Notebook - General Stuff No. 2, Part 2

Fitch, John. Photographing Gravestones, Nexus, Vol. XVI, No. 1.

Consider the matter of the sun being on the wrong side of the subject about half the time. Most tombstones face the west. Take pictures in the afternoon. Noon is standard time, in summer the sun will reach it's zenith at 1:00. Have a picnic and wait for the sun.

Take a tripod and a mirror. The first to steady the camera and the second to use to reflect sunlight onto the tombstone when the sun is not in the right place. The mirror should be about 2' x 4' to work well with all sizes of stones.

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Gleason, Michael.  Switch to Gregorian Calendar was Unpopular with Colonists, The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. XVII, No. 3, May/June 1991.

The last thing Virginians needed in 1752, amid rumors of French & Indian raids along the Ohio River frontier, was a new calendar system that included a new New Year's Day. Still, that's what they got from the British Parliament. 

Great Britain that year adopted the Gregorian calendar, eliminating 11 days and switching New Year's Day from March to January. 

Panics & Depressions in the United States

Yes, another cheery topic.  I'm clearing out stuff and I can post it here and then put the paper in the trash.

Economists make a distinction between panics, crises, and depressions.  An industrial or financial crisis reaches its peak in a PANIC, when commodity and security prices fall sharply. The panic is usually followed by a period of depressed activity and readjustment, until confidence is restored and business again reaches a normal level.  Almost invariably a crisis is preceded by a period of abnormally high activity, when prosperity is accompanied by inflated prices of commodities, of securities, and of real estate. The earlier crises or panics were mostly the result of European difficulties, and were not so severe or widespread in the U.S.  In 1793 the unexpected declaration of war between France and England was followed by troubles for American shipping, and caused a period of decline.  Again, after 1802, the peace of Amiens was followed by maritime prosperity, to be ended abruptly by the Embargo and Non-Importation troubles in 1807 and 1808. The War of 1812 brought industry in the U.S. to a low point, from which it recovered rapidly, for several years, only to suffer a slump in the years 1819-22. The first major panic and crisis came in 1837.

Politician: I'll stop your horse, sir.
Bank Director: Do it then, like a good fellow, but take care; see what I got for trying to stop him in my way.