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Thursday, January 16, 2025

1/17/24 Report - White Horse Whiskey Bottles. Frog Leg Feistval. Flash Bak: Reader's Describe How To Clean Clad and Cobs.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.



Here are a couple of found bottles.  You can see the White Horses on each bottle.  On the shoulder of both of these brown bottles is the embossed FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE, which means the bottle dates to between 1935 and 1964.

Bottoms of Both Bottles.



The bottoms are embossed with the name of the company as well as the location.

On Sir Peter Mackie’s death in 1924, the company went through a re-organisation and non-core activities such as the BBM (Bone, Blood & Muscle) flour operation were sold off and the company changed its name to White Horse Distillers Ltd., after its best known product. The company also closed the Hazelburn distillery, despite trying to rebrand the product as a Kintyre whisky to overcome the poor reputation of Campbeltown whiskies at the time.

In 1927 White Horse Distillers Ltd. was taken over by the Distillers Company Ltd (DCL) which, for a number of years, used it as a holding company and granted it the licence to a number of distilleries including Lagavulin and Glen Elgin.

DCL also withdrew White Horse blended whisky from its home market, concentrating on overseas sales, and, although the whisky itself is still produced, new owner Diageo dissolved White Horse Distillers Ltd. as a company in 2010...

Here is the link for more information about the White Horse Whiskey Distillers.

White Horse Distillers | Scotch Whisky


I just added these bottle to the tgbottlebarn.blogspot.com site.

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When you get back from the beach or if you think it is too cold, you can go to the Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival.


Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival T-Shirt.

Have you ever been to the Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival? 

The 33rd Annual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival will be held January 18th – 21st at 22 South Orange St, in Fellsmere, Florida. They will have frog legs, gator, live music, carnival rides, exhibitors, and more. All proceeds will go to the recreational needs of Fellsmere youth & senior league ball fields.

I want to see the winner of the Miss Frog Legs competition.  Just kidding.  

Maybe they'll have one next year.  I can only hope.

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The old TreasureBeachesReport.blogspot.com site has been getting thousands of views every day and one of the most viewed is an old post on cleaning modern clad and silver cobs.  Since it has been getting so much attention, I decided to post part of that old post below.

First, and immediately below is how Alberto S. used a tumbler to clean clad coins.


I received a gift from my wife this past Christmas, a rock tumbler from Harbor Freight, I believe is the one you mentioned in previous posts. I finally decided to give a try using a recipe from a you tube video on the subject of cleaning clad found at the beach. 

Coins Tumbled For Two Hours.
Photo by Alberto S.

The recipe calls for a 2 hour pre-wash with water and regular fish tank gravel and then a 2 hour wash using table salt, dish washing liquid, vinegar and CLR which is the solution for removing calcium, lime and rust. I tried it on some nickels(one penny in the bunch) and the results were pretty good, see the photo above.

Same Coins After Second Two-Hour Wash.
Photo by Alberto S.

One thing I did  notice on another batch of nickels that if once removed from the tumbler after the second wash and the coins are not washed with fresh water soon after and removed from the gravel to dry they will develop some stains, which I think might be from the CLR solution not sure. Anyway, thank you for the tip about the tumbler, works really good.


Hope you  are having a great day.

Alberto S. 


---


Below is a method Bill P. describes for cleaning silver cobs.  I've also used it with good results.



Bill's Silver Cob Cleaning Method


Use this method at your own risk. This writer accepts no responsibility for misuse or ignorance or neglect for any person or party and for informational purposes only.


 This process uses diluted Muriatic Acid which is commonly used around swimming pools. It can be purchased pretty much anywhere pool chemicals are sold.


 A few precautions must be addressed first though. Here is a link to Bob Vila's Info on this acid https://www.bobvila.com/articles/muriatic-acid/ .


 As stated in the Bob Vila article, I cannot emphasize enough that water should NEVER be poured into acid to dilute it. The reverse is the only way it should be done...acid into water. This acronym should be in the forefront of your thoughts when using any acid...AAA - Always Add Acid!


 How to neutralize acid; baking soda neutralizes acid very quickly so make sure you have enough on hand.


 Muriatic acid is readily available at most home improvement stores in ½ and 1 gallon sizes. It is typically a 31% strength from the bottle. I generally cut this in half to roughly 15% strength and it seems to work perfectly but you may want to experiment (again, AAA).


