Guaranteed 6% Dividend for Life. Any takers?

Any prudent investor would jump at the chance to receive a guaranteed 6% dividend for life.  So how does one get in on this action?

The fact of the matter is…YOU can’t…That is unless you are a shareholder of one of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks and the banks under their jurisdiction.

Not only do these banks receive a dividend each year excess profits are available for distribution, but back in 1922, they cleverly lobbied for a mechanism that allows them to pay themselves a dividend for years in which profits are not available by pulling “surplus” earnings to make up for the non-profitable years.

Can AT&T do this?  How about JP Morgan Chase?  Indeed they cannot.  Talk about one slick system; gotta love them Fed bankers, what?

Below is the language found in the Financial Accounting Manual for Federal Reserve Banks to this regard.

Appendix B. Dividends
B.1 Payment of Dividends from Surplus

A 1922 opinion from the Board of Governors’ Legal Counsel.

To: Federal Reserve Board
From: Mr. Walter S. Logan, General Counsel
Subject: Payment of dividends of Federal Reserve Banks out of surplus
Date: April 11, 1922

You have requested my opinion upon the question of whether a Federal reserve bank, which has accumulated a surplus fund out of earnings of past years, has authority to use a part of this fund to pay to its stockholding member banks the dividend for a subsequent year during which the current earnings of the federal reserve banks are insufficient to pay such dividend.

I am of the opinion that the question should be answered in the affirmative.

The material portions of Section 7 of the Federal Reserve Act read as follows:

“After all necessary expenses of a Federal reserve bank have been paid or provided for, the stockholders shall be entitled to receive an annual dividend of six per centum on the paid-in capital stock, which dividend shall be cumulative. After the aforesaid dividend claims have been fully met, the net earnings shall be paid to the United States as a franchise tax except that the whole of such net earnings, including those for the year ending December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, shall be paid into a surplus fund until it shall amount to one hundred per centum or the subscribed capital stock of such bank, and that thereafter ten per centum of such net earnings shall be paid into the surplus.

“…Should a Federal reserve bank be dissolved or go into liquidation, any surplus remaining, after the payment of all debts, dividend requirements as hereinbefore provided, as the par value of the stock, shall be paid to and become the property of the United States and shall be similarly applied.”

This section provides that the earnings of the Federal reserve banks shall be used for the following purposes in the order named:

1. For the payment of or provision for expenses.

2. For the payment to stockholders (who are member banks exclusively) of cumulative dividends at the rate of six percent per annum on paid-in capital.

3. For creating and adding to a surplus fund until such fund equals 100 percent of subscribed capital.

4. The balance to be paid 90 percent to the United States as a franchise tax and 10 percent into surplus.

The question for determination is what are the rights of a Federal reserve bank with respect to the payment of dividends when the bank has already accumulated a surplus out of its past earnings but has failed during some subsequent year to earn a sufficient amount to pay the full dividends for that year.

No payment can be made into the surplus fund unless the earnings for the current year are sufficient to pay in full the dividends for that year and any dividends for past years that may remain unpaid. Thus Congress has directed that the payment of current and past dividends shall take precedence over the accumulation of a surplus fund. In the absence of any indication to the contrary, it would be natural to assume from this that Congress intended also that the payment of current and past dividends should take precedence over the maintenance of a surplus fund already accumulated.

It is to be noted that the provision in the second paragraph of Section 7, regarding the disposition of the surplus fund in the event of the dissolution or liquidation of a Federal reserve bank, makes it clear that the surplus fund of a Federal reserve bank will be available ultimately to pay the cumulative dividends in full.

It is clear also that the payment of dividends out of surplus can result in no loss of revenue to the United States, for no franchise tax can become due until the six percent cumulative dividends have been paid in full. If the surplus should not be used to pay dividends for a year in which the current earnings are insufficient for this purpose, the back dividends would have to be paid out of future earnings before the United States becomes entitled to any franchise tax. In fact, the failure to pay dividends out of surplus in excess of 100 percent of subscribed capital would result in loss of revenue to the United States; because if dividends for any year should remain unpaid, they would have to be paid in full out of the earnings of future years before any franchise tax becomes payable, whereas, if dividends should be paid out of the surplus and the surplus were not thereby reduced below 100 percent of subscribed capital, future payments into the surplus fund would amount to only 10 percent of future earnings over and above current dividend requirements, the other 90 percent being paid to the United States.

It may be argued that, without regard to the questions of the franchise tax, Congress intended that each Federal reserve bank should accumulate a surplus fund for the purpose of protecting such bank against possible future losses and that the fund should be available for no other purpose. It is to be noted in this connection, however, that under the present terms of Section 7 there is no limit to the size of the surplus fund that must be accumulated. All of the earnings, over and above dividend requirements are required to be paid into the surplus fund until such fund equals 100 percent of the subscribed capital (which is equivalent to 200 percent of paid-in capital since under the law only one-half of the subscribed capital is required to be paid in and the balance now remains subject to call), and after a surplus fund equal to 100 percent of subscribed capital has been accumulated, ten percent of all future net earnings over and above dividend requirements must be paid in to the surplus fund. It is hardly reasonable to assume that Congress intended to prevent a Federal reserve bank from paying its current dividends while its surplus fund is far in excess of the amount of its subscribed capital.

Under Section 7 as originally enacted, the argument that the surplus fund of a Federal reserve bank was intended solely as a protection to the bank against possible future losses could have been made with greater force. Prior to the amendment of March 3, 1919, the provisions of Section 7, which correspond to those already quoted form the present Section, read as follows:

“After all necessary expenses of a Federal reserve bank have been paid or provided for, the stockholders shall be entitled to receive an annual dividend of six per centum on the paid-in capital stock, which dividend shall be cumulative. After the aforesaid dividend claims have been fully met, all the net earnings shall be paid to the United States as a franchise tax, except that one half of such net earnings shall be paid into a surplus fund until it shall amount to forty per centum of the paid-in capital stock of such bank.

“…Should a Federal reserve bank be dissolved or go into liquidation, any surplus remaining, after the payment of all debts, dividend requirements as hereinbefore provided, and the par value of the stock, shall be paid to and become the property of the United States and shall be similarly applied.”

