Reader Letters November 2010 |
ASK, RANT OR PRAISE, BUT NEVER IGNORE
This is the heart of our web site, the place where readers reign. So many of the best ideas come from you. But don't forget that we need you to subscribe to our email NEWSLETTER. And more, we need you to tell your friends to sign up. That's how we measure our success and draw in our advertisers who pay for this all to happen -- in our 14th year. (Click headline to read letters below)
STILL LAUGHING WITH TWAIN
Fantastic article about Twain. I was dying laughing. I put a link out on Facebook.
Robin Rousseau, CPA
Very good newsletter. And though I may be getting senile, and I have read your other newsletters, this is the one that I think captures SeacoastNH.com best. I loved the Twain article, BTW.
Chip Noon
Hi Dennis, I really enjoyed your post “Mark Twain Loved Aldrich but Hated Portsmouth” and was thinking of writing you a mail when I saw your newsletter in my inbox! I don't know if you watch "Curb Your Enthusiasm" but the relationship between Mark Twain and Lilian Aldrich reminded me of that between Larry David and Susie. Keep posting!
Esha Samajpat
MORE MISSING MURAL MEMORIES
A long long time ago I was privileged to see the murals in question along with others in NH and VT. I don't recall the yea rit may even have been in 1940-41 I believe it was on a school trip. But I also saw some later in life and don't recall where ? I believe, not sure, that we also saw murals in a Littleton Post Office and in
Charlie Welcome
BACK WHEN I DID SEACOAST VIDEOS
Dennis: Have you ever considered redoing the Seacoast,NH and Seacoast, Maine 101 Highlights videotapes you made in the 1990s onto DVD? It's too long for the Web (90 min each) but they sure make a great gift for vacationers and potential new residents!
Carolyn McGee
EDITOR RESPONDS: I did, often, and it’s a long story, but the upshot is, that my $150,000 video system became extinct soon after I bought it. (Sold it for $1,000 to a scrap dealer.) Digital took over. Today a $200 mini-cam from Best Buy shoots higher resolution HD footage than my system with no degradation when copied, and the editing systems are practically free and computer based. (We used to pay $3,000 per font). Therefore the quality of the imagery of the 250 locations that I hired my camera crew to shoot would not match what you see in professional videos today. The cost of digitizing and editing the stuff (the raw footage is still sitting under my desk here in giant boxes) is prohibitive and the marketplace for DVD travel videos since YouTube is almost nonexistent. Long story short, I now do books. We’re still out there looking for sponsors for GOseacoast.com which will send photos of places to go to people on their mobile media in case anyone asks. Maybe if it comes out in 2011, we can add video clips later. Thanks for thinking of the good old days. We sweated for years over those extinct videotapes. -- JDR
JOHN HANCOCK INSURANCE EPHEMERA
I recently found an old document of the constitution of the
printed and when they were passed out.
Frank Tucker
EDITOR’S REPLY: Thanks to all who sent more of the Hancokl booklets. We now have quite a pile. Sorry, I have no clue. We've tried to talk to the company about their many historic marketing projects, but were told they no longer use the "history" approach and there is no one there interested or able to give us a response. If this piece is like most, there were a huge number of them printed. It's value is pretty much the value of the frame. Items issued by John Hancock tend to sell for a dollar or less.
ANOTHER STONE FISH
I was in Palos Verdes Estates down in the water below the cliffs. While in the water I reached down into the water and pulled up this fishing lure. It was carved out of stone. It looks like it is a fish wIth other holes in it. I presumed it was for a fishing line. This part of PV is called Malaga Cove. I could send you over an email attachment. Can you tell me how old it is?