 I suggest that you treat one cob at a time. I use a shot glass so not much acid is required. Place the appropriate amount of acid into the shot glass and gently place the cob into the container(no splashing please). Depending on how heavily it's encrusted, it should start fizzing immediately. It may take several treatments to dissolve the encrustation but in my experience once is enough.


 Remove the cob from the solution and if you only have one cob, neutralize the acid in the glass and on the cob at once. The cob will have a dull gray color.


 Next take a small amount of baking soda (not baking powder), place it in the palm of your hand, add a couple drops of water to make a paste. Then gently rub the cob between your fingers until a bright silver sheen is revealed. It's that simple.


 In the case of stubborn encrustation there is another method that works although not as reliable as the acid treatment. However it is much safer because there are no caustic chemicals involved.


 You will need baking soda, aluminum foil and hot tap water. Make a paste with the baking soda and water, fold a small piece of foil in half, fill the folded foil with the paste and sandwich the cob in between. The whole thing may become warm as the aluminum and baking soda react. There also may be some fizzing. Once this is complete, you polish the cob as previously stated.


 It is my belief that using electrolysis can damage a cob. Years ago I watched a video when the early 1715 salvors were attempting to clean clumps of encrusted cobs. They dumped the clumps into a tub and poured muriatic acid over all of it. I never saw the finished product I'm sure it was effective.


You may want to try this first on a common silver coin instead on a cob...for your own peace of mind.


Silver and copper are insoluable in dilute Muriatic acid at room temperature.


Give it a shot!
Bill P. 


Here is the link to that post.


Wednesday, January 15, 2025

1/16/24 Report - Win an Eight-Reale. Millions of People Taking a Dip Wearing Very High Karat Gold. Detectorists Using AI and a Few Examples.


Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.




The above is an email from Sedwick Coins describing the chance to win an eight-reale.

---

Photo from SpiritDaily.com.

400 million expected to gather at the Maha Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival that happens every 12 years at the intersection of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. (
Incredible Numbers Set For Indian Event)


As per Hindu mythology, gold is considered as the soul of the world...

  • Golden color represents a symbol of success, achievement and triumph.

  • In India, gold and jewelery expenses constitute between 30-50% of the total amount spent in a marriage.

  • Gold gifted to the bride is called ‘stridhan’ and it is exclusively her property in her new house.

Significance of Gold in the lives of Indians | Utsavpedia

Indians wear a lot of high karat gold too. 

If you think our tourist beaches are sometimes busy, look at that.

I'd love the check out the Ganges out with a metal detector but never will.  There has to be some gold to be found there.

---

Mark G. has been exploring the uses of AI - Copilot in particular.  For example, he queried Copilot on the movement of sand during a north wind.  He received some relevant responses.

Below is a sample of his conversation with Copilot.  (Me) indicates Mark's input, and (Copilot) indicates Copilot's response.

 

(Me) I live in south Florida and have been watching the sand movement on the beach along the Atlantic coast. what does a wind from the north do to the sand?

 

(Copilot) Ah, the ever-dynamic dance of sand and wind! North winds along the Atlantic coast of South Florida generally push sand southward. This movement is part of the coastal processes that continuously reshape the shoreline. It's fascinating how wind direction and speed, combined with wave action, can lead to the gradual migration of sand along the coast.

So, if you’re seeing winds from the north, expect to see sand being transported southward, potentially causing changes in the beach’s profile over time. Have you noticed any significant changes in the beach where you live?

 

(Me) Yes where the southerly winds blow the beach forms mounds of sand with troughs in between?

 

(Copilot) That's a great observation! Those mounds and troughs are often called "sand dunes" and "interdune areas," respectively. Southerly winds can create these formations by pushing sand inland and along the coast. Over time, the sand accumulates in specific areas, forming those characteristic mounds. The troughs or lower areas between dunes can be shaped by various factors, including wind patterns, wave action, and even the presence of vegetation.

It's fascinating to see how natural forces continuously reshape our coastline, isn't it? Have you noticed any other interesting changes or patterns in the beach environment?

 

(Me) Can you look at the weather forecast and tell me when these conditions will be right?

 

(Copilot) Based on the weather forecast for South Florida, it looks like there might be some conditions that could lead to beach erosion and cuts in the near future:

  • Wednesday, January 16: Expect north winds at 10 to 20 mph with intervals of clouds and sunshine. There's a slight chance of rain showers1.
  • Thursday, January 17: North winds continue at 10 to 15 mph with a few showers developing late in the day.
  • Friday, January 18: Winds shift to the northeast at 10 to 20 mph, with some rain showers possible.