Thus, the maximum surplus fund which could have been accumulated under the original section was 40 percent of the paid-in capital and it might well have been argued that the purpose of Congress in making provision for this limited surplus was solely to protect the bank against future losses. Even under the original section, however, the question was open to serious doubt, for a Federal reserve bank was required to apply its earnings to the same purposes and in the same order as under Section 7 as amended, and the payment of cumulative dividends therefore took precedence over the accumulation of a surplus fund. Furthermore the payment of dividends out of surplus fund would not have reduced the revenues of the United States. So the same arguments, except that which is based on the unlimited size of the surplus fund, could have been advanced in support of the right of a Federal reserve bank, under the terms of the original Section 7, to pay dividends out of surplus. In my judgment Congress in amending Section 7 so as to require the accumulation of a surplus fund of unlimited size must be considered to have recognized that under both the original section and the section as amended the surplus fund could be used for the payment of the cumulative dividends. Otherwise, it is only reasonable to assume that Congress would have required or permitted some part of the earnings, which must now go into the unlimited surplus, to be paid into a fund of “undivided profits” out of which the dividends could be paid currently in a year of small earnings.

This leads to the observation that under the terms of Section 7 a Federal reserve bank is not permitted to accumulate a fund of “undivided profits”. It is the usual custom of commercial banks to show among their liabilities an item of “undivided profits”, in addition to their liabilities on account of capital and surplus. From this fund of “undivided profits”, dividends are customarily paid and from it also transfers are made from time to time to increase the surplus fund. No banks, so far as I am aware, are prohibited from paying dividends out of this fund of “undivided profits” even though such dividends are in excess of the earnings for the current year. Consequently, by accumulating a fund of “undivided profits” from year to year a bank may make provision for the continuance, during years when earnings are small, of dividend payments without reducing its surplus fund. A Federal reserve bank cannot make provision for the continuance of dividends in this particular manner, because the law absolutely requires Federal reserve banks to dispose of earnings, over and above the amount paid as dividends, either by payment into the surplus fund or by payment of the franchise tax to the United States.

The continuity of dividends is fully as desirable in the case of Federal reserve banks as it is in the case of commercial banks, and Congress, having precluded the Federal reserve banks from making provision for such continuity by setting up “undivided profits”, may reasonably be assumed, in my opinion, to have contemplated that the surplus funds, which are required to be accumulated without limit as to size, would be available for the purpose of paying dividends as well as for the purpose of protecting the banks again possible future losses.

From the statement heretofore made that the dividends of commercial banks are customarily paid out of undivided profits, it is not to be inferred that the payment of dividends out of the surplus of commercial banks is prohibited. As I shall now attempt to show, the general rule is that banks may pay dividends out of surplus unless the terms of their charters, or the statutes to which they are subject, prohibit them from so doing.

In deciding the specific question now under consideration no great weight can be attached to the general rules of law as to the powers of corporations generally, or banks in particular, with respect to the payment of dividends; for Federal reserve banks are sui generis, and they are governed by the mandatory provisions of Section 7 of the Federal Reserve Act which take away from the directors all discretionary power as to the disposition of any part of current earnings. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that a consideration of these general rules of law will serve in some slight measure to confirm the conclusion that a Federal reserve bank may use its surplus fund for the payment of dividends for a year in which its current earnings are insufficient for that purpose.

It is a fundamental principle of the law of corporations, that unless otherwise provided by statute, charter or other limitation, the question of whether a corporation which has surplus profits on hand shall declare a dividend, and what part of such profits shall be distributed by means of such dividend, is a question for the determination of the directors in the exercise of their discretion, and the courts will not interfere with action taken by the directors in the exercise of such discretion unless they act fraudulently or in bad faith.

Gibbons v. Mahon,136 U.S., 549 ;
N.Y. Ry. Co. v. Nickals,119 U.S., 296 .

See also 14 Corpus Juris, p. 808-810 and cases there cited.

It is also held generally that dividends may lawfully be declared out of any surplus of corporate assets over corporate debts and capital stock, that is to say, anything remaining after provision for the corporation’s capital stock and liabilities is properly available for distribution to stockholders, although as seen above its actual disposition rests with the directors:

Bowers v. Post, 209 Fed. 660,
Hyams v. Old Dominion Copper Co. 82 N.J. Eq. 507
Equitable Life Assurance Co. v. Union Pacific Ry Co.,
212 N.Y. 360;
14 Corpus Juris, 803, and cases there cited.

Furthermore, it is immaterial what may be the amount of such surplus of corporate assets; whatever the surplus may amount to, it is available for dividend purposes. Hyams v. Old Dominion Copper Co. supra.

It has been held specifically that dividends may be paid from surplus accumulated out of the profits of previous years, although there have been no actual profits for the year in which the dividends are paid.

Beers v. Bridgeport Spring Co., 42 Conn. 17
Murray v. Beattie Mfg Co. 7, N.J. Eq. 322, 648
Williams v. Western Union Co., 93 N.Y. 182
Brouty v. Michigan etc. Ry Co., 4 T. & C. 230 (N.Y.)

The authorities cited above clearly confirm the right, which as heretofore stated is customarily exercised by banks, to pay dividends out of its funds of “undivided profits”, without regard to the amount of the earnings for the years in which the dividends are paid. The authorities are not controlling upon the right of banks to pay dividends out of their “surplus” funds, because the surplus fund of a bank is peculiar to this special type of corporation. Corporations other than banks and banking institutions are not as a general rule required to set aside any part of the their earnings into special “surplus” funds distinct from “undivided profits”, nor is it their practice to do so, and the surplus of a corporation other than a bank consists of the entire excess of assets over liabilities and capital stock. On the other hand it is universally true, so far as I am aware, that banks in this country are required by their charter or the statutes under which they operate to set aside a certain proportion of their current earnings into a fund designated surplus, until such fund amounts to a certain percentage of the bank’s capital, and in speaking of the surplus of a bank this specific fund is referred to, not including any undivided profits that may represent further excess of assets over liabilities and capital stock.

For this reason banks stand upon a somewhat different basis as regards surplus than do other corporations, but the general rule is nevertheless applicable to banks as well as to other corporations that unless controlled by statue, charter or otherwise, questions relating to the payment of dividends out of the excess of assets over liabilities and capital stock are left to the discretion of the directors. See in re Heaton, 89 Vt. 550, holding that in the absence of any prohibition by charter or otherwise a bank may declare a stock dividend payment out of surplus. See also Morse on Banks and Banking, 5th Ed. Sec. 66.

