, Närke, Örebro county, Sweden. He was one of nine children of S. Sgt Carl Oskar Thrygg. At the age of 12 he left his home to make a living on his own. He worked as a clockmaker, a shoemaker, he also worked in a laundry, and a logging mill. He began carving wooden figures of various common people in the Scandinavian flat-plane style of woodcarving.
He married Maria Axelina Andersson in 1909. A year later she gave birth to their son Carl Olaf Trygg. In 1915 at the age of 28, he had a show of his carvings in Stockholm, Sweden. It was after the success at this show he began wood carving as a full-time career.
Migrating to Canada.
Carl Johan, at the age of 40, immigrated to Canada. He arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada on March 3, 1928. Later that year (October 7, 1928) his Wife Maria (43), his sons Carl Olof (17) and Nils Johan (13), and his daughter, Kally Maria Trygg (8) arrived in Halifax. Carl Johan and his family eventually settled in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and there they continued to carve.
Carl Johan's three sons, Nils, Lars and Carl Olaf were also woodcarvers. Another relative, Ellen Trygg also carved figures in the flat plane style. Her pieces are few and far between but the hobo motif is the theme of known pieces. Together they carved thousands of figures in the Scandinavian flat-plane style of woodcarving. Between C. J. Trygg and his sons they carved over 10,000 figures. Many of his carvings were sold to tourists for approximately $10.00 USD. Adjusted for inflation what cost $10.00 in 1929 would cost $108.05 in 2005.
Trygg was a craftsman in tune to the tourist trade. Trygg generally carved solo figures from basswood or pine, and mounted them on a base. He had a stylized execution with clean cuts, working from a single piece of wood. A highlight of Trygg’s carvings is his use of vibrant paint. He often painted his character’s clothing in plaid.
Return to Sweden.
Carl Johan Trygg and Carl Olof Trygg eventually returned to Sweden, where they continued their careers. Carl Johan died there 1954-02-12 in Glimminge, Västra Karup, Sweden and Carl Olof, was producing figures well into the 1980s and he died in 1993-03-01 in Halmstad, Sweden.
The legacy.
Trygg family of woodcarvers.
Trygg family wood carvings are still sought after today as collectibles. There are over 10,000 carved figures that were manufactured by the members of the Trygg family. Prices range from $50 to $500 depending upon the age, size, and condition of the piece.
Identifying Trygg woodcarvings.
Trygg woodcarvings can be identified by the signatures and dates on the bases.
Signatures commonly found are:
Most of the carvings are dated and include the location carved. For example, you may find a carving with "C.O. Trygg 1961 Sweden" meaning it was carved by Carl Olaf Trygg in 1961 while he was living in Sweden.


James Hindle

James Hindle (13 April 1871 – 31 July 1942) was a British trade unionist.
Born in Heywood, Hindle became a weaver at an early age. In 1888, he moved with his family to Burnley and became involved in the Burnley Weavers' Association. Ten years later, he was appointed as the full-time Assistant Secretary of the association. In 1912, Fred Thomas, Secretary of the Burnley Weavers, lost a key vote relating to action during a lockout, and resigned, claiming that he was in poor health. Hindle, considered a more radical figure, took over the post.
Hindle became involved in the Labour Party, and from 1926 to 1928 served on its National Executive Committee. He also sat on a commission investigating the cotton industry in India. In 1930, he was elected as President of the Amalgamated Weavers' Association, of which the Burnley Weavers were a constituent, holding the post for seven years.
Hindle retired from his union posts in 1940, and died two years later.