These conditions, especially the strong north winds and potential rain showers, could contribute to beach erosion and cuts. Keep an eye on the weather and the beach during these days!

Is there anything else you'd like to know about beach dynamics or weather patterns?

 

I hope Mark can check to see how accurate the Jan. 16 - Jan. 18 prediction works out.



AI might help answer some of your questions.  You might want to explore using it yourself.


For example, just to test it out, I queried Copilot on the K S & S glass makers mark and Copilot got it right.


AI scans tons of material to build its knowledge base.  


By the way, the TreasureBeachesReport.blogspot.com web site received over 1100 views yesterday, which is pretty high, but not real unusual.


AI has been under development for a decades.  Here is a book from my library published in 1989.


1989 AI Book.


---


Source: Surfguru.com.


The surf will be decreasing from Wednesday, but we're supposed to have more  north winds.



Tuesday, January 14, 2025

1/15/2025 Report - Mystery Items: Can You identify Them? Silver and Gold Prices and Ratios. From King Menes To Modern Times.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.


Mystery Item.

What are the items shown above?  Do you know?

How about the one below?

Mystery Item 2

My wife taught Sunday School to little kids.  They loved the mystery box.  

The mystery box held an object having to do with the lesson.  The kids would put there hand in the box and feel the object and try to guess what the object was.   They always enjoyed it.

Funny thing is, I saw a TV program with a couple Miami Dolphin football players, and they did the same thing.  I can't remember what the obect i9n the box was, but they seemed to enjoy trying to guess the identity of the object too.  I don't remember what the object was,   All I remember was the big football players doing the mystery box just like the six-year-olds.

And I also enjoy, as do some of my readers, trying to figure out what the mystery finds are.  I guess it is a natural and useful function for human success.  People need to be able to identify objects, as well as patters and other things.  One of the first accomplishments, of a newborn is recognizing a mother's face.  

Anyhow, above are two mystery items.  The link below will take you to a site that tells you what those two obejcts and several others, are.  Take a look.

16 Weird Items Identified By People On The Internet

Thanks to DJ for sending that link.

---

The spot price of gold is currently around $2692 and the spot price of silver is around $30 per ounce.  Both are down from November highs.

Below are the one-year charts for each.


That is in terms of US dollars of course.

Below are percentage gains or losses for various historical periods for both silver and gold.





You can see that over a twenty year period, gold increased 529% while silver increased about 350%.

In those terms, gold did quite a bit better over the last twenty years.

The gold to silver ration is about 88:1 at the present, but that hasn't always been the relationship.  Governments have attempted to set the relative values at different times in the past.

Here is a chart showing the gold to silver ratio, which, as you can see has changed significantly over the years.



For a clearer gold to silver ratio chart see Gold to Silver Ratio - 100 Year Historical Chart | MacroTrends

Instead of thinking in terms of dollars you can think about how much silver would it take to buy an ounce of gold.  At present, it would take about 88 ounces of silver to buy an ounce of gold.

But sometimes it would take more or less silver to buy an ounce of gold.  That is something you might consider if you are thinking about buying or selling either gold or silver.  You might want to sell silver to buy gold when silver is more valuable relative to gold.

Too bad most dealers will take a good percentage on both ends of the transaction, but you might be able to work a swap.


Here are some interesting facts.


From a mining perspective, annual silver production averages around 800 million ounces per year, and gold production a little over 100 million ounces. That would give a gold-silver ratio of around 8-1.

The earliest recorded gold-silver ratio was by King Menes of Ancient Egypt when he set the ratio at 2.5-1.

Rome set a gold-silver ratio of 8-1 in the early years of the empire in 210 BCE. As gold and silver flowed into Rome through its conquests, the ratio fluctuated, rising as high as 12-1. Julius Caesar established a gold-silver ratio of 11.5-1 and Augustus bumped it up to 11.75-1.

Around the ancient world, the gold-silver ratio ranged between 6-1 and 12-1 with Asian and Middle Eastern empires valuing silver slightly more, thus setting slightly narrower ratios.

The U.S. Congress fixed a gold-silver ratio of 15-1 in its 1792 coinage act. This compared to a 15.5-1 ratio set by France in 1803.

A bi-metallic monetary system proved to be unwieldy and European countries began to demonetize silver in the mid-19th century... by World War II, the gold-silver ratio had spread to as much as 40-1...