Unless, therefore, some prohibition is expressed in or implied from the charter of a bank or the statues to which it is subject, the bank may pay dividends out of surplus at the discretion of the directors. Applying this rule to the case now under consideration, I am of the opinion that there is nothing in Section 7 or any other part of the Federal Reserve Act which can reasonably be construed as a prohibition against the payment of dividends out of the surplus of a Federal reserve bank, but on the contrary that, for the reasons stated in the early part of this opinion, in order to give a reasonable and consistent purpose to the express provisions of the law, it is necessary to conclude that the law authorizes the payment of dividends out of surplus.

In considering the question of the right of a Federal reserve bank to pay dividends out of surplus, it is natural to look at the provisions of the National Bank Act, and to determine, if possible, what is the right of a national bank in this respect. The relevant provisions of the National Bank Act are contained in Sections 5199 and 5204 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. These sections provide as follows:

“Sec. 5199. The directors of any association may semiannually, declare a dividend of so much of the net profits of the association as they shall judge expedient; but each association shall before the declaration of a dividend, carry onetenth part of its net profits of the preceding half year to its surplus fund until the same shall amount to twenty per centum of its capital stock.”

“Sec. 5204. No association, of any member thereof, shall during the year it shall continue its banking operations, withdraw, or permit to be withdrawn, either in the form of dividends or otherwise, any portion of its capital. If losses have at any time been sustained by any such association, equal to or exceeding its undivided profits then on hand, no dividend shall be made; and no dividend shall ever be made by any association, while it continues its banking operations, to an amount greater than its net profits then on hand, deducting therefrom its losses and bad debts.”

There do not appear to have been any court cases construing these sections with reference to the right of national banks to pay dividends out of surplus, but the office of the Comptroller of the Currency has always construed them as prohibiting the payment of dividends from any surplus not in excess of 20 percent of capital, but as permitting the transfer of any surplus above 20 percent of capital to undivided profits and the payment of dividends out of the fund thus transferred. Thus, in spite of the express prohibition of Sections 5204 that “no dividend shall ever be made by any association, while it continues its banking operations, to an amount greater than its net profits then on hand, deducting therefrom its losses and bad debts”, the surplus fund of a national bank in excess of 20 percent of capital may be used for the purpose of paying dividends, provided only, that the bookkeeping operation is first preformed of making a transfer from surplus to undivided profits; and if it were not for this express prohibition it would seem that dividends could be paid directly out of surplus. There is no express prohibition against the payment of dividends by Federal reserve banks from any sources, and in so far as the Comptroller’s construction of Sections 5199 and 5204 of the Revised Statues has any bearing upon the question now under consideration, it tends to confirm the right of a Federal reserve bank to pay dividends out of surplus.

National banks are not expressly prohibited from transferring surplus to undivided profits even when by so doing surplus is reduced to less than 20 percent of capital, or from declaring dividends out of the funds thus transferred; and it may be argued that the office of the Comptroller of the Currency in implying such prohibitions from the express provisions of the sections 5199 and 5204 of the Revised Statues has recognized that a surplus fund, which is required by statute to be accumulated, is for the exclusive purpose of paying possible losses and should not be used for the payment of dividends, and that this principle should be applied in construing Section 7 of the Federal Reserve Act. In my opinion, however, this argument is not sound, because national banks and Federal reserve banks stand upon very different ground as to the payment of dividends and accumulation of surplus.

With respect to national banks, (1) there is no limit as to the size of the dividends that may be paid out of the earnings not carried to surplus, (2) at least 10 percent of all earnings, no matter how small, must be paid into surplus until a surplus equal to 20 percent of capital has been accumulated, and (3) after a surplus of 20 percent of capital has been accumulated no further payments into surplus are required. On the other hand, with respect to Federal reserve banks, (1) dividends are absolutely limited to six percent per annum, (2) no payments can be made into surplus until stockholders have been paid the full amount of the current cumulative six percent dividends, and (3) no matter how large a surplus may have been accumulated out of past earnings it is still mandatory upon the bank to continue making additions to such fund out of future earnings in excess of dividend requirements.

In order to give any effect to the provisions of Section 5199 of the Revised Statutes it is necessary to construe them as prohibiting a national bank from paying dividends out of its surplus fund not in excess of 20 percent of capital, because otherwise the bank could, as fast as it put funds into surplus, pay them out again as dividends, and thus never accumulate any surplus at all, no matter how large its earnings may be. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the office of the Comptroller of the Currency is correct in construing Sections 5199 and 5204 of the Revised Statues as prohibiting a national bank, either directly or indirectly, from paying dividends out of its 20 percent surplus fund, the accumulation of which, on the one hand, need be commenced as soon as the bank makes any earnings at all, and, on the other hand, must not be continued after the fund amounts to 20 percent of capital. It does not follow, however, that a similar prohibition is to be implied with respect to the surplus of a Federal reserve bank, the accumulation of which, on the one hand, cannot begin until all current and past cumulative six percent dividends have been paid, and on the other hand, must continue without limit as to the ultimate size out of earnings in excess of dividend requirements.

The conclusion might be reached that a Federal reserve bank may pay dividends out of a surplus in excess of 100 percent of subscribed capital, but may not pay dividends out of surplus not in excess of this amount. I am of the opinion, however, that this conclusion is not warranted under the terms of Section 7 of the Federal Reserve Act. There is no minimum surplus for a Federal reserve bank, as there is for a national bank. It is just as mandatory upon a Federal reserve bank, after it has accumulated a surplus of 100 percent of subscribed capital, to pay into surplus 10 percent of earnings over and above dividend requirements, as it is to pay into surplus 100 percent of such earnings prior to such accumulation. All of a Federal reserve bank’s surplus is required surplus, and while it might have been reasonable for Congress to make such a distinction between surplus above and below 100 percent of subscribed capital, I believe that no such distinction was made or would be justified under the terms of the existing law.

As heretofore indicated my conclusion is that a Federal reserve bank, which has accumulated a surplus fund, has legal authority, under the provisions of Section 7 of the Federal Reserve Act, to pay out of such fund to its stockholding member banks dividends for a year in which the current earnings of the Federal reserve bank are insufficient for this purpose.

Respectfully,

General Counsel
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
WASHINGTON, D.C.
April 27, 1922.

The Honorable,
The Secretary of the Treasury.

Sir:

I am in receipt of your letter of the 11th instant relative to the right of a Federal Reserve Bank which has already accumulated a surplus fund to use such fund to pay its regular dividends at the rate of 6 (cents) per annum on paid-in capital stock when its current earnings are insufficient for that purpose. You transmit a copy of an opinion rendered by the General Counsel of the Federal Reserve Board and request to be advised whether the conclusion reached by the General Counsel is concurred in by this Department.

The Federal Reserve Banks are creatures of statute and the rights of such banks must be determined by the statutes creating and governing them. The statutory provisions pertinent to the inquiry are found in section 7 of the Federal Reserve act of December 23, 1913, c. 6, 38 Stat. 258, as amended by section 1 of the Act of March 3, 1919, c. 101, 40 Stat. 1314, which reads in part:

“After all necessary expenses of a Federal reserve bank have been paid or provided for, the stockholders shall be entitled to receive an annual dividend of six per centum on he paid-in capital stock, which dividend shall be cumulative. After the aforesaid dividend claims have been fully met, the net earnings shall be paid to the United States as a franchise tax, except that the whole of such net earnings, including those for the year ending December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, shall be paid into a surplus fund until it shall amount to one hundred per centum of the subscribed capital stock of such bank, and that thereafter ten per centum of such net earnings shall be paid into the surplus.

“…Should a Federal reserve bank be dissolved or go into liquidation, any surplus remaining, after the payment of all debts, dividend requirements as hereinbefore provided, and the par value of the stock, shall be paid to and became the property of the United States and shall be similarly applied.”

In constructing this statute the purpose is to ascertain the legislative intent. From the language used in the above quoted section, it seems reasonably clear the Congress intended that the dividend of 6 cents per annum on the paid-in capital stock should be considered a charge on the gross earnings of the bank, the same as necessary expenses and the dividend requirements shall any amount be considered “net earnings” to be carried, to the surplus fund.

It is also evident that the Congress, in providing that the net earnings after payment of expenses and dividends, shall be carried, to the surplus fund until such surplus fund “shall amount to one hundred per centum of the subscribed capital stock,” intended to provide an adequate surplus fund for the protection of the bank and its stockholders, in order that fixed charges might be paid therefrom, should losses or other exigencies diminish the earnings in any year. In doing this the Congress put into the statute a provision dictated by good business management and followed the practice generally obtaining in well managed banking and other corporations.

While the statute makes no guaranty of the payment of dividends at the rate of 6 on the paid-in capital stock, yet the surplus fund built up from the net earnings, after payment of necessary expenses and dividend requirements in prosperous years, stands as a virtual guaranty to stockholders against failure of dividends in lean years, thereby enhancing confidence in the bank’s financial stability.

That the surplus fund is liable for unearned dividends is further shown by the last-quoted paragraph of section 7, which provides that upon liquidation of the bank the surplus fund, after payment of all debts and dividend requirements and the par value of the took, shall be paid to and become the property of the United States. This provision indicates that the dividend requirements are not only a charge upon the gross earnings, but that where the gross earnings are not sufficient to meet the necessary expenses, debts and dividend requirements, such expenses, debts, and dividend requirements become a charge upon the surplus fund and must be paid out of that fund before any amount can be paid to and become the property of the United States.

I, therefore, concur in the conclusion reached by the General Counsel of the Federal Reserve Board, that –

“A Federal reserve bank, which has accumulated a surplus fund, has legal authority, under the provisions of Section 7 of the Federal Reserve Act, to pay out of such fund, to its stockholding member banks dividends for a year in which the current earnings of the Federal reserve bank are insufficient for this purpose.”

Respectfully,

(Sgd) H.M. Daugherty
Attorney General

Home

Top of Pg.

Highlander Bible

AB Bookman’s 1948 Guide to Describing Conditions

AB Bookman’s 1948 Guide to Describing Conditions:

As New is self-explanatory. It means that the book is in the state that it should have been in when it left the publisher. This is the equivalent of Mint condition in numismatics. Fine (F or FN) is As New but allowing for the normal effects of [...] Read more →

What is the Meaning of the Term Thorough-bred Fox-hound

Reprint from the Sportsman Cabinet and Town & Country Magazine, Vol.1, Number 1, November 1832.

MR. Editor,

Will you allow me to inquire, through the medium of your pages, the correct meaning of the term thorough-bred fox-hound? I am very well aware, that the expression is in common [...] Read more →

The Hoochie Coochie Hex

From Dr. Marvel’s 1929 book entitled Hoodoo for the Common Man, we find his infamous Hoochie Coochie Hex.

What follows is a verbatim transcription of the text:

The Hoochie Coochie Hex should not be used in conjunction with any other Hexes. This can lead to [...] Read more →

The Billesden Coplow Run

*note – Billesdon and Billesden have both been used to name the hunt.

BILLESDEN COPLOW POEM

[From “Reminiscences of the late Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq”]

The run celebrated in the following verses took place on the 24th of February, 1800, when Mr. Meynell hunted Leicestershire, and has since been [...] Read more →

Popular Mechanics Archive

Click here to access the Internet Archive of old Popular Mechanics Magazines – 1902-2016

Click here to view old Popular Mechanics Magazine Covers

Home Top of Pg. Read more →

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika

THE HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA

Translated into English by PANCHAM SINH

Panini Office, Allahabad [1914]

INTRODUCTION.

There exists at present a good deal of misconception with regard to the practices of the Haṭha Yoga. People easily believe in the stories told by those who themselves [...] Read more →

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Officers and men of the 13th Light Dragoons, British Army, Crimea. Rostrum photograph of photographer’s original print, uncropped and without color correction. Survivors of the Charge.

Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the [...] Read more →

The Master of Hounds

Photo Caption: The Marquis of Zetland, KC, PC – otherwise known as Lawrence Dundas Son of: John Charles Dundas and: Margaret Matilda Talbot born: Friday 16 August 1844 died: Monday 11 March 1929 at Aske Hall Occupation: M.P. for Richmond Viceroy of Ireland Vice Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire Lord – in – Waiting [...] Read more →

King Lear

Edwin Austin Abbey. King Lear, Act I, Scene I (Cordelia’s Farewell) The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dates: 1897-1898 Dimensions: Height: 137.8 cm (54.25 in.), Width: 323.2 cm (127.24 in.) Medium: Painting – oil on canvas

Home Top of Pg. Read more →

Texas Tarpon

Early Texas photo of Tarpon catch – Not necessarily the one mentioned below…

July 2, 1898. Forest and Stream Pg.10

Texas Tarpon.

