Graydon Pool - Now An Endangered Historic Site

Graydon Pool is a 2.8-acre stream-fed swimming pool, part of a lush 7-acre park in Ridgewood, N.J. was ranked as one of the state’s most endangered historic sites by Preservation New Jersey.

Graydon became the village’s first public park after the land was set aside a century ago this month. Its pool — called a "plake" for its natural setting and construction — was built in 1918 by damming the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook. It was expanded in 1936 as part of the federal Works Progress Administration, but remains at heart a rustic swimming hole.

And that’s the problem — at least when it comes to public perception. The plake has a sandy bottom. Its waters are far from the glistening aqua color that Americans have come to expect. Swimmers sometimes encounter minnows and ducks.

GRAYDON POOL landed on a top-10 list this week — but it was hardly an honor. The 2.8-acre stream-fed swimming pool, part of a lush 7-acre park in Ridgewood, was ranked as one of the state’s most endangered historic sites by Preservation New Jersey.

Graydon became the village’s first public park after the land was set aside a century ago this month. Its pool — called a "plake" for its natural setting and construction — was built in 1918 by damming the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook. It was expanded in 1936 as part of the federal Works Progress Administration, but remains at heart a rustic swimming hole.

And that’s the problem — at least when it comes to public perception. The plake has a sandy bottom. Its waters are far from the glistening aqua color that Americans have come to expect. Swimmers sometimes encounter minnows and ducks.

Ridgewood prides itself on its tastefully restored, stately homes, municipal buildings and downtown. But over the years, historic Graydon Pool was nudged off that list. Some residents soured on a setting that was perhaps too natural, what with all the leaves, silt and geese. A municipal committee put forth a controversial $13 million plan to replace the plake with four concrete, chlorinated pools. The recession has stalled that plan. At least for now.

What a relief. Any town can dig, cement and paint a chlorinated pool — or even four — anytime. Only Ridgewood can tend this historic plake. Especially in crowded, frenzied North Jersey, such subdued freshwater pools should be celebrated and protected. Just look to the Highlands Natural Pool in Ringwood, where a robust volunteer effort has kept it clean and popular for 75 years.

Happily, the good work in Ridgewood has already begun. As one committee planned for the plake’s replacement, another effort emerged to promote and modernize Graydon as it is. New natural chemicals, as well as some chlorine, are helping keep the water clean. New diffusers are aerating the water, which is now clear to a depth of 12 feet. Commonsense approaches to discouraging geese are underway, including visits by goose-chasing dogs and covering the plake’s rafts with tarps at night.

Any pool needs constant tending, whether it relies on chemicals or natural filters and outflow to keep bacteria at bay. Replacing this historic, natural pool with painted concrete wouldn’t rid Ridgewood of that responsibility. It would only rid Ridgewood of its most unique feature. Preserve Graydon Pool.

Ridgewood prides itself on its tastefully restored, stately homes, municipal buildings and downtown. But over the years, historic Graydon Pool was nudged off that list. Some residents soured on a setting that was perhaps too natural, what with all the leaves, silt and geese. A municipal committee put forth a controversial $13 million plan to replace the plake with four concrete, chlorinated pools. The recession has stalled that plan. At least for now.

What a relief. Any town can dig, cement and paint a chlorinated pool — or even four — anytime. Only Ridgewood can tend this historic plake. Especially in crowded, frenzied North Jersey, such subdued freshwater pools should be celebrated and protected. Just look to the Highlands Natural Pool in Ringwood, where a robust volunteer effort has kept it clean and popular for 75 years.

Happily, the good work in Ridgewood has already begun. As one committee planned for the plake’s replacement, another effort emerged to promote and modernize Graydon as it is. New natural chemicals, as well as some chlorine, are helping keep the water clean. New diffusers are aerating the water, which is now clear to a depth of 12 feet. Commonsense approaches to discouraging geese are underway, including visits by goose-chasing dogs and covering the plake’s rafts with tarps at night.

Any pool needs constant tending, whether it relies on chemicals or natural filters and outflow to keep bacteria at bay. Replacing this historic, natural pool with painted concrete wouldn’t rid Ridgewood of that responsibility. It would only rid Ridgewood of its most unique feature.

Preserve Graydon Pool.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/editorials/94560924_Graydon_s_charm.html

Rare Fish with Hands

Found mostly off the coast of Tasmania and Australia, the rare handfish are solitary, slow-moving creatures. They use their fins to walk on the seafloor, rather than swimming. They could be our ancestors, before we emerged from the sea.

National Geographic has a series of articles on these fish, which are spotted so infrequently that it's been hard for scientists to study them. There are only 14 species of handfish, and they lay very few eggs. Most are endangered.

They eat by wandering very slowly across the seafloor, eating worms and crustaceans. Though they make an easy target for predators, they manage to escape being eaten because they have extremely toxic skin.

thanks H1 and National Geo

Pixels take over New York City !

Pixels take over New York City !

Apple iPad: 5 Annoyances

Here are 5 problems people have with the iPad as presently designed (but I'd still like one):

5. The Glossy Screen

The glossy screen is OK on a laptop, it’s another thing entirely on a touchscreen device that you are constantly putting your fingers on.

Within a few minutes of use, the iPad’s glass display gets fingerprints all over it and the screen is hideous to look it. Combine that with the fact that the glossy display has a wicked glare problem that makes it difficult to use outdoors and in office buildings with overhead florescent lights and it makes the iPad a much less enjoyable device to use if you don’t have a screen protector. You can buy anti-glare film to prevent this problem for $25.00

4. Docking in Portrait Mode

If you want to use the iPad as a laptop replacement, Apple offers a Keyboard Dock ($70) that allows you to sit at a desk and type out some serious documents and emails. However, the keyboard stand only works in portrait mode because the iPad only has a doc connector on the bottom.

This is a serious nuisance for a couple reasons. First, we’re all trained to work in landscape mode when we sit at a desktop or a laptop. And second, most apps that you’ll want to use when docked–email and productivity apps–are faster to navigate in landscape mode. Heck, Apple’s own Keynote app doesn’t even work in Portrait mode. It refuses to shift.

The best workaround for this is to buy an iPad stand like Griffin’s A-Frame ($50) or JaDu’s Skadoosh ($58) and place the iPad in it in landscape mode, and then use Apple’s Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard ($70) instead of the Keyboard Dock.

3. It’s Awkward to Hold

The first time you hold the iPad in your hands and quickly flip through some full-sized Web pages with a few flicks of your fingers, it feels great. It’s an especially liberating experience when you’re sitting on the couch or in bed at night.

The problem is that once you get past about 30 minutes, the device gets pretty heavy and then it gets awkward to try to prop it up against your legs or lean it against something or find a place to set it where you can comfortably get a good viewing angle (especially if you don’t have an antiglare film).

Then, it gets really awkward once you try to type on it. Holding it with two hands in portrait mode, it’s almost small enough to type on it with your thumbs like a smartphone. Holding it with two hands and trying to type in landscape mode won’t work because your thumbs won’t reach the middle of the keyboard (unless you have really big hands). In landscape mode you could hold it with one hand and hunt-and-peck with the other hand, but that’s too slow.

So, what most people seem to do is to put the iPad on a lap or a flat surface and then type like they would on a normal keyboard. At that point, you’re basically emulating a laptop, but the experience you get is not nearly as fast or natural. Apple’s official iPad Case ($40) helps a little bit since it folds into a stand, but it doesn’t take away all of the awkwardness.

2. Lack of Adobe Flash

Apple’s overzealous crusade against Adobe Flash (and Adobe’s whiny responses) are annoying enough. However, that soap opera has gotten so intense that it has almost begun to cloud the issue that a lot of very good Web sites have been rendered useless because of this little showdown.

The Flash issue is bad enough on iPhone, but most of users rely on apps more than the open Web on iPhone. The iPad is much more of a Web browsing device and the lack of Flash breaks a lot of sites with Web video, animations, analytics and reports, and creative designs.

It is a massive annoyance to try to do some work, browsing, or reading on the iPad, only to find out that one of the sites you need to access uses Flash, so you’re forced to put down the iPad and go sit at a desktop or fire up a laptop.

1. The PC Umbilical Cord

To do everything you need to do on the iPad, you still need to connect it regularly to a PC or a Mac. You have to connect in order to sync up your latest podcasts and media files. You need to sync to get OS updates. You need to sync in order to get your latest business documents on the iPad.

So what happens if you only want to carry the iPad–and no laptop–on a business trip? You’ll have to sync all of your files before you go. What if you want to download a podcast or a video while you’re on the road? You’ll have to do it manually through the iTunes app and hope you can catch a decent Wi-Fi or 3G connection. It would also be nice if there was an Ethernet dongle for the iPad, for when you’re in the office or at a hotel without in-room Wi-Fi.

However, for corporate users, the biggest problem with the iPad’s PC umbilical cord is syncing business documents. The iPad can be a great device for reading PDFs and long documents, but there needs to be better ways to transfer those documents to the iPad.

A third-party app GoodReader ($1), which lets you sync files through iTunes and it can even recognize, save, and view some files from the Web. But, it would be much better to have functionality built into the OS to let you save files from the browser or email to the device’s local storage or to a cloud service.

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=4492&tag=nl.e101

Remastered "Exile On Main Street"

When Exile on Main Street was first released nearly 40 years ago, few expected it to gain recognition as a masterpiece.

Though the album was a commercial success, a number of critics thought it was too ragged.

Some panned it completely. But it's since become one of the most influential and adored rock albums of all time, thanks to its raw sound and free-spirited exploration of different styles, from country and blues to soul and gospel.

This week, Universal Records is releasing a remastered version of Exile on Main Street that includes a bonus disc of alternate versions of select songs, as well as previously unreleased tracks. The Rolling Stones brought on producer Don Was to scour the old Exile master recordings for lost gems. Some of the rediscovered songs needed mixing, while others needed entirely new lyrics and vocal tracks. On this edition of All Songs Considered, Was talks about how he picked the songs, how they were produced and the lasting impact of the now-legendary album.

Link to music tracks is below:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126832322&ps=rs#playlist

In the summer of 1971, guitarist Keith Richards worked up a riff to a song that we'll probably dance to forever.

"I loved the riff," Richards says. " 'Tumbling Dice' is very much like 'rolling stone.' It has the same connotations."

"Tumbling Dice" was one of the few hits on The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. Released in 1972, the album was a fat collection of rock 'n' roll at its roughest and bluesiest. It was a little too raw for many critics and fans. Nearly four decades later, Exile is now a classic. On Tuesday, the album will be re-released with bonus tracks found in the band's archive.

But part of the story of Exile on Main Street was the band's actual exile in order to avoid tax problems in Britain. The band landed in the south of France and was soon in the midst of a veritable circus of traveling musicians, girlfriends, poets, drug dealers and miscellaneous hangers-on.

At the center of it all was Richards' villa and the basement where it began to make the music.

"Basically because we could not find a studio in the south of France that we felt that we could record in, so we kind of got there by default," Richards says. "We thought, 'Well, we'll just rehearse in my basement while we find a place to record.' After a couple of weeks, we just looked at each other and sort of gave up looking anywhere else. We got it here, you know?"

It was summertime when the band decided to stick it out in the basement, but the house was full of people.

"Really, all that was happening in the house was peripheral to us," Richards says. "I was writing songs in the afternoon and then recording them at night. We were trying to keep up with the pace of the band. Mick [Jagger] and I were frantically writing songs, so there wasn't much time for partying."

There was definitely some partying going on, but Richards and Jagger didn't have much to do with it.

"We'd be down there all night," Richards says. "We used to have a little [surface] to play cards on when we weren't recording. You start to become a troglodyte or something."

The basement itself was hot and dusty. Richards says he can still smell it.

"It's sort of indescribable," he says. "I'll leave it to your imagination."

But Exile on Main Street wasn't all grime and grit. Out of that basement also came "Happy."

"It was afternoon and I was trying to put some songs together for the evening. And suddenly I hit those opening chords," Richards says. "Jimmy Miller, the producer, was there, and Jimmy said, 'Let's just put that down on tape to remember it for later.' I did it in two takes with Bobby Keys playing baritone sax and Jimmy Miller played drums. It's the way you like them — songs that just crop up out of nowhere, and before the song goes down, it's in the can."

"Well, I never kept a dollar past sunset
It always burned a hole in my pants
Never made a school mama happy
Never blew a second chance."

"You can start off with one line, and you've got maybe two seconds to come up with another one. You're bypassing the thought process and you're just seeing what comes out," Richards says. "If it doesn't work, then you just rewrite. Other times, you wanna do these things on the knife edge — you really don't know what you're going to say next. It saves a lot of paper."

The "exile" began in 1971, when The Rolling Stones' members owed more taxes than they could pay in England, so they picked up and left the country. Of course, it was The Rolling Stones, so that meant quite a luxurious lifestyle. In the basement of a sprawling mansion in the south of France, the band recorded Exile on Main Street.

Upstairs, as legend has it, was a constant party.

"Decadent, degenerate behavior all around," Mick Jagger says. "The south of France is pretty much known for that. Still goes on."

But as Keith Richards said Monday, they didn't do too much partying themselves.

"People didn't come down to the basement much. I don't think people found the basement very interesting," Jagger says. "It was rather damp and unpleasant. It wasn't a peanut gallery kind of studio — there was nowhere to see from. There wasn't a control room with nice glass and lots of soft drinks. If people came down, they'd stay a couple minutes and go, 'Euh.' "

Jagger has been looking and listening back to the songs recorded during that chaotic summer. For the new re-release of Exile, The Rolling Stones went to the archive and searched through a trove of old tracks and outtakes. Some of the songs didn't even have lyrics, which allowed Jagger to fashion new songs out of 40-year-old tunes.

"When I started looking at this unreleased material, like 'Plundered My Soul,' I was quite impressed by how together the band was on something that was actually an outtake. An outtake is quite often about the stuff you haven't used," Jagger says. "It's very unfinished; it's a bit slovenly. Though it was a relatively undisciplined bunch of sessions, when we actually got into the sessions, I think the playing was quite disciplined."

In reworking this old material, Jagger had to write completely new lyrics for "Following the River." The words are quite reflexive and even a bit elegiac.

"It's what they call in the business a 'kiss-off song,' " Jagger says. "It's a regretful goodbye. It's not a nasty goodbye. It's saying goodbye and knowing you're going to miss her."

But Morning Edition host Renee Montagne wonders if these lyrics are four decades' worth of emotions, or if Jagger would have written them in 1971.

"I can only write from today," Jagger says. "Having said that, it's not that much different in tone from 'Angie' in a way, which is another kiss-off song. And until we started talking about this just now, I never thought of comparing them."

The Rolling Stones' members were avoiding tax problems in Britain, which is why they "exiled" to the south of France. But did they really feel like they were in exile?

"I think so, yeah. It was a bit of a wrench to give up our home lives in England," Jagger says. "At the time, it was a bit of a laugh for the first few months. After a while, you realize that from a comfortable English life, you've moved into a different kind of life. I mean, musicians of every stripe, they tend to be cosmopolitan kind of people. Perhaps musicians were the first cosmopolitan people. In the 18th century, they would move where the patronage was. In that way, it wasn't a satch of wrenches it might be for some other people."

But The Rolling Stones adjusted to life in France anyway. In the new liner notes to Exile on Main Street, guitarist Mick Taylor writes, "I'm not having any problem with the language here, because I don't speak French." Jagger then mentions what Bill Wyman says in the documentary — that the band was in the part of France where people went specifically for its food, yet he can't find his favorite tea bag.

In working on the reissue, Jagger spent half a year digging through that creative period of his life. Jagger writes in the liner notes that this album includes songs "you probably have second thoughts about," but was glad he did.

"Would I have changed Exile on Main Street if I could? I easily could have. This is a good opportunity," Jagger says, laughing. "No, I just wanted to add to it. I was asked by the record company if there was anything else of interest. I was trying to find things that stood up, and I think we managed to find things that did hold up, things that gave it extra depth. I was quite pleased with them.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126829155

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126887916

thanks Steve !

The Guy Who Flew Thousands of Passengers As a Fake Pilot

This is Thomas Salme, a maintenance engineer who became a Boeing 737 pilot by flying a few nights in a flight simulator and printing a fake airliner pilot license. Amazingly enough, he flew passengers for thirteen years without any incidents.

Thirteen years of back and forth from Sweden to everywhere else in Europe. Nobody noticed until a couple of months ago, when Salme was caught by the police as he was getting ready for take off. He was in the cockpit of a Boeing 737, with 101 passengers at Amsterdam's Schipol airport. He admits that it was all a crazy idea:

I got the crackpot idea to apply as a co-pilot at a real airline so I made myself a Swedish flying permit with a logo out of regular white paper. It wasn't laminated, and looked like something I'd made at home. It was surprisingly easy. The documents look different everywhere in Europe. An Italian airline doesn't know what a Swedish licence looks like. And you can forge all the IDs you need. I'd train there for two or three hours at a time—at least 15 to 20 times over one and a half years.

Despite putting the lives of thousands at risk, Salme only got fined a couple thousand dollars and was banned from flying for a year. Thinking twice about it, it's kind of reasonable. Despite being crazy enough to pull such a stunt, it's not entirely his fault. After all, how can a company and the flight agencies involved be so absolutely inept? How can they accept a simple printout and put a random guy in the cockpit of a passenger plane without running any background checks? A simple Google search would have probably turned out enough information to stop this from the beginning. I can imagine Frank Abagnale Jr. pulling this stunt in the 60s, but now? There are no excuses.

If anyone needs to be nailed, that's the useless authorities that make us follow all kinds of stupid security procedures to get into an airplane, but can miserably fail to check the identity and qualification of the pilots flying the plane.

A Haunting Time-Lapse Video of Eyjafjallajökull

Please click on video below to view time motion study.

Thanks H1 !

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

Slimming Down Your Dog?

What is the proper amount of food you should be feeding your dog? Your veterinarian might suggest putting your dog on a light diet. Keep a record of what your dog eats during the day – it’s often more than just the breakfast and dinner you think you’re feeding her!

Don’t forget that she helps you finish your egg and toast every morning. And then there’s the toy stuffed with peanut butter that she loves to play with when you leave the house. There’s also that special treat she receives when you return home, the cheese snacks you share at night, and licking out the last few tablespoons you leave for her in your ice cream bowl. That’s a lot of extra calories in a day.

Substitute raw veggies for snacks. Dogs love them! Try all sorts of crunchy foods, such as tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, celery, and especially carrots. You can also break an occasional treat in half or remove a handful of kibble from her measured meal and dole pieces out over the day. Some people foods, such as onions or raw potatoes, aren’t safe for dogs, so discuss healthy snacks with your veterinarian.

Plan a daily exercise routine, which can be as simple as tossing a ball or taking walks, and then gradually extend the length of your activity time.

Or you can try a new and exciting activity, such as the canine sport of Agility, where both owner and dog try to complete an obstacle course within a time limit. Your dog will look forward to training sessions, and the bonus is that you might run off a few pounds too! If you choose to try Agility you can enter events to attain a title, or just enjoy the training together.

Dancing with your dog in a canine sport called Freestyle is more than just a fanciful trot around the living room. You can teach your dog to twirl, weave between your legs, and jump through your arms just for fun or to actually choreograph a routine for a Freestyle competition.

When storms keep both of you indoors, you can invent ways to keep your dog healthy and in A-1 shape. Toss a soft ball or a favorite toy down a hallway or even up and down a set of stairs. Set up barricades for her to jump in your basement or hallway.

And remember, the best treat of all is a hug from the person she adores. Zero calories!

Giant Herring Washes Ashore

A giant "king of herrings" otherwise know as giant oarfish - the world's longest bony fish - was found yesterday in Bovallstrand, Sweden. The fish measuring 11-feett-long, hasn't been seen in Sweden in the last 130 years.

On May 11, a giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne) was discovered on Sweden's western coast in the village of Bovallstrand. Kurt Ove Eriksson, who discovered the fish, initially thought the behemoth was "a big piece of plastic."

The dead king of herrings was taken to the House of the Sea museum in Lysekil, Sweden. The museum had this to say about the fish, "The last time we saw a King of Herrings in Sweden was in 1879. We don't know much about the species but believe it lives in deep waters, at least 1000 meters (3280 feet) deep, and many believe it's at the origin of the sea serpent myth."

Maybe at that depth they can be trained to cap off the oil well.

thanks to H1 !

from:

http://io9.com/5537139/a-giant-oarfish-the-sea-serpent-of-yore-washes-up-in-sweden

Husbands or Dogs - Who's the Better Listener?

People cope with problems by talking things out . . . but to their pets?

A new AP-Petside.com poll asked pet owners to reveal who's included in their most intimate discussions, and the results are sure to get people talking.

One out of 3 married women (33%) say their pets are better listeners than their husbands.