Tunnel crankshaft


Joseph Bazalgette

Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, CB (; 28 March 181915 March 1891) was a 19th-century English civil engineer. As chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works his major achievement was the creation (in response to the Great Stink of 1858) of a sewer network for central London which was instrumental in relieving the city from cholera epidemics, while beginning to clean the River Thames. He was also the designer of the Hammersmith Bridge.
Early life.
Bazalgette was born in Hill Lodge, Clay Hill, Enfield, London, the son of Joseph William Bazalgette (1783–1849), a retired Royal Navy captain, and Theresa Philo, born Pilton (1796–1850), and was the grandson of a French Protestant immigrant who had become wealthy.
In 1827 when Joseph was eight years old, the family moved into a newly-built house in Hamilton Terrace, St. John's Wood, London. He spent his early career articled to the noted engineer Sir John Macneill working on railway projects and amassed sufficient experience (partly in China and Ireland) in land drainage and reclamation to enable him to set up his own London consulting practice in 1842. In 1845 the house in Hamilton Terrace was sold and Joseph married Maria Kough, from County Kilkenny, in Ireland. At the time he was working so hard on the expansion of the railway network that two years later, in 1847, he suffered a nervous breakdown.
While he was recovering, London's Metropolitan Commission of Sewers ordered that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames. As a result, a cholera epidemic (1848–49) killed 14,137 Londoners.
Bazalgette was appointed assistant surveyor to the Commission in 1849, taking over as Engineer in 1852, after his predecessor died of "harassing fatigues and anxieties." Soon after, another cholera epidemic struck, in 1853, killing 10,738. Medical opinion at the time held that cholera was caused by foul air: a so-called "miasma". Physician Dr John Snow had earlier advanced a different explanation, which is now known to be correct: cholera was spread by contaminated water. His view was not then generally accepted.
Championed by fellow engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Bazalgette was appointed chief engineer of the Commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works, in 1856 (a post which he retained until the MBW was abolished and replaced by the London County Council in 1889). In 1858, the year of the Great Stink, Parliament passed an enabling act, in spite of the colossal expense of the project, and Bazalgette's proposals to revolutionise London's sewerage system began to be implemented. The expectation was that enclosed sewers would eliminate the stink ('miasma'), and that this would then reduce the incidence of cholera.
Sewer works.
At that time, the River Thames was little more than an open sewer, empty of any fish or other wildlife, and an obvious health hazard to Londoners.
Bazalgette's solution (similar to a proposal made by painter John Martin 25 years earlier) was to construct a network of of enclosed underground brick main sewers to intercept sewage outflows, and of street sewers, to intercept the raw sewage which up until then flowed freely through the streets and thoroughfares of London.
The plan included major pumping stations at Deptford (1864) and at Crossness (1865) on the Erith marshes, both on the south side of the Thames, and at Abbey Mills (in the River Lea valley, 1868) and on the Chelsea Embankment (close to Grosvenor Bridge; 1875), north of the river. The outflows were diverted downstream where they were collected in two large sewage outfall systems on the north and south sides of the Thames called the Northern and Southern Outfall sewers. The sewage from the Northern Outfall sewer and that from the Southern Outfall were originally collected in balancing tanks in Beckton and Crossness, respectively, before being dumped, untreated, into the Thames at high tide.
The system was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1865, although the whole project was not actually completed for another ten years.
Partly as a result of the Princess Alice disaster, extensive sewage treatment facilities were built to replace the balancing tanks in Beckton and Crossness in 1900.
The unintended consequence of the new sewer system was to eliminate cholera in areas connected thereto. Yet, the basic premise of this expensive project, that miasma spread cholera infection, was wrong. But instead of causing the project to fail, the new sewers succeeded in mostly eliminating the disease by removing the causal bacterium. Bazalgette's sewers also decreased the incidence of typhus and typhoid epidemics.
Bazalgette's capacity for hard work was remarkable; every connection to the sewerage system by the various Vestry Councils had to be checked and Bazalgette did this himself and the records contain thousands of linen plans with handwritten comments in Indian ink on them "Approved JWB", "I do not like 6" used here and 9" should be used. JWB", and so on. It is perhaps not surprising that his health suffered as a result. The records are held by Thames Water in large blue binders gold-blocked reading "Metropolitan Board of Works" and then dated, usually two per year.
Private life.
Bazalgette lived at 17 Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood, north London, for some years. Before 1851, he moved to Morden, then in 1873 to Arthur Road, Wimbledon, where he died in 1891, and he was buried in the nearby churchyard at St Mary's Church.
In 1845 at Westminster, he married Maria Kough (1819–1902). Lady Bazalgette died at her residence in Wimbledon on 3 March 1902. They had children including:
Awards and memorials.
Bazalgette was knighted in 1875, and elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1883.
A Greater London Council blue plaque commemorates Bazalgette at 17 Hamilton Terrace in St John's Wood in North London, and he is also commemorated by a formal monument on the Victoria Embankment by the River Thames in central London. In July 2020, it was announced that a new public space west of Blackfriars Bridge, formed following construction of the Thames Tideway Scheme, would be named the Bazalgette Embankment.
Dulwich College has a scholarship in his name either for design and technology or for mathematics and science.
External links.


