New Flu ? a Forest with No Trees

[Frodov]

-October 8th, 1918 somewhere in the Argonne Forest, France
I hear tell that they call this place a forest. Aint lookin’ much like any forest I’s e’er seen. Shore don’t look anythin’ like the woods back home in Tennessee and that’s the gospel truth. Sticks and mud, trenches and mud, smoke and mud, gas and mud, bodies and mud.. and lots more mud. I don’t think I’ll ever rightly understand why we all have to be here in this here forest in France a killin’ one another. But I understand that I have a duty to God and my country so I aim to do the best I kin I recon. I sure do miss home though, where a forest really has trees and there aint so much of this confounded mud everywhere you look. Sarge came around this mornin’ passin’ out the mail from back home. Even I got a letter. Twas from my ma. Said she still didn’t take to well to knowin’ I was over here a fightin’ this here war but they’s callin’ it “The War To End All Wars” back home so maybe it’s a good thing we go ahead and get it over and done with. She says that she and all my kin back home miss me a whole heap and are a prayin that I come home safe and sound when I’m finished with doin’ my duty for our country. Ma said she put a shiny brand new penny in with the letter and hoped it would bring me good luck. It sure is a shiny little thing. It’s got a picture of Ol’ Honest Abe on one side with this years date of 1918, and wheat stalks on t’other. Sure makes me feel a little better to know that I have a little bit of home in my pocket. Well Sarge just came round and said that the Germans were about to try pushing us back a piece. I still don’t understand what’s so valuable about this little patch of mud or that little patch of mud but they sure do have a hankerin’ for it. I still don’t cotton much to the idea of a killin’ a man over one mud hole or another, but I hear ol’ Sarge a sayin’ “ Corporal York! Them Germans are aimin’ to kill you! To kill you and every one of your fellow soldiers ! We have to keep advancing and taking this ground back from them if we want to end this war. They’ll be shooting at you with everything they have, artillery, rifles and machine guns. We will advance, we will die if we have to, but we will advance because those are our orders. Now move out!”
“The Germans got us, and they got us right smart. They just stopped us dead in our tracks. Their machine guns were up there on the heights overlooking us and well hidden, and we couldn’t tell for certain where the terrible heavy fire was coming from… And I'm telling you they were shooting straight. Our boys just went down like the long grass before the mowing machine at home. Our attack just faded out… And there we were, lying down, about halfway across [the valley] and those German machine guns and big shells getting us hard. “ - Corp. Alvin Cullen York excerpt from Sergeant York: His Own Life Story and War Diary, 1928.
Corp. Alvin Cullen York lead an attack on German held machine gun positions taking 32 machine gun nests killing 28 German Soldiers and capturing 132 others . York was promoted to the rank of Seargent and later awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor and going above and beyond the call of duty.


Flu or False..
more people died in 1918 from the Flu than from the fighting in the war (WW I) ?

TRUE !!!!!!!!!!!
World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives. The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history.

How’s that for some History and trivia? Hi again everyone. I hope I didn’t bore you with the historical interlude there. I had to look up something that occurred on or close to this date (October 10th) way back in 1918. Why? Because I found a well worn little Lincoln Wheat cent while out metal detecting this morning, that ‘s why. I wanted to tie that date to today’s date somehow, to bring it home so to speak. Well it’s a little freaky that we as a society, especially here in the U.S. at the present are very concerned if not panicking over the Swine Flu Epidemic (dare we call it a Pandemic yet?) .. and wouldn’t you know it, but the Flu was kind of big news way back in 1918 as well. You could say it was KILLER news, even with a war.. the “Great War”.. the “War to End All Wars” or as we know it now World War One goin on and soldiers on both sides dying by the hundreds or even thousands every day. Sad to think that perhaps we’ve not come so far in all these years after all huh? Ok ok ok ok.. enough with the depressing thoughts. This was supposed to be a celebration of sorts. <grin> I mean I cleaned up today at the park!
Yeah, I found a lot of coins, but that’s not what I meant about cleaning up. I cleaned up a lot of trash while detecting. Ugh.. lots of scrap metal identifiable or not, lots of pull tabs, metal and plastic bottle tops, scrap and crap, but there were a few notable gems in the mix as well though. Thankfully! Besides the one lone Wheaty that I’ve turned into a bit of a soap opera now <rolling eyes> I also found one lonely little lady hanging out around one of the baseball fields in the County Park that I was detecting. A Susan B. Anthony Dollar coin. … yeah.. I thought about doing some research on her and including it in my post, but then I’d have to get it published as it would be a freakin’ BOOK by the time I was done. <laughing> Anyway.. One Little Old Wheaty Circa 1918, and little miss Susan B. The unique finds for the day.