In the modern era, the gold-silver ratio has averaged between 40-1 and 60-1. 

Since the U.S. completely abandoned the gold standard in 1972, there appears to be some correlation between the gold-silver ratio and central bank money creation. The spread tends to drop when the Fed turns up the printing press and spreads when the central bank attempts to tighten monetary policy...

Here is the link for the rest of that article.

What Is the Gold-Silver Ratio? Why Should We Pay Attention to It?

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Since I've been metal detecting, I've seen both gold and silver got significantly higher and lower prices,  There was also the time the Hunt brothers cornered a large part of the silver market and drove silver prices higher.

---

We had north winds again today.  The surf will be increasing Wednesday.


Source: Surfguru.com.

Good hunting,

Treqasureguide@comcast.net

1/14/24 Report - Beach Erosion and Effects of Some Erosion Abatemennt Methods. Cache of Gold Coins Discovered. Slightly Increasing Surf.

 

Written by the TreaureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.


Burned Malibu Beach Front Homes.

Before I begin today, I wanted to report that I had a problem with my email and didn't get emails for several days.  The emails showed up today, so I'll be catching up on them.  

Sorry if I didn't respond to your recent emails, but they weren't received until this morning.

----

If you ever saw the opening to the Three and a Half Men TV show, you saw houses like this along Malibu Beach.  While it is uncertain if Charlie's TV home was actually on the strip of Malibu beach shown in the TV show opening, the above photo shows the general area that is shown in the opening.  I don't think this is the exact area shown at the beginning of the program.  The TV opening shows something that I think would be more to the north of that shown above.  But notice the beach here.  There isn't much of it.  There appears to be seawalls and some older groins.  

A recent study reported on the Down to Earth site, declares, "33% of world’s sandy beaches have hardened, scientists warn of severe coastline loss."  It goes on the warn, "Coastline of nearly 52,080 km is estimated to be lost by end of century.

The warnings of disappearing beaches worldwide is not new, but this study attempts to quantify the loss.

Continuing, they say...

About 33 per cent of the world’s sandy beaches have hardened. The Bay of Bengal occupies first position with 84 per cent coastal hardening, a new study has revealed.

Coastal hardening refers to ‘rigid’, semi-impermeable structures created by humans that alter the natural landscape, potentially obstructing the shoreline retreat, and landward translation of sandy beaches, the study stated.

These structures include impervious surfaces or infrastructure such as seawalls, harbours, roads, highways, buildings, railway revetments or other urban structures...

It is a constant job to maintain buildings too close the water.  And erosion control structures just don't work for ever. Even when it appears to work somewhat, the long term and larger effect is negative.

You can see it many places along the Treasure Coast.  Look around Bathtub Beach for a good example.  Around places like Miami, you can see remnants of groins.  You can see the erosion below the Fort Pierce Inlet, where they replenish virtually every year, and sometimes twice-a-year.

Seawalls lead to sand loss in front of the wall.  In the past I showed in a post how sand accumulates on one side of a fallen log in the Indian River and the erodes and accumulates on the other side.  The sand switches from one side to the other with the change in wind and surf.  

Down south you would often find good hunting spots in shallow water between the groins, or what remained of them.  One side would be good for a while, and then when the wind changed the other side would erode and expose treasures on that side.

They put concrete blocks along the bank to protect Indian River Drive after the hurricanes of 2004.  They didn't change much for ten years or so but now the wall of blacks is falling in almost everywhere.  You can see the relentless effect of the water along the Indian River even though the water force is not nearly as great as that along the sea beaches.  It seemed that the blocks slowed the erosion, but eventually they started to fail.  And there are a few spots where they didn't get permission from the landowners to put the blocks, and those areas have eroded almost back to the road.  A hardened area reflects more force onto the nearby areas.  While seawalls protect the land behind the walls for a span of years, the same seawalls will cause loss of sand in front of the seawall.

Along the west bank of the Indian River where they put the blocks, there was a decent beach along most of the area.  Now there is very little beach along the same area.

Here is a link for more of the study mentioned above.

33% of world’s sandy beaches have hardened, scientists warn of severe coastline loss

Besides all the junk, I'm sure there will be some good items left on the beach from all the destruction, and it is possible that some of it will be found by a detectorist in the future after time has separated some of it out.

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Some of the 1,700-year-old gold coins, which feature portraits of eight Roman emperors and the illegitimate emperor Eugenius. (Image credit: C. Nosbusch/INRA)

"Secret" excavations in Luxembourg reveal 141 Roman gold coins from eight Roman emperors and one usurper...

The team unearthed 141 gold coins, which were minted between A.D. 364 and 408, in Holzthum, a village in northern Luxembourg. The coins feature portraits of eight emperors, but three coins portrayed an unexpected ruler: Eugenius, an illegitimate emperor of the Western Roman Emperor, who reigned for only two years (392 to 394)...

The gold coins are solidi, a term that comes from the Latin "solidus," meaning "solid" — a reference to their consistently reliable gold content. The coins, each of which weighs approximately 0.16 ounce (4.5 grams), were introduced at the beginning of the fourth century during the era of the "Later Roman Empire." The solidus remained relatively stable for centuries and spread throughout the entire Mediterranean region...

Here is the link for more about that.



There will always be old treasures like this out there to be found when someone is at the right place at the right time.

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Source: SurfGuru.com.


The wind switched again. The surf will be increasing.  The surf isn't very high, and the tides are not huge now,

Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

Monday, January 13, 2025

1/13/24 Report - Early Spanish Exploriation into the United States. Silver for Silk and the Manilla Galleons. Fine Silver Works From Centuries Ago.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.


Source: The Spanish Entrada and Northern New Spain - Another Time in This Place


The Spanish Entrada and Northern New Spain. 

 Just to get you started, below are a couple brief excerpts from a good article about the early explorations by the Spanish into Northern New Spain, including parts of the United States.


The first European to enter the Upper Rio Grande area and Sangre de Cristo Mountains was probably Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. In 1540 he started from Mexico City on his journey of exploration to the Pacific Ocean and through what is now Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. A member of his army, Hernandao de Alvarado is credited with discovering Taos Pueblo, which he called Braba (19). He described the pueblo as having three stories of adobe and then another two to three stories made of wood. He estimated the population at 15,000, an exaggeration! Braba was visited by another contingent from Coronado’s army a few months later and these soldiers described two pueblos, one on each side of the river...

The first Spanish colonizers of New Mexico came with the Oñate conquest in 1598. Don Juan de Onate brought 130 soldiers and their families with him that year (a total of 400 men, women, and children, 83 wagons and carts, and 7000 head of cattle (21) and 80 more soldiers in 1600. According to Fray Angelico Chavez, only 40 of these soldiers established permanent residence in this new land. At this point, the “Kingdom of New Mexico” (22) stretched from Taos Pueblo in the north to Guadalupe del Paso (Ciudad Juarez) in the south, west to the Hopi pueblos and east to Pecos, the Galisteo Basin, and the Manzanos Mountains...

Here is the link for much more about that.

The Spanish Entrada and Northern New Spain - Another Time in This Place

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And below are a couple excerpts from an article about the Manila galleons and trade.

 After the Manila galleon trade began, merchants from New Spain and other viceroyalties of the Spanish Americas acquired all sort of luxury products from Asia, especially silks. Chinese silks became popular because they cost less than Spanish-made silks and were fancier than locally made clothes. A letter written by a Spanish official in Lima to Philip II around the end of the sixteenth century noted, “A man can clothe his wife in Chinese silks for two hundred reals [which is worth 25 pesos], whereas he could not provide her clothing of Spanish silks with two hundred pesos.”...

Though local merchants and residents of New Spain usually welcomed the Manila galleon trade, the Spanish government was too remote to benefit from the trade directly. Instead, authorities back in Spain were concerned about silver draining out of their colonies. The crown sought to prevent colonists in New Spain and Peru from importing Chinese merchandise. Philip II’s decree on October 17th, 1585 stated that, “Inasmuch as the trade in Chinese materials has increased to excessive proportions …we order and command the viceroys of Peru and New Spain to prohibit and suppress, without fail, this commerce and trade between both kingdoms, by all the ways and means possible…this prohibition shall be kept strictly and shall continue to be so kept.” Philip’s concerns were not baseless. The amount of silver sent from New Spain to China reached approximately one million pesos by 1600; this number doubled by 1700 and may have reached three to four million pesos during the eighteenth century.... 

And here is the link for much more about that.

Silk-Trade-4.1-Reading-4-The-Manila-Galleon-Trade.pdf


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If you've ever made the mistake of correlating crudeness with the age of an item, as I have done, these 17th Century items prove how great a mistake that can be.


