The Duesenberg Model SSJ...

Back in 2008, I posted a blog entry that included the following:
“The Duesenberg shown here used to reside in my home town of Schenectady, New York:

It belonged to Perry Egbert, who was the Chairman of the Board of the American Locomotive Company at the time -- early to mid 1950's.” 

I read yesterday that the sister car to this one (There were only two of this model ever built) sold this weekend for $22,000,000 at the Gooding auction at Pebble Beach.  You read that correctly -- $22 million!!!

I did a little searching and found a French Web site, entitled "The Pages of Lex," on which there was substantial background on these two remarkable cars.  The article even mentions Perry Egbert.  With due credit to the author, here is that article (I beg the author's forgiveness for any misinterpretation in my somewhat clumsy translation from the French.):

"Courtesy of The Pages of Lex, A French Web site

The two Model SSJs together,  Gable's on the left, Gary Cooper's on the right

At that time, Groucho Marx swears by the Mercedes SSK that he modified to regularly beat the Duesenberg of Clark Gable and Gary Cooper at the "grand prix of the red lights" in Hollywood. Embarrassed by this state of affairs, our two lads ask Augie (Duesenberg) to build a car capable of beating Marx's SSK.

Duesenberg then built two cars from two Jenkins roadsters. Officially christened SSJ, as shorter SJ models, these two roadsters are in fact normal SJs, cut at the front bench seat to bring the wheelbase to 125 inches, 17-1/2 inches shorter than the so-called “short” chassis.  This is enough, thanks to the weight gain achieved, to beat any SSK, but, even if Clark Gable is satisfied, Gary Cooper does not want to stop there.  He orders a special engine from August Duesenberg to get his way.

Augie remembers his work on the engine with "ram's horns" and that's how the most powerful car in the world, the 400 hp Duesenberg SSJ, is born!  On this model, the displacement is raised to 448 cubic inches, the compression ratio to 8.1: 1 and the engine speed to 5,000 rpm.  The valves are enlarged and reinforced by double springs, the aluminum pistons are specially built by Jahns Racing and the engine is equipped with two Shelber double body carburetors.  He needs three fuel pumps, one mechanical and two electric pumps, to draw the fuel from a 37-gallon tank.

The bodies of both cars are identical and they are aluminum. The design is by Herb Newport and the manufacture is entrusted to La Grande.  To save weight, chrome accessories, headlights and side spare wheels are removed.  Only one spare wheel is embedded in the rear panel.  The wheels are 17-inch, instead of 19” for the “normal car.“   Because of attention to these details, these cars present an impression of power and speed that is not easily surpassed.

Model SSJ

The weight of Gary Cooper's car reaches nearly 5,100 lbs., 1,100 lbs. more than that of Clark Gable, because of the heavier engine and reinforcements added to the chassis to support the power.

Once ready, Gary Cooper drives his car to the Los Angeles hot-rod runway.  Groucho Marx would have done better to stay at home that day; his defeat is a foregone conclusion.  We do not know the actual performance of these cars.  It is estimated that Gary Cooper's SSJ can reach 175 miles/hr., accelerate from 0 to 60 miles/hr. in 7 seconds and from 0 to 100 miles/hr. in 13 seconds or less!  We no longer know the price of these machines.

Originally painted in two-tone brown, Gary Cooper's SSJ is now treated in two shades of gray.  It has long been part of the Briggs Cunningham collection that loved to ride for hours at 55 mph along the roads of the Pacific coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Clark Gable's SSJ was painted in two shades of brown.  It was Charles Cord, the son of Erret, who delivered it in the fall of 1935, to the studios of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where Gable had just finished "Mutiny on the Bounty"; It must have been a comical scene to see a buccaneer of the 18th century take possession of the latest product born of the most sophisticated luxury car manufacturer.  It was in this car that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard disappeared from Mayfair Hall on January 25, 1936 to make one of the most famous nocturnal journeys in the history of show business -- it was the perfect car to titillate the paparazzi.  In 1947, the car was sold to MGM Music Director George Stoll, who had it repainted in beige.  He then sold it for $2,500 to John Troka.  It then passes into the hands of D. Cameron Peck, one of the largest American collectors, who gives it in 1951 to Perry Egbert, Attica (New York). The latter sells it to Alfredo Ferrar, in Cleveland (Ohio).  It is painted bright red and light gray.

The Duesenberg Model SSJs are among the most beautiful cars of the firm.  They represent a perfect summary of the life of the Duesenberg brothers and their contribution to the automobile. There is no doubt that Fred Duesenberg would have been proud of his little brother's work."

I was about 11 years old when the Clark Gable car "lived" in my home town of Schenectady.  It was stored in a garage near Erie Boulevard, I seem to recall on Ferry Street, not far from the main plant of the American Locomotive Company.  My brother and I would ride our bicycles down there and look in the window at this wonderful artifact.  I only recall seeing it one time on the road, going up Union Street past our house.  I did hear at one time that Mr. Egbert had had an accident in the car somewhere on the New York State Thruway, but I cannot attest to that.  It still holds a very special place in my memory.  I am, after all, a "Car Guy."