George Daniels (watchmaker)

George Daniels, CBE, DSc, FBHI, FSA, AHCI (19 August 1926 – 21 October 2011) was an English horologist who was considered by some to be one of the best in the world in the field of luxury mechanical watches and timepieces during his lifetime. He was a watchmaker who built complete watches by hand (including the case and dial). But it was his creation of the coaxial escapement for which he is most remembered. The movement, which theoretically removed the need to add a lubricant, has been used by Omega in most of their collections since 1999 except of the Speedmaster Moonwatch (until the release of the Speedmaster Moonwatch Caliber 3861 in 2021).
A yellow gold chronograph pocket watch made by George Daniels, the "Space Traveller's Watch I", ranks as one of the 20 most expensive watches ever sold at auction, fetching £ 3,615,000 (US$ 4.561 million as of July 2019) in London on 2 July 2019.
Early career.
Daniels was born in Sunderland in 1926. His mother was unmarried so she fled London and travelled north. After Daniels was born he and his mother returned to London, where she married Daniels' father. In 1944, Daniels entered the British Army; he already had an interest in watches and did some repairs for army friends. On leaving the army in 1947 with a gratuity of £50, he bought some tools and got a job as a watch repairer. From studying horology at night classes, he became a Fellow of the British Horological Institute. After a decade of hard work, Daniels opened his first watch repair and cleaning shop in 1960 in London. Becoming interested in the works of the notable early 19th-century French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, Daniels soon became the 1960s' leading expert on Breguet and was often involved in advising on his work.
Rise to prominence.
His friend named Sam Clutton introduced Daniels to the upscale timepiece market and convinced him that he had a future in expensive handcrafted watches. In 1969, Daniels constructed – for £2,000 – his first pocket watch for Clutton. When his friend showed the piece to fellow collectors, it created great interest. Five years later, Daniels bought the watch back for £8,000. In 2012, it sold at auction in the United States for $285,000.
Throughout his career, Daniels made signature timepieces for personally selected customers, stating "I never made watches for people if I didn't care for them." The watches, which cost tens of thousands of pounds, took more than 2,500 hours to make. His signature was to give them clear and clean dials with subsidiary dials interwoven with the main chapter ring.
Coaxial escapement.
During the quartz crisis, George Daniels accepted a commission from American industrialist and watch collector Seth G. Atwood to create a timepiece that would fundamentally improve the performance of mechanical watches. After much experimentation, Daniels had designed a new type of watch escapement by 1974. The mechanism, which was first unveiled in 1976 as the "Atwood watch" and patented in 1980, was called the coaxial escapement.
Its design avoided the need to add oil to the escapement because the mechanism operated with very low friction. Traditional escapements had to use lubricants but this eventually caused problems with accuracy as oil thickened over time. However, the coaxial escapement used radial friction instead of sliding friction, making lubricants theoretically unnecessary. In practice a small mount of lubrication is used on the impulse and locking surfaces of the pallet stones. Daniels' mechanism has since been described by some as the most important development in horology in the past 250 years.
Although the horological industry was first introduced to the concept in 1976, Daniels' escapement was met with scepticism and lack of interest. It was not until the 1980s that Swatch Group chairman Nicolas Hayek adopted the concept, using it in his upmarket Omega brand. The company unveiled – to great acclaim – its first automatic watch using Daniels' coaxial escapement at the 1999 Basel Watch and Jewellery Fair.
Later life.
Daniels, who was a member of the Swiss "Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants"', continued to make watches well into later life. In total he created 37 handmade watches completely by himself and a 50-piece wristwatch series in conjunction with independent watchmaker, Roger W. Smith, using a basic Omega movement. By the time of his death he is said to have "completed 24 of the most extraordinary and technically advanced watches ever made". His mechanical watches were more accurate than quartz watches, with some losing less than a second per month.
Daniels, who was a Master of the Clockmakers' Company of London, was given their Gold Medal, a rare honour. He also received the Gold Medal of the British Horological Institute, the Gold Medal of the City of London and the Kullberg Medal from the Stockholm Watchmakers' Guild.
In 2006, to celebrate his work and his 80th birthday, Sotheby's and Bobinet (the antique watch dealer) held a retrospective exhibition of his work, featuring every watch Daniels had made, except one which is held by the British Museum. He was given an Award of Doctor of Science "honoris causa" by City University London in 2007.
In 2010 Daniels, who was already an MBE, was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Personal life.
He married, in 1964, Juliet Marryat, with whom he had a daughter. The marriage was later dissolved. He was the uncle of philosopher Stephen Neale. Daniels died on 21 October 2011.
Daniels was a collector of classic cars. His collection included:
Legacy.
"Watchmaking", written by Daniels and first published in 1981, remains one of the most definitive books on horology. It was the first of another six books, some of which have been translated and published in French, Italian and German, that remain in print. "Watchmaking", now in its third edition, was revised and reprinted in 1999.
On 6 November 2012 part of Daniels' collection, including some pieces he made, was sold by Sotheby's in a 134-lot sale. The auction raised over £8 million for the George Daniels Educational Trust, which helps students seeking higher education in the fields of horology, engineering, medicine, building or construction. The most expensive item was his "Space Traveller's Watch" which was sold for £1,329,250 in 2012 and then for £3,196,250 when it was resold in 2017.