God Bless, Brian
EDITOR’S REPLY: We can’t. Not sure anyone can. You must be responding to our ancient article about the 3,000 year old fish-shaped Native American plumb bob on the old part of the Web site. We should update and move that. It was, as I recall, thought to be a whale, but had a hole painstakingly drilled into the stone. No one really knows what it is. You are welcome to send along a god-sized JPG file, or a few from different angles (be sure to put something in the photo that shows the size of the item(. The answer to your question, however, is likely that no one can tell you the date of a "found" object. Dates are usually determined by items dug up scientifically and based on the strata of soil in which they were found. I'll forward it to an expert I know on this end of the continent, but be advised that most archeologists are specialists in particular geographic areas, not coast to coast. You will also want to send JPGs to whomever you can find at a university or historical society (as local as possible) in your area who might know more about the object. Cheers -- JDR in NH
REMEMBERS MURALS
Dennis, It was with great pleasure that I read your article about the 4 murals at the Portsmouth Junior High School Auditorium. I attended PJHS in 1937-38 and 39.Two of the murals were on the left and two on the right in the Auditorium.The mural that always impressed me most was the Indians attacking on Breakfast Hill. These were huge murals and when you entered the auditorium your eyes were drawn to the beautiful murals. Many of us HIGH School Students were assembled at the PJHS auditorium because it was so much bigger and more capacity than the
BRAD HARRINGTON
TAKING THE TOUR
Today, Sunday ,Sept 19, my husband and I toured the Hamilton House. Our guide was a very considerate and informed woman. She extended her kindness to us through out the tour. Luckily, we were the only people for the 1 o'clock tour. Since I have to carry oxygen when I walk, I couldn't skip along quickly. Our guide accommodated my need to stop and rest and
then continue walking. She also helped by calling the Sarah Orne Jewett House and explained our needs. Many thanks for a beautiful afternoon.
M. Katis and R. Katis
BUILT LIKE A BRICK LIGHTHOUSE
Dear Mr. Robinson. Were you in attendance at an open tour of the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse given by the "Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse" on Sept 19,2010 at approximately 2.00 pm. I asked a gentleman there how long it might take for the bricks lying at the base of the "oil house" to round up as they were. Point being, I wondered if they might be from the civil war era? Were you
that person?
From Malcom
JEREMY THE LIGHTHOUSE GUY RESPONDS: Hi Malcolm, I was at the open house yesterday, but I wasn't the one you spoke to. I think you're referring to the bricks lying around on the ground near the lighthouse, walkway, and oil house. The general belief is that most of the bricks were used as ballast in lobster traps. Over the years, as the traps age or are damaged in storms, the bricks wash up on the shore. They've been smoothed by the currents so that some of them are nearly round. It is possible that some of them could have been part of structures as old as the Civil War era, but I don't think there's any way we can know for sure.
YES, BUY THAT KINDLE
Dear Mr. Robinson, I found your name in a Google search I was doing on Kindle for the visually impaired and read your article from 2007 talking about the Kindle being a Godsend to Mr. MaGoo. My father-in-law is a legally blind minister who struggles mightily with reading and has a variety of tools to help him. In your article, you mention that you didn’t have a Kindle yet. I was curious to find out if you got one and if it was truly helpful. We don’t want to get him something that will claim to be helpful only to disappoint him in the end. He wants to read a book, not have it read to him. I would be grateful for any feedback you could offer. Thanks
Matthew O'Bryan
EDITOR;S REPLY: Yes, got Kindle, and it has come a long way. They recently upgraded the font size so that the range of fonts go from small to really HUGE, so big that you only see half a dozen words on the screen. The key advantage is the Text-to-Speech function that allows the kindle robot to READ the book. It isn't perfect, of course, but you get used to the voice. The one drawback is that not all books have the TTS feature enabled. So before ordering a book, it is important so see whether the TTS is "enabled". This is marked on the order page. Most books are, but some very new bestsellers are disabled. That means you can still read the text, but not hear it. The other good news is that the price of the Kindle has dropped to under $200, the battery works longer between charges, the memory holds more books. Especially advantageous is that there are 10 times as many books available as when Kindle first appeared. THis is especially good for a minister since readers now have access to thousands of old books that were out of print -- many of them are free -- and can be downloaded in 60 seconds. Be sure you determine whether you want the large Kindle (DX) or the smaller one. There are two versions of the smaller one -- the first allows you to download books from anywhere (I recommend this) and the other allows you only to download when in the vicinity of a wireless computer. The user can also read newspapers, magazines, etc. and have them delivered to the Kindle every day. If the user is not familiar with the Internet and comfortable with computers, then make sure to get the Kindle that fits his needs. Good luck -- JDR
RELATED TO REV. HAVEN
Samuel Haven was my seventh great grandfather. Can you tell me when the Brewster’s Ramble #69 about him was published? It is most interesting! I was in
Anita W. Brewer-Siljeholm
THE EDITOR REPLIES: A quick check on our search engine finds no more than 50 web pages mentioning the Haven family and many refer to Rev. Samuel Haven who had 17 children. His house is gone, replaced by
FAREWELL TO THE BLUE ANGELS
Thanks for the photo, caption and brief article entitled, “Remembering Jan, 30, 1981” which was published in yesterday’s (September 2, 2010)Portsmouth Herald. My hope is that those who read it will have second thoughts about the Blue Angels streaking overhead in
Lee Roberts
ANOTHER FRIEND OF DON MURRAY
Dear Dennis: I just rediscovered your spectacularly on-target article/obituary about Don Murray, as Betsy and I were talking about him to Tina, who owns Young's restaurant in
Roger C. Parker
CHOWDER REVIEWS
The best kept secret regarding the best fried clams is Ceal’s Clam Stand in
Brenda Moge’of
TRUNK LABEL
Good Day, I have a question regarding a trunk that my wife got many years ago. On the left side of the trunk, there are two labels/stickers. The top one says "
Russ.