Frank Priest and the Penguin Collection

I've seen the quote, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”  The origin is uncertain, but I have found it to be evident in my life, especially during the last 35 years.  Those are the years during which I have learned to live a happy, joyous, and free life through the twelve step program of recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous.

Early in my sobriety, my employer sent me on an assignment to Hughes Electronics in El Segundo, California.  I spent several months there.  My AA colleagues in Huntsville suggested that I get to lots of AA meetings while in southern California and that I would be wise to find a local sponsor while out there.  A sponsor is an individual who has accumulated a few months or years of sobriety and who assists a newcomer in navigating through the twelve-step recovery program.

As things turned out, I was living in an apartment in Inglewood that my employer had rented.  To avoid the worst of the morning rush hour traffic, I started attending an AA meeting at 6:45 AM in the town of Hawthorne, which was very close to the Hughes plant.  I would drive to Hawthorne before the traffic was too dense and enjoy the fellowship, splendid coffee, and fresh donuts of the Attitude Adjustment group of Alcoholics Anonymous each weekday morning.  Then I would proceed directly to the Hughes facility a few minutes before the workday started.  It was a great arrangement.

At that time, this AA group was an interesting mix of three-piece suited aerospace executives and street people all of whom shared the same challenge - remaining sober for another 24 hours.  The unwritten rule was that this would always be a group focusing on positive themes for the day.  It was generally upbeat and had an optimistic outlook.  It was in this environment that I first encountered Frank Priest.  (In AA we have a tradition of anonymity, but since Frank is deceased, I'm sure he would have no issues with my using his full name.  He once told me he was about as anonymous as sliced bread, whatever that may mean.)

I had only been attending this meeting for a few days when I took note of this older gentleman who often shared his thoughts and who clearly was a fervent believer in the power of the twelve-step program of recovery from alcoholism.  He evidently had been sober quite a while (I learned later that at the time he had 37 years sober.).  I decided to ask "Frank P." if he would consider being my sponsor.

When I asked Frank, his response took me by surprise.  "How many meetings have you been to this week?"  I told him I'd been to about 10 or 12 meetings.  "What kinds of meetings?  If I decide to sponsor you, you'll attend the meetings I tell you to."  In most areas, there are different kinds of AA meetings -- speaker meetings where a recovering alcoholic shares their story, discussion meetings at which members share their experience or thoughts on some suggested topic, etc.  Frank had strong views on which kinds of meetings were beneficial for newcomers.  Ultimately, Frank became my sponsor.  He also became a dear friend.

I also got to know Francie, his wife of more than thirty years.  He had actually become sober before they met, bur Francine Priest was a devout believer in the Alanon program for family members of alcoholics.  She attended several meetings a week.  She and Frank were also active in many recovery oriented charities throughout the South Bay area.

Frank was a senior executive with Northrop Corporation, whose headquarters were located in Hawthorne, very close to the AA meeting place.  He was one of the three-piece suit contingent each morning.  Frank began not only advising me which meetings I should be attending, he would frequently pick me up after work at the Hughes facility and take me to dinner and thence to a meeting of his choice.

One evening he took me to a meeting adjacent to a city-run detoxification clinic.  Most of the people in this meeting were in the first 48 hours without a drink.  The place reeked of stale booze and sweat.  Very few participants could speak coherently.  After we left the meeting, I asked Frank why he had taken me there.  "We'll be going there every week, as I have for the past several years.  It's important that we never forget how bad it could have gotten."  Moments like that made Frank a very special and treasured sponsor.

One evening, Frank picked me up in his Cadillac to take me to dinner and a meeting.  We began cruising toward Downey as I asked him where we were going.  "We're going to West Covina to a men's group meeting.  You're tonight's speaker!"  I was petrified.  I didn't feel ready to share my brief story, but Frank knew better.  The meeting was in an auditorium-like setting.  Across the stage curtain was a giant banner proclaiming "The World Headquarters of Sobriety!"  I opened my comments noting that there was no issue with humility in this group.

One weekend, Frank acquired a reservation for a weekend retreat at Manresa retreat center.  He gave that pass to me as a gift.  I got to attend my first (of several) AA retreat.

One time years earlier when Frank was on a business trip, someone gave him a set of salt and pepper shakers in the shape of two penguins.  Someone in his office started the myth that Frank collected penguins in any form.  Soon the penguin collection was underway,  By the time I befriended Frank and Francie, they had set aside a "Penguin Room" in their Torrance home.  There were penguin statues, stuffed penguins, penguin art, wind-up walking penguins, ash trays, lighters. calendars and penguin emblazoned dishes.  But one of the most incredible penguin items was hand made and very special.

As Frank had accumulated his years of sobriety, he had made hundreds of friends in the recovery communities of southern California.  One happened to be a recovering sculptress.  On Frank's thirty-fifth AA birthday, she had made a skating rink using a glass mirror as the pond's surface, surrounded by hills of sculpted clay, complete with pine trees.  And on the skating surface were thirty-five skating penguins in every imaginable pose - spinning, dancing, speeding, and fallen.  And each year, this lovely lady gave Frank another skating penguin to add to the rink.  It was one of the most treasured of all the aggregated penguins.