Goodyear welt

A Goodyear welt is a strip of leather, rubber, or plastic that runs along the perimeter of a shoe outsole. The machinery used for the process was invented in 1869 by Charles Goodyear Jr., the son of Charles Goodyear. It has been noted by historians that Goodyear was a frequent visitor to the shoe factory of William J. Dudley, founder of Johnston & Murphy, where early work on sole stitching equipment was performed.
Construction.
"Goodyear welt construction" involves stitching a welt to the upper and a strip of preformed canvas like a "rib" that runs all around and bottom (known as "gemming") cemented to the insole of a shoe as an attach-point for the outsole or midsole (depending on the Goodyear welt variant). The space enclosed by the welt is then filled with cork or some other filler material (usually either porous or perforated, for breathability), and the outsole is both cemented and stitched to the welt. Shoes with other types of construction may also have welts.
Process.
The Goodyear welt process is a machine-based alternative to the traditional hand-welted method (c. 1500) for the manufacture of men's shoes, allowing them to be resoled repeatedly.
The upper part of the shoe is shaped over the last and fastened on by sewing a leather, linen or synthetic strip (also known as the "welt") to the inner and upper sole. As well as using a welt, stitching holds the material firmly together.
The welt forms a cavity which is then filled with a cork material. The final part of the shoe is the sole, which is attached to the welt by some combination of stitching and a high strength adhesive like contact cement or hide glue. The result is highly valued for being relatively waterproof by minimizing water penetration into the insole and the relative ease of resoling as long as the upper remains viable. Welted shoes are more expensive to manufacture than those mass-produced by automated machinery with molded soles.


Hans Holst

Hans Holst (born before 1619, died after 1640) was a Danish woodcarver associated with Køge where he designed the pews (in association with his brother Jochum) and the pulpit in St Nicholas Church.
Background.
From the 1550s to the 1650s, master craftsmen from northern Germany as well as the then Danish provinces of Schleswig and Holstein were invited to eastern Denmark to decorate churches and castles. By the mid-17th century, the region had experienced a period of unexcelled richness in artistic carving in the Baroque style with auricular decorations. Major participants included Lorentz Jørgensen in Holbæk, Jørgen Ringnis in Nakskov, Abel Schrøder in Næstved, Claus Gabriel in Hillerød, Casper Lubekke in Roskilde and Hans Holst himself.
Biography.
Holst, the son of "old Hans Holst" (died 1623) who was a carpenter in Køge, is listed in Køge's municipal accounts as having worked with his brother Jochum from 1619 to 1623 on the pews in St Nicholas Church. The pulpit in the same church, which bears his signature, shows he was one of the finest woodcarvers of the period. Holst was also active in Copenhagen where he received several assignments from the university for decorative carving in churches in the area. He designed an altarpiece for the Church of Our Lady (destroyed by fire in 1728) and for pulpits in the churches of Sæby and Ganløse (both completed in 1624). The pulpits in Ejby and Haraldsted have also been attributed to him. He was paid for less important work in Smørum Church up to 1640.


Tony Chinnery

Tony Chinnery is a builder of historical keyboard instruments, particularly of harpsichords and early fortepianos. He keeps a workshop not far from Florence in Italy. The instruments from their workshop, which generally are replicas of particular historical instruments, are widely used by performers and have appeared in many recordings. They have been played in concert by such performers as Gustav Leonhardt, Kenneth Gilbert, and Ton Koopman.
A number of the instruments can be seen in museums:


