1915 - The Gleam of the Electric Scintillaters at Night in the Court of Four Seasons, Panama-Pacific Int. Expo San Francisco, Calif. (Aka San Francisco World's Fair.)

Wiki – More at the San Francisco Memories Website.

Click the picture to see it full size.

View the full collection at clicksypics.com. To find out how these are created, go here.

Raoul Walsh’s 1915 film Regeneration is often acclaimed as one of the first gangster films, but these aren’t really gangsters modern audiences would be familiar with. The gang Owen (John McCann) leads are more of a mob of Lower East Side plug uglies than true sports. They wear floppy caps and the working clothes of the docks and congregate in a basement called the Chicory Hall, where the thugs are as likely to be found sleeping on the bare dirt floor as playing cards.

In films like The Roaring Twenties (1939), Walsh would deal in a more glamorous look at the criminal sort. But in Regeneration the emphasis is squarely on squalor. Orphaned at a young age, Owen is raised by abusive foster parents and eventually takes to the streets. As a teenager, he proves to be tasty with his fists. Soon he’s running with a crowd of petty crooks engaged in minor shakedowns and pickpocketing.

His life is changed when he meets Marie (Anna Q. Nilsson), a society dame who takes to social work at a neighborhood “settlement” after Owen saves her slumming pals from some working class rowdies. The hoodlum comes good, first when he saves a group of children from a burning steamboat—a direct reference to the PS General Slocum disaster of 1891. (The film is based on a memoir by Owen Frawley Kildare that later became a stage play.) Then Owen rescues a baby from its warring parents.

Walsh presents alcoholism, homelessness, wife-beating and drunken rages with a dispassionate eye, even while tweaking his audience’s voyeuristic desire to get a peek at the wild side with a one-eyed villain and criminals appearing at peepholes. He saves his moralizing for a moment when Marie literally calls up a vision of Hebraic script to warn Owen against pulverizing a rival. The location filming is populated with a rich gang of grotesques that include a hunchbacked dwarf, a man with a cauliflowered nose, a one-armed doorman, obese freaks and surreal imagery like goldfish swimming in one man’s glass of beer.

Walsh’s narrative control and flair for action is also evident even in this early film, his second according to Thomson’s Biographical Dictionary of Film. He uses the parallel editing of his mentor D.W. Griffith to compare the moneyed soirees of Marie’s family with the populist entertainers at a downtown theatre, and the film concludes with a daring escape from the by way of a washing line stretched between tenements. Although film noir wouldn’t arrive for a few decades, Walsh associates shadows with the underworld. There’s a thrilling moment when the silhouette of a gallows appears on a wall behind a gang leader. Walsh also uses fades to contrast the young Owen eating an ice cream with the older Owen drinking from a bucket of beer.

Walsh began as he meant to go on, fast and furious. As the elder Owen, McCann has some of the depraved sensuality of a young Marlon Brando, although he convincingly comes around for the finale demanded by the title. The Swedish-born model Nilsson—at one point dubbed “The Most Beautiful Woman in America”—would later turn up as one of Gloria Swanson’s “waxworks” in Sunset Boulevard (1950). Walsh adapted Regeneration with Carl Harbaugh, whose name would later appear on the credits for Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928), whose star Buster Keaton was himself destined for a place at Swanson’s bridge table.

From “Cultural genocide A bishops’ pilgrimage to Western Armenia,” published in the Armenian Reporter (www.reporter.am), December 12, 2009:

“Reflecting on those places, which we either passed by or directly visited, I consider it necessary to single out and stress something that surprised us. Every place that had been an Armenian village, despite its name being changed officially, continued to be known not by its Turkish name, but rather by its old Armenian name. The present residents – Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Alavis – all confirm the fact of their villages being Armenian. And even more, hardly anyone renounced or tried to deny the events of 1915 (olaylar) or the truth of the massacres (katliam). Amazingly some even used the expression “genocide” (soy kirimi) to define the great massacres of 1915.”

Please take a moment to read this article:
Cultural genocide A bishops’ pilgrimage to Western Armenia| Armenian Reporter | December 12, 2009

… to a well-fulfilled academic life.

Paul Samuelson (1915-2009)

You can see the difference when there is a certain kind of central banking cadre which is proud of the work it does. Take the Reserve Bank of India’s banking statistics. Although immensely useful to those in the banking and finance industry, and just as useful to those who draw the links between how money is spent and development programmes, hundreds and hundreds of rows and columns filled with numbers to the third decimal are – let’s face it – hardly as exciting as a Twenty20 game.

Enter a dash of history. The conservatively titled regular publication, ‘Statistical Tables Relating to Banks in India 2008-09′, reminds us stolidly that it provides “information on major items such as liabilities and assets, income and expenses, non-performing assets, financial ratios, spatial distribution of offices, number of employees and details of priority sector advances. It also provides bank group-wise monthly data on some of the major items such as aggregate deposits, liabilities to the banking system, assets with the banking system, investments, bank credit, and, sector-wise and industry-wise gross bank credit”.

And then it smoothly brings in the historical view (see pic left). “This publication had started prior to the establishment of the Reserve Bank of India. The first issue was brought out by the then Department of Statistics, Government of India in 1915 which covered data for 1914 and was brought out under the guidance of Mr. G. Findlay Shirras, the then Director of Statistics, Government of India. It is worth mentioning that Late Professor P. R. Brahmananda dedicated his book ‘Money, Income, Prices in 19th Century India’, published in 2001, to Mr. G. Findlay Shirras, among others. In order to commemorate the origin of this publication, the cover page of the first issue brought out in 1915 is reproduced in this volume.”

What an evocative cover page it is (see pic right)! The foreword continues: “The work relating to the publication was transferred to the Reserve Bank of India in 1939. The last issue, which incidentally was also the 25th issue, of the publication brought out by the Government of India was in 1941, with data pertaining to 1938. The first issue under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India was brought out in 1941, with data pertaining to 1939 and 1940. The cover page of the last issue brought out by the Government of India and ‘Prefatory Note’ in the first issue brought out by the Reserve Bank of India as reproduced in Statistical Tables Relating to Banks in India 2005-06 are also given in this volume.”

“This is the 64th volume of the publication by the Reserve Bank of India,” say this issue’s authors. “If we count volumes published by the then Department of Statistics, Government of India, then this could be the 89th volume, marking the long history of continuity of this publication. This publication has continued for nearly a century underscores its relevance. It is also a tribute to the efforts and dedication of concerned officials first in the Government of India and now in the Reserve Bank of India.” Hear, hear. This volume has been brought out under the guidance of Dr. A. M. Pedgaonkar, Principal Adviser, and Dr. Balwant Singh, Adviser, DSIM, and for their historically sensitive presentation alone they deserve to take a bow.

(Video: PLUCK live 2005, förmodligen det bästa live framträdandet jag sett någonsin. Missa inte Samantha Powers inhopp runt 03.23 och Serjs armeniska sång vid 04:20)

Klippet ovan förklarar härligheten kring System of a Downs musik och informationsbildning kring politiska frågor som folkmordet 1915 mot armenier, assyrier/syrianer och andra folkgrupper i det Osmanska riket, P.L.U.C.K (Political Lying Unholy Killers) syftar givetvis på den turkiska regeringen:

A whole race Genocide,
Taken away all of our pride,
A whole race Genocide,
Taken away, Watch Them all fall down.

Revolution, the only solution,
The armed response of an entire nation,
Revolution, the only solution,
We’ve taken all your shit, now it’s time for restitution.

Recognition, Restoration, Reparation

]]> http://verdun2.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/the-first-bosox-dynasty-apex-1915-16/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:07:21 +0000 verdun2 http://verdun2.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/the-first-bosox-dynasty-apex-1915-16/

With the collapse of the Philadelphia dynasty after 1914, the Red Sox assumed the mantle as the American League’s premiere team. It was a position they would hold through 1918. In that period they would play in and win 3 World Series. The first 2 were in 1915 and 1916.

There were some significant differences in the 1915-16 Red Sox and the team that won in 1912. Catcher Bill Carrigan was now the manager, Everett Scott had moved to shortstop and the pitching staff had a major overhaul. Joe Wood was still around, but Rube Foster (no, not THAT Rube Foster) and Ernie Shore were now the aces. Babe Ruth (yes, THAT Babe Ruth) was now the lefty. Interestingly enough, the Sox appear to have experimented at least a little with a closer. Carl Mays pitched 36 games, but started only 6 and led the league with 6 saves (a stat that hadn’t been invented yet). They faced Philadelphia in the 1915 World Series and won it in 5 games losing only game 1 to Grover Cleveland Alexander (who, frankly didn’t look much like Ronald Reagan). Most of the games were close, only game one being decided by more than one run, but the Sox outhit the Phillies .264 to .162 and hit 3 of the four home runs (Harry Hooper led with 2).