Frances "Francie" Priest
1929-2008

After I left California, we corresponded for many years.  Frank and Francie remained active into their advanced years, always supporting recovery organizations and activities.  Frank died in 1994.  He was 73 years old.  Francie, who had been his loving bride since 1951, lived until 2008.  Her obituary spoke of her moving to Los Angeles from Kansas in 1949: "There she lived with her brother Jerry & Lucille Tholen and their family in Westchester, and worked as a secretary on the Loyola University campus. Through Jerry & Lucille, Francie met Frank Priest, the love of her life, as he was attending Loyola on the GI Bill. They married in 1951, raised 4 children and lived in Torrance California. Francie was a very active member of the school PTA, Girl Scout and Boy Scout organizations. Francie and Frank enjoyed many years of bridge and travel together and opened their home to countless friends, and friends of friends over the years. Francie became very involved with the House of Hope in San Pedro, and served on their board or as a Regent for over 15 years. Since 2005 she was an active patroness of the Special Children's League, South Bay Committee. Francie was perhaps best known however, as a great supporter for over 50 years of the Friends of Bill Wilson. She will be missed by all who ever knew her. Predeceased by her siblings; husband, Frank; and daughter, Leah Ann. Francie is survived by her children, Elaine, Mike and Tom and their spouses, David, Kellie and Laura; and grandchildren, Ryan and Katie. We miss your sweet ways, your wisdom and gentle humor."

I asked Frank Priest to be my sponsor in 1984.  I received so much more than I ever could have expected.  “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” 

Remembering Norm Melander

1st Lieutenant Norm Melander, 1917 - 1951

Recently, we were informed that the North Korean government had returned the remains of 55 individuals that may include some American MIAs from the Korean conflict that ended almost exactly 65 years ago, on July 27, 1953.  Although this announcement was a follow-up to the President's recent meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, it follows a long trail of exchanges of remains of individuals killed in that "Forgotten War."  According to the DoD's POW/MIA Accounting Command Website,
     "During Operation Glory in 1954, North Korea returned the remains of more than 3,000 Americans.  Concurrently, U.S. Graves Registration teams recovered remains from South Korean battlefields.  The U.S. identified thousands of these remains.  In 1956, a total of 848 that could not be identified were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl.  Others were added later as unknowns.  One of the unknowns was interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
     The Army Graves Registrations teams searched the battlefields in the Republic of Korea (ROK) from 1951 to 1956.  Today, DoD investigates losses in South Korea with the assistance of U.S. forces in Korea and the ROK government.
     From 1990 to 1994, North Korea exhumed and returned 208 boxes of remains.  However, DoD scientists estimate that as many as 400 individuals could be represented in these 208 boxes.
     Between July 1996, and May 2005, the Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) and JPAC, which is now part of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, conducted 33 Joint Field Activities (JFAs) in North Korea, which recovered more than 220 sets of remains, which are currently being processed for identification at JPAC in Hawaii.  On May 25, 2005, the U.S. temporarily suspended JFAs in North Korea due to security concerns."

Wikipedia informs us that, "Between 1982 and 2016 there were 781 unknown remains recovered from North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, and Punchbowl Cemetery in Hawaii,[55] of which a total of 459 have been identified as of June 2018."

The numbers of total MIAs and KIAs in Korea are staggering.  The total number of MIAs and POWs that never returned is estimated by the Pentagon as between 4,193 and 5,246, depending on which sources are used in the estimate.

One of the MIAs, later assumed to be Killed in Action, was 1st Lieutenant Norman Albert Melander, of Ballston Spa, New York.  Norm was a close friend of our family before leaving for Korea, never to return.  As I have stated many times in this blog, my father was a dentist.  For many years, his dental hygienist was a young lady named Claire Tracy.  Claire married Norm Melander in 1950, shortly before he was notified that he was recalled to active duty.  Norm had served in World War II and had remained in the Army Reserve after the war.

My personal bond to Norm was heightened on Christmas day of 1949.  I had asked for a puppet theater for Christmas.  My parents knew that Norm, who was then engaged to Claire Tracy, was a skilled woodworker.  They hired him to make me a puppet stage and he certainly delivered.  I received a magnificent puppet theater with dimmable lights, operating curtains and a beautifully creative paint job.  It was way beyond what anyone envisioned.  I treasured that gift for many, many years.  I was only 10 years old when "Uncle Norm" left for Korea, but I remember it well.  Claire was expecting their first child when he left.  Their daughter was born in July, 1951.  Norm and his daughter Christine never got to meet each other.

There is a Web-based group called the Korean War Project that attempts to gather information on MIA/KIA/POWs and to locate descendants to gather DNA for future identification of remains.  According to this Website, Norm was a member of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, A Company, 1st Battalion.  He was a Bronze Star recipient for valor.  His date of loss is given as October 12, 1951.  He was killed on Hill 287 in the Chorwon area.

In October, 2010, a gentleman named Ted Barker posted a tribute to Norm on the Korean War Project site.  He posted an extract from the book, Of Garryowen in Glory - History of the 7th US Cavalry, by Lt Col Melbourne Chandler, US Army, 1960.  The pages cited specifically pertain to Operation Commando when the 8th Army attacked the Chinese Army to push it back north of to the original 38th Parallel which was the border between North and South Korea at the end of WWII.  Mr. Barker included an editorial comment by Retired Col David Hughes, 7th Cav Rgt:

"(From October 8th, 1951) The 1st Battalion, at 0900 hours, against violent resistance, took the dominating unnumbered hill overlooking Hill 287.  The battalion became a deep salient into the enemy line-a threat the enemy was determined to remove.