Carl E. Grunsky

Carl Ewald Grunsky (April 4, 1855 – June 9, 1934) was a geologist and civil engineer throughout the mid 19th century. In 1896 Grunsky implemented the innovative gravity-based sewer channeling waste rapidly from North Point to Golden Gate or towards Oakland. He served as member on the Board of Trustees from 1898 to 1904 at the California Academy of Sciences where in 1911 he was promoted to secretary and was elected President in 1912.
Before entering the field of geology and civil engineering, Carl Grunsky originally pursued a career in medicine. After entering a Realschule and Polytechnikum in Stuttgart, Germany, he switched to civil engineering. After starting his first career as a city engineer of San Francisco from 1900–1904 and gaining recognition he consequently became a member of the Panama Canal Commission from 1904-1905. From 1905-1907 he served as a consulting engineer for the US Reclamation Service.
He succeeded Dr. Barton Warren Evermann and acted as a director of Museum of Academy and the Steinhart Aquarium in 1932. Grunsky spent most of his time working to supervise the rivers. After receiving the Norman Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1910, he was elected vice president in 1922 and president in 1924. In 1924 he was also president of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was president of the American Engineering Council from 1930-1931. He played a significant role during the St. Francis Dam expedition. Grunsky and his co-worker John C. Branner announced that the dam was working properly right before the St. Francis dam broke. The breakage of the dam marked the end of William Mulholland's career.
G. D. Hanna describes Grunsky as follows: "One faculty he possessed fitted him particularly for presiding over meetings and groups of people. He was a very clear thinker and could organize his subject matter rapidly, yet he spoke with deliberation and crisp enunciation. Political science, particularly those phases dealing with rates, taxation and forms of money, fascinated him and he published extensively on the subject . He was always interested in art and during his later years found time to paint some backgrounds of the habitat groups of African animals now being installed by the academy."
Grunsky died during an accident at his home in Berkeley, California, on June 9, 1934.


Christian Frederick Martin

Christian Frederick Martin Sr. (; January 31, 1796 – February 16, 1873) was a German-born American luthier who specialized in guitars and the founder of C. F. Martin & Company. He made the first guitar in the United States in the 1830s.
Early Life and career.
Born in Markneukirchen in the Electorate of Saxony to a family of cabinet makers, Martin became an apprentice of the guitar maker Johann Georg Stauffer of Vienna, Austria. Martin also became a foreman at Stauffer's workshop. Martin was the second of five children and was more commonly known as Friedrich, given the German custom of using the second given name. In Martin's case, four of the children's first given names are a derivation of Christian (Christiane, Christian, Christian and Christiana).
As a result of a dispute between the Cabinet Makers Guild, of which Martin was a member, and the Violin Makers Guild, Martin moved to the United States in 1833. The move occurred less than a year after his father Johann Georg Martin died, and, being the last alive of Johann Georg Martin’s progeny, he would have been free of familial obligations to emigrate. On arriving in New York City, he set up shop at 196 Hudson Street on the Lower West Side. Martin’s first workshop housed a small production setup in the back room, and a retail music store up front. This shop was the forerunner of C. F. Martin & Company, which is still family-owned and operated, whose current CEO is CF Martin's great-great-great grandson, CF Martin IV .
At the insistence of his wife, Ottilia Kühle, daughter of the "Maschinentischler" [machine carpenter] and maker of pedal harps Karl Kühle in Vienna), Martin moved the guitar shop in 1838 to Nazareth, Pennsylvania where it is still located.
Martin's guitar construction and design innovations produced a model of flattop guitar that is still in use today.


Velma Owusu-Bempah

Velma Owusu-Bempah (born Velma Crossland, January 13, 1981) is a Milliner, accessories designer and fashion instructor from Ghana. She is the Creative director of her self-named fashion brand, Velma's Millinery and Accessories and the principal of Velma's Millinery Academy.
Early life and education.
Owusu-Bempah is the daughter of Ghanaian archeologist and academician Leonard Brighton Crossland and his wife Mrs. Sarah Crossland. Velma started her formative years in Accra with her grandmother, parents and other siblings including her younger sister, fashion designer, Ophelia Crossland.
She attended the St Mary's Senior High School (Ghana) in Korle Gonno and later enrolled into the University of Ghana Business School to study marketing.
After completing her University education, Owusu-Bempah joined her mother, a Ghanaian fabric merchant and industrialist in her business. She was later advised by her mother to pursue her passion in millinery and accessories. Owusu-Bempah was admitted to the Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Designs, an affiliation of London College of Fashion, where she studied Millinery, Bag designing and Communication.
Career.
In 2005, Owusu-Bempah established her eponymous brand as a hats and accessories designer which has seen her making pieces for notable personalities in Ghana and beyond. Ghana's First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Senator Florence Ita Giwa, Second Lady of Ghana, Samira Bawumia, Nicole Ari Parker, Anita Erskine, Sandra Ankobiah, Juliet Ibrahim, Shirley Frimpong- Manso, Joselyn Dumas, Kofi Okyere Darko, mother of Beyonce, Tina Knowles Lawson, and many others are considered part of her high-profile clientele.
Her designs were showcased at the London Great Hat Exhibition in 2018. She also collaborated with her sister Ophelia Crossland at the Swarovski Expose in Dubai by making a matching ensemble for the outfit. Her brand has also collaborated with several other designers including Christie Brown, Tiffany Amber, Nineteen 57 By KOD and Abrantie the Gentleman.
During the visit of Charles, Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to Ghana, Owusu-Bempah was made the official accessory designer for the fashion show and banquet held in their honor.
In 2018, she launched her fashion academy, Velma's Millinery Academy to train young and upcoming milliners in Ghana.
Owusu-Bempah was among the creatives who collaborated on the "Remember Me" project by Ghanaian photographer, Francis Kokoroko, Rania Odaymat, and The Fair Justice Initiative. The project highlighted twelve Ghanaian women who have been sentenced to life in prison at the Nsawam Prisons. Her headpieces were used as part of props that were used to replace the prison outfits. Their portraits were exhibited at the "Make Be" exhibition at La Maison in October 2018 with a coffee book published to help create funds for inmates. She is currently a tutor at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison where she offers courses in hat-making for prison inmates as part of the Fair Justice Millinery Initiative.
She mentions Rachel Trevor Morgan as a milliner that inspires her greatly.
Awards and Recognitions.
Accessories designer of the Year, Glitz Style Awards 2018
Ghana's Most Outstanding Woman 2019 (GOWA)
Notable Mentions.
Velma was featured on Vogue Italia along with sister, Ophelia Crossland and Nigerian designer, Torlowei for training young girls popularly known as Kayayei in fashion.