Diane Demaske, a Petside Facebook fan, says her pets "can read my emotions better than my husband." Overall, 25% of pet owners feel their pet is a better listener than their spouse, and the battle between cats and dogs continues - dog owners are more likely to declare their dog as the better listener than cat owners (25 % vs. 14%).

About 1 in 10 pet owners (8%) claim they often talk about their personal problems to their pets. Women (10%), single men (9%), and people earning under $50K (12%) are most likely to do the talking. Only 5% of men, 4% of married men, and 5% of those earning more than $50K tell their problems to their pets.

But Petside Facebook users tend to disagree. We asked "Do you talk to your pet about your life? Do you think they understand you?" and our Wall flooded with responses. "I talk to my pets about everything," said Jacque Truelove-Desimone. "I know they understand. They know my moods, and when I'm not feeling well, they love to curl up next to me and help me feel better." Judith Graham Breslin agreed. "One of them just sits and listens," says Breslin. "The other one will grunt and slap his paws around...my pets know when I am happy, sad, sick, etc." Donna Malley-Burke's service dog "understands almost everything," while Vivien F. Ariola's dog "knows when I am going somewhere without him by the way I dress...especially the types of shoes."

But what if a pet seems down? Who can they talk to? Few in our poll have taken their pet to a vet or pet psychologist (5%) or given their pet an anti-depressant (4%), but almost 20% would be at least somewhat likely to take a pet to a vet or psychologist if it showed symptoms of depression.

Women were nearly twice as likely as men to say they would bring their pet to a professional (23% vs. 13%). And many more people under age 30 would do so compared to those over 65 (30% vs. 12%). Interestingly, dog owners (23%) were more likely than cat owners (11%) to consider visiting a vet or psychologist about their pet's mood. Hopefully, many pet owners don't have to make this decision, since 85% of owners say their pet displays mood swings infrequently.

thank you xoxo Doreen !

Top 10 Groucho Marx Quotes

10. From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it.

9. A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.

8. I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

7. I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception.

6. I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.

5. She got her looks from her father. He’s a plastic surgeon.

4. I didn’t like the play, but then I saw it under adverse conditions – the curtain was up.

3. I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.

2. Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?

1. Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.

thanks to Pat for this one.

http://blog.sarcasmsociety.com/quotes-blurbs/top-10-groucho-marx-quotes.html

Almanac - May 6, 1937 - Zeppelin Hindenburg Destroyed By Fire

Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, N.J., May 6 -- The zeppelin Hindenburg was destroyed by fire and explosions here at 7:23 o'clock tonight with a loss of thirty-three known dead and unaccounted for out of its ninety-seven passengers and crew.

Link to newsreel footage is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54rqDh2mWA&feature=player_embedded#!

Three hours after the disaster twenty-one bodies had been recovered, and twelve were still missing. The sixty-four known to be alive included twenty passengers and forty-four of the crew. Many of the survivors were burned or injured or both, and were taken to hospitals here and in near-by towns.

The accident happened just as the great German dirigible was about to tie up to its mooring mast four hours after flying over New York City on the last leg of its first transatlantic voyage of the year. Until today the Hindenburg had never lost a passenger throughout the ten round trips it made across the Atlantic with 1,002 passengers in 1936.

Two Theories of Cause

F.W. von Meister, vice president of the American Zeppelin Company, gave two possible theories to explain the crash. One was that a fire was caused by an electrical circuit "induced by static conditions" as the ship valved hydrogen gas preparatory to landing. Another was that sparks set off when the engines were throttled down while the gas was being valved caused a fire or explosion.

Captain Ernst Lehmann, who commanded the Hindenburg on most of its flights last year and was one of tonight's survivors, gasped, "I couldn't understand it," as he staggered out of the burning control car. Captain Max Pruss, commanding officer of the airship, and Captain Albert Stamp were also among the survivors.

Captain Lehmann was critically burned and injured; the other officers were also burned, but less seriously.

Experts in lighter-than-air operations who saw the accident said tonight that when the two landing lines were dropped by the dirigible at 7:20, they were immediately made fast to the mooring cars on the circular track about the mooring mast. The crew began to make the line taut, but the ship had gathered too much momentum, according to three observers, and drifted several hundred yards past the mast. The starboard line pulled hard as the nose of the ship passed over the mooring mast at the top.