At 0045 hours on October 9th, the enemy unleashed a devastating barrage of mortars, rockets and artillery, followed by a two-battalion mass attack on the battered 1st Battalion.  The 1st Battalion was ordered to withdraw into a tight perimeter and to hold.  After one hour of savage fighting the furiously attacking enemy had driven in a portion of Company B. A fast moving, slashing attack was unleashed by the yelling troopers from Company A who quickly restored the Company B sector and the situation began to improve.

Throughout this period Company C was heavily engaged but stubbornly held their ground.  Although this savage attack had continued for almost seven hours this battered battalion managed to retain its position, despite the fact that at times both the enemy and the Garry Owens shared the same trenches.

At 0239 on October 12th, Companies A and B came under attack, and by 0300 hours the entire 1st Battalion was attacked simultaneously, disrupting all communications. Under a wall of intense mortar and artillery fire, followed closely by a grenade throwing fanatical enemy battalion, the enemy finally overran two companies of the 1st Battalion and forced them from their most advanced positions back to the dominating hill overlooking Hill 287.

(Col Hughes NOTE: In my judgment, this is the night action when the 1st Battalion was overrun on Hill 287 by overwhelming Chinese numbers, and 1st Lt Melander was lost)

The 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry under the operational control of the 7th Cavalry then relieved the 1st Battalion on this dominating position.  The 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, then moved to Division reserve and remained there until October 25th.

October 13th saw the end of the attack phase for the 7th Cavalry.

During the first ten days of the attack, the 7th Cavalry took all objectives assigned.  It fought successfully against four enemy regiments and inflicted 65 enemy casualties per hour for an unrelenting ten days.  Only the fighting heart and the Garry Owen spirit maintained the aggressive attitude of the riflemen against the great odds of terrain and massive enemy numbers. Only magnificent leadership held units intact after the heavy casualties and continuous enemy bombardment."

Norm Melander defended his nation valiantly.  I can only hope that one day, his remains may be returned, identified, and properly buried where his descendants can pay their proper tribute.

Weekend Project

The ultimate bird feeder!

Not long before Christmas, Mary Ann asked me if there was anything I might want in the way of a gift.  I suggested a bird feeder.  I had previously owned a bird feeder that had been demolished when a large tree fell on it, mashing it beyond recognition.  I thought little more about our conversation after that.

On Christmas day, there was a large box among my gifts with a shiny copper cone extending past an open side.  I knew right away that this had to be the roof of a very large bird feeder.  Mary Ann had located and purchased what must be the Taj Mahal of bird dining facilities.  It is hexagonal with little arched openings on all sides and is manufactured using solid cellular PVC and sheet copper.  I expect it will outlast me.

My old bird feeder was a modest sheet metal affair that mounted on an iron pipe that I drove into the ground.  It went up in five minutes.  Not so with this elegant avian eatery.  It has a recessed opening on its underside measuring 4" x 4".  It would require a 4x4 post.

I proceeded to Lowe's a few weeks ago and selected the clearest 4x4 post I could find, 6' long and pressure treated to resist the elements.  This meant I'd have to find some appropriate hardware to support the base.  On to Amazon!  I purchased the Simpson Strong-Tie E-Z Base with its beautiful black glossy powder coated finish.  A piece of hardware worthy of such a feeder.

This required that I purchase some anchor bolts, nuts and washers.  Then I dug a hole about 18" deep, drove in a half dozen pieces of reinforcement bar, built a form for the perimeter of the concrete base, and poured the concrete into which I incorporated the anchor bolts.  Now things started to take shape!  

This weekend, I finally got everything put up.  I mounted the post in the recess of the E-Z Base.  Then I realized I had forgotten to get the 1/4" galvanized lag screws that lock it in place.  Back to Lowe's.  I got the squirrel (and cat) protector in place with no issues.  I mounted and leveled the post.  Everything was falling into place nicely.

When I placed the bird feeder on top of the post, I noticed something very strange.  An American standard 4x4 post is not in fact 4" by 4".  It's more like 3-1/2" square.  But the recess in the bottom of the feeder was a little over 4" by 4".  My solution was to glue 1/4" thick battens on all four sides of the post along the top edge.  Once these were in place and the glue had dried, I could mount the feeder with a nice snug fit.  Problem solved.

I think it looks great.  I only hope the birds are as pleased as I am!

ShopProject -- A New Series

ShopProject 1 -- The "Bear Chair"

This is the first in a series of blog entries I'm calling "ShopProject."  Each will focus on a single project that I've completed and describe in detail how I went about accomplishing the job.  This first one is a woodworking project - the building of a child's rocking chair in the shape of an embracing teddy bear.

I built the first of these chairs around 30 years ago.  The plans were published by Rockler Woodworking, a company that provides tools and supplies for woodworkers.  They have around fifty stores nationwide as well as a robust Web-based retail presence.  When I decided a couple years ago to build another rocking chair, I was disappointed to find that Rockler no longer listed these plans in their catalog.  I called the company and they confirmed that these plans were no longer available.  Not to be deterred, I went on line to search for an available set of plans and located the set shown here.