Boden Engineer Corps


Thomas Poole (tanner)

Thomas Poole (14 November 1766 – 8 September 1837) was a Somerset tanner, Radical philanthropist, and essayist, who used his wealth to improve the lives of the poor of Nether Stowey, his native village. He was a friend of several writers in the British Romantic movement, a benefactor of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his family, and an influence on the poems of Wordsworth.
Youth.
Poole was born in 1766 in the village of Nether Stowey, Somerset, the son of a successful tanner and farmer. He was, against his own wishes, denied much formal education by his father, who instead apprenticed him to the family tanning business. In spite of his dislike for tanning he became a master of the trade, well thought of by his competitors, and in his spare time studied French, Latin and the humanities and social sciences. In 1790 he went to London as delegate to a tanners' conference, and in 1791 was chosen by the conference to express their concerns to the Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger. His London experiences did much to radicalize Poole, and he returned to Somerset a confirmed advocate of the cause of democracy, though he hoped to promote it by peaceful means rather than revolution. In 1793 he started a local reading club which spread the teachings of Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Mary Wollstonecraft, and the same year he toured the Midlands dressed as a workman to research the living and working conditions of the poor. Within a few years he had attracted the hostile interest of the Home Office, who thought him a revolutionary agitator and are said to have rated him as the most dangerous person in the county. Even his relatives were thoroughly exasperated with him: "I wish he would cease to torment us with his democratick sentiments", his cousin Charlotte complained after one argument, while another cousin, with whom he had fallen in love, refused to marry him on political grounds. In the event, he never married.
The Coleridge circle.
In August 1794 Poole was visited by two young men, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, whose political views bore some similarity to his own. Both were fired up by doctrines of their own devising which they called Pantisocracy and aspheterism, respectively involving government by the whole of society and common ownership of property by society. They planned to realize these ideals in a commune in Kentucky made up of some two dozen of their friends and relations, though the scene was later shifted first to the Susquehanna River and then to Wales. Poole sympathized with the political idealism of this scheme, though he was too practical a man to have much faith in its chances of succeeding. He was deeply impressed by Coleridge's personality and "splendid abilities", and thought Southey "a mere Boy" by comparison. On another visit by Coleridge in 1795 Poole was inspired to write a poem of his own in tribute to his friend. In 1796 Poole wrote an article against the slave trade, which Coleridge published in his journal "The Watchman", and when that journal failed he organized an annuity to be paid Coleridge by himself and a group of friends. At the end of that year, rather against his better judgement, he found a cottage in Nether Stowey for Coleridge, who now wanted to live a rustic life with his wife Sara and baby son Hartley. A gate was built to connect Coleridge's new garden with Poole's, and Coleridge became a frequent visitor, sometimes studying in Poole's book parlour and sometimes writing, as with his poem "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison", which was composed in Poole's garden. Much local suspicion of Poole was roused by his housing such a notorious radical as Coleridge, and this only increased when in 1797 he was persuaded to look for a home for Coleridge's new friends William and Dorothy Wordsworth. Poole helped to secure them Alfoxton House a few miles away, which enabled Coleridge and the Wordsworths to visit each other and interchange ideas on an almost daily basis. Poole had, on first meeting Wordsworth, decided that he was the greatest man he had ever known, and Wordsworth in turn grew to hugely admire his probity, charity and genuineness. Poole was able to tell Wordsworth stories of Somerset life which later re-emerged in "The Somersetshire Tragedy" (an unpublished fragment), "Poor Susan", "The Idiot Boy", "The Farmer of Tilbury Vale", and probably "The Last of the Flock", while according to Wordsworth himself he had had Poole in mind when writing his poem "Michael". Poole may have promoted the literary partnership that produced the "Lyrical Ballads", but in doing so he also weakened Coleridge's ties to him; realizing this, he found himself for a while in rivalry with Wordsworth for Coleridge's friendship. The two poets departed for Germany together in 1798, leaving Poole to look after Coleridge's wife Sara, and though Coleridge returned the next year he soon went off to join Wordsworth in the Lake District.
Poole's friendship with the two men was thereafter largely conducted through letters and very occasional visits, and though Coleridge was able to be useful to Poole by getting a series of essays by him, called "Monopolists and Farmers", published in the "Morning Post", their personal relationship was never again so close. During the Stowey years their association had brought Poole into contact with men in the larger world of literature and ideas, who admired his sterling qualities. These included not only the three Lake Poets but also Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, John Thelwall, and Humphry Davy. In return he provided Coleridge with much-needed sympathy, practical help and sage advice. "We were well suited for each other", Coleridge later recalled. "[M]y animal Spirits corrected his inclinations to melancholy; and there was some thing both in his understanding & in his affection so healthy & manly, that my mind freshened in his company, and my ideas & habits of thinking acquired day after day more of substance & reality."
Later years.
In 1802, having handed over the management of his business to an assistant, he travelled widely on the Continent, meeting Thomas Paine in Paris. In London he became acquainted with the civil servant John Rickman, and at his suggestion did a good deal of statistical work in London intended to help implement the Poor Laws. He also continued to put his liberal theories into practice in Stowey, establishing the Female Friendly Society in 1807, the elementary school in 1812–13 (he donated the building for it), and the Co-operative Bank in 1817, and from 1814 until his death he was an active justice of the peace. Thomas De Quincey, who visited him in 1807, wrote that he "had so entirely dedicated himself to the service of his humble fellow countrymen, the hewers of wood and drawers of water in this southern region of Somersetshire, that for many miles round he was the arbiter of their disputes, the guide and counsellor of their daily lives". In 1817 Poole founded the Quantock Savings Bank.
de Quincy later agreed with Coleridge's description of Poole as an ideal model for a useful Member of Parliament. Coleridge himself continued to benefit from the old friendship: Poole helped to finance the poet's newspaper "The Friend" in 1809, and later young Hartley Coleridge's education at Oxford. In 1834 Coleridge died, leaving in his will four gold mourning rings to his wife and his three closest friends, including Poole. Poole himself died on 8 September 1837 at Nether Stowey, of pleurisy, at the age of 70.
De Quincey described Poole as "a stout plain-looking farmer". He was short and prematurely balding; slow and deliberate of speech; and his voice, the quality of which had been spoiled by snuff-taking, had a strong Somerset accent. His character is described by the Coleridge scholar Molly Lefebure as combining "idealism with strong practical common-sense, sound business acumen with a keen and stimulating intellect, and a robust sense of humour with great delicacy of feeling". This last characteristic was not invariable for he could be sententious and overbearing, so that his long-term friend Southey complained that "he was never content to be your friend, but he must be your saviour", nor was his temper to be implicitly relied on. He owes his place in literary history to his profound respect for the intellectual elite of his time, which, combined with his many fine personal qualities, enabled him to be an invaluable friend to Coleridge and others, and to live up to his own maxim, "Happy is the genius who has a friend ever near of "good sense"".


