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Comments:
Source - 2005-01-26 12:48:09 Can you post a link? I tried searching the MLive site for the story in the AANews, to no avail. Does anyone else hate the MLive site as much as I do? I think it's a web usability mess...* * * * * * * * * * * * addiann - 2005-01-26 14:19:32I just encountred it for the first time, doing what you were doing, and absolutely agree!* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-26 14:49:53 Oops, sorry, Dan--the News hasn't written it yet, sorry, I should have made that clear. They just interviewed the A.F. I'll be sure to post a link when they do get around to writing it. MLive is a horrible site, useability-wise.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-26 15:20:14 Steamroller trivia: Turns out President Polk named Lake Erie in 1845 after the inventor of the steamroller, Bucyrus Erie.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura, gratuitously - 2005-01-26 15:21:49 (and that's just the flat truth). :)* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-26 15:54:54 Your just never happy are you Dan?* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-26 16:09:20 Oh, he seemed happy enough the other day when he made the blue-ribbon-winning super-mega gun pun. He's right about MLive--it's hard to navigate, takes forever to load (I don't even mess with it on my home dialup) and, you know, the content (cough) isn't exactly Pulitzer material. I was reading a story last night about Antonin Scalia speaking in town on Tuesday and I didn't have the faintest idea, at the end, of what he actually said. The whole article was a complete muddle. Very poorly written. Later I found a slightly better one. Still nothing special, though. The Free Press has some much better writers--columnist Brian Dickerson, for one, and several very sharp staff writers.* * * * * * * * * * * * lynne - 2005-01-26 16:42:58 I have always liked that cannon but never really gave much thought to how it got there. It is kind of cool that it has an interesting story. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-26 16:46:50 It does have a very interesting story. Presumably the steamroller had a 9-horsepower engine or stronger. Can you imagine driving your 8-horse team part way up Cross, with that giant thing in the back, and feeling the horses...kind of...losing their...momentum--yikes, no wagon brake would hold that wagon on the hill. Scary. They really took chances back then.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-26 17:03:19 I should add that our cannon is a Parrott Rifled cannon, cast at West Point in the 1860s and used for sea defense in Fort McCeary, or maybe McCreary, in Maine.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-26 18:19:24 Cannons are cool. Like just about everyone, I have a postcard of Prospect Park with the cannon. Also Luna Pond. Plymouth used to have a Civil War cannon in a small park, and may still have it somewhere. I worked with a group of elementary school-age children one time to wrap it like a Christo project. We went to city hall and had an audience with the city manager. We checked with the police chief. Then we took many yards of muslin and wound it all around the big gun. The kids didn't know anything about art, but they sure enjoyed the opportunity to climb on that cannon without getting yelled at.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-26 18:22:53 Poor Luna Pond. It's Luna Parched Dip right now as you know. There's a desultory puddle if it rains, but it's soon gone. There's a spray-fountain that doesn't spray. Other than that it's lovely. I *wish* I had a postcard of the cannon, (where does one buy such things outside of eBay?) but unfortunately do not.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-26 18:58:45 Prospect Park, Ypsilanti, Michigan The cannon * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-26 19:07:08 Prospect Park, Ypsilanti, Michigan Luna Pond * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-26 19:09:34 HTML is unforgiving. At least with a cannon you can duck or jump in the pond to hide.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-26 20:38:11 Great picture. That is so nice that you posted that--thanks, Raymond. I wish we'd shoot it off every Fourth of July, maybe aiming it at that hideous burned out-house right back of the Thompson Building. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-26 20:40:30 The picture of Luna Pond is a good one too, although the trees look like they're made out of styrofoam. I note the bank of flowers on the north side...how poor Luna Pond has fallen.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-27 09:10:47 I have often fantasized about taking a torch, heating the barrell so it expands, pulling out the cement cork out of the end, and loading the bastard up. Then let er rip into the neighborhood.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-27 09:23:54 Bet it's loud. Was trying to remember if the little pyramid of (welded-together?) cannonballs is still there.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-01-27 13:01:04 BTW, thanks Laura. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-27 13:07:39 You're more than welcome. * * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-27 17:35:12 Yeah, I've also had fantasies about blasting a couple of rounds from the cannon. From the size of the cannon, I assume it shot 20 pound projectiles. I think with a little tweaking of the base it could be aimed at Arthur's on Michigan Ave. Since it is a rifled gun, it would be far more accurate than a smoothbore cannon. I imagine few tears would be shed if Arthur's became a crater. You could also shoot grapeshot out of it and turn all of the houses downrange into sawdust, but that would be excessive.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-27 17:37:00 I wonder what the range would be. Would Mich. Ave. be about as far as we could aim? * * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-27 22:52:08 My guess was way off - that cannon looks to be a 8" bore 200 pound parrot or a 10" bore 300 pound parrot. The 200 pound gun shoots a 150 pound projectile, the 300 pounder a 250 pound projectile. Both can launch a projectile 5 miles. It looks like it's aimed south. What is 5 miles south of the park?* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-28 08:03:56 At five miles the cannon could remodel some of the oversized doll-houses Pulte is putting up at Tuttle Hill and Merritt.