In this first pictorial drawing, you can see the overall assembly of this project.  Note that the arms are double thickness; all other major pieces are of 3/4 inch thickness, although I have made this chair using 1" thick stock.  Below the assembly drawing is the Bill of Materials.

Over the years, I have built this project using ash, cherry, and maple.  The most recent version, the one I'm describing here, is made using 1" thick curly maple.  The 1" thick stock requires a few accommodations in the plan, and the curly maple demanded some special finishing to bring out its most spectacular appearance.

The next page of the plan describes the individual components of the chair, along with the recommended procedure for crafting each piece.  These instructions are well thought out and should be heeded.  For example, the underside of the seat has 3/8" deep routed dadoes into which the rockers and cross brace are fastened.  The instructions have you rout these channels while you still have enough stock to attach a guide for your router.  Only after you cut these dadoes do you cut out the seat.  If you cut out the seat prematurely, guiding the router becomes much more of a challenge.

The step-by-step instructions are carefully planned and meant to be followed.

 The remaining pages of the plan provide scaled images of the pieces drawn to 1/2 scale.  To enlarge these to full scale, you may either redraw them on a 1" square grid or enlarge them to the point at which the grid lines in the plan are 1" apart.

Preparing the Templates

Whenever I plan to use a design more than once, I begin by creating rigid templates of the individual pieces.  I do this by blowing up the plan to full size.  Then I glue or paste the paper plan to a piece of thin plywood or Masonite™.  I cut this out on a band saw, being extremely careful to follow the edge line as closely as possible.  Once this is done, I have a pattern I can use multiple times by merely tracing the outline onto a piece of stock that I intend to build with.  I also drill all the pre-positioned holes with a drill large enough to permit a pencil or scribe to be inserted to mark its position on the stock I'm working with.

The templates I use to mark the lumber I'm working with

Marking the Construction Material

I carefully lay out the templates on my stock attempting to use the material in the most efficient manner.  In the case of large pieces, I may have to glue multiple smaller pieces together before tracing the pattern.  In these cases, I select my stock to ensure that the grain and color are similar in adjacent pieces.  Then I use a jointer to get perfectly square and straight edges to be glued.  I apply and spread the glue on both surfaces, lay the boards on a piece of waxed paper on a perfectly flat surface (such as the bed of a table saw), and clamp the boards together (and to the flat surface to ensure the individual pieces are lying flat as they are glued).  The waxed paper keeps any squeezed-out glue off my table saw and prevents gluing the boards to the flat surface.

It's important during this tracing process to keep in mind the best direction for the grain to run in each component.  If two components will be complementary by virtue of their relative position, make sure they have a complementary grain orientation.  An example in this project is the two arms.  The top surface of each arm should have a similar grain orientation.  When all the parts are traced onto the construction stock, begin cutting out the components, being very careful to cut "close to the line."

Crafting the Individual Components

Cut each piece out on the band saw, exercising great care.  For parts that require a rounded edge, go ahead and smooth the sides before you apply a 1/4" round over bit on a router table to soften the rounded edges.  You will be sanding these pieces to smooth their surfaces, but it's much easier to take care in the cutting out of parts than to try to sand them to the correct shape after cutting them incorrectly.  On curved edges, I like to use a drum sander and for straight edges, a flat belt sander works well.  I typically use progressive grits of sandpaper, progressing from 80 grit to 320 grit in the sequence 80-100-150-220-320.  Don't forget to hand sand the "square" edges of the components to soften them slightly.

On the pieces that require routed dadoes, I clamp the piece to a work surface, surrounded by stock (usually scraps) of the same thickness as the piece to be routed.  I then carefully measure and place a guide for the edge of the router and clamp that in place.  After triple checking all clamps and positions, I set the router depth to match the depth of cut on the end of the piece that will be inserted into this specific dado.  This is the small offset that will cover the rounded end of the dado groove.  Only when I am certain of my positioning and clamps do I finally insert the cutter and initiate the dado.  If this dado is incorrectly cut, it will require the making of a completely new piece.

Similarly, I locate, mark, re-measure, and drill and countersink all the holes where I plan to screw the parts together as I glue them.

Assembling the Chair

I assemble the chair several times during its construction before I glue it together.  Only after I'm

The arm is made of two layers,
glued together.

positive the parts are properly crafted do I commit to final assembly.  First, I glue the two pieces of each individual arm together.  You will want to make sure both gluing surfaces are perfectly flat.  Any little gap in this glue joint will be visible.  This step is done before the final shaping, sanding and drilling of the arms.

The sequence I use to assemble the chair is to first assemble the two sides (rockers) with their cross brace.  I glue and screw these parts together while holding them in place (not gluing them yet) in the dadoes they are to occupy on the underside of the seat.  Next, I glue and screw them to the underside of the seat.  I do this in two steps because it simplifies the holding and clamping of pieces during this time-sensitive process.  Of course, whenever we are gluing pieces that we plan to apply finish to, we use a moderate amount of glue, spread it thoroughly on the surface being glued, and remove any squeeze-out promptly.  I keep a wet rag handy just in case I get some glue on an area where I don't want it.