The 1916 team was substantially the same team except that they had traded center fielder Tris Speaker to Cleveland (where he would win the 1920 World Series as the player-manager). The only other major change saw former A’s shortstop Jack Barry installed as the new second baseman. By 1916 Mays was  a starter and Ruth was the team ace with 23 wins and 170 strikeouts. He was 3rd in wins and 2nd in strikeouts, losing to Walter Johnson in both cases.

They again took the Series in 5 games, Brooklyn winning only game 3. The first 3 games were close, but Boston began to pull away in the last two games. Ruth began his record setting run of consecutive scoreless innings pitched in this Series, winning 2 games. As an aside, Brooklyn wore what has to be the ugliest uniforms in Major League history. Maybe we all owe the Sox a vote of thanks. If Brooklyn had won, we might have been stuck with those ugly uniforms for years.

The Sox fell back in 1917, finishing 2nd by nine games. The dynasty wasn’t over quite yet. A couple of quick fixes and the stage was set for 1918.

Asbarez | November 13, 2009

With swift
Great sweep of her
Magnificent arm my pain
Clanged back the doors that shut my soul
From life.

*Adelaide Crapsey, 1915

Courtesy Morningsun.net

PITTSBURG, KANSAS

The old Jefferson Highway was the first transcontinental road to traverse the North American continent from north to south, and possibly the first dedicated international highway in the world.

So why is it nearly forgotten while Route 66, not nearly so historic or as long, is still celebrated with festivals and tons of memorabilia?

“It’s because of that TV show in the 1960s and its hit theme song,” said Mike Conlin, native of Canada who now lives in Metairie, La. “We need a song about the Jefferson Highway.”

With or without a song, it’s his mission to make the Jefferson Highway famous again. He and friend Gary Augustine, Prince George, British Columbia, are currently making their “Pine to Palm ‘09″ road trip to raise awareness of the highway.

“We’re also finding out about all the places along the highway, things that would make people want to stop and visit while they’re driving along the route,” Conlin said.

He and Augustine, who started their trip Nov. 4, were in Franklin and Pittsburg Friday to visit sites along the old highway. Serving as their guides were Phyllis Bitner and Randy Roberts, curator of Special Collections at Axe Library, Pittsburg State University.

The highway was conceived at a meeting in New Orleans in 1915, and was dedicated in 1919. The northern end was in Winnipeg, Canada, and the route traveled through Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas before ending in New Orleans. No federal funding was used in its construction.

“It was financed by township money and private money,” Roberts said. “Imagine a highway being built that way today.”

There was a rivalry between Missouri and Kansas, who both wanted the highway, and between sites in eastern and western Kansas. “The rivalry between the two Kansas groups actually got more contentious than the one between Kansas and Missouri,” Roberts said.

In the end, the eastern part of the state won, and Pittsburg was one of the stops on the highway.

“It went straight down Broadway, south to Centennial, then east, past the location of the current Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center, then south to Opolis,” Roberts said. “By the 1920s there were big poles on Broadway to mark it. I’ve been told there’s still one highway marker somewhere in Crawford County, but I don’t know where it is. If anybody does know, I hope they get in touch with me.”

He added that highway advertising noted there were three convenient hotels for travelers around Seventh and Broadway — the Hotel Stilwell, the Leland Hotel and the Wick Hotel. The current Parrot Bey, 408 N. Locust, was the site of the Jefferson Highway Garage.

Bitner and Roberts took Conlin and Augustine to lunch at the Corner Bistro. The bistro’s parking lot was the location of a depot for the Jefferson Bus Lines, named for the highway.

Conlin said he became interested in the highway around three years ago after reading a newspaper article about it.

“A piece of it runs through Metairie,” he said. “I was homesick for Canada, and when I found out the highway started in Winnipeg, I felt a connection to it. I’m a map maker by trade, so I researched it and made a map of it. Then I decided to drive it and see where it goes.”

He was going to start in September, but Augustine, who had just purchased a mobile home, said he would come along if Conlin could plan the trip later.

The two were in Carthage, Mo., before coming to Pittsburg.
“A section of Route 66 runs right on top of the Jefferson Highway at Carthage,” Conlin said. “But a lot of the old highway route in Missouri is gravel today.”

He and Augustine plan to end in New Orleans by Nov. 18. Then Conlin will have to sort through all the notes and material he has collected during the trip.

“It will take me months to know all the stuff I’ve got,” he said. “It would be nice to do a documentary about this, but I haven’t had time to take the video camera out of the bag.”

In the meantime, he posts information online.

“If you Google the Jefferson Highway, I come up before Wikipedia does,” Conlin said. “That’s not easy.”

http://www.morningsun.net/news/x255185316/Visitors-see-sights-along-historic-highway

###

Rakel Chukri skriver i Sydsvenskan och kängar Metro och avslutar med en klack mot mig

>Länk<

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om folkmord, metro, folkmordsförnekelse, pressetik,

En månadslång kampanj över hela USA har inletts för att Obama ska erkänna det armeniska folkmordet, som han lovat, när han möter Turkiets PM den 7:e december i Vita huset.

Tidigare i år under en presskonferens i Ankara med sin turkiske kollega Abdullah Gül så sa Obama att hans åsikter inte hade förändrats men han var extremt noga med att inte använda ordet “folkmord” för att inte förvärra situationen och uttryckte i stället en förhoppning om samtalen mellan Turkiet och Armenien, sanningen begraver man alltså under säkerhetspolitiken.

Saxat från Obamas löfte om att erkänna folkmordet  Januari, 2008:

…

I also share with Armenian Americans – so many of whom are descended from genocide survivors – a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances of genocide in world history.

As a U.S. Senator, I have stood with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkey’s acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide.

…

The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common security and common humanity.

…

Hör även vad Serj Tankian från System Of A Down och Tom Morello har att säga om saken:

]]> http://gurgin.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/mollergren-om-metrobraket-2/ Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:29:11 +0000 gurgin http://gurgin.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/mollergren-om-metrobraket-2/

Glenn Möllergren skriver i Journalisten om hur Metro drar sig för att skriva om folkmordet 1915, han offentliggör även delar ur en mailkonversation som han haft med chefredaktören Per Gunne.

>Länk<

“Jag står för mitt beslut att inte publicera krönikan och kan konstatera att den trots detta nådde allmänheten via andra vägar. Ett gott betyg till ett väl fungerande samhälle där medierna inte kontrollerar informationen. Precis som det ska vara.”

I det förra uttalandet som Metro gjorde om krönikan så sa drog de till med en fuling och gjorde det hela till en fråga om kvaliteten på krönikan.

“Det var på grund av kvalitén på krönikan. Den höll inte måttet helt enkelt”

Jag svarade med då med deras egna ord ur vår mailkonversation (läs här!)

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om folkmord, metro, folkmordsförnekelse, pressetik,

Little Johnny Clem

Image above can be found on Find-A-Grave (posted by Grave Tagr,) along with a biographical sketch and pictures of his gravestone.

The Youngest Soldier in the Army of the Cumberland.

Last evening, at the Caledonia supper, Gen. Rosecrans exhibited the photograph of a boy, who, he said, was the youngest soldier in the army of the Cumberland. — His name is Johnny Clem, twelve years of age, a member of company C, 22d, Michigan infantry. His home is at Newark, Ohio. He first attracted Rosecrans’ attention during a review at Nashville, where he was acting as marker for his regiment. His extreme youth (he is quite small for his age) and intelligent appearance interested the general, and calling him out, he questioned him as to his name, age, regiment, &c. Gen. Rosecrans spoke encouragingly to the young soldier and told him to come and see him whenever he came where he was.

He saw no more of Clem until Saturday last, when he went to his place of residence — the Burnett House — and found Johnny Clem sitting on his sofa, waiting to see him. Johnny had experienced some of the vicissitudes of war since they last met. He had been captured by Wheeler’s cavalry, near Bridgeport. His captors took him to Wheeler, who saluted him with –

“What are you doing here, you d—-d little Yankee acoundrel?”

Said Johnny Clem, stoutly — “General Wheeler, I am no more a d—–d scoundrel than you are, sir.”

Johnny said that the rebels stole about all that he had, including his pocket book, which contained only twenty-five cents.

“But I would not have cared for the rest,” he added, “if they hadn’t stole my hat, which had three bullet holes in it, received at Chickamauga.”

He was finally paroled and sent north. On Saturday he was on his way to camp Chase to join his regiment, having been exchanged. Gen. Rosecrans observed that the young soldier had chevrons on his arm, and asked the meaning of it. He said he was promoted to a corporal for shooting a rebel colonel at Chickamauga.