Tarpon, Texas.—Mr. W. B. Leach, of Palestine, Texas, caught at Aransas Pass Islet, on June 14, the largest tarpon on record here taken with rod and reel. The [...] Read more →

Horn Measurement

Jul. 23, 1898 Forest and Stream, Pg. 65

Horn Measurements.

Editor Forest and Stream: “Record head.” How shamefully this term is being abused, especially in the past three years; or since the giant moose from Alaska made his appearance in public and placed all former records (so far as [...] Read more →

Public Attitudes Towards Speculation

Reprint from The Pitfalls of Speculation by Thomas Gibson 1906 Ed.

THE PUBLIC ATTITUDE TOWARD SPECULATION

THE public attitude toward speculation is generally hostile. Even those who venture frequently are prone to speak discouragingly of speculative possibilities, and to point warningly to the fact that an overwhelming majority [...] Read more →

Indian Modes of Hunting – Musquash

Hudson Bay: Trappers, 1892. N’Talking Musquash.’ Fur Trappers Of The Hudson’S Bay Company Talking By A Fire. Engraving After A Drawing By Frederic Remington, 1892.

Indian Modes of Hunting.

IV.—Musquash.

In Canada and the United States, the killing of the little animal known under the several names of [...] Read more →

Mortlake Tapestries of Chatsworth

Mortlake Tapestries at Chatsworth House

Click here to learn more about the Mortlake Tapestries of Chatsworth

The Mortlake Tapestries were founded by Sir Francis Crane.

From the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 13

Crane, Francis by William Prideaux Courtney

CRANE, Sir FRANCIS (d. [...] Read more →

Chinese 9 Course Dinner

The following recipes form the most popular items in a nine-course dinner program:

BIRD’S NEST SOUP

Soak one pound bird’s nest in cold water overnight. Drain the cold water and cook in boiling water. Drain again. Do this twice. Clean the bird’s nest. Be sure [...] Read more →

The Preparation of Marketable Vinegar

It is unnecessary to point out that low-grade fruit may often be used to advantage in the preparation of vinegar. This has always been true in the case of apples and may be true with other fruit, especially grapes. The use of grapes for wine making is an outlet which [...] Read more →

Books Condemned to be Burnt

BOOKS CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT.

By

JAMES ANSON FARRER,

LONDON

ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW

1892

———-

WHEN did books first come to be burnt in England by the common hangman, and what was [...] Read more →

Cup of Tea? To be or not to be

Twinings London – photo by Elisa.rolle

Is the tea in your cup genuine?

The fact is, had one been living in the early 19th Century, one might occasionally encounter a counterfeit cup of tea. Food adulterations to include added poisonings and suspect substitutions were a common problem in Europe at [...] Read more →

How to Distinguish Fishes

 

Sept. 3, 1898. Forest and Stream Pg. 188-189

How to Distinguish Fishes.

BY FRED MATHER. The average angler knows by sight all the fish which he captures, but ask him to describe one and he is puzzled, and will get off on the color of the fish, which is [...] Read more →

Catholic Religious Orders

Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the mendicant Order of Friars Minor, as painted by El Greco.

Catholic religious order

Catholic religious orders are one of two types of religious institutes (‘Religious Institutes’, cf. canons 573–746), the major form of consecrated life in the Roman Catholic Church. They are organizations of laity [...] Read more →

A Crock of Squirrel

A CROCK OF SQUIRREL

4 young squirrels – quartered Salt & Pepper 1 large bunch of fresh coriander 2 large cloves of garlic 2 tbsp. salted sweet cream cow butter ¼ cup of brandy 1 tbsp. turbinado sugar 6 fresh apricots 4 strips of bacon 1 large package of Monterrey [...] Read more →

How to Make Money – Insurance

Life insurance certificate issued by the Yorkshire Fire & Life Insurance Company to Samuel Holt, Liverpool, England, 1851. On display at the British Museum in London. Donated by the ifs School of Finance. Photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)

From How to Make Money; and How to Keep it, Or, Capital and Labor [...] Read more →

The Intaglio Processes for Audubon’s Birds of America

Notes on the intaglio processes of the most expensive book on birds available for sale in the world today.

The Audubon prints in “The Birds of America” were all made from copper plates utilizing four of the so called “intaglio” processes, engraving, etching, aquatint, and drypoint. Intaglio [...] Read more →

Of Decorated Furniture

DECORATED or “sumptuous” furniture is not merely furniture that is expensive to buy, but that which has been elaborated with much thought, knowledge, and skill. Such furniture cannot be cheap, certainly, but the real cost of it is sometimes borne by the artist who produces rather than by the man who may [...] Read more →

The Racing Knockabout Gosling

The Racing Knockabout Gosling.

Gosling was the winning yacht of 1897 in one of the best racing classes now existing in this country, the Roston knockabout class. The origin of this class dates back about six years, when Carl, a small keel cutter, was built for C. H. [...] Read more →

Fruits of the Empire: Licorice Root and Juice

Liquorice, the roots of Glycirrhiza Glabra, a perennial plant, a native of the south of Europe, but cultivated to some extent in England, particularly at Mitcham, in Surrey.

Its root, which is its only valuable part, is long, fibrous, of a yellow colour, and when fresh, very juicy. [...] Read more →

What’s the Matter?

A rhetorical question? Genuine concern?

In this essay we are examining another form of matter otherwise known as national literary matters, the three most important of which being the Matter of Rome, Matter of France, and the Matter of England.

Our focus shall be on the Matter of England or [...] Read more →

Cocktails and Canapés

From The How and When, An Authoritative reference reference guide to the origin, use and classification of the world’s choicest vintages and spirits by Hyman Gale and Gerald F. Marco. The Marco name is of a Chicago family that were involved in all aspects of the liquor business and ran Marco’s Bar [...] Read more →

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!” he said. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Home Top of [...] Read more →

Christmas Pudding with Dickens

Traditional British Christmas Pudding Recipe by Pen Vogler from the Charles Dickens Museum

Ingredients

85 grams all purpose flour pinch of salt 170 grams Beef Suet 140 grams brown sugar tsp. mixed spice, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, &c 170 grams bread crumbs 170 grams raisins 170 grams currants 55 grams cut mixed peel Gram to [...] Read more →

Traditional JuJutsu Health, Strength and Combat Tricks

Jujitsu training 1920 in Japanese agricultural school.

CHAPTER V

THE VALUE OF EVEN TEMPER IN ATHLETICS—SOME OF THE FEATS THAT REQUIRE GOOD NATURE

In the writer’s opinion it becomes necessary to make at this point some suggestions relative to a very important part of the training in jiu-jitsu. [...] Read more →

Ought King Leopold to be Hanged?