The underside of the seat, with rockers
and cross brace installed

After the seat assembly is completed, I install the back with glue and screws.  I follow this, once everything is completely dry, with the arms.  When installing the arms, it is really important that the attachment surface of the arm is tight and flush against the back.  That means the large 1-1/4" dowel supporting the front of the arm must be very precisely placed.  Both ends of that dowel are glued into 1/4" deep drilled recesses -- one on the underside of the arm and one on the top surface of the seat.  The dowel that is used in final assembly is 3-3/4" long.  I keep a piece of dowel only 3-1/2" long as a "marker" dowel.  I don't drill the recess in the seat until I dry assemble the arm to the glued back with the short dowel installed temporarily in the arm.  This dowel will be flush against the seat when the arm is snugged up to the back (I use two screws rather than one to hold the arm to the back).  I now trace around the bottom of the marker dowel to establish the position where I want to drill my recessed socket in the seat that will receive the final dowel.  I glue, but do not screw, the bottom of the support dowels during final assembly.  This sequence ensures that the very visible joint where the arm meets the back is tight with no gaps.

The assembled chair, before plugging screw recesses,
applying the nose and eyes, or finishing.

Adding the Nose and Eyes

Any contrasting wood looks good, either light on a dark background or dark on a light background.  You can siply cut the shape out of a thin sheet of wood, or, as I sometimes do, use a book matched glued sheet, with the seam centered vertically on the face of the bear.  For the nose, I round off the end of a piece of 1" dowel using a belt sander.  I then use wood sealer on this rounded end, and finally a couple of coats of semi-gloss black enamel.  Then, I slice the nose off the dowel at a length that leaves the rounded nose slightly proud of the surrounding surface when it's glued in its recessed hole.

For the eyes, I prefer to paint the ends of the dowel stock using black and white enamel before I assemble the two dowel sections that make up each eye.  After I have glued the smaller dowel into the hole in the larger dowel, I simply slice off the thickness that will be flush when installed in its recess on the back of the chair.

Finishing the Rocker

The finish you use is your personal choice.  I want the rocker to last, since it's the kind of object that gets passed from child to child within a family.  It will probably sustain a lot of abuse.  The last rocker I built, shown below, was finished as follows:

• Three coats of a 50-50 mix of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits, applied with a cotton rag, then wiped dry, with 0000 steel wool between coats.
• Three coats shellac, progressively thinner -- 2-lb. cut, then 1-1/2 lb. cut, then 1 lb. cut -- applied with a cotton rag very quickly to minimize streaking, then steel wooled between coats.
• One coat of Seal-A-Cell clear finish from General Finishes, applied with a rag and then wiped with a dry, lint-free cloth.

Please feel free to submit questions or suggestions in the comments section.  And enjoy building a little chair for that special child.

The finished chair

The Music of the Primitive Baptists...

The circular chapel at Davis & Elkins College, where this story begins

In the mid-1980s, I was a regular attendee of the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshops at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia.  I had taken several craft and music classes during previous summers and decided to attend "Choral Week" at this time.  I could enjoy an entire week of singing and relaxation in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia.  On the Sunday evening of my arrival, the class was invited to meet in the unique and inspiring Robbins Memorial Chapel, a circular building with marvelous acoustical qualities in which many of our classes would take place.  The purpose of this first get together was to meet the faculty and learn what options were available for our class selection.  We would choose a morning path (I chose 3-, 4-, and 5-part harmony taught by Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin) and an afternoon path (Ensemble Singing with various instructors), and an optional evening "Mini class" (I chose Black Gospel Music taught by Ethel Caffie-Austin).  It would be a very busy but fulfilling week.

After we had assembled in the chapel, the instructors were introduced.  Each one briefly described their backgrounds and qualifications and then sang a sample of the music he or she would be teaching that week.  The variety ranged from cowgirl music (taught by Patsy Montana, the first woman vocalist to record a million-selling record) to Slavic folk music to Southern Appalachian hymn singing, taught by Ginny Hawker.

Ginny Hawker holding her
Primitive Baptist hymnal

When Ginny began to present her sample of music, she selected a traditional Primitive Baptist hymn.  She explained that she had been raised in the Primitive Baptist tradition.  In that tradition, all the melodies of hymns are passed down aurally; there was no music notation in the hymnals that her church used.  As she described it, the hymnals only contained the "poetry," i.e., the lyrics.  When she rose to begin singing, the chapel became quiet.  Her crystal-clear unaccompanied voice began, "Oh, sing to me of heav'n. When I am called to die; Sing songs of holy ecstasy, To waft my soul on high."  The chorus repeated the line, "There'll be no sorrow there," and concluded with, "In heav'n above, where all is love, There'll be no sorrow there."  She sang several more verses to a rapt audience.

When she had finished, we were all speechless.  Her voice was spectacular, and the listener sensed that they were hearing generations of devoted, deeply religious disciples captured in a single event.  There was no applause, as there had been for the previous instructors.  Instead, one of the girls sitting in the front pew rose, went over to Ginny, and quietly hugged and thanked her.  Another followed, and then another, and soon, in the silence of that vast space, every member of the audience proceeded in line to embrace and thank Ginny Hawker.  We all knew that we had just experienced something very special.

