FEBRUARY 28, 2011 MAKING HAVELOCKS FOR THE VOLUNTEERS [by WINSLOW HOMER] At the beginning of the Civil War many Union soldiers in particular found themselves burdened with excess equipment and accoutrements. One soldier from New Hampshire gave the following description of his regiment upon its arrival in Washington, DC:  "We are warriors now in full feathers and trappings: ten pounds of gun; eighty rounds per man of ball cartridge, one pound of powder, five pounds of lead, heavy equipments; knapsack, haversack, three-pint canteen, all full; three days' rations; rubber blanket, woolen blanket, shelter tent, full winter clothing; tin cup, tin plate, knife, fork, spoon, spider, et cetera too numerous to mention, and too many to carry, and a pound of mud on each shoe." One additional item given to Civil War soldiers on both sides was the havelock, a cap cover made popular by Sir Henry Havelock of the British army in the Sepoy Rebellion in India in 1857. Made of white linen or cotton, the havelock was to be worn over the soldier's cap with its long tail covering the man's neck. The havelock was supposed to protect men who were fighting in hot climates from sunstroke. But the soldiers found the havelock actually made them hotter by not allowing air to circulate around their head and neck. Many Civil War soldiers used their havelocks not as cap covers, but as coffee strainers, dishcloths, or gun patches. Some havelocks were provided to the men by well-meaning ladies back home. One soldier from Pennsylvania reported his whole regiment received havelocks made by ladies in their home county. "We sent home thanks and threw the head bags away." Indeed, the path of new armies was commonly strewn with gear the soldiers found dispensable and not worth adding to the weight they carried for so many miles. Havelocks were quickly stricken from the list of items needed by the Civil War soldier. FORT PICKENS U.S. GUNBOAT WYANDOTTE FIRING A SALUTE ON WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY IN PENSACOLA HARBOR A SKETCH OF MANSFIELD MOUNTAIN BLUE MARLIN Family Istiophoridae, BILLFISHES Makaira nigricans Description:  color cobalt blue on top shading to silvery white on bottom; upper jaw elongated in form of spear; dorsal fin pointed at front end; pectoral fin and anal fin pointed; lateral line reticulated (interwoven like a net), difficult to see in large specimens; no dark spots on dorsal fin; body covered with embedded scales ending in one or two sharp points. Similar Fish:  white marlin, Tetrapterus albidus (white has rounded tip of pectoral and anal fins, and spots on the dorsal fin). Where found:  OFFSHORE, a blue water fish. Size:  largest of the Atlantic marlins, common to 11 feet, known to exceed 2,000 pounds. *Florida Record:  980 lbs. 8 ozs. Remarks:  all of trophy size are females; males do not exceed 300 pounds; make trans-Atlantic migrations; spawning procedures unknown; feeds on squid and pelagic fishes, including blackfin tuna and frigate mackerel. No. 21--Mount Atago, Shiba (Shiba Atagoyama) The chief renown of Mount Atago was the magnificent panorama of the city of edo that it boasted.  Although only 85 feet in elevation, far smaller than the true mountain near Kyoto that was its namesake, Edo's Atagoyama stood at the end of a narrow projection from the Shiba-Shirogane heights and offered a wholly uninterrupted view to the northeast of what was, after all, a very low city. The sense of a vast level expanse is suggested by the mass of gray roofs that Hiroshige shows in the distance, punctuated only by the great roof of Tsukiji Honganji and the masts of moored boats. But with the visual rhetoric characteristic of this series, Hiroshige dramatically interrupts the view with a bizarre figure holding an immense rice paddle that has the visual effect of a giant stop sign. This is, we are told in the inscription over the artist's signature to the left, the "messenger of Bishamon," who on this third day of New Year is the central actor in the "Heaping Rice Ceremony" performed at the Atago Shrine. In real life he is the proprietor of the Atagoya teahouse at the top of the hill, but today he is dressed in an outrageous costume emblematic of the new year and of prayers for its bounty. Over a hulking ceremonial robe are draped strips of kelp which will later be chopped up and distributed to shrine believers for the making of a tea guaranteed to ward off colds. The seeds and leaves of these evergreen trees and shrubs contain poisonous alkaloids that stop the heart of an animal so quickly that no symptoms are seen; the animal just drops dead. The flesh of the berries are the least poisonous parts. These trees were sacred to the Druids, and wood from the trees was formerly used to make long bows. Can you name this tree? ??? PASS YOUR MOUSE OVER THE QUESTION MARKS FOR THE ANSWER! The candies most likely to cause tooth decay are dark chocolate and fudge. WOODLAND INTERIOR PART TWO MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER THE EARLY YEARS Three weeks after his mother killed his father, Cobb played center field for the Detroit Tigers. On August 30, 1905, in his first major league at-bat, Cobb doubled off the New York Highlanders's Jack Chesbro. That season, Cobb managed to bat only .240 in 41 games. Nevertheless, he showed enough promise as a rookie for the Tigers to give him a lucrative $1,500 contract for 1906. Although rookie hazing was customary, Cobb could not endure it in good humor, and he soon became alienated from his teammates. He later attributed his hostile temperament to this experience: "These old-timers turned me into a snarling wildcat." The following year (1906) he became the Tigers' full-time center fielder and hit .316 in 98 games. He would never hit below that mark again. Cobb, firmly entrenched in center field, led the Tigers to three consecutive American League Pennants from 1907-1909. Detroit would lose each World Series, however, with Cobb's post-season numbers being much below his career standard. In one notable 1907 game, Cobb reached first, stole second, stole third, and then stole home on consecutive attempts.  He finished that season with a league high .350 batting average, 212 hits, 49 steals and 119 Runs batted in (RBI).  At age 20, Cobb became the youngest player to win a batting championship and held this record until 1955 when fellow Detroit Tiger Al Kaline won the batting title when he was one day younger than Cobb.  Despite great success on the field, Cobb was no stranger to controversy off it. At spring training in 1907, he fought a black groundskeeper over the condition of the Tigers' field in Augusta, Georgia. Ty also ended up choking the man's wife when she intervened. YELLOW-BILLED HORNBILL pixdaus.com 082904 Nebula ANTONIO BANDERAS (Caricature) YOUNG OWL pixdaus.com Young Cottontail Hiding in Junipers Ann Telling Photo DISCLAIMER: Material used in Bitts and Bytes is gathered from various sources--mainly the World Wide Web.   Authorship cannot always be credited nor the source defined.   Authenticity of material is assumed to be correct, but is not guaranteed.