The colonel was mounted, and stopped Johnny on the fied, crying “stop you little Yankee devil.” Johnny halted bringing his Austrian rifle to an “order,” thus throwing the colonel off his guard, cocked his piece, (which he could easily do, being so short) and suddenly bringing it to his shoulder, fired, the colonel falling dead, with a bullet through his breast.

The little fellow told his story simply and modestly, and the general determined to honor his bravery. He gave him the badge of “roll of honor,” which Mrs. Saunders, the wife of the host of the Burnett House, sewed upon Johnny’s coat. His eyes glistened with pride as he looked upon his badge, and little Johnny seemed to have grown an inch or two taller, he stood so erect. He left his photograph with General Rosecrans, who exhibits it with pride. We may again hear from Johnny Clem, the youngest soldier in the Army of the Cumberland.

– Cincinnati Times.

The Daily Gazette (Janesville, Wisconsin) Dec 18, 1863

LITTLE JOHNNY CLEM.

Of course you remember the story of little Johnny Clem, the motherless atom of a drummer-boy, aged ten, who strayed away from Newark, Ohio; and the first we knew of him, though small enough to live in a drum, was beating the long roll for the 22d Michigan. At Chickamauga he filled the office of “marker,” carrying the guidon whereby they form the lines; a duty having its counterpart in the surveyor’s more peaceful calling, in the flagman who flutters the red signal along the metes and bounds. On the Sunday of the battle, the little fellow’s occupation gone, he picked up a gun that had fallen from some dying hand, provided himself with amunition, and began putting in the periods quite on his own account, blazing away close to the ground, like a fire-fly in the grass. Late in the waning day, the waif left almost alone in the whirl of battle, a rebel colonel dashed up, and looking down at him, ordered him to surrender.

“Surrender!” he shouted, “You little d—-d son of a —–!”

The words were hardly out of his mouth when Johnny brought his piece to “order arms,” and as his hand slipped down to the hammer, he pressed it back, swung up the gun to the position of “charge bayonet,” and as the officer raising his sabre to strike the gun aside, the glancing barrel lifted into range, and the proud colonel tumbled from his horse, his lips fresh-stained with the syllable of vile reproach that he had flung on a mother’s grave in the hearing of her child! A few swift moment’s ticked on by musket shots, and the tiny gunner was swept up at a rebel swoop and borne away a prisoner. Soldiers, bigger but not better, were taken with him only to be washed back again by a surge of federal troopers, and the prisoner of thirty minutes was again John Clem “of ours;” and Gen. Rosecrans made him segeant, and the stripes of rank covered him all over, like a mouse in a harness; and the daughter of Mr. Secretary Chase presented him a silver medal appropriately inscribed, which he worthily wears, a royal order of honor, upon his left breast; and all men conspired to spoil him; but, since few ladies can get at him here, perhaps he may be saved.

Well, like Flora McFlimsy, the sergeant ‘had nothing to wear,’ the clothing in the wardrobe of loyal livary was not at all like Desdemonia’s handkerchief, “too little,” but like the garments of the man who roomed a month over a baker’s over, a “world too wide;” and so Miss Babcock of the sanitary commission, suggested that a uniform for the little orderly would be acceptable. Mr. Waite and other gentlemen of the “Sherman House” ordered it, Messrs. A.D. Titsworth & Co., made it, Chaplain Raymond brought it, Miss Babcock presented it, and Johnny put it on. Chaplain Raymond, of the 51st Illinois — by the by, a most earnest and efficient officer — accompanied the gift with exceedingly appropriate suggestions and advice. I happened at headquarters just as the belted and armed sergeant was booted and spurred, and ready to ride. Resplendent in his elegant uniform, rigged cap-a-pie, modest, frank, with a clear and a manly face, he looked more like a fancy picture than a living thing. Said he to the chaplain; “you captured me by surprise yesterday.” Now, he is “going on” thirteen, as our grandmothers used to say; but he would be no monster if we called him only nine. Think of a sixty-three pound sergeant — fancy a handful of a hero, and then read the Arabian Nights, and believe them. Long live the little Orderly!

Rebellion Record.

CENTRALIA SENTINEL (Centralia, Marion Co., Illinois) Nov 16, 1865

THE BOY OF CHICKAMAUGA.

Little Johnny Clem’s Brave Work
(From the Cincinnati Gazette.)

There are but few persons who read the current events of the war for the Union as they were transpiring, who do not remembers, among the enduring record of brilliant achievements made by distinguished officers and the gallant rank and file of the army, the invincible spirit and soldierly qualities displayed by that remarkable child soldier known as “Little Johnny Clem, the drummer boy of Chickamauga.”

Various references from time to time respecting this infantile prodigy of the war have appeared in books and newspapers, yet all have failed to embody some of the most prominent incidents herein narrated connected with his army life. The “Rebellion Record,” by Frank Moore, and Lossing’s “History of the Civil War in America,” have each consigned to the pages of history the undaunted deed that has enrolled his name forever among the most gallant and devoted spirits that participated in the hard fought battle of Chickamauga, as well as other battles to the close of the war. Lossing speaks of little Clem as “probably the youngest person who ever bore arms in battle;” hence every incident connected with his entering the army, and while therein, possesses peculiar interest to those who watched the trembling balances of their country’s fate, and the valor of those to whose keeping they were confided.

John L. Clem, a motherless atom of a drummer boy, who might have been placed, in April, 1861, within a “regulation” drum, was born in Newark, Ohio, August 13, 1851, and in May, 1861, shortly after the war broke out, offered his infantile services as a drummer to Captain McDougal, of the 3d Ohio regiment, which was then passing through his native town, but on account of his size and tender age, not being yet ten years old, he was rejected, the regiment was on his way to the front, and having taken passage on the cars for Cincinnati, our little hero went down on the same train, where he offered himself to the 22d Michigan, who also declined to muster him in on account of his size and years, but owing to the persevering spirit with which he maintained his determination to follow the fortunes of his country upon the field, he was allowed to accompany the regiment in all its subsequent movements, until at length he was beating the “long roll” in front of Shiloh April, 1862, where his soldierly spirit so _on the confidence and admiration of the regiment that in June or July, 1862, he was enlisted at Covington, Ky., as a drummer, but serving afterward also as a marker.”

At Shiloh (known as Pittsburg Landing), his drum was smashed by a shell, which occurrence earned for him the appellation of “Johnny Shiloh,” as a title of distinction for the fearless manner in which he discharged his duty at that bloody battle; and at Chickamauga, of which we shall speak presently, that field of Thomas’ glory and renown, he received the title of “The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga,” under which he has already passed into story, where his name and title will live forever in connection with an act there performed by him, which for coolness and undaunted valor, is not equaled on the pages of ancient or modern warfare, in one so young, and which won for him the highest meed? of praise from Rosecrans and Thomas, and every other officer and man of the Army of the Cumberland.

Here little Johnny Clem, having just passed his twelfth year, exchanged the “long roll” of the drum for the “brisk fire” ___ the deadly musket; and on the 23d day of September, 1863, when the line of battle was about being formed, our little drummer boy, now acting as a “marker,” might have been seen with his trusty little musket, as it afterward proved — which had been shortened for his use — seated upon a __aisson side by side with artillerymen, going sto the front to form the line and face the coming storm of death in common with others. The line being formed, he now took his position in the ranks, and with his little musket began putting in the periods? quite on his own account, blazing away close to the ground like a firefly in the grass. At the close of hte day, when the army was retiring toward Chattanooga, the brigade to which little Johnny was attached was ordered to hold its position, but  ___ing afterward surrounded bythe rebels, demand for its surrender was made directly after its charge had been repulsed. When a rebel colonel rode up toward our little hero, who could not fall back as rapidly as the rest of the line, and made a special demand for him, exclaiming, “Halt! Surrender! you d–n little Yankee s-n of a b—h!” still coming with his sword drawn upon little Johnny, who had now brought his musket to an “order arms,” and in doing which he slipped his hand down the barrel and cocked it while at an “order,” when our little hero suddenly swung up his musket to the position of “charge bayonet” and fired! when lo! our little David brought down the proud Goliah! who fell from his saddle, his lips fresh stained with the reproachful epithet he had just flung upon a mother grave in the hearing of her child! Simultaneous with the performance of this brilliant deed the regiment to which little Johnny belonged was fired into by the surrounding rebels, when he fell as though he had been shot, and laid there until darkness closed in, when he arose and made his way to Chattanooga, after the rest of the army. Now, all history may be searched in vain for an instance of such forethought, courage and self-reliance as this. A reference to this most daring act in the papers of the day was the first intimation his family had received of his whereabouts during his two years’ absence and upward.

Lossing’s History speaks of him as having received three balls through his cap during the fortunes of the day at Chickamauga, which statement has since been full confirmed, only that they were received directly after he had shot the rebel colonel. For his undaunted valor and heroic conduct he was made a sergeant by Rosecrans, who placed him on the roll of honor and attached him to the headquarters of the Army of the Cumberland; and a daughter of Secretary Chase presented him with a silver medal inscribed, “Sergeant Johnny Clem, 22d Michigan Vol. Inf., from N.M.C.,” which he worthily wears as a priceless badge of honor upon his left breast, in connection with his grand army medal.

In a few days after little Johnny’s arrival at Chattanooga, our tiny gunner was captured with others, while detailed to aid in bringing up the supply train from Bridgeport, Alabama, and held in captivity for sixty-three days, during which time he was kept on the move until he was at length paroled down near Tallahassee, Florida, and sent to Camp Chase for exchange, which was not complied with.

Having captured this gallant little prize, the rebels despoiled him of the companionship of his little bullet torn cap, which he endeavored in vain to retain as a reminscence in the future of the perils through which he had passed, taking also from him his jacket and shoes. Upon reaching our lines, he found General Thomas in command of the Army of the Cumberland, who received him with the warmest enthusiasm and made him an orderly sergeant and attached him on his staff.

In addition to the battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga, he was at Perryville, Stone River (sometimes called Murfresboro), Resaca, Kenesaw, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Nashville and others, where the Army of the Cumberland covered itself with so much glory.

Besides the three balls that passed thro’ his little cap at Chickamauga, he was struck once with a fragment of shell upon his hip and twice by balls. Upon one of the latter occasions, he was in the act of delivering a dispatch from General Thomas to General Logan at Atlanta, when a ball struck his little pony obliquely near the top of his head, killing him, and wounding his fearless little rider in the shoulder. He is held in the highest estimation by all the officers and men of the Army of the Cumberland, and General Thomas was his fast friend and correspondent up to the time of his death. He served until the end of the war, when he was honorably mustered out, and at once directed his attention to qualifying himself for a cadetship at West Point, to which he has been appointed a cadet at large by President Grant, upon the recommendation of Generals Thomas and Logan, and other officers of the Army of the Cumberland, in recognition of his gallant services. Owing, however, to the limited opportunities previously afforded him, he was rather unsuccessful in passing his examination last fall in one branch only, having had as fair a general average in the other branches as the majority of those who did pass; but he is now diligently prosecuting his studies during the spare time he is not employed at his desk in the Census office at Washington, with confidence in his ultimate success when again before the board. He is still small in size, very youthful in appearance, and a consistent member of one of our prominent religious denominations; and his pleasant address and modest deportment win the confidence of all with whom he is brought into intercourse.

Decatur Review (Decatur, Illinois) May 4, 1871

Image and an article can be found at Edrumline Crossing the Line

JOHNNY CLEM

Some Interesting Facts of the “Drummer Boy of the Chicamauga” — His Parentage — Career Curing and Since the Late War.

(Special Correspondence to the Dispatch)
NEWARK, July 20, 1880.

A person passing through the markets any Wednesday or Saturday, can see a medium-sized man, with straggling gray hairs and a face that plainly indicates the possessor’s German extraction, standing behind a rudely constructed bench loaded down with vegetables and garden truck. Through rains and storms this silent and seemingly contented German market tender has stood at his allotted market space. He lives and has lived, for the last twenty years, in a small and comfortable house, about a mile from this city, on the Granville road. This is the father of Johnny Clem, whom everybody in the Army of the Cumberland knew as “the drummer boy of Chickamauga.”

At the breaking out of the war, Johnny was struck with the martial music of the troops recruiting in this city, and ran away from home, going into the army as a drummer boy. Everybody is familiar with the history of this daring lad, who was petted by the officers and soldiers on all sides. During the war he became a favorite Orderly of General George H. Thomas, who, at the close of the war, assumed a sort of guardianship over him, and took a special interest in his welfare.

Johnny was sent to school at West Point, where he graduated, and soon afterwards entered the regular army and was stationed at Texas. Here he met General Brown’s daughter, and soon after married her. It was not long after his marriage that he was promoted and stationed at Fort Brown, Texas, where he still remains on duty.

Every summer he visits his aged parents and renews old acquaintances with his school-mates and companions. Johnny’s brother Louis, entered the regular army some few years ago, and, during an engagement on the Western frontier with the Indians, was massacred. The death of the brave boy weighed heavily on his aged father, and he frequently relates his sorrows to attentive listeners.

‘Pap’ Thomas frequently wrote to his protege, and a paragraph from one dated at Nashville, June 27, 1866, has special interest at the present time. The following is an exact:

“DEAR JOHNNIE — Do you remember the story of General Garfield’s life? He worked on a canal, and educated himself by buying his text book, which he studied at every leisure moment, while the canal was not frozen up. Now he is one of the most distinguished of our Representatives in Congress. He was also greatly distinguished as a soldier during the late war.”

Johnny Clem acquired a national reputation, as the youngest and smallest soldier in the Union army, as well as for gallant conduct.

The Marion Daily Star (Marion, Ohio) Jul 30, 1880

Image from http://auction.igavel.com

CAPTAIN JOHN CLEM

Incidents of His Early Life Recalled by a Meeting with Mrs. Grant.

The many friends in Newark of Captain John Clem of the United States Army will be interested in the following taken from the Columbus Dispatch:

Columbus people will undoubtedly read with interest the details of a meeting between Mrs. U.S. Grant and Captain John Clem which occurred at Atlanta yesterday. Captain Clem, now Assistant Quartermaster General of the army, was for a long time stationed at the Garrison in this city and, departing, left a legion of friends. His meeting with the widow of General Grant occurred at a reception she was holding for Confederate veterans at Atlanta. This favor had been asked by the veterans and readily granted. Among other who called to pay their respects to Mrs. Grant was Captain Clem.

“Of course I know Captain Clem if it is Johnny Clem, the drummer boy,” said Mrs. Grant when introduced to him, “I remember so well hearing my husband tell of how he found you at Shiloh that day beating the long roll and telling you you were a brave boy, but ought to be home.”

Captain Clem received his appointment as a lieutenant at the hands of President Grant. Of the reception in general Mrs. Grant said, “I regard it as one of the most handsome compliments that has ever been paid to me.”

Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Jan 31, 1895

Image from http://img.groundspeak.com

“JOHNNY” CLEM

To Be a Major — Honor Paid to a Newark Boy.

A dispatch from Atlanta conveys the intelligence that Captain John L. Clem, Assistant United States Quartermaster, stationed at Atlanta, has received work from Washington that he will be promoted to the next grade to which he is eligible, (Quartermaster with rank of Major) as soon as a vacancy occurs.

“Johnny Clem will be remembered as “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.”
His many friends congratulate him on his prospective appointment.

Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Feb 14, 1895

Image from www.pearcecollections.us

A Soldier at 11.

There are only 77 officers on the active list of the army below the grade of general who served in the Civil War. All of these with one exception will soon be retired. The exception is that of Col. John L Clem, of the quartermaster’s department, whose age limit will not be reached until 1915. This extended time is due to the fact that “Little Johnny Clem, the drummer boy of Chickamauga,” as he was familiarly known, was probably the youngest person who ever bore arms in battle.

Col. Clem was also known as “Johnny Shiloh,” from the fact that in the battle of Shiloh he rode to the firing line on a caisson by the side of a veteran artilleryman, and then performed an act of daring in such a brave and cool manner that it gave him a name in history. He drummed the charge at Shiloh when he was only 11 years old, and with his short musket he killed the Confederate colonel who demanded his surrender at Chickamuaga. He is a popular officer, not only with his fellows of the army, but in social circles as well, being as genial a man as he is chivalrous a soldier.

Col. Clem was born in Ohio on Aug. 13, 1851, and in May, 1861, before he was 10 years old, he offered his services to the Third Ohio Regiment as drummer, but the mustering officer declined to enlist him because of his size and his youth. Later he offered his services to the Twenty-second Michigan, and though enlistment was refused, he was permitted to accompany the regiment to the field and to beat the “long roll” in front of Shiloh in April 1862. His soldierly manner and conduct in that engagement so won the confidence and admiration of the officers of the regiment that in May, 1863, he was permitted to enlist as a drummer and was then known as “Johnny Shiloh.” But it was on Sept. 23, 1863, at the battle of Chickamauga, that he displayed especial bravery. He had just passed his 12th birthday anniversary and had laid aside his drum for a musket, the barrel of which had been cut down for his use; and after acting as a “marker” for a time he took his place in the ranks. As the day closed, and the army retired to Chattanooga, his brigade was ordered by the enemy to surrender, and “Little Johnny” was himself covered by the sword of a Confederate colonel. His regiment was then fired into, and, falling as if shot, the juvenile soldier lay close until dar, when he went to Chattanooga and joined his command. But as he fell to the ground he fired at the Confederate officer and killed him, and so demoralized the Confederate com???? in such a way that his own associates escaped capture.

For his bravery young Clem was made a sergeant by Gen. Rosecrans and detailed to the headquarters of the Department of the Cumberland. He also received a silver medal from the hands of Miss Kate Chase, daughter of Chief Justice Chase. He was afterward captured by the Confederates and held prisoner for 68 days, and after his release he was promoted to orderly sergeant by Gen. Thomas. He was discharged from the service in September, 1864, when he returned to his old home and attended school, being graduated from the Newark High School in 1870. President Grant, who had kept watch of “Little Johnny” after the war ended, appointed him a second lieutenant in the regular army in 1871. Three years later he went to the artillery school at Fortress Monroe for a course of instruction in military science, and a year later passed a most sucessful examination.

The Daily Herald (Delphos, Ohio) Nov 13, 1903

SOLDIER AT TEN, IS TO QUIT ARMY

Colonel Clem Last Civil War Veteran In Active Service.

FIRST WOND FAME AT SHILOH

Fought With Little Musket Which Men of His Regiment Fashioned For Him — His Memorable Encounter With a Confederate Colonel After Chickamauga — Youngest Sergeant.
[Excerpt]

Youngest Sergeant Army Has Had.

After the battle General Rosecrans made Clem a sergeant — the youngest of that rank who ever served in the United States army.

Following the battle of Chickamauga, when the Union army was retiring toward Chattanooga, the brigade to which Clem was attached had been ordered to hold its position. The position became untenable, and the brigade fell back and, in doing so, lost “Little Johnny” Clem.

Suddenly out of the woods he came like a scared rabbit and ran full tilt into a Confederate colonel.

“My but you are a little shaver to be in this business!” the Confederate officer said, “But war is war, so you had better drop that gun.”

Instead, the boy fired point blank. The colonel fell from his horse badly wounded, and Johnny darted into the bushes. Late that night he turned up at Chattanooga.

The Confederate colonel, who recovered, afterward said he would never get over the suprise “that kid gave him.”

Adams County News (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Jul 4, 1914

“LITTLEST HERO OF CIVIL WAR” TO RETIRE FRIDAY THIRTEENTH

Brigadier General John L. Clem, “The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga,” and the Last Civil War Veteran in the U.S. Army, Will Go Out of Service On His “Lucky Day” — Gets a Job With His Son in San Antonio.

When Colonel John Lincoln Clem, officer in the Quartermaster Department at Washington and personal friend of hundreds of San Antonians, is retired from active service with the rank of brigadier general Friday, the thirteenth of August, this year, the last living link between the present United States army and the armies that participated in the civil war will be severed. Colonel Clem is the only veteran of that tremendous conflick still in active service with the United States Army.

After active service in the army for more than 45 years — he could have retired 15 years ago had he wanted to — “[the littlest hero] of the civil war,” and one of the most interesting figures in the army of the United States at the present time will quit active service and come to San Antonio to make his home as Brigadier General John L. Clem, U.S.A., retired.

He was born on Friday, the thirteenth of August, 1851; while he is not the least bit superstitious, the combination of Friday and the thirteenth day of the month, has marked the luckiest events of his life, and he will retire when that combination occurs in August on his sixty-fourth birthday. More than once in his lifetime has he remarked upon incidents which have turned out to his advantage occurring on the thirteenth of hte month and usually when that date fell on Friday. It is a strange coincidence that almost every time he was advised of promotion in the army, the notice came to him on the thirteenth day of the month.

Asks Son for a Job.

And when this combination occurs on the calendar next month he will retire from active service in the army, but not from active participation in affairs of the world. Brigadier General John Lincoln Clem, U.S.A., retired, hero of the civil war and late important figure in quartermasters affairs at Washington, will come to San Antonio to become automobile salesman in the regular employ of the Collins-Clem Automobile Company, one of the proprietors of which is his son, John L. Clem Jr.

Recently Colonel Clem wrote to his son: “I hereby make formal application for a position as automobile salesman with the Collins-Clem Automobile Company, distributers of Studebaker cars in the San Antonio district. Please advise me of your decision in the matter.” Then he wrote down at the bottom: “I am yet just as good a man as you are, son, and I can do just as much hard work in one day as you can, if I am a little old. I am going to buy a car from you, hire me a chauffeur to drive me on demonstrations, and I will sell as many cars as you will.”

This letter, as much as many other incidents in his life, brings out the quality in his character which have made him one of the most beloved of men among his associates.

“Invaded” Mexico.

One of these incidents, which forms the theme of a story many of his friends take great delight in relating about him, occurred on the Rio Grande frontier shortly after he entered the United States army as a second lieutenant. Lieutenant Clem was placed in charged of a squad of soldiers sent out to apprehend cattle thieves. The soldiers trailed the outlaws five days, but were unable to get closer than within a few miles of the rapidly fleeing band. The cattle thieves escaped across the Rio Grande and stood on the other side making motions at the soldiers, which Lieutenant Clem understood as essentially insulting. He resented their actions intensely, and at the head of his squad, crossed over the river into Mexico, gave chase to the desperadoes, and in an engagement the cattle thieves were killed to the last man.

Shortly after the incident, Lieutenant Clem received a letter from the commander of the department, General E.O.C. Ord. Lieutenant Clem was officially reprimanded. He was told that his conduct was unbecoming an officer of the United States army, he had been guilty of tremendous lack of judgement, he had violated the neutrality laws and his action might result in complications between two nations at peace. Such an escapade must never be repeated, on pain of serious consequences to the perpetrator.

The Heart of a Soldier.

The communication was officially signed in ink. A penciled inscription, in the department commander’s handwriting at the bottom of the page, read: “Good boy, Johnny, do it again.”

A newspaper correspondent in Washington asked Colonel Clem, on the occasion of the last memorial day, what memory was uppermost in his mind that day. And the famous old soldier, who, at the age of 12 years, was the twice-wounded veteran of one of the greatest campaigns of history, did not reply with a tale of sanguinary adventure.

“My memory pictures today what my kid eyes saw fifty-one years ago today,” he said gently, “a soldier in blue an a soldier in gray, shaking hands like two loving comrades between the trneches, swapping tobacco and coffee. In the morning they were to stab each other brutally with bayonets in a fierce hand-to-hand fight for those very trenches. Yet what I like to think of first on memorial day is not the bloody fight, but that tender scene preceding it, which showed me that after all, man to man, we soldiers of the north and of the south were friends and brothers always. We of the north hated that which they fought for, but we did not hate them personally, nor they us.

Was Impersonal War.

“And that is the most hallowed of my memories on this memorial day, for it brings back the thought that we who fought to kill each other were really never enemies. It was a war of cannon against fortress, of rifle against trench, but never of man against his brother man!

“It is the great tragedy of those bloody deaths we brought each other, but not because of hatred for each other, but for the sake of a principle, that we must think of on this sacred memorial day.”

Johnny Clem ran away from his home in Newark, O., when he was ten years old and attached himself to the Twenty-second Michigan regiment. The officers tried to chase him away, but the soldiers made him a pet and mascot and, finally, in May, 1862, the colonel enlisted him.

He was the hero of a brilliant scene at Chickamauga performed right under the eyes of his Union comrades, who were falling back rapidly. Johnny’s poor little legs were weary, and, so he lagged behind, a Confederate colonel galloped up to him, “Surrender, you damned little Yankee devil,” he cried.

Loved Life by Feigning Death.

Weak and tired though he was, his nerves never quivered. He pulled up his heavy musket — he had abandoned his drum — and fired. The colonel fell headlong from his horse, and a volley of bullets from the men behind him rained over Johnny Clem. Johnny’s comrades on the hill saw their heroic little soldier boy fall face downward. The battle raged four hours after that, and at dark the Union forces rested. Suddenly, into their bivouac crept Johnny Clem, unhurt, and displaying with tremendous pride his cap pierced by three bullet holes. He had saved his own life by shamming death.

General Thomas made the hero drummer boy a sergeant for that deed of bravery. And when the general advised him of promotion, the youngster answered: “General, is that all you’re going to make me?”

Later in his civil war careet, the 12-year-old soldier was hit on the hip by part of a shell, wounded in the ear while dispatch riding and once taken prisoner.
He is probably the only living man who voted legally at an age under 15. At the time Lincoln was elected the second time, all soldiers of the army were allowed to vote. Johnny Clem was a soldier in the army and he voted.