I resolved at that moment that I would eventually take a class from Ginny Hawker if the opportunity ever presented itself.

The following year, I received the Augusta catalog and there was the opportunity.  Ginny and her father, Ben Hawker would be teaching a class in "Primitive Baptist Hymn Singing" at the workshops that next summer.  I signed up immediately.

Ben Hawker, holding the infant Ginny, from her
album cover, "Letters from my Father,"

A few weeks before we were scheduled to go to Elkins, I received a letter from the two instructors.  Ginny and her father expressed their excitement at the prospect of meeting the class and enjoying a week's fellowship, and they encouraged us to purchase a small hymnal for use in class.  I ordered mine immediately.  It is a small, blue colored book, and contains only the words to the hymns.  There is no musical notation!  In some cases, it may refer to a tune that one assumes must be familiar to the users (Sung to the tune "New Britain," for example).  Other than those cases, the singer is expected to know the tunes by heart, having learned them by hearing them sung repeatedly.

Not long after that, Margo and I made our annual trek to Elkins.  We had a pop-up camper that we set up every year at Revelle's campground, located on the banks of Shavers Fork of the Cheat River, 9 miles east of Elkins, West Virginia.  Margo planned to spend her days reading, writing, and tending to three dogs.  I would attend class during the day, then pick Margo up for evening activities -- mini-classes, concerts, and socializing.

Sunday evening, we had a "get acquainted" meeting at the chapel on campus.  We learned that the class would be conducted in one of the classroom buildings during the mornings.  We had about twenty people in the class.  There would be plenty of time for give-and-take with both Ginny and Ben.  We would have a general outline of material to be covered, but the class would go where the conversation would take us.  We eagerly looked forward to Monday morning.

The Primitive Baptist church at Cades Cove,
in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

On Monday, Ben Hawker began by sharing with us the history of the Primitive Baptists – also known as Hard Shell Baptists or Old School Baptists.  He explained that they are conservative Baptists adhering to a degree of Calvinist beliefs that coalesced out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 19th century over the appropriateness of mission boards, tract societies, and temperance societies.  The adjective "Primitive" in the name conveys the sense of "original" rather than old fashioned or unsophisticated.  In short, as I recall Ben's explanation, your salvation is a matter that involves you and God and I have no business imposing myself or my opinion on that interaction.

Ben shared that one of the effects of growing up in a town in which everyone was a member of the Primitive Baptist church was a lack of gossip.  It was the worst form of sin to gossip about your neighbor, since their relationship with God and therefore their conduct is a private, sacred matter.  Very interesting.  We spent a good part of Monday morning captivated by Ben Hawker's narrative of his growing up in this religious tradition.  Primitive Baptists reject the idea of Sunday School, viewing it as non-scriptural and interfering with the right of parents to give religious instruction to their children.  Instead, children are expected to attend at least part of the church service.  Primitive Baptists consider theological seminaries to have "no warrant or sanction from the New Testament, nor in the example of Christ and the apostles."  They perform foot washing as a symbol of humility and service among the membership.   The sexes are separated during the ritual where one person washes the feet of another.  The practice is credited with increasing equality, as opposed to hierarchy, within Primitive Baptist churches.  I was completely uninformed of this unique set of religious practices.

One important part of their tradition was their music -- unaccompanied, unadorned by excessive ornamentation, and passed on aurally from one generation to the next.  Over the next four days, Ginny and Ben would gradually share a small but precious portion of that tradition with the members of our class.

Each member of the class had purchased the small blue hymnal in advance and brought it to the class.  The initial edition had been published in 1881.  The foreword revealed the humility and sincerity of its original authors:
"In compiling this book, our design has been to supply a want long felt amongst us, and to encourage the love and practice of Sacred Music in our Churches and the social circle which has, of late years, been greatly neglected. 

Throughout our labors, which have been attended with great anxiety of spirit and pecuniary expense, our constant and prayerful aim has been to select only such hymns as comport with sound doctrine and tend to encourage the spirit of devotion; to bring hymns and tunes together in such manner as to secure an appropriate adaptation of song to sentiment; and to produce a work in every respect equal to the demands of our Churches, and, as a whole, inferior to none of the kind ever before published in this country.  How far success in our endeavors may justly be claimed is submitted to the decision of an intelligent and unbiased Christian denomination."

We proceeded during the week to learn several traditional hymns from our Father/Daughter mentors.  We realized that within the aural tradition, the most minuscule affectations get passed down.  The tiniest grace note, a slight hesitation, or a yodel-like lead note was present when either Ginny or her dad sang the same song.  It was uncanny.  (and it caused me to wonder how many successive generations are represented by these tiny melodic irregularities).

The week went by in a flash and we had been promised something special on Friday.  That morning, Ben told the heartwarming story of his tiny home church in Southwestern Virginia, the church in which he had grown up.  When he was a young boy, very few of the church's members had cars.  They arrived at church on horseback or in modest wagons, often the working wagons from their hardscrabble farms.  The roads in the winter months often became impassable, so church services were suspended for about three months each year.  On the last service of the year, they recognized that some members might not make it through the Winter.  They closed out the service with the very same hymn that Ginny had sung on Sunday evening.  But as the hymn proceeded in our small classroom, Ben Hawker started a procession in which each member of the class approached each of the other members and embraced them with a hug as the hymn proceeded.

