Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
Happy Independence Day.
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Yesterday I posted a photo of a newly dug lead seal that would have been used on a box car or crate. The interesting thing to me about bale seals is that they have been used in a very similar form and way for hundreds of years. There are two listed in the Mel Fisher artifact database: one from the Atocha and one from the Margarita. I'm sure they've found more than that, but that is what I found in the database.
Bale seals are common. They have been found many places and from many time periods. You can find a lot of them online.
The National Park Service, for example, reports on a SP&S railroad door lock seal being found.
This artifact, found by the Field School in a 50 cm x 50 cm shovel test near the northern terminus of the historic road (on the eastern edge of the Village, appears to be the remnants of a railroad boxcar door lock seal, made from lead and iron wire.
Much like the lead bale seals recovered from Hudson's Bay Company deposits, or with modern utility meter locks, these seals were utilized to ensure that the load on a boxcar had not been tampered with during transit from its point of loading to its point of delivery. The wire from the seal was placed through the boxcar door latch hasp, then the lead seal was crimped over the wire. upon delivery to its final destination, the seal was cut or torn from the hasp, and the boxcar door could be opened...
Here is the link for more about that.
I didn't explain how bale seals were used, so the above post explains that.
The one I found was missing the wires. I took another photo so the FEC seal to show where the wires were once attached. The arrows added to the photo shown below point to where the wires broke off.
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| Where Wires Broke Off The Seal. |
Over the years I've posted lead seals that I've found and that others have found. Those used on other railroads are included.
Of course they have evolved in recent years, and today seals come in a variety of forms and are made of a variety of materials. Here is one modern example.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...
The following paragraph is from wikipedia.
In 2018, the Global Slavery Index estimated that there are approximately 3.8 million people enslaved in China. Most of these slaves work in the manufacturing sector. In 2020, the USA warned American businesses against the use of supply chains utilizing Chinese facilities that use slave labor.
Check the label before you buy. Many red, white and blue partriotic T-shirts, fireworks and many other products are made in China. Think about supporting your neighbors and many minority workers and businesses rather than slavery and speeding America on the path towards becoming a colony of China. Your choice.
By the way, CSPAN televised the Republican investigation into the origins of COVID-19 yesterday. I hope you will take a look at what the witnesses, Giroir, Quay, Muller, and Asher had to say. I found the testimony of Asher, an expert on weapons of mass destruction, very interesting.
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gov |
It looks like we are out of Elsa's cone for now. And she isn't expected to be a hurricane when she hits Florida.