Johnny Clem went to high school when the war was over and then entered the army as second lieutenant. In his early service, he was the central figure in many exciting adventures on the Texas frontier. He is one of the very few infantry officers to graduate from the army artillary school and holds other distinctions for service in the army.

To Know Him Is To Love Him.

He was stationed at Fort Sam Houston for the first time in 1900 in the quartermaster department. He remained here four years, after which time he became chief of the quartermaster department of the Philippines, with headquarters in Manila. Two years later he was transferred to San Francisco and later returned to Fort Sam Houston as chief of hte quartermaster department of the Department of Texas. While stationed here, he probably made more friends among San Antonians than any other army officer who has ever been quartered at the army post.

Colonel Clem left Fort Sam Houston four years ago when he was transferred to the quartermaster department in Washington. He has been connected with the quartermaster department in Washington for the last two years.

After retiring from the army August 13, Colonel Clem will spend several months in the north and east,. At Dayton, O., a city-wide celebration, to be known as Clem day, has been arranged in his honor by Colonel Clem Garrison, Army and Navy Union, and the Grand Army of the Republic organization in that city.

He will come to San Antonio about December 1 to make his home.

THE SAN ANTONIO LIGHT (San Antonio, Texas) Jul 11, 1915

*****

Read more about Johnny Clem:

Ohio History Central: Johnny Klem – Johnny Clem

Learn Civil War History: A Civil War Blog of History and Stories:  Johnny Clem

Helensburgh Rail Tunnel 1st

“What a peculiar place to put a tunnel I thought when I was young upon first discovering this tunnels existence”. That thought I had was from around the early-mid 80’s, and I genuinely didn’t want to go anywhere near it as it looked very scary. Curiosity got the better of me however. The southern approach was all boarded up with corroded and tarnished corrugated iron. My friend told me that they used to grow mushrooms in there. Now that I was familiar with… my uncle used to work the Otford Tunnel, growing mushrooms down there. But this place looked abandoned and neglected… ghost townish even.

The Helensburgh Tunnel 1st is located at the northern end of the 1st Helensburgh Rail Station. It is an elliptical-shaped tunnel on a single track alignment measuring 80m in length with a distinct curvature.

Opened: 3rd October 1888

Closed: 30th May 1915

Like all six disused tunnels in the area, this tunnel had a very short life of 27 years of allowing trains to pass through her. After the deviation went through to alleviate track congestion, (from the trains) and lung congestion of the passengers*, the old single alignment slowly faded away as a train line. *(Asphyxiation of the passengers while trains either stalled or hauled slowly through the dark tunnels was a big problem on the 1 in 40 grade).

My friend and I walked up to the tunnel entrance on the southern side, dodging waist high grass storks and small shrubbery. We reached the wretchedly rusted corrugated iron and started pulling the edge of a sheet back allowing rays of sunshine to penetrate the darkness. As we peered in, I remember seeing partly decomposed foam boxes all broken into hundreds of pieces scattered about the tunnel floor. That was enough for me and I high-tailed it out of there.

Today it has been cleared and the tunnels corrugated iron enclaves have been removed and replaced with thick black steel post fencing and gates wide open. The facades on both approaches are in reasonable condition with several bricks missing around the lower arch-edges on both sides. (I guess that would have been from careless construction of barriers to seal off the tunnel during the mushroom farming years).

Unfortunately the local youth see no value in the tunnel other than a place to discard rubbish and paint graffiti. Other than those defilements, the tunnel is in exceptional condition for its age. Inside are still remnants of the  mushroom farmers presence by way of electrical wiring hubs and even a suspended light. No torch needed for this tunnel and anyone could walk it with little effort. Walking the rest of the alignment up to the Cawley Tunnel is a different story however. That’s for another time.

Google Map link (right under where ‘The Ridge’ ends): http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Helensburgh+NSW&sll=-25.335448,135.745076&sspn=52.4378,114.169922&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Helensburgh+NSW&ll=-34.176603,150.992092&spn=0.003013,0.006968&t=h&z=18

http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Helensburgh+Tunnel+%281st%29

By Seda Muradyan, IWPR’s Armenian country director (20-Oct-09)

	Seda Muradyan, IWPR’s Armenian country director

I visited Istanbul in May, and I saw there an old cupboard with the name and date – written in Armenian – “Hranush, 1911”.

Just four years after that unknown Armenian was for some reason commemorated on that cupboard, our nation was swept up in a genocide. Squads of Turkish soldiers rounded up Armenians across the country, killing them, or driving them to die in the desert.

I exist only because my grand-father Eduard managed to escape from the town of Kharberd in Western Armenia. It is now the Turkish town of Harput and, somewhere, contains the un-marked grave of Murad, my great-grandfather.

The old cupboard reminded me of the fate of Turkey’s Armenians every time I passed it. And I passed it four times a day because it stood by the entrance of the restaurant in the Conrad hotel where we were staying.

I was part of a group of Armenian analysts, political scientists and journalists visiting the former capital of the Ottoman Empire to take part in a forum dedicated to improving relations between our states.

We saw Hranush’s name on the cupboard before our first lunch, and we flocked around it, taking photos of it and each other.

At the forum, television cameras and journalists waited to ask us questions, and the relations between our two countries were at the centre of national attention. In the midst of this uproar, Hranush’s cupboard stood still.

On the last day I even said goodbye to it, and surprised myself by how moved I was to be leaving it behind.

I am sure that Hranush, like my great-grandfather Murad, has no grave. Murad for me has always been the symbol of the genocide – the “unknown victim” – and the memorial to its victims in Yerevan has been for me a grave for him. Hranush has now joined him in my thoughts.

I truly hope that Armenia and Turkey will become good neighbours, and I want Turkey to open the border that it closed in 1993.

However, in a sign of the tensions that still exist, the signing last week of the historic accord between the countries – setting a timetable for restoring diplomatic ties and reopening their joint frontier – was delayed by several hours as international intermediaries struggled to stop both the Armenians and the Turks making any political statements for the cameras after the event.

This leaves me – as well as many ordinary people in Turkey and Armenia – doubtful that the politicians are sincere in their desires to build peace.

Such distrust could interfere with any attempts to build friendship between the two nations. We have been separated by a closed border for decades. In Armenia, recollections of the genocide have extinguished any pleasant stories that Armenians could have told of Turks when they still lived together as neighbours.

Turkey must confront its own past before real peace can ever be created. Here in Armenia, we will never stop talking about the genocide. Opening the border will give us the chance to talk to the Turks, to persuade them that their ancestors waged genocide against ours – a recognition that’s key to good relations between the two countries.

The ghosts of Murad, Hranush and a million and a half other Armenian victims insist upon it.

The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of IWPR.

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=356665&apc_state=henpcrs

“Հրանուշ, 1911″: 1911-ը 1915-ից չորս տարի առաջ էր …

1915-ի մասին հիշատակումը իմ, ու հայերի մեծ մասի մտքում մեր կամքից անկախ ծնում է մի բառ’ ցեղասպանություն:

Ես ծնվել եմ, քանի որ Էդվարդը’ պապս, փրկվել էր ցեղասպանությունից: Նա’ իր ծնողների, եղբայրների եւ քույրերի հետ ապրում էր Արեւմտյան Հայաստանի Խարբերդ քաղաքում: Խարբերդը, Հարպուտը կամ Մամուրեթ էլ Ազիզը գտնվում է այժմյան Թուրքիայում: Մասնագիտությամբ փաստաբան Մուրադին’ պապիկիս հորը, սպանել են 1915-ին:

“Հրանուշ, 1911 թ”. սա փորագրված է անտիկ պահարանի վրա, որը կանգնած է Ստամբուլի հինգ աստղանի “Կոնրադ” հյուրանոցի ռեստորաններից մեկում’ մուտքի դռան մոտ:

2009-ի մայիս: Ստամբուլում եմ հայաստանցի մի խումբ վերլուծաբանների, քաղաքագետների, լրագրողների հետ: Մենք մասնակցում ենք հայ-թուրքական հարաբերությունները բարելավելու նպատակ ունեցող համաժողովին:

Պահարանի վրայի հայատառ փորագրությունը մեր խմբի կողմից նկատվում է  հենց առաջին ճաշի ժամանակ: Պահարանը հայտնվում է մեր ուշադրության կենտրոնում. լուսանկարում ենք, լուսանկարվում:

“Հրանուշը ցեղասպանության զոհերից է”, – սա առաջին միտքն է, որ վայրկենապես ծնվում է փորագրությունը տեսնելիս:

Ծնվելուց առաջ մտքերը մեզնից թույլտվություն չեն հայցում:

“Տեսնես ի՞նչ է եղել Հրանուշի հետ” . – բարձրաձայն հարցնում եմ ես, թաքուն հույս ունենալով ստանալ իմ մտքում եղած պատասխանին հակառակ պատասխան: “Դե պարզ չի ՞ …. “, – ասում է գործընկերներիցս մեկը:

Ես փորձում եմ վերացարկել. նույն հյուրանոցում անտիկ պահարանի վրա “Հրանուշ, 1911″ -ի փոխարեն, փորագրված է “Պատրիցիա, 1911″:  Ժամանակին ոմն ֆրանսուհի Պատրիցիայի համար պատրաստված պահարանը նկատելիս ես առաջին հերթին կգնահատեի ձեռակերտ նախշերը, գուցե գովեի անանուն վարպետին, բայց ես հաստատ չէի մտածի, որ Պատրիցիային սպանել են 1915-ին, Օսմանյան կայսրությունում: Ես հավանաբար կմտածեի, որ այս ձեռակերտ, հնաոճ փորագրություններով պահարանը երեւի թե վաճառել են Պատրիցիայի զավակները, թոռները, կամ ծոռները …

Հրանուշի պահարանի մասին այդպես մտածել չեմ կարողանում:

Ստամբուլում եմ արդեն երկրորդ անգամ: Առաջին այսցելությունս 2007-ին էր, ազգությամբ հայ, “Ագոս” թերթի խմբագիր, լրագրող ու հրապարակախոս Հրանտ Դինքի  սպանությունից մի քանի ամիս անց:

2007-ի Ստամբուլը կարծես ներողություն հայցելու անընդհատ ցանկություն ունենար: Ինձ հանդիպած տասնյակ թուրքեր, լինի հյուրանոցի աշխատող, թե’ համալսարանի պրոֆեսոր, հայացքը ներքեւ հառելով ասում էին. Հրանտը մեզնից մեկն էր, մենք ցավում ենք Հրանտի կորստի համար:

2009-ի Ստամբուլը ավելի մտածող ու խորհող դեմք ուներ:

Հեռուստաընկերություններն ու առաջատար թերթերն աննախադեպ ուշադրությամբ լուսաբանում էին հայ-թուրքական երկօրյա հավաքը: Հեռուստատեսային խմբերը ժամերով սպասում էին, որպեսզի հարցազրույցներ վերցնեն Հայաստանից ժամանած քաղաքական վելուծաբաններից,   հրապարակախոսներից. հայ-թուրքական հարաբերությունները թուրքական մամուլի սեւեռուն ուշադրության կենտրոնում էին:

Հրանուշի պահարանին մենք հանդիպում էինք օրական առնվազն երկու անգամ’ նախաճաշին ու ճաշին; Վերջին օրն ընդմիջումներից մեկի ժամանակ ես նույնիսկ հաջողացրի հրաժեշտ տալ պահարանին: Իմ այս հուզականությունը նույնիսկ ինձ էր զարմացրել:

Ես  համոզված էի, որ Հրանուշը, Մուրադի պես, գերեզման չունի:

Ինձ համար, Ցեղասպանության բոլոր զոհերը մինչ վերջերս ամբողջանում էին մի դեմքում, Մուրադի դեմքում: Եղեռնի հուշահամալիր գնալն ինձ համար միշտ էլ առաջին հերթին եղել է այցելություն Մուրադի գերեզմանին: Այժմ այս անվան կողքին իմ մտքում ավելացավ եւս մի անուն’ Հրանուշ:

Ես անկեղծորեն ուզում եմ, որ Թուրքիայի եւ Հայաստանի միջեւ կառուցվեն բարի հարեւաններին հատուկ հարաբերություններ, ես ուզում եմ, որ Թուրքիան բացի իր սահմանները, որ փակել է Հայաստանի առջեւ դեռեւս 1993-ին: Ես կարծում եմ, որ մենք պետք է հնարավորություն ունենանք թուրքերի հետ ուղիղ հաղորդակցվելու, բանակցելու եւ նախապատրաստելու նրանց այն մտքին, որ իրենց նախնիները ցեղասպանություն են գործել: Այս ամենն իրագործելու համար բաց սահմաններն իհարկե միայն կօգնեն:

Սակայն Մուրադը, Հրանուշը, մեկ ու կես միլիոն զոհերը, ինձ իրավունք չեն տալիս հարցական նշաններ դնել 1915-ի Ցեղասպանության դիմաց:

Սեդա Մուրադյան, լրագրող, Պատերազմի եւ խաղաղության լուսաբանման ինստիտուտի Հայաստանյան գրասենյակի ղեկավար:

http://a1plus.am/am/politics/2009/10/12/hranush

>Länk<

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om folkmord, metro, folkmordsförnekelse, pressetik,

My Top 10:

1. The Battleship Potemkin
   

   The Battleship Potemkin (1925)

2. Greed
3. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
4. The Birth of a Nation
5. The Gold Rush
6. The Phantom of the Opera
7. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
8. Foolish Wives
9. The Last Laugh
10. The General
    

TSPDT Consensus Top 5 Films:

• #8 – The Battleship Potemkin
• #27 – The Gold Rush
• #30 – The General
• #51 – Intolerance
• #64 – Greed

AFI Top 100 Films:

• The Birth of a Nation – #44 (1998) – not on 2007 list
• The Gold Rush – #75 (1998) – #58  (2007)
• The General – #18 (2007) – not on 1998 list
• Intolerance – #49 (2007) – not on 1998 list

Nighthawk Awards:

• Best Picture: The Battleship Potemkin
• Best Director: Sergei Eisenstein (The Battleship Potemkin)
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Greed (from the novel McTeague)
• Best Original Screenplay: The Gold Rush
• Best Actor: Charlie Chaplin (The Gold Rush)
• Best Actress: Lilian Gish (Broken Blossoms)
• Best Supporting Actor: Donald Crisp (Broken Blossoms)
• Best Supporting Actress: Zasu Pitts (Greed)

Ebert Great Movies (in order that he added them):

• The General
• The Battleship Potemkin
• Greed
• Broken Blossoms
• The Last Laugh
• The Birth of a Nation
• The Phantom of the Opera
• Faust
• Safety Last
• Nanook of the North
• Cabiria
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
• Souls for Sale

1912 is where I begin this project because it was in 1912 that Richard III, the earliest surviving feature length film was released.  1926 is where this post ends because the Academy Awards began in 1927.  So this pretty much covers the pre-Academy era of feature films.

Because these are the pre-Academy years no group existed to decide what was the best film of each year.  So if you’re looking to try to figure out what films to watch from this era, there are several ways to go about it.  First, you can look at TSPDT and their list of the Top 1000 films of all-time.  It’s a good place to start, though it leaves a lot to sort through.  You could try the AFI list which, between the two versions of 400 films in consideration, included 19 different films from this era (aside from the 4 films on the two versions of the top 100 they also nominated Richard III, The Cheat, The Poor Little Rich Girl, Broken Blossoms, Within Our Gates, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Kid, Safety Last, Sherlock Jr., The Thief of Bagdad, The Big Parade, The Freshman, Greed, The Phantom of the Opera and Ben-Hur).  There are 13 films from this era that have been featured on Roger Ebert’s Great Movies list.  You could also try focusing on one director in particular.  Charlie Chaplin began in this era making short films, eventually starting his feature directing career, though his only true classic during this era is The Gold Rush.  D.W. Griffith was the top director of the era and almost his entire career was done before sound ever made it to the screen.  There is Erich von Stroheim, who made far fewer films than Griffith, but each film is worth seeing.  Then there are the foreign directors, the ones who get missed if you stick to AFI, like all of the great silent work of Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau.  While the #1 film on my list (and TSPDT) is Russian, 5 of my top 20 are German films (1 Lang, 3 Murnau and Cabinet).  But really, it’s hard to go wrong.  I’ve seen over 100 feature length films from this era and none of them are bad and only 2 of them are as low as **.5 (Dream Street and The Idol Dancer – two of Griffith’s weakest films).  Films that have managed to survive from this era usually have survived for a reason – either because of their director, their historical value or their quality.

To me, among the actors there are four main names that stick out: Charlie Chaplin, for his amazing ability, Lon Chaney for the way he would disappear into his characters, Emil Jannings, who in the silent era proved that language was irrelevant and Erich von Stroheim, who maintained a dignified air about him even when he was acting the complete cad.  Among the actresses, there was only one; Lilian Gish rises above everyone else in the profession during this era.