Oh, sing to me of heav'n.

When I am called to die;

Sing songs of holy ecstasy

To waft my soul on high.

Chorus:

There'll be no sorrow there;

There'll be no sorrow there;

In heav'n above, where all is love,

There'll be no sorrow there.

When cold and sluggish drops

Roll off my dying brow,

Break forth in songs of joyfulness,

Let heav'n begin below.

When the last moments come,

Oh, smooth my dying face,

To catch the bright, seraphic gleam

Which o'er my features plays.

Then to my raptured ear

Let one sweet song be giv'n;

Let music charm me last on earth,

And greet me first in heav'n.

There were no dry eyes in the room when we concluded.  We had reenacted the farewell service that played out in Ben's old church at the end of every season.  We had, in our feeble way, bid goodbye to each other.  It was a memorable way to conclude a most memorable class.

I corresponded with Ben for a few years after the class, but never saw him again.  I have seen Ginny in concerts a few times since then and she never ceases to amaze me with her voice and knowledge of traditional music.

Paul Julius - Luckiest Man in the World?!?

Gato-Class Fleet Submarine, similar to the types that Paul
would have served on during World War II

When I started working at Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries in 1972, we had a lot of World War II veterans in the workforce.  I worked with one gentleman who had been a B-17 pilot, had survived his planes destruction by the Luftwaffe, and had spent the last two years of the war in a German POW camp.  Another colleague was a Pearl Harbor survivor.  There were many and they all had amazing stories to share, but I believe I was most fascinated by Paul Julius, a retired Navy Warrant Officer.  I think he may have been the luckiest man I ever knew from the standpoint of "coincidences" that spared his life.

     Paul Julius had entered the navy shortly after Pearl Harbor.  After boot camp, he attended a couple of electronics schools before being assigned to USS Preston (DD–379), a Mahan-class destroyer.  On the evening of 14 November, 1942, Preston, as part of TF 64, sailed along the western end of Guadalcanal to intercept another Japanese run down the “Slot” to bombard Henderson Field and land reinforcements.  Swinging around Savo Island, the force, two battleships preceded by four destroyers, entered the channel between Savo and Cape Esperance.  At 23:00, the battleship Washington picked up the Japanese cruiser Sendai on her radar, and, at 23:17, the Third Battle of Savo Island began.
     As Paul related it to me, he had gotten off watch at midnight but since it was incredibly hot he decided to sleep in the number 3 gun mount, since that was his battle station.  This ultimately saved his life.  Approximately eight minutes after the enemy was engaged, USS Walke was hit.  Soon after, Preston, preparing her torpedoes, was struck.  One salvo from Nagara had put both fire rooms out and toppled the after stack.  Her fires made an easier target and shells came in from both port and starboard.  The fires spread.  At 23:36, she was ordered abandoned.  Seconds later she rolled on her side.  She floated for another ten minutes, bow in the air; then sank, taking 116 of her crew with her.  Paul Julius was in the water with a life jacket on and was rescued within a couple of hours.  He ended up ashore on Guadalcanal in the company of the U.S. Marines.
     After a couple of weeks, Paul was offloaded and informed that he had been selected for submarine training and found himself on his way to New London, Connecticut.  After 6 months of submarine training, Paul was assigned to a brand new fleet submarine home ported in Pearl Harbor, HI.  He made his first war patrol and after a couple of months, returned to Pearl Harbor.  The day after the boat tied up, Paul proceeded to the base hospital for his required annual physical.  While he was off the ship, shipyard workers were busy installing a new piece of equipment to help locate submarines stranded or disabled in somewhat shallow water.  It consisted of a mechanism mounted on the top side of the hull that contained a small explosive device.  Over this was fitted a flotation marker that, when launched by a stranded sub, would float to the surface, attached to the sub by a cable.  The floating object then acted as a radar reflector and homing beacon to find the boat.
     Paul was unaware as he returned to his submarine that the repair team was preparing to test fire the locator device with a lightweight mockup.  As Paul crossed the brow to board his home vessel, the device was launched and struck him in the groin and testicles.  Ouch!  He was returned to the hospital where he remained for several days.
     His submarine left on its next war patrol without benefit of Paul's presence.  It never returned from that war patrol.
     After Paul recovered, he was assigned to another sub in the South Pacific Command.  He made two successful war patrols.  Upon his return from the second, he learned that he had been promoted to Warrant Officer and was no longer eligible to serve on submarines.  He was being transferred to a Submarine Tender where his skills and knowledge could be better utilized.  You may have guessed - his sub went back to sea and never returned.  Assumed lost at sea with all hands.
     Paul survived the war and remained in the navy.  He eventually became one of only two Warrant Officers ever selected by Admiral Rickover for the nuclear power program.  And after he retired, he came to work at Ingalls Shipbuilding, which is where our paths crossed.  I have written previously about my friendship with Paul's son, Peter.

--000--

Unfortunately, Paul passed away from a heart attack when he was a relatively young man.  It shocked those of us who knew him as a bigger-than-life colleague and committed friend.  In spite of his early demise, I still reflect on his World War II experience and am convinced that his higher power was certainly watching out for him!