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-28 09:18:03 Yep, that's about five miles, sure enough. I'm amazed LF found the info. Five miles--good heavens, I had no idea it could go that far!* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-28 10:59:31 The average Pulte home might collapse if a shell landed 200 yards away from it. From what I have seen, quantity reigns over quality at Pulte.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-28 11:12:20 I don't know much about it; have you noticed anything in particular LF? Just wondering.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-28 13:50:25 In fairness to Pulte, all of the mega-builders have quality issues related to the experience and skill of the subcontractors that work on the projects. Due to the volume of homes built in the past 8-10 years, it has been difficult for many builders to find competent employees and suncontractors. Therefore, it is decidely uncool for me to single out Pulte.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-28 14:26:20 That's interesting to learn a bit about how the industry works, though. I wonder who designs the "look" of them; I find them so unattractive, personally.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-28 17:24:08 The cannon has been emasculated, by the way. The heap of shot are gone. Its still a beaut, though, standing erect.. Moreover, the cannon has a name.* * * * * * * * * * * * brett - 2005-01-28 18:04:09 please forgive my impertinence, but methinks thou dost hitteth the crack pipe too hard this day. Lake Erie was named after the Indian tribe, long before 'young Hickory' came along.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-28 18:33:32 Maybe it was Mister Erie that was named after the tribe. The age-old question remains: which came first, the people or the lake? Then there is the question of the city. Bucyrus? Please.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-28 19:59:32 Those are gorgeous pictures, Raymond--thank you so much for posting them. the Black Fox it is then. Brett: that sounds more accurate. Steamroller story must be a mossy old urban legend, perhaps one of our older ones. Thanks for the clarification.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-30 14:26:32 YD and I passed through Stockbridge yesterday after a trip to Elderly Instruments in Lansing. Stockbridge also has a Parrott Rifle, on the town square. It looks to be a 5.3" bore 60 pounder or a 6.4" bore 100 pounder. Looks paltry compared to the Black Fox. I wonder if a community can suffer from cannon envy? * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-30 16:58:23 Sounds like you took the back roads, as I would have. May I ask, what is Elderly Instruments? I'm curious to know if you play one. Anyways, that is interesting about Stockbridge's cannon. Yes, I'm pretty sure that communities suffer from cannon envy. Why, just look at Ann Arbor's stubby little 2-foot cannon on the west side of the Grad Library. More like a Pale Chihuahua than a Black Fox.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-31 12:51:38 You know, I had forgotten about that cannon at the grad library. If I remember correctly, it is seige mortar fron the Spanish-American War. A seige mortar is designed to lob their ammunition over fortifications and walls. The backroads are far more interesting than boring old I-96. Elderly Instruments is renowned nationally as an exceptional stringed instrument dealer. They are in an old Oddfellows hall on Washington St. in the Old Town section of Lansing. They have a lot of old and collectible mandolins, banjos and guitars. In fact, they have some really nice mandolins built by Gibson in Kalamazoo in the teens and twenties of the last century. As for playing, YD plays mandolin, guitar and banjo and i've been plucking bass and guitar off and on for about 25 years. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-31 12:56:21 Oh, a seige mortar; that makes sense, since it's so relatively small. Not a cannon proper ar all, then. The back roads down to Toledo, where my parents live, are much more interesting and peaceful than US-23. That's very cool, as far as both of you are concerned, that you can play so many instruments between you. I'm impressed. Banjo is cool.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-31 12:59:57 I should add this addendum: Even though I've been plucking off and on for 25 years, I am still a hack with a lot to learn. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-31 13:00:50 Bet it sounds good anyways, never mind your modesty.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-31 13:19:44 I've been driving all over Hell's Half Acre for work for about 18 years now, and I take backroads whenever time permits. It's fascinating, the older communities and the ghost towns, of which you have written about at length. The most interesting Michigan ghost town that i've been to was Marlboro, just south of Baldwin in Lake county. A marl deposit was discovered that was estimated to last for 100 years (marl was used in concrete). The economy grew exponentially, and there was a bank with fluted (ionic?, doric?)columns 8 feet in diameter and an opera house. Alas, the marl only held out for 10 years and Marlboro was a ghost town almost overnight. The columns were still there in the woods 10 years ago, although they were toppled long ago.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-31 13:23:24 Wow! Oh, I'd so love to see that, and photograph it at length! I'll have to check a map and see where Lake County is. Great tip, LF. Thank you. I have nothing but curiosity about places like that and would just love to wander around there. Eight feet in diameter, good heavens. That must be something incredible to see. * * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-31 13:23:24 oops - I spelled it like the cigarettes - it's actually Marlborough* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-31 13:24:56 Oh. I've seen both spellings of -boro/ugh old towns in MI. Dixboro was spelled both ways at different times in the past.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-31 13:33:22 Another addendum - column diameter probably in the 5 to 6 foot range. Eight feet just seems too big.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-31 13:36:45 Still--quite amazing. I can just picture the columns, fallen in a gloomy and quiet thicket, sprinkled with leaves. I would love to poke around...there's probably other interesting vestiges of the town there, too, I bet. How interesting.* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |