Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Nice Piece of Muntz Metal Found by John H. |
John H. wrote about this nice piece of Muntz metal he found. Here is what he said.
I often find little strips of brass looking metal pieces from Fort Pierce to Stuart along the beach. I have always wondered if they were remnants of bomb fragments from the days when the military used to practice along the coast, maybe some of them are. I recently found one that had markings on it, and thought you and your readers might find it interesting.
Now if I knew what those little aluminum blobs came from... My life would be complete.
I often find little strips of brass looking metal pieces from Fort Pierce to Stuart along the beach. I have always wondered if they were remnants of bomb fragments from the days when the military used to practice along the coast, maybe some of them are. I recently found one that had markings on it, and thought you and your readers might find it interesting.
Now if I knew what those little aluminum blobs came from... My life would be complete.
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| Bigger View of Patent Mark on Muntz Metal Find. |
John also sent the two links below.
And below are two posts in which I talked about Muntz metal finds in the past.
That post included this reference link.
https://www.copper.org/education/history/60centuries/industrial_age/copperand.html
And in 2014 Greg S., of Galveston, Texas, sent me a photo of a very similar piece he found, along with the pencil drawing of the mark showing a 33 where John's piece shows a 26.
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| Muntz Metal Found by Greg S. of Galveston, Texas |
You'll notice that the mark is about the same, except for the 33 where John's piece shows a 26.
Here is the link to that old post.
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As a puzzle a couple days ago I posted a series of finds made by Mark G. I asked if you could figure out where they were found. If you forget that, here is the link.
I didn't figure it out. Below is the Mark G's answer to the mystery.
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It seems that people are becoming increasingly separated from their world. If you want to know something they do a quick search of the computer or ask an expert or, someone who knows no more than them. They either don't know how or don't care to put the effort in to find out for themselves.
When I began doing research and statistics, we didn't have computers. My fellow students mostly used calculators to do statistical analysis. They weren't the kinds of calculators we have today. You entered some numbers and pulled a crank. I didn't do that much, if at all. I can't remember doing it. I used a paper and pencil. I remember once having multiple legal pads full, front and back of six digit numbers when I was doing analysis of variance or something I knew how to do every step of the calculations and could do them and check them myself.
Then eventually we got access to computers, but if you wanted to do something, you had to write your own program, depending upon what you wanted the computer to do, punch the deck of cards with the instructions and run it through the computer. You knew the steps involved and how it worked.
Then came statistical packages. There was a book about eight inches thick that had programs written for doing various types of calculations, but you still had to punch the cards with the instructions before running it through the computer. At that point, you assumed that the program you typed into the computer was correct. You just accepted that.
Today it seems that if someone wants to know something they just type a request into the computer and get their answer and never check it with other sources or really examine how the answer was obtained or attempt to validate it.
I always liked doing experiments and doing observations and coming to my own conclusions. I never liked school much until I got into graduate school where you spend a lot of time doing experiments, making observations and proving your own answers for yourself. That is also what I like about metal detecting. I liked making observations, keeping records of my progress, trying things out and proving them for myself. More schooling should be about how to develop and prove knowledge - not just listening and accepting.
People are separated from so much of life these days. They drive cars that they never saw under the hood to check the oil or fix a thing. The car has largely become a black box.
People don't see or know where their food comes from. It comes from a store or a box. Everything is becoming a black box. Money is disappearing and more financial transactions are invisible and seldom checked at any level of detail. You get reports. And then some take the reports to your tax preparer, and may no little more about it all than that.
They depend upon professionals tp mow their lawns, do their repairs and even lead the vast majority of their religious activities, such as praying for them. They criticize the Bible without studying it. They don't personally interact with or experience God, so they think He is absent.
They don't build their own houses or hardly anything else. They don't get their fingers in the dirt, mow their own lawn or grow their food. They are, in my way of thinking, disconnected and living second-hand lives.
And families are often separated by many miles, rarely seeing each other.
It seems to me that people are getting disconnected from personal involvement in so many ways that it is no wonder they are so easily led and misled.
I know there are advantages of doing things in modern ways, and there is progress, of a sort, but there is also the downside.
Although in a way it is a very trivial example, the way I conduct metal detecting, and one of the things I like so much about it, is that it reconnects. You get of doors, feel the weather, see the sky, water, earth, and even maybe get your hands dirty and you feet wet, are physically active and involved, yet at the same time are presented with a challenge, experience the intellectual activity of problem solving, try and fail, and learn in a very physical way.
I take an empirical scientific attitude to my treasure hunting. I use very much the same approach that I used when doing academic research. I preferred to go out there think it through, observe, experiment and test it out for myself. That is a lot of the fun of it. I can't say that was always the easiest or quickest way, but for me it was very enjoyable and well worth the time and effort.
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Nothing big with the surf forecast. We will have some small negative low tides.
Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net