King Leopold Butcher of the Congo

For the somewhat startling suggestion in the heading of this interview, the missionary interviewed is in no way responsible. The credit of it, or, if you like, the discredit, belongs entirely to the editor of the Review, who, without dogmatism, wishes to pose the question as [...] Read more →

Harry Houdini Investigates the Spirit World

The magician delighted in exposing spiritualists as con men and frauds.

By EDMUND WILSON June 24, 1925

Houdini is a short strong stocky man with small feet and a very large head. Seen from the stage, his figure, with its short legs and its pugilist’s proportions, is less impressive than at close [...] Read more →

The American Museum in Britain – From Florida to Bath

Hernando de Soto (c1496-1542) Spanish explorer and his men torturing natives of Florida in his determination to find gold. Hand-coloured engraving. John Judkyn Memorial Collection, Freshford Manor, Bath

The print above depicts Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his band of conquistadors torturing Florida natives in order to extract information on where [...] Read more →

The Black Grouper or Jewfish.

 

Nov. 5. 1898 Forest and Stream Pg. 371-372

The Black Grouper or Jewfish.

New Smyrna, Fla., Oct. 21.—Editor Forest and Stream:

It is not generally known that the fish commonly called jewfish. warsaw and black grouper are frequently caught at the New Smyrna bridge [...] Read more →

Abingdon, Berkshire in the Year of 1880

St.Helen’s on the Thames, photo by Momit

 

From a Dictionary of the Thames from Oxford to the Nore. 1880 by Charles Dickens

Abingdon, Berkshire, on the right bank, from London 103 3/4miles, from Oxford 7 3/4 miles. A station on the Great Western Railway, from Paddington 60 miles. The time occupied [...] Read more →

Arsenic and Old Lace

What is follows is an historical article that appeared in The Hartford Courant in 1916 about the arsenic murders carried out by Mrs. Archer-Gilligan. This story is the basis for the 1944 Hollywood film “Arsenic and Old Lace” starring Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane and directed by Frank Capra. The [...] Read more →

Curing Diabetes With an Old Malaria Formula

For years in the West African nation of Ghana medicine men have used a root and leaves from a plant called nibima(Cryptolepis sanguinolenta) to kill the Plasmodium parasite transmitted through a female mosquito’s bite that is the root cause of malaria. A thousand miles away in India, a similar(same) plant [...] Read more →

Furniture Polishing Cream

Furniture Polishing Cream.

Animal oil soap…………………….1 onuce Solution of potassium hydroxide…. .5 ounces Beeswax……………………………1 pound Oil of turpentine…………………..3 pints Water, enough to make……………..5 pints

Dissolve the soap in the lye with the aid of heat; add this solution all at once to the warm solution of the wax in the oil. Beat [...] Read more →

Fresh Water Angling – The Two Crappies

 

July 2, 1898 Forest and Stream,

Fresh-Water Angling. No. IX.—The Two Crappies. BY FRED MATHER.

Fishing In Tree Tops.

Here a short rod, say 8ft., is long enough, and the line should not be much longer than the rod. A reel is not [...] Read more →

A History of the Use of Arsenicals in Man

The arsenicals (compounds which contain the heavy metal element arsenic, As) have a long history of use in man – with both benevolent and malevolent intent. The name ‘arsenic’ is derived from the Greek word ‘arsenikon’ which means ‘potent'”. As early as 2000 BC, arsenic trioxide, obtained from smelting copper, was used [...] Read more →

Clairvoyance – Methods of Development

CLAIRVOYANCE

by C. W. Leadbeater

Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Pub. House

[1899]

CHAPTER IX – METHODS OF DEVELOPMENT

When a men becomes convinced of the reality of the valuable power of clairvoyance, his first question usually is, “How can [...] Read more →

Of the Room and Furniture

Crewe Hall Dining Room

 

THE transient tenure that most of us have in our dwellings, and the absorbing nature of the struggle that most of us have to make to win the necessary provisions of life, prevent our encouraging the manufacture of well-wrought furniture.

We mean to outgrow [...] Read more →

Birth of United Fruit Company

From Conquest of the Tropics by Frederick Upham Adams

Chapter VI – Birth of the United Fruit Company

Only those who have lived in the tropic and are familiar with the hazards which confront the cultivation and marketing of its fruits can readily understand [...] Read more →

Protecting Rare Books: How to Build a Silverfish Trap

Silverfish damage to book – photo by Micha L. Rieser

The beauty of hunting silverfish is that they are not the most clever of creatures in the insect kingdom.

Simply take a small clean glass jar and wrap it in masking tape. The masking tape gives the silverfish something to [...] Read more →

History of the Cabildo in New Orleans

Cabildo circa 1936

The Cabildo houses a rare copy of Audubon’s Bird’s of America, a book now valued at $10 million+.

Should one desire to visit the Cabildo, click here to gain free entry with a lowcost New Orleans Pass.

Home Top of [...] Read more →

The Legacy of Felix de Weldon

Felix Weihs de Weldon, age 96, died broke in the year 2003 after successive bankruptcies and accumulating $4 million dollars worth of debt. Most of the debt was related to the high cost of love for a wife living with Alzheimer’s. Health care costs to maintain his first wife, Margot, ran $500 per [...] Read more →

Fly Casting Instructions

It is a pity that the traditions and literature in praise of fly fishing have unconsciously hampered instead of expanded this graceful, effective sport. Many a sportsman has been anxious to share its joys, but appalled by the rapture of expression in describing its countless thrills and niceties he has been literally [...] Read more →

Antibiotic Properties of Jungle Soil

If ever it could be said that there is such a thing as miracle healing soil, Ivan Sanderson said it best in his 1965 book entitled Ivan Sanderson’s Book of Great Jungles.

Sanderson grew up with a natural inclination towards adventure and learning. He hailed from Scotland but spent much [...] Read more →

Guaranteed 6% Dividend for Life. Any takers?

Any prudent investor would jump at the chance to receive a guaranteed 6% dividend for life. So how does one get in on this action?

The fact of the matter is…YOU can’t…That is unless you are a shareholder of one of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks and the banks under [...] Read more →

The First Pineapple Grown in England

First Pineapple Grown in England

Click here to read an excellent article on the history of pineapple growing in the UK.

Should one be interested in serious mass scale production, click here for scientific resources.