I’d mentioned I’d found some plastic while metal detecting. Yeah. You know, if you keep your eyes open you do tend to find things on the surface as well as with the detector that are otherwise unseen. I generally pick up pop bottles and the like and toss them in the nearest trash can. I save the “coke rewards” caps however for my wife as she collects the points online for goodies . I find toys and stuff from time to time as well. Some of you have seen the “critters” and cars and what not from my previous postings. Well today it was a soldier.. (yeah.. another reason I went with the 1918 allegory, and Sergeant York etc.) Although I dare say that this trooper is a depiction of a much more recent combatant than The Gentleman from Tennessee.



There were lots of zipper pulls found today, I only kept these three to share in my post however. A Nike related pull (I think) and one from Louisville Slugger, and one from “Under Armour “. Never heard of that brand before. Buttons, a key, and one lone hair clasp. The clasp is metal with a paste “gem” in it.



The park I was detecting at today is a BIG park. It’s the County Park in Georgetown Kentucky (Scott County). There is a rather sizeable tot lot with woodchips.. or had woodchips until recent rains have flooded the playground and washed most of them away. A tot lot bereft of woodchips is a sad sight to behold. *sigh* However, besides the one tot lot, there are four or five baseball (softball) fields, along with the “fair grounds” area, soccer fields fishing ponds and lots of walking trails. Like I said, it’s a BIG park. I concentrated my efforts hunting to the areas around the ball fields and the tot lot. I’ll go back another time to check out the soccer fields and other places.
Oh the trash was there to be found, and I found it. All manner of things metal, foil, pull tabs, bottle caps, pieces of fencing, metal siding? Metal clips even. Oh well, if I dug it up, I picked it up. Most of the trash metal ended up in the recycling can after I got home of course, even the stuff I took pictures of for my post.



And of course there were the coins. Besides the two coins already mentioned, I picked up and dug up a whole bunch of clad! Certainly paid for my gas today! And then some! <smile>



You got to love a hobby that pays you to play, gets you to exercise, and stimulates your curiosity and your mind. And is just plain FUN! I hope you all get out to play a little this weekend. .. and as always..

~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov

 

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[WilliamBoyd]

A Susan B. Anthony dollar is a really unusual find.

 

[Frodov]

A Susan B. Anthony dollar is a really unusual find.

?Is it? I've found several of them over the past few years. I didn't think they were very popular due to their size, too easily confused with a quarter and end up in vending machines and stuff. <grin> I don't mind finding them though. Cool!

~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov

 

[hikeinmts]

Loved the history lesson.....almost as much as I loved what prompted it.
And, the U.S. isn't the only country that is alarmed over the flu pandemic. Japan is really buttoning things up, everyone wearing masks, tight security, and they probably won't be effected by it nearly as much as other countries. And S. Korea, where I live -
just saw a picture of the body of a 2 month old that died from the flu.....youngest here in S.K. that has contracted and died from it. Well, thank heavens, there isn't a world war going on to further deplete the human race. I have a feeling that this flu will accomplish enough along those lines.
Great post, as usual.

 

[Frodov]

Loved the history lesson.....almost as much as I loved what prompted it.
And, the U.S. isn't the only country that is alarmed over the flu pandemic. Japan is really buttoning things up, everyone wearing masks, tight security, and they probably won't be effected by it nearly as much as other countries. And S. Korea, where I live -
just saw a picture of the body of a 2 month old that died from the flu.....youngest here in S.K. that has contracted and died from it. Well, thank heavens, there isn't a world war going on to further deplete the human race. I have a feeling that this flu will accomplish enough along those lines.
Great post, as usual.

The numbers are slowly climbing here in the states... deaths from the Swine Flu that is. Most have also had underlying health problems that "complicated" or "compromised" their imune systems however. Not everyone has had other problems like that though, meaning that we all have to think about this situation and take whatever measures we need to lessen our odds of contracting the flu. I dont think we'll see everyone here in the states wearing masks like they are in Japan, but it's still early in the season I think.
Take care of yourself over there my friend.. and to you and everyone else out there.. Good luck and as awlays..

~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov

 

[rjw4law]

Most antibiotics did not exist during this time period, hence the unusually high death rates. A lot died because of the flu but not from the flu, it was the secondary problems such as pneumonia etc.

 

[Frodov]

Most antibiotics did not exist during this time period, hence the unusually high death rates. A lot died because of the flu but not from the flu, it was the secondary problems such as pneumonia etc.