Of course, there are highlights of film history all through this era:

• 1912 – Mack Sennett releases the first Keystone Kops films / Carl Laemmle organizes several independent companies into Universal
• 1913 – Lon Chaney begins working in Horror films / D.W. Griffith leaves Biograph after over 500 shorts / Cecil B. DeMille rents a barn that will later become Paramount
• 1914 – Chaplin first appears on-screen as the Tramp / Louella Parsons becomes the first movie columnist
• 1915 – Film debuts of W.C. Fields and Douglas Fairbanks
• 1918 – Warner Bros. release its first film  (Four Years in Germany) / first Tarzan film
• 1919 – Chaplin, Pickford, Fairbanks and Griffith form United Artists / Oscar Micheaux becomes first African-American director
• 1920 – Marriage of Fairbanks and Pickford
• 1921 – Fatty Arbuckle trial
• 1922 – Will Hays appointed head of MPPDA / release of Nanook of the North
• 1923 – Introduction of 16mm film by Eastman Kodak / Hollywoodland sign is erected
• 1924 – Metro, Goldwyn and Mayer form to become MGM
• 1925 – Soviet Union begins to finance national filmmaking
• 1926 – Death of Valentino

My Top Film from each calendar year:

• 1912 - Richard III
• 1913 – Ingeborg Holm
• 1914 – The Avenging Conscience
• 1915 – The Birth of a Nation
• 1916 – Intolerance
• 1917 - A Man There Was
• 1918 – The Spiders Part I: The Golden Lake
• 1919 – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
• 1920 – The Golem
• 1921 – The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
• 1922 – Foolish Wives (Nosferatu is my #1, but it’s Oscar eligible in 1929)
• 1923 – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• 1924 – The Last Laugh
• 1925 – Greed
• 1926 – The Battleship Potemkin

Overlooked film of 1923:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (dir. Wallace Worsley)

Lon Chaney as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

I had actually planned to write about the 1922 version of Oliver Twist, also starring Lon Chaney.  I had begun with talking about how if you have only seen Chaney in horror films, then your film horizons need to be expanded, how Chaney was one of the greats of the Silent Era, how he was the first great film Fagin but in spite of his acclaim, today it is easier to find a still of Ben Kingsley or Alec Guinness (or even Timothy Spall) when you Google the words “Fagin” and “Chaney.”  But then going through all the lists I came to a realization.  Hunchback is obscenely overlooked.  Ebert hasn’t covered it, it isn’t included in the Top 1000 (or even the doubling the canon extra 1000 films you can find there though the inferior 1939 remake is) and wasn’t among the 400 films by AFI under consideration for either their original list or the 2007 version.  Yet it is an essential Horror film (and made it to #19 on my Top 25 Horror List) and ranks only behind Phantom of the Opera in the Chaney pantheon.  It is an excellent early example of how books could be translated onto film and how the images we see up on the screen stay with us through our voyages in literature.

Have you read the book?  The odds are no.  Victor Hugo is much talked about and much adapted, but seems to be rarely read.  Les Miserables has been memorably translated into many different forms, but at 1463 pages (longer than War and Peace) isn’t read particularly much.  And of course, Hugo didn’t write a novel titled The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  The actual title of the book is Notre-Dame de Paris.  Hugo’s title emphasizes the cathedral’s place as the center of the book.  But films didn’t go for that.  The first film version was titled Esmeralda and this film pretty much set in stone the notion of Quasimodo as the central character and Hunchback as the title (which is what you will usually find on current printings of the book).

The film certainly wanted to focus on Quasimodo and to give Chaney free reign to show his incredible talent (both for acting and for makeup).  The first shot of him, a couple of minutes into the film, captures him high in the frame, up on the balcony of Notre Dame, watching the proceedings of the Festival of Fools.  Then we cut to a somewhat closer shot and get the first hints of his grotesque looks.  Then there is the title card announcing the character and actor.  Then we cut again, this time to a close-up and we get our first real look at the hunchback: curved spine, distorted face, scar for a right eye, wild hair, rough hands covered with thick, dark hair.  It is a brilliant simultaneous slow and quick reveal that prefigures the same kind of theatrical effect we would get from the first look at the Phantom’s face only two years later.

Movie audiences hadn’t really seen anything like this before.  Here was this grotesque monster, leering and mocking the people below him, later stripped to be punished and determined to be grotesque through and through; yet their sympathies were touched.  He is so gifted that he is able to climb down the outside of the cathedral.  He is so devoted that he will go to any lengths to please those whom he feels he serves.  His love is so strong that in the end, death is more pleasurable than the concept of existence without his beloved.  He is so much more preferrable to Phoebus, has so much more honesty, courage and even dignity.  While it was Chaney who had conceived the project, even having say over the cast and director, and thus no question that his monster would be the center, it is his performance rather than any ego that makes him the star.

When Chaney died in 1930, death was already no stranger to Hollywood; yet no death before Chaney had robbed cinema of so much.  Valentino was revered by women everywhere and good films had been made by Ince and Stiller, but it was Chaney who had the most future to offer to film fans.  This film was the beginning of the crowning of Universal Studios as the champion of Horror.  Great Horror films had been made in Germany (Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, The Golem), but nothing like this had been seen in the States.  His Phantom would cement his reputation as the Man of a Thousand Faces and we can only imagine what kind of makeup we would have seen had he been around to perhaps star in Dracula or Frankenstein or The Mummy or The Wolf Man.

But instead he died.  We were denied the chance to see him become a huge Horror star in the sound era.  And he could have done it.  “No dialogue.  We didn’t need dialogue.  We had faces.”  Norma Desmond says that, of course.  And it’s true most of all about Chaney.  He had a great voice as was proved in his one sound film, but he didn’t dialogue.  He had that face, those moves, those natural abilities.  He was always a star, even if people don’t seem to remember the film that truly made him one.

Ze Germans

Adequatly crowning the “father of horror films” is quite a tricky business. Of course, credit must be given to the mind-bending trickery of film pioneer Georges Méliès, but since his films were in fact little more than vaudeville magic adapted to the screen, and because of the fact that the films he made seldom ranged more than 10 or 15 minutes, it wouldn’t seem right to lend him such a fancy title. And although some very adequate interpretations of classic horror themes sprung from the pencils of the likes of Poe, Shelley, Hugo and Burroughs were made during the first 15 years of the fledgling genre, no-one really had such an impact that they could today be called the father of horror movies.

But one thing is utterly clear; the honour should to to a German. And although his name is now largely forgotten among a wider audience, the one who seems most fitted is a man who was called Paul Wegener. Wegener starred in what has been cited as both the first full length expressionist film and the first full length horror film, Der Student von Prag, or The Student of Prague. The film portrays a young student who is unhappily in love with a young girl, but not rich enough to ask for her hand. He makes a Faustian deal with a sorcerer who gives him gold in return for his reflection in the mirror (aka his soul). His mirror image then takes on a life of his own to do gruesome deeds.

The film was directed by Wegener and Stellan Rye and was released in 1913. Although Wegener was hardly a student (close to 40 years of age), he also played the titular character. It was his first motion picture, but it firmly cemented his vision of the motion picture as the medium for expressing new ideas and ideals. The film was a way of mirroring political and social changes in society and provided technical and scenographical opportunities that the theatre stage lacked. I shall later further discuss some of the ideas behind the German expressionist cinema, but in short it might be described as a genre that often disregarded realism in favour of mood and symbolism. One of the reasons for symblolic rather than realistic sets and a minimum of lighting was that the German film industry at the time was extremely vibrant, but horribly poor.

After the success of Der Student, Wegener got together with a friend called Henrik Galeen (who later remade The Student of Prague) to work on a film inspired by an old Jewish myth about The Golem, a magical creatured summoned out of clay who would help the Jews in times of dire need. Unsurprisingly the project backfires and the creature turns on its creator (doesn’t that sound rather like another chap we know?). In this case it featured an antique salesman who finds a Golem. Wegener, who was a large and imposing man was perfect for the title role – a performance that heavily influenced Boris Karloff’s performance of Frankenstein’s monster.

Der Golem was released in 1915 and was a huge success. Following the success he made a film about The Yeti (1916) and a parody of The Golem, The Golem and the Dancer (1917) and an origin story, The Golem – How He Came to the World (1920). The original Der Golem is today lost, save for a few fragments, and when disussing The Golem, people today mostly refer to the immensely successful third film in the series.

Although very realistic compared to later expressionist films, The Golem had a feel of “heightened reality” and a very dark, gothic feel to it, that strongly influenced later masterpieces such as Nosferatu, The Phantom of the Opera and Dracula.

So without further ado, I hereby pronounce Paul Wegener The Father of Horror Films.

For more early horror films, please check out my Playlist

Den 29 oktober 2009 vid 21.00 tiden fattade den socialdemokratiska kongressen beslutet att socialdemokraterna skall verka för att folkmordet Seyfo skall erkännas av Sverige, EU och FN.