Growing pineapples in the UK.

The video below demonstrates how to grow pineapples in Florida.

[...] Read more →

Shooting in Wet Weather

 

Reprint from The Sportsman’s Cabinet and Town and Country Magazine, Vol I. Dec. 1832, Pg. 94-95

To the Editor of the Cabinet.

SIR,

Possessing that anxious feeling so common among shooters on the near approach of the 12th of August, I honestly confess I was not able [...] Read more →

Target Practice

Nov. 12, 1898 Forest and Stream Pg. 396

The Veterans to the Front.

Ironton. O., Oct. 28.—Editor Forest and Stream: I mail you a target made here today by Messrs. E. Lawton, G. Rogers and R. S. Dupuy. Mr. Dupuy is seventy-four years old, Mr. Lawton seventy-two. Mr. Rogers [...] Read more →

The Public Attitude Towards Speculation

Reprint from The Pitfalls of Speculation by Thomas Gibson 1906 Ed.

THE PUBLIC ATTITUDE TOWARD SPECULATION

THE public attitude toward speculation is generally hostile. Even those who venture frequently are prone to speak discouragingly of speculative possibilities, and to point warningly to the fact that an [...] Read more →

Beef Jerky

BEEF JERKY

Preparation.

Slice 5 pounds lean beef (flank steak or similar cut) into strips 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, 1 to 2 inches wide, and 4 to 12 inches long. Cut with grain of meat; remove the fat. Lay out in a single layer on a smooth clean surface (use [...] Read more →

Mudlark Regulations in the U.K.

Mudlarks of London

Mudlarking along the Thames River foreshore is controlled by the Port of London Authority.

According to the Port of London website, two type of permits are issued for those wishing to conduct metal detecting, digging, or searching activities.

Standard – allows digging to a depth of 7.5 [...] Read more →

A Cure for Distemper in Dogs

 

The following cure was found written on a front flyleaf in an 1811 3rd Ed. copy of The Sportsman’s Guide or Sportsman’s Companion: Containing Every Possible Instruction for the Juvenille Shooter, Together with Information Necessary for the Experienced Sportsman by B. Thomas.

 

Transcript:

Vaccinate your dogs when young [...] Read more →

Rendering Amber Clear for Use in Lens-Making for Magnifying Glass

by John Partridge,drawing,1825

From the work of Sir Charles Lock Eastlake entitled Materials for a history of oil painting, (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1846), we learn the following:

The effect of oil at certain temperatures, in penetrating “the minute pores of the amber” (as Hoffman elsewhere writes), is still more [...] Read more →

44 Berkeley Square

The Clermont Club

Reprint from London Bisnow/UK

At £23M, its sale is not the biggest property deal in the world. But the Clermont Club casino in Berkeley Square in London could lay claim to being the most significant address in modern finance — it is where the concept of what is today [...] Read more →

Here’s Many a Year to You

” Here’s many a year to you ! Sportsmen who’ve ridden life straight. Here’s all good cheer to you ! Luck to you early and late.

Here’s to the best of you ! You with the blood and the nerve. Here’s to the rest of you ! What of a weak moment’s swerve ? [...] Read more →

List of the 60 Franklin Library Signed Limited Editions

The following highly collectible Franklin Library Signed Editions were published between 1977 and 1982. They are all fully leather bound with beautiful covers and contain gorgeous and rich silk moire endpapers. Signatures are protected by unattached tissue inserts.

The values listed are average prices that were sought by [...] Read more →

The Late Rev. H.M. Scarth

H. M. Scarth, Rector of Wrington

By the death of Mr. Scarth on the 5th of April, at Tangier, where he had gone for his health’s sake, the familiar form of an old and much valued Member of the Institute has passed away. Harry Mengden Scarth was bron at Staindrop in Durham, [...] Read more →

Books of Use to the International Art Collector

Hebborn Piranesi

Before meeting with an untimely death at the hand of an unknown assassin in Rome on January 11th, 1996, master forger Eric Hebborn put down on paper a wealth of knowledge about the art of forgery. In a book published posthumously in 1997, titled The Art Forger’s Handbook, Hebborn suggests [...] Read more →

The Fowling Piece – Part I

THE FOWLING PIECE, from the Shooter’s Guide by B. Thomas – 1811.

I AM perfectly aware that a large volume might be written on this subject; but, as my intention is to give only such information and instruction as is necessary for the sportsman, I shall forbear introducing any extraneous [...] Read more →

The Real Time Piece Gentleman and the Digital Watch Vault

Paul Thorpe, Brighton, U.K.

The YouTube watch collecting world is rather tight-knit and small, but growing, as watches became a highly coveted commodity during the recent world-wide pandemic and fueled an explosion of online watch channels.

There is one name many know, The Time Piece Gentleman. This name for me [...] Read more →

Country Cabbage and Pea Soup

Add the following ingredients to a four or six quart crock pot, salt & pepper to taste keeping in mind that salt pork is just that, cover with water and cook on high till it boils, then cut back to low for four or five hours. A slow cooker works well, I [...] Read more →

The Age of Chivalry

KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS

On the decline of the Roman power, about five centuries after Christ, the countries of Northern Europe were left almost destitute of a national government. Numerous chiefs, more or less powerful, held local sway, as far as each could enforce his dominion, and occasionally those [...] Read more →

Thomas Jefferson Correspondence – On Seed Saving and Sharing

The following are transcripts of two letters written by the Founding Father Thomas Jefferson on the subject of seed saving.

“November 27, 1818. Monticello. Thomas Jefferson to Henry E. Watkins, transmitting succory seed and outlining the culture of succory.” [Transcript] Thomas Jefferson Correspondence Collection Collection 89

Audubon’s Art Method and Techniques

Audubon started to develop a special technique for drawing birds in 1806 a Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. He perfected it during the long river trip from Cincinnati to New Orleans and in New Orleans, 1821.

Home Top of [...] Read more →

Clover Wine

Add 3 quarts clover blossoms* to 4 quarts of boiling water removed from heat at point of boil. Let stand for three days. At the end of the third day, drain the juice into another container leaving the blossoms. Add three quarts of fresh water and the peel of one lemon to the blossoms [...] Read more →

Gout Remedies

Jan Verkolje Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first person to describe gout or uric acid crystals 1679.