This is true, and though there was an increase of human traffic/contact back then due to world travel and the war etc etc. The communications at the time especially concerning medical issues were still in the stone age compared to what we have today. Thanks to the CDC, (Center for Disease Control) and the WHO (World Health Organization), the internet, world wide coverage of Radio and Television broadcasting, and hell.. even cell phones, warnings and advice and "tracking" is nearly instantaneous. It's a lot easier to "get out in front" of a coming epidemic if you know it's coming rather than getting the news days, weeks, or even months behind the bug actually making its way into your population locally. Still though, along with our near instantaneous communications, our human contact/ traffic flow world wide has exponentially sped up as well. People now move from one point on the globe to another in the matter of one day or less. Meaning, that the bugs (diseases and illnesses) have sped up as well. We still have to use common sense and good health practices. Of course, someday we'll have something like the fictional Sci-Fi wonders like the "Transporters" from Star Trek fame.. You get sick, they beam you up to another ship, planet, or even floor of the hospital and the "biological filters" in its circuitry will just filter out the illness in transit. COOL! I want to develope a smaller version for our hobby as well.. not only does my imagined SCI-FI metal detector "detect" a target, but you know exactly what it is, how deep it is, what the various mineral levels and compositon of the soil surounding the target are, and .. and this is the cool part.. you don't even have to "did" the target, the machine will just "beam" it right up out of the soil for you. Clean and pristine as the day it was lost. Not to mention a digital copy as well as a print out of all pertinent information on the object via data mining on whatever we have as an "internet" at the time, and an appraisal forwarded from coin collectors, antiques collectors, or even museum currators. <rolling eyes> AND... with a flip of a switch (or touch of a holographic key pad) you can make a post here to Treasure Net complete with a video (holograph) of the detection, and recovery of the find. <laughing>

Pretty sweet huh?... but will it be able to make a decent Grilled Cheese Sandwich? Ah.. can't have everything I guess.

~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov

 

[allen]

you made the most out of your time at that park Frodov !!

 

[Frodov]

you made the most out of your time at that park Frodov !!

Well I'd like to say that I try to make the most of my time while detecting, but then that's kind of an oxymoron. Detecting is time to unwind, relax, enjoy.. escape everyday hustle and bustle. I might get caught up in it.. lord knows my wife declares I do. "Do you know what time it is? Where have you been? Don't you ever look at your watch?" etc etc. Or at least, she used to. Now it's more of a pained exasperated sigh, perhaps a little rolling of the eyes and a sad shake of the head as if to convey the pity of the normal minded people on poor lost demented souls as would be we the metal detectorists of this world. <laughing> But yeah.. I THOROUGHLY enjoy my time when detecting, whether I'm finding a lot of stuff or not. It makes ME happy. <grin>

As I hope all of you do to.. be happy that is.


~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov

 

[diggemall]

you made the most out of your time at that park Frodov !!

Well I'd like to say that I try to make the most of my time while detecting, but then that's kind of an oxymoron. Detecting is time to unwind, relax, enjoy.. escape everyday hustle and bustle. I might get caught up in it.. lord knows my wife declares I do. "Do you know what time it is? Where have you been? Don't you ever look at your watch?" etc etc. Or at least, she used to. Now it's more of a pained exasperated sigh, perhaps a little rolling of the eyes and a sad shake of the head as if to convey the pity of the normal minded people on poor lost demented souls as would be we the metal detectorists of this world. <laughing> But yeah.. I THOROUGHLY enjoy my time when detecting, whether I'm finding a lot of stuff or not. It makes ME happy. <grin>

As I hope all of you do to.. be happy that is.


~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov

There are a great many things a man can do with his "spare" time that are far less friendly to a marital relationship than MD-ing. I suspect your wifes exasperated sigh expresses her recognition of that in conjunction with her failure to appreciate exactly what it is that drives you to swing that thing back and forth for hours in search of heretofore unknown targets.



Diggem'

 

[Nate in Ohio]

In the second to last picture, those two aluminum objects with holes in the middle are for securing storm windows on the exterior of a house. I've painted a couple summers and worked on windows and just happened to recognize them. What a random thing to find in a park or something.
Neat facts, and interesting post as always. Continue to enjoy yourself out there!

 

[Frodov]

In the second to last picture, those two aluminum objects with holes in the middle are for securing storm windows on the exterior of a house. I've painted a couple summers and worked on windows and just happened to recognize them. What a random thing to find in a park or something.
Neat facts, and interesting post as always. Continue to enjoy yourself out there!

Thanks Nate. I suspected they were some kind of clip. As for being unusual to find in a park, I would have to agree if they were found in the middle of a grass field or something, but they were found in the grass verge near a baseball field concession stand. And, yes, it has screened and storm windows. Go figure. Anyway, thanks for the ID. Help is always welcomed!

~HAPPY HUNTING~

Frodov