LIKES VAMPIRE
Lisa Sweet
A LONG COMPLEX
I am addressing you as result of an article (dated 2001) I just read on your website concerning the history of Bartlett Street (or streets), and the derivation of that name (apparently to an old and prominent New Hampshire family). The story identified several individuals who participated in that article. They include Nancy Grossman, J. Dennis Robinson (reporter who wrote a series entitled “Seacoast Rambles”, Nicole Luongo Cloutier, Ronans Donohoe, Curator John Mayer (Thayer-Cumings Library, Archives), and others.
I am a historian/anthropologist and a non-profit board member (XII Travelers Memorial of the Southwest in
While engaged in research relating to Benito Juarez at The Pass of the North (1865-1866), I became most interested in Ichabod S. Bartlett, who as a young soldier (New Hampshire 10th Voluntary Infantry) and war correspondent (Boston Journal), was dispatched by Secretary W.H. Seward to the small border town of Franklin (now El Paso, Texas) to assume the position of acting director of the U.S. Customs House, and also to meet with President Juarez, whose government had to flee to El Paso del Norte during the French Intervention.
I certainly appreciate your assistance in this request. Perhaps,
Nick Houser
EDITOR’S REPLY: Nick – Whew! Many thanks for reading my article of 10 years ago and for your fascinating note. I can, however, tell you up front that our experts will likely have a handle on this topic. But I'll pass your note along just the same, and post it on my site in case someone else has an insight. As I noted, we're not even sure whom we named our own streets after. Your best bet locally, if you have a specific question about a Portsmouth-based Bartlett would be try the Portsmouth Athenaeum, starting with a search on their web site. If you have a NH Bartlett not from
MORE ON ALEMAKER FRANK JONES
Dear Mr. Robinson, I am a staff writer with the Bastrop Daily Enterprise, a newspaper covering Morehouse Parish in northeastern
I do not know if there is any truth to the account. However, I am a history graduate and enjoy writing historical features for the newspaper whenever I am able. I would like to explore the James story if there might be any merit to it. I wondered if I could email the 1938 article to you and get your expert opinion as to whether or not the story is plausible.
Sincerely, Wes Helbling
WE THINK THIS MIGHT BE SPAM, DEPT.
Good day my dear friend! How are you? "I thought for a long time to write to you and now I decided to do this, I very modest girl because of this I am very hard to write, first you must understand this, I want to meet you, to have communion with you and learn more about you, I really need a friend and I hope you can be them! If you have difficulties in translation, you can use a translator. I was not too much trouble!? My name is Irina, I am 27 years old, if you want to know me more email me at My personal e-mail: I'll be very glad to receive your response, and I want to send you some of my photos, I think you will like it, look I will wait for your answer! Irina
WHOSE STONES ARE THOSE?
When I walk in the cemetery I always notice a line of gravestones for women born starting in 1810 thru 1865. The first name is Submit Stokell. The line of graves runs parallel to the main entrance road. Can you give me any more information about these women? Why are they buried in a group?
Meghan Rice
EDITOR’S REPLY: The South Cemetery is owned by the
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