For one suffering gout, the following vitamins, herbs, and extracts may be worth looking into:

Vitamin C Folic Acid – Folic Acid is a B vitamin and is also known as B9 – [Known food [...] Read more →

U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act – Full Text

WIPO HQ Geneva

UNITED STATES PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION ACT

TITLE I – PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION OFFICE Chapter Section 1. Organization and Publications . 1 2. Legal Provisions as to the Plant Variety Protection Office . 21 3. Plant Variety Protection Fees . 31

CHAPTER 1.-ORGANIZATION AND PUBLICATIONS Section [...] Read more →

A Survey of Palestine – 1945-1946

This massive volume gives one a real visual sense of what it was like running a highly efficient colonial operation in the early 20rh Century. It will also go a long way to help anyone wishing to understand modern political intrigue in the Middle-East.

Click here to read A Survey of Palestine [...] Read more →

Method of Restoration for Ancient Bronzes and other Alloys

Cannone nel castello di Haut-Koenigsbourg, photo by Gita Colmar

Without any preliminary cleaning the bronze object to be treated is hung as cathode into the 2 per cent. caustic soda solution and a low amperage direct current is applied. The object is suspended with soft copper wires and is completely immersed into [...] Read more →

David Starkey: Britain’s Last Great Historian

Dr. David Starkey, the UK’s premiere historian, speaks to the modern and fleeting notion of “cancel culture”. Starkey’s brilliance is unparalleled and it has become quite obvious to the world’s remaining Western scholars willing to stand on intellectual integrity that a few so-called “Woke Intellectuals” most certainly cannot undermine [...] Read more →

Tuna and Tarpon

July, 16, l898 Forest and Stream Pg. 48

Tuna and Tarpon.

New York, July 1.—Editor Forest and Stream: If any angler still denies the justice of my claim, as made in my article in your issue of July 2, that “the tuna is the grandest game [...] Read more →

Country House Christmas Pudding

Country House Christmas Pudding

Ingredients

1 cup Christian Bros Brandy ½ cup Myer’s Dark Rum ½ cup Jim Beam Whiskey 1 cup currants 1 cup sultana raisins 1 cup pitted prunes finely chopped 1 med. apple peeled and grated ½ cup chopped dried apricots ½ cup candied orange peel finely chopped 1 ¼ cup [...] Read more →

Carpenters’ Furniture

IT requires a far search to gather up examples of furniture really representative in this kind, and thus to gain a point of view for a prospect into the more ideal where furniture no longer is bought to look expensively useless in a boudoir, but serves everyday and commonplace need, such as [...] Read more →

Travels by Narrowboat

Oh Glorious England, verdant fields and wandering canals…

In this wonderful series of videos, the CountryHouseGent takes the viewer along as he chugs up and down the many canals crisscrossing England in his classic Narrowboat. There is nothing like a free man charting his own destiny.

Coffee & Cigarettes

Aw, the good old days, meet in the coffee shop with a few friends, click open the Zippo, inhale a glorious nosegay of lighter fluid, fresh roasted coffee and a Marlboro cigarette….

A Meta-analysis of Coffee Drinking, Cigarette Smoking, and the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease

We conducted a [...] Read more →

Money Saving Recipe for Gold Leaf Sizing

Artisans world-wide spend a fortune on commercial brand oil-based gold leaf sizing. The most popular brands include Luco, Dux, and L.A. Gold Leaf. Pricing for quart size containers range from $35 to $55 depending upon retailer pricing.

Fast drying sizing sets up in 2-4 hours depending upon environmental conditions, humidity [...] Read more →

Mrs. Beeton’s Poultry & Game – Choosing Poultry

To Choose Poultry.

When fresh, the eyes should be clear and not sunken, the feet limp and pliable, stiff dry feet being a sure indication that the bird has not been recently killed; the flesh should be firm and thick and if the bird is plucked there should be no [...] Read more →

Peach Brandy

PEACH BRANDY

2 gallons + 3 quarts boiled water 3 qts. peaches, extremely ripe 3 lemons, cut into sections 2 sm. pkgs. yeast 10 lbs. sugar 4 lbs. dark raisins

Place peaches, lemons and sugar in crock. Dissolve yeast in water (must NOT be to hot). Stir thoroughly. Stir daily for 7 days. Keep [...] Read more →

Proper Wines to Serve with Food

Foie gras with Sauternes, Photo by Laurent Espitallier

As an Appetizer

Pale dry Sherry, with or without bitters, chilled or not. Plain or mixed Vermouth, with or without bitters. A dry cocktail.

With Oysters, Clams or Caviar

A dry flinty wine such as Chablis, Moselle, Champagne. Home Top of [...] Read more →

Historic authenticity of the Spanish SAN FELIPE of 1690

San Felipe Model

Reprinted from FineModelShips.com with the kind permission of Dr. Michael Czytko

The SAN FELIPE is one of the most favoured ships among the ship model builders. The model is elegant, very beautifully designed, and makes a decorative piece of art to be displayed at home or in the [...] Read more →

Artist Methods

Como dome facade – Pliny the Elder – Photo by Wolfgang Sauber

Work in Progress…

THE VARNISHES.

Every substance may be considered as a varnish, which, when applied to the surface of a solid body, gives it a permanent lustre. Drying oil, thickened by exposure to the sun’s heat or [...] Read more →

Bess of Hardwick: Four Times a Lady

Bess of Harwick

Four times the nuptial bed she warm’d, And every time so well perform’d, That when death spoil’d each husband’s billing, He left the widow every shilling. Fond was the dame, but not dejected; Five stately mansions she erected With more than royal pomp, to vary The prison of her captive When [...] Read more →

The Shirk – An Old but Familiar Phenomena

STORE MANAGEMENT—THE SHIRK.

THE shirk is a well-known specimen of the genus homo. His habitat is offices, stores, business establishments of all kinds. His habits are familiar to us, but a few words on the subject will not be amiss. The shirk usually displays activity when the boss is around, [...] Read more →

Indian Mode of Hunting – Beaver

Jul. 30, 1898 Forest and Stream Pg. 87

Indian Mode of Hunting.

I.—Beaver.

Wa-sa-Kejic came over to the post early one October, and said his boy had cut his foot, and that he had no one to steer his canoe on a proposed beaver hunt. Now [...] Read more →

How Long is Your Yacht?

Dominion, Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club,Winner of Seawanhaka Cup, 1898.

The Tail Wags the Dog.

The following is a characteristic sample of those broad and liberal views on yachting which are the pride of the Boston Herald. Speaking of the coming races for the Seawanhaka international challenge cup, it says:

[...] Read more →