Order Not Heard

Captain Pruss, making his first trip in command of the dirigible, signaled and shouted, "Pay out!"

This order was heard by the operator on one mooring car, but not by the other, as the shout went against the wind and could not be heard. Consequently, one mooring car paid out and the other did not. The result was that the ship was thrown off its balance and lost the perfect equilibrium it had previously had.

Its nose dipped, forward ballast was dropped and the elevators were set to raise the ship. Instead the ship was held tight by one yaw line. The nose was pulled over and the elevators had an effect opposite to that which they were intended to have, according to this version. The tail dropped sharply and the bottom rudder hit the earth. The ship bounded up again, then suddenly burst into flames and dropped to the ground.

It is understood that this version of the accident will be investigated by the naval board of inquiry convened for tomorrow and the Department of Commerce. The official investigation will also look into conflicting reports as to whether the fire was accompanied or preceded by explosions. Although most observers reported hearing a series of explosions, some insisted that there were no explosions until after the ship was almost destroyed by fire.

F.E. Fagg, head of the Bureau of Aeronautics of the Department of Commerce, flew in from Washington late tonight and conferred with Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, in charge of the air station. Mr. Fagg announced that Commander Rosendahl would preside over the board of inquiry to open tomorrow.

Commander Rosendahl, together with the 200 members of the ground crew, which had started to walk the dirigible to its mooring place, narrowly escaped injury when the Hindenburg fell in flames.

The catastrophe was witnessed by several hundred spectators, including several who had booked passage on the return trip of the Hindenburg to Germany, which had been scheduled to start at midnight tonight.

Delayed on Voyage

At the time of the crash, the Hindenburg was more than twelve hours late, having been due here at 6 o'clock this morning. Head winds delayed it coming across the Atlantic and down the coast from Labrador. On its last day it flew at reduced speed along the coast, waiting for dusk, as landing conditions are best at dawn and dusk.

After its scheduled landing tonight, it was to have been refueled quickly in preparation for the return voyage.

The airship was sighted here about 4:15 o'clock this afternoon. It flew over the landing field at a good altitude, but because of a strong wind, did not try to land. After circling the reservation, it pointed toward the coast again and disappeared. Shortly afterward thunderstorms blew up over the field and continued until about 7 o'clock.

A light rain was falling and the ground was well soaked when the Hindenburg reappeared, flying in from the coast at an altitude of about 500 feet.

Too high to land, the Hindenburg circled the field and came back at an altitude of about 150 feet. It flew over the mooring mast, doubled back and came in again heading slightly southwest, against the wind, with two lights in its bow against the gathering dusk.

During this turn over the field, the ship had begun to valve gas slightly and had dropped ballast twice to lighten its load for mooring. It was exactly 7:20 P. M. daylight saving time, according to official timing by company and naval authorities, when it dropped two lines to the ground crew.

Observers here said that the wind shifted just before the Hindenburg attempted to land, and that this made it difficult for the ground crew to manoeuvre her. A company representative said that normally the ship would nave been expected to be perfectly safe the moment she dropped her lines.

Lined up on the field below the silvery cone-shaped airship, the ground crew grasped the line and began to walk it the 100 yards to the mooring mast.

Muffled Boom Heard

At 7:23 o'clock those on the ground heard a low report or boom from the ship. Almost simultaneously there was a flash which lighted up the twilight, and sent a thrill of terror through the onlookers.

This was followed quickly by the bursting of flames from the rear gondola on the port side, where the engines had been throttled down in preparation for mooring. Then the flames spread forward, and in a moment the gigantic ship seemed to be enveloped in fire.

Horror gripped the spectators as the airship buckled aft of midships and began to settle slowly down to the ground in a mass of red flames and black smoke.

There was no sound from the ship except the crackling of flames as they crept forward and ate up the outer fabric so that her duralumin ribs could be seen before she struck the ground.

As the stern struck the earth there was another explosion. Then there was a series of explosions as the ship crumpled up and lay burning on the ground, with leaping forks of flame and billowing clouds of smoke rising into the air. There was something strange about the slow and gradual descent of the blazing ship. She came down so deliberately and settled upon the earth so quietly that spectators said afterward that they could not realize for a moment that a tragedy was taking place before their eyes.