Experimental luthier

Experimental luthiers are luthiers who take part in alternative stringed instrument manufacturing (such as the guitar or violin) or create original string instruments altogether.
Plucked instruments.
In the experimental rock and free jazz scenes, some guitarists modified their instruments in the manner of John Cage's prepared piano. Keith Rowe and Fred Frith became known for playing these prepared guitars. The latter also crafted experimental table string instruments. In the early 1980s, Glenn Branca started building his own electric string instruments, called "mallet guitars," based on the harmonic canons of Harry Partch. Around the same time, Hans Reichel built several 3rd bridge guitars before he invented his daxophone, which he is known for. Bradford Reed developed his Pencilina in the mid-1980s. The Whamola, based on the Washtub bass, was developed in the nineties and became famous largely because it was used by Les Claypool.
In recent years, multiscale or fanned frets guitars and basses have started to emerge, as manufactured by Novax Guitars, Ormsby Guitars, and others. These instruments are supposed to offer an advantage over the classical fixed-scale guitars and basses by providing more freedom in setting the tension of each string at the design and manufacturing phases. This may produce a more uniform tension of the strings, and timbre and tonal characteristics differing from the usual fixed-scale instruments.
In the 1980s, Canadian luthier Linda Manzer created the Pikasso guitar, a 42-string guitar with three necks. It was popularized by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, who used it on the song "Into the Dream" and on several albums. Its name is ostensibly derived from its likeness in appearance to the cubist works of Pablo Picasso.
The Gittler guitar is an experimental designed guitar created by Allan Gittler (1928–2003), who proposed that "sentimental" design references to acoustic guitars are unnecessary in an electronically amplified guitar, and designed his instrument with the objective of reducing the electric guitar to the most minimal functional form possible. He made 60 guitars in New York from the mid-1970s to early 1980s.
In 2003, the Tritare was created by Samuel Gaudet and Claude Gauthier in Canada.
In 2006, Yuri Landman built his Moodswinger for the band Liars and afterward made a large series of alternative string instruments, such as the Moonlander for Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, the Springtime for Blood Red Shoes, and the Tafelberg drum guitar for The Dodos and others.
Micachu made a few string instruments of which one is called the "Chu." One of the strings of the Chu carries a large series of small rings and sounds like a snare drum when plucked.
Les Luthiers builds home made absurd comedic instruments and plays them in their presentations.
Bowed instruments.
The bazantar, invented by musician Mark Deutsch, is a five-string double bass with 29 sympathetic and 4 drone strings and has a melodic range of five octaves.
The Japanese multiinstrumentalist and experimental musical instrument builder Yuichi Onoue developed a hurdy-gurdy, similar to a fretless violin but with only two strings, called the kaisatsuko, and a deeply scalloped electric guitar for microtonal playing techniques.
Other.
The most well-known example of a multistringed tapped instrument is probably the Chapman Stick, developed in the early 1970s by Emmett Chapman. The Warr Guitar and the Kelstone (from Belgium) are alternative instruments that also function on the same playing technique; that is, tapping on the strings with both hands. The Chapman Stick is tuned in perfect fourths and perfect fifths.


Chief Royal Engineer

The Chief Royal Engineer (CRE) is the official head of the Corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army.
Origin and development.
Before the English Restoration a Chief Engineer was a pay grade and not defined. In 1660 King Charles II appointed Sir Charles Lloyd, who had served in the English Civil War, as head of a new department of engineers. The position was confirmed in a Royal Warrant (26 May 1716), which also authorised the formation of the Corps of Engineers.
When in 1802, Sir William Green, 1st Baronet retired, the office was abolished and Robert Morse became the newly created Inspector-General of Fortifications and of Royal Engineers (IGF). Until 1855 the Inspector-General was attached to the Board of Ordnance and then was subordinate directly to the Commander-in-Chief.
In 1862 the office was extended to Inspector-General of Engineers and Director of Work, keeping the affiliation in the former function while being now responsible to the Secretary of State for War in the latter. On the resignation of Edward Frome in 1869, both offices were separated for one year. The Director of Works was dropped in 1895 and the office was renamed to Inspector-General of Fortifications. It was again abolished in 1904 and replaced by the Director of Fortifications and Works.
Modern times.
In 1936 the post of Chief Royal Engineer was recreated and Sir Bindon Blood was appointed by King George V. Sir Bindon was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1860 and had a distinguished active career until he retired in 1907 aged 65. He was thus 94 years old when appointed Chief Royal Engineer. He resigned in 1940 and died a month later aged 97.
From 1941 until 2012 the professional head of the Corps was the Engineer-in-Chief (Army) (EinC(A)) who as 'Director of Royal Engineers', acted as the engineer advisor to the Chief of the General Staff (CGS) as well as to the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and other government ministries on matters of military engineering on behalf of the CGS. This post was disestablished following the Strategic Defence and Security Review and responsibility for the EinC’s duties split between the Commandant Royal School of Military Engineering (heritage and training), Commander 8 Engineer Brigade (force generation matters) and the Corps Colonel RE (manning matters and first point of contact with external agencies).
The Chief Royal Engineer is head of the Corps of Royal Engineers and invariably a distinguished officer of the Corps; his tenure in the post is normally for a period of five years. He is responsible for seeing that the Corps' traditions and customs are preserved and the continuity of important matters of Corps policy. He keeps the Colonel-in-Chief (Since 1952 Queen Elizabeth II) informed on Corps matters and maintains contact with engineer units in the Commonwealth. He will have previously served as a Colonel Commandant and will continue to fill one of the vacancies.
Chief Royal Engineers, 1660–1802.
"vacant for nine years"
"vacant for six years"