Fine Silver Works From Centuries Ago.
The Galleon and Ostrich are 17th Century.

If you've ever wondered about the quality of workmanship from centuries ago, below is a link to a video showing some very fine examples.


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Source: SurfGuru.com.

We've had a few days of north winds and swells.  I'd expect to find some nice washed out spots even though the surf hasn't been too high.

There is some higher surf coming.

Good hunting,
Treausreguide@comcast.net

Sunday, January 12, 2025

1/12/24 Report - Third-Man Phenomena Experiences in History. Sitting Up and Looking Around.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.




Ernest Shackleton
Public Domani Photo,

Detectorists seek the invisible.  Treasure is invisible to the seeker at the beginning of the search and often remains concealed, waiting for another day.

I just learned about what is called the "third-man phenomena." T. S. Eliot's wrote of it in the Waste Land, which was for a long time one of my favorite poems. Here is part of it.

“Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
—But who is that on the other side of you?”



In the distant past, when I read Eliot I didn't know about the third-man phenomena. In fact I didn't know about it until just yesterday when I found an article about it.
 
The phenomenon was often experienced by people under extreme and often life-threatening circumstances who during those circumstances sensed the presence of another person, which, remained unseen but in some cases seemed to provide assistance. 

The phenomena has been described by historic figures, mountain climbers, described by divers, survivors of the Towers on 911, mountain climbers and others. Below are a couple excerpts describing the experience.


In May 1916, Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton (shown above) set out on a seemingly impossible mission. Having lost his ship Endurance to the ice and left the bulk of his crew on Elephant Island, he and two others set out to seek help at a whaling station in Stromness. Shackleton later confessed that he felt there was a “fourth” person who guided them during the arduous trek through the mountains.

“I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia it seemed to me often that we were four, not three,” he wrote in his book South....



Royal Australian Navy photo.


Henry Stoker, a Royal Navy officer, was captured during World War I. He spent three years as a prisoner of war in the Ottoman Empire, during which he was often subjected to solitary confinement. “I was confined in a cell, 10ft. square, to which practically no daylight could penetrate,” he later wrote, “and in which bugs, fleas, and rats abounded.”...

Eventually, Stoker decided to try to escape. He and two others managed to flee the prison, during which time Stoker and his companions began to feel that there was a “fourth” man among them. The figure’s friendly presence was especially strong when they found themselves in a tight spot, but seemed to vanish when the immediate “danger” passed.

Though Stoker and his companions were recaptured after 18 days on the run — he was repatriated to England in December 1918 — his encounter with “third man syndrome” left a strong impression...

Here is a link to one article giving those and many more detailed accounts.

Third Man Syndrome: 9 Shocking Stories Of Survival

There are many more interesting and similar, but examples described in the article.

Some think that the invisible forces are clearly angels.  Others prefer alternative explanations.  Some have offered a psychological explanation.  No matter how you explain it, the phenomena is real to those who experience it.  The remarkable experiences have influenced historic individuals and perhaps history.

As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 


Besides T. S. Eliot I liked Kurt Vonnegut.  There is one line that always stuck out to me.  I remember fifty or so years ago mentioning that line from Cat's Cradle to an Introduction to Psychology class.  It would have been some time in the early seventies, but I still like it.  Below is the entire piece.



Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

“God made mud.
God got lonesome.
So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!"
"See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the
sky, the stars."
And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look
around.
Lucky me, lucky mud.
I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
Nice going, God.
Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly
couldn't have.
I feel very unimportant compared to You.
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to
think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and
look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!
Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw!
Good night.
I will go to heaven now.
I can hardly wait...
To find out for certain what my wampeter was...
And who was in my karass...
And all the good things our karass did for you.
Amen.”

― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle  (Quote by Kurt Vonnegut: “God made mud. God got lonesome. So God said to ...”)
I do feel fortunate to be among the dirt that got to sit up and take a look around.  Awareness itself, is an amazing treasure.  Some take gold as the color of awareness, one characteristic that accounts for its desirability among some societies. 

A "wampeter" (mentioned in Cat's Cardle), as defined by Vonnegut, "is an object around which the lives of many otherwise unrelated people may revolve. The Holy Grail would be a case in point."

---


Source: SurfGuru.com.

Today we have a northish wind and swell, but a smaller surf and moderate tides.

I know I probably got too philosophical and literary for some readers, but that is what, for some reason, I felt like saying today.  Sorry.


Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net