This was but a momentary impression, for the shock of the sight, together with the scorching heat from the flames, drove the crowd running back several hundred feet. There were screams from women spectators, inlcuding Mrs. Roendahl, who feared that her husband had been struck and killed by the falling ship.

Running around the ship until they could approach with the wind and not against the flames, rescuers dashed toward the burning dirigible. They included naval officers and sailors, company representatives and newspaper reporters and photographers.

Many of the survivors owe their lives to the heroic work of the volunteer rescue battalion. Others climbed out of the airship unaided, or were thrown clear when the ship grounded.

Some were hurled through the long isinglass strip on the side of the airship, through which passengers in the observation salon formerly looked out to see the country over which they were flying.

It was explained that the three ranking officers of the airship were saved because they were in the control car forward, whereas the original explosion or fire occurred aft,as did the buckling of the ship just before she dropped to the ground.

Because of this, the stern struck the ground first, and the flames, which enveloped the after part of the ship almost instantaneously, were comparatively slow in reaching the bow. This gave the officers in the bow, and more than half of the passengers, who were standing forward to watch the landfall, their chance to escape.

Had the slow fall of the ship taken much longer, however, nearly everybody aboard might have been burned to death, for a few moments after the bow struck the earth the whole ship was a mass of fire and soon nothing but a skeleton framework could be seen.

Can't Tell What Occurred

Passengers and crew members who were interviewed after the accident were unable to give much information as to the cause of the accident or the manner in which it occurred. Most of them said that it happened too quickly, and they were too stunned by the crash, to be able to tell exactly what had happened.

Commander Rosendahl took charge of the rescue work and summoned ambulances and fire engines from a wide area. Late tonight ambulances filled with doctors and nurses were still arriving here, from as far distant points as Jersey City.

While firemen fought the scorching flames rescuers dragged out injured persons and bodies of the dead. The burned and injured were carried from the wreck to a near-by road, where ambulances pulled up and took them aboard for hurried trips to the naval hospital here and hospitals in nearby cities. As the bodies were recovered they were taken to an improvised morgue on the naval reservation.

At midnight, although the flames had been put out, the embers were so hot that the rescuers were unable to complete their search of the wreckage. It was believed that additional bodies would be discovered tomorrow when the search is finished.

Coroner Raymond A. Taylor of Lakewood came here tonight and made plans for an inquest, which probably will he held tomorrow after all the bodies have been recovered. A hangar was being used as an impromptu morgue.

Commander Rosendahl ordered a cordon of sailors around the wreckage to keep sightseers away, and also set up guards outside the reservation to keep everybody out who did not have business inside. State troopers and marines were stationed at all cross-roads within a one-mile radius of the air station, closing the roads to all except police, officials, rescue workers and newspaper men.

Immediately after the disaster, special details of police cleared all highways to make way for doctors and nurses speeding to the scene from other points, Heavy fire engines and police emergency trucks clanging to the scene helped to keep the roads clear.

But while the rescue work was under way thousands of motorists converged toward the scene on all highways leading to Lakeshurst. Before many of the injured had been taken from the first-aid stations on the field, lines of automobiles clogged the road, for nearly ten miles on the main arteries to the north and south of the air station.

Harassed rescue workers and ambulance drivers complained that the press of the advancing crowd was so great that it was seriously hampering their work. As many policemen as could be spared were sent from the scene to patrol the surrounding roads and keep them clear.

A detail of National Guardsmen from Fort Monmouth took up stations on the main highways several miles from the air station and ordered motorists to turn back.
NY Times

19 Cheesesteaks Downed in 10 Minutes

Joey Chestnut lived up to his No. 1 ranking on May 1 as the world's best competitive eater by devouring 19 cheesesteaks in 10 minutes during a Major League Eating Competition at Dorney Park in South Whitehall, PA.

The event featured 14 men and one woman. Chestnut, a San Jose, Calif., native who seemed more like a hometown hero to his legions of fans, took home a $1,500 check from Dorney Park. The 6-inch cheesesteaks were provided by Subway. Bob, "Notorious B.O.B." Shoudt of Royersford, Montgomery County, came in second with 16 cheesesteaks and won $750.
"Eater X" Tim Janus of New York ate 14.5 for third place and $500 .Juliet Lee of Germantown, Md., received $250 for coming if fourth with 12.5 cheesesteaks.