Tom

On this day in 1904, the Great Baltimore Fire began. In the fire, more than 1,500 buildings were completely leveled, and some 1,000 severely damaged. 1,231 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control, both professional paid truck and engine companies from the Baltimore City Fire Department (B.C.F.D.) and volunteers from the surrounding counties and outlying towns of Maryland, as well as out-of-state units that arrived on the major railroads. It destroyed much of central Baltimore, including over 1,500 buildings covering an area of some 140 acres.

One reason for the fire’s long duration involved the lack of national standards in firefighting equipment. Despite fire engines from nearby cities (such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. as well as units from New York City, Virginia, Wilmington, and Atlantic City) responding with horse-drawn pumpers, wagons and other related equipment (primitive by modern-day standards, but only steam engines were motorized in that era) carried by the railroads on flat cars and in box cars, many were unable to help since their hose couplings could not fit Baltimore’s fire hydrants.

At the time, firefighting practices and equipment were largely unstandardized, with each city having its own system. As time passed, these cities invested more in the systems that they already had, increasing the costs of any conversion. In addition, early equipment was often patented by its manufacturer.By 1903, over 600 sizes and variations of fire hose couplings existed in the United States. Despite efforts to establish standards being made since the 1870s, they had little effect: no city wanted to abandon its system, few saw any reason to adopt standards, and equipment manufacturers did not want competition.

As a result of the fire, Baltimore finally adopted a city building code after seventeen nights of hearings and multiple City Council reviews. The city’s downtown “Burnt District” was rebuilt using more fireproof materials, such as granite pavers. Public pressure, coupled with demands of companies insuring the newly re-built buildings, spurred the effort.

The National Fire Protection Association adopted a national standard for fire hydrant and hose connections. However, inertia remained. Conversion was slow and still remains incomplete. One hundred years after the Baltimore Fire, only 18 of the 48 most populous American cities were reported to have national standard fire hydrants.

---

Parenting…

---

Redneck Engineering or Appropriate Technology or Making do with what you got:

---

Today is the birthday, in 1948, of Jimmy Greenspoon, organist with Three Dog Night, who had the 1970 UK No.3 & US No.1 single with a cover of the Randy Newman song ‘Mama Told Me Not To Come’. The band scored 21 Billboard Top 40 hits (with three hitting No.1) between 1969 and 1975. He died on March 11 2015 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 67. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTCyjYjsVc8

On this day in 1974, Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old granddaughter of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California, by three armed strangers. Witnesses reported seeing a struggling Hearst being carried away blindfolded, and she was put in the trunk of a car. Neighbors who came out into the street were forced to take cover after the kidnappers fired their guns to cover their escape.

Three days later, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small U.S. leftist group, announced in a letter to a Berkeley radio station that it was holding Hearst as a “prisoner of war.” Four days later, the SLA demanded that the Hearst family give $70 in foodstuffs to every needy person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. This done, said the SLA, negotiation would begin for the return of Patricia Hearst. Randolph Hearst hesitantly gave away some $2 million worth of food. The SLA then called this inadequate and asked for $6 million more. The Hearst Corporation said it would donate the additional sum if Patty was released unharmed.

In April, however, the situation changed dramatically when a surveillance camera took a photo of Hearst participating in an armed robbery of a San Francisco bank, and she was also spotted during a robbery of a Los Angeles store. She later declared, in a tape sent to the authorities, that she had joined the SLA of her own free will.

Finally, on September 18, 1975, after crisscrossing the country with her captors—or conspirators—for more than a year, Hearst, or “Tania” as she called herself, was captured in a San Francisco apartment and arrested for armed robbery. Despite her claim that she had been brainwashed by the SLA, she was convicted on March 20, 1976, and sentenced to seven years in prison. She served 21 months before her sentence was commuted by President Carter.

---

Butterhenge

SSIIGGGNNNZZZZZ

---

Today is the birthday, in 1947, of Margie and Mary Ann Ganser, vocalists for The Shangri-Las, who had a 1964 US No.1 & UK No.11 single with ‘Leader Of The Pack’. Mary Ann died in New York on March 15, 1970, aged 22, of a drug overdose. Margie died of breast cancer on July 28th 1996 age 48. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5YxtweUxrA

St. Brigid’s Day (Gaelic: Lá Fhéile Bríde) is celebrated on February 1st but the public holiday in Ireland takes place on the first Monday in February each year.

St. Brigid is one of the three Patron Saints of Ireland, the other two are St. Columba and of course, St.Patrick. Brigid is a Catholic and Orthodox saint. She was a pupil of St. Patrick and became famous for her kindness, mercy, and her miracles. In addition, Brigid founded Ireland’s most famous mixed (male and female) monastery in County Kildare.

In The Life of Brigid, her biographer, Cogitosus, recorded that Brigid formed an alliance with the hermit Conleth and, together, they created a double monastery from the Early Christian tradition. She was abbess and he was bishop. Within 100 years of her death, there was a thriving, egalitarian monastery of men and women, living and practicing their spirituality equally, side by side.

When Brigid was refused by the King of Leinster the land to build a convent, she asked if she could have as much land as her cloak would cover. The King allowed this, but was surprised to see Brigid’s cloak grow and grow, as four of her friends took a corner each and walked pulled the cloak to cover many acres. The King then granted St. Brigid the land, and any other supplies she required, before converting to Christianity soon after.

At the same time, the legends about Saint Brigid echo the myths and legends about the three-faced Celtic fertility goddess Brigid – the goddess of war, poetry, crafts, and healing. It is worth noting that before the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, the feast of the goddess Brigid was also celebrated on February 1st, the first day of Spring in the Celtic calendar.

Brigid’s cross is typically woven on February 1st, her feast day, as well as the festival of Imbolc in pre-Christian Ireland. Hanging Brigid’s cross from the rafters of a house was believed to bring the blessing and protection of the saint for the remainder of the year.

---

The healthy people among us…

---

Hot peppers…

Today is the birthday, in 1947, of American singer-songwriter Melanie Safka. She scored the 1971 US No.1 & 1972 UK No.4 single ‘Brand New Key’, and had hits with her 1970 version of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Ruby Tuesday’, her composition ‘What Have They Done to My Song Ma’ and her 1970 international breakthrough hit ‘Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)’, which was inspired by her experience of performing at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. In 2007, Melanie was invited by Jarvis Cocker to perform at the Meltdown Festival at the Royal Festival Hall in London. She died on 23 January 2024, at the age of 76. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCTMTflcuug