Cronin & Company

Nutt Day

It's a day to honor the first woman telephone operator, Emma M. Nutt, who reportedly began her professional career in Boston on September 1, 1878, and continued working as a telephone operator for 33 years.

Saffir-Simpson in Short

As Irene bears down on the Northeast, meteorologists are keeping track of the storm's wind intensity using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, originally developed by wind engineer Herb Saffir and meteorologist Bob Simpson. In general, damage rises by about a factor of four for every category increase. The scale does not address the potential for other hurricane-related impacts such as storm surge, rainfall-induced floods and duration of the wind, all of which can increase the damage.

Category 1: Sustained winds 74-95 mph. Danger from flying debris; possible damage to poorly constructed roofs; damage to awnings, shingles, siding, gutters; broken windows. Large tree branches can snap, shallow rooted trees can topple. Extensive damage to power lines and poles resulting in power outages lasting a few to several days.

Category 2: Sustained winds 96-110 mph. Substantial risk from flying and falling debris. High probability of broken windows from windborne debris. Roof damage, failure of screen-in porches and enclosures. Commercial signage, fences and canopies will be damaged, often destroyed. Falling and broken glass will pose significant danger even after the storm. Many shallowly rooted trees will be snapped or uprooted. Near-total power loss with outages lasting several days to several weeks. Potable water could become scarce as filtration systems fail.

Category 3: Sustained winds 111-130 mph. High risk of injury or death from flying and falling debris. High percentage of roof and siding damage. Complete failure of older metal buildings likely; older unreinforced masonry buildings can collapse. Numerous windows will be blown out of high-rise buildings. Falling and broken glass will pose significant danger even after the storm. Most commercial signage, fences and canopies will be destroyed. Many trees will be snapped and uprooted. Electricity and water will be unavailable for several days to a few weeks.

Category 4: Sustained winds 131-155 mph. Large amounts of windborne debris will be lofted into the air posing very high risk of injury or death. Flying debris will break all unprotected windows and penetrate some protected windows. Even well-built homes can sustain severe damage to to roofs, walls, windows and doors. High percentage of structural damage to top floors of apartment buildings. High percentage of collapse of older unreinforced masonry buildings. Most windows will be blown out of high rise buildings. Falling and broken glass will pose significant danger even after the storm. Nearly all commercial signage, fences and canopies will be destroyed. Most trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Power outages wil last weeks, possibly months. Long-term water shortages. Most areas will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.

Category 5: Sustained winds greater than 155 mph. Very high risk of injury or death from falling and flying debris even if indoors in a frame house. Windborne debris will damage all unprotected windows and many protected ones. A high percentage of frame homes, industrial buildings and low rise apartment buildings will be destroyed. Most unreinforced masonry will collapse. Nearly all windows will be blown out of high rise buildings. Falling and broken glass will pose significant danger even after the storm. Nearly all commercial signage, fences and canopies will be destroyed. Most trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Power outages wil last weeks, possibly months. Long-term water shortages. Most areas will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.

Fandom in the early days

With the hot weather, I sometimes resort to a retro-tech method for keeping cool. The folding fan is said to have been a Japanese invention, the idea being taken from the wing of a bat. The fan was introduced to Europeans by Catherine de Medici. During the reign of Henry VIII, fans were introduced into England from Italy. In Elizabethan days, the aristocracy sported fans made from ostrich feathers with handles of gold or ivory.

The 18th century was the heyday of the fan. It was an essential accessory in a stuffy, crowded ballroom. Fans were made in every medium: ivory, painted silk and paper, lace, even chicken skin (a very fine kid). There were fans for every occasion, and they were one of the earliest tourist souvenirs.

A lady would not be considered elegant unless she knew how to use her fan, and proper training was part of the well-bred young woman’s upbringing. Matthew Towle's Young Gentleman and Lady's Private Tutor devoted several pages to the subject, and portraits of the period show ladies holding their fans in one or other of Towle's recommended positions.

The fan became part of a lady’s body language. A number of sources even cite a language of the fan whereby ladies could send messages across a room without saying a word. Some of the most common:

• Touching right cheek: yes
• Touching left cheek: no
• Carrying closed and hanging from left hand: I am engaged
• Carrying closed and hanging from right hand: I want to be engaged
• With handle to lips: kiss me
• Drawing through the hand: I hate you
• Fan placed near the heart: I love you
• Fanning slowly: I am not interested
• Carrying the open fan in the left hand: come and talk to me

Whether this language was ever used is open to speculation. Even if a man were to learn the language of fans, how would he know whether the lady across the room was communicating with him or simply cooling herself? And if she was sending him a message, all the other ladies would be able to decode it before he would. Texting may not be as decorative, but it is so much more reliable.

Too hot

Too hot to sleep, too hot to lie,
Too hot to laugh, too hot to cry,
Too hot to stand, too hot to sit,
Too hot to sew, too hot to knit,
Too hot to ride, too hot to walk,
Too hot to read, too hot to talk,
Too hot to eat, too hot to drink,
Too hot to write, too hot to think,
Too hot to scold, too hot to tease,
Too hot to cough, too hot to sneeze,
Too hot to play, too hot to sing,
Too hot, too hot for anything.

Selected, from Weather Opinions for All Seasons, compiled by Jennie Day Haines, 1907

And to all a good night

Clement Clark Moore was born in New York on July 15, 1779. He was a professor of Oriental and Greek literature at Columbia College, now Columbia University. However he is best known for his poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" ('Twas the night before Christmas. . .). The poem was first published anonymously and without Moore's knowledge in a newspaper on December 12, 1823.

Buck Moon

The 15th marks this month's full moon. July's full moon was called the Buck Moon by Native Americans of the Northeast and Great Lakes because at this time of the year, the new antlers of the buck deer begin to appear. It has also been called the Thunder Moon because of the thunderstorms common during the summer.

Columbia Records commits to vinyl

June 21, 1948, is cited as the date that Columbia Records committed to the 33 1/3 RPM Long Playing record, which would soon replace the 78 RPM format and become the standard for the music industry for the next 50 years. The change was motivated in part by the desire of Columbia's president, Ted Wallerstein, to hear an entire movement of a symphony on one side of an album.

Some of the early LPs featured artists such as Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Bruno Walter and the New York Philharmonic. But Columbia's most popular release was the first pop album in the new format - the LP reissue of The Voice of Frank Sinatra, originally recorded in 1946.

Flag Day

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution stating that the flag of the new nation would have 13 alternate stripes of red and white and thirteen stars in a blue field. The flag was based on the "Grand Union" banner carried by the the Continenal Army in 1776. According to legend, Betsy Ross designed the circle of 13 stars on a background of blue at the request of George Washington.

As new states were added to the union, new stars and stripes were added. However, in 1818 Congress reduced the number of stripes back to the original 13, and only stars were added for new states. On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the American Flag. In 1949, Congress designated Flag Day as a national day of observance.

Names for Rain

Befitting a soggy spring in the Northeast, The New York Times ran an extensive list of names for rain. Collected by Ben Schott, author of Schott's Miscellany and other collections of worthwhile trivia, the 135-item list contained both ordinary and obscure pluvial terms. Here are some of the more notable and perhaps useful:

• Bedrabble - to make wet and dirty with rain
• Bicker - the pattering of rain
• Blash - when rain falls in sheets (blow + splash)
• Dagged - wet with dew or light rain
• Driffle - to rain in spare drops
• Drow - a cold misty rain
• Flaught - a sudden burst of wind and rain
• Heat-Drop - a few drops of rain at the start of a hot day
• Hot Gleam - a bright, warm spell between showers
• Impluvious - wet with rain
• Line-Squall - a violent straight blast of cold air with rain or snow
• Mizzle - a very fine misty rain 
• Onion Rain - that which falls late in the spring after the onions have been planted
• Pluvial - characterized by rain
• Scud - a driving shower
• Serein - fine rain that falls out of a cloudless sky
• Sile - to pour down
• Smur - a fine drizzle
• Still Rain - gentle rain with no wind
• Tirl - the sound of rain on a roof
• Travado - a sudden violent storm

 

Before There Were Big Mac Attacks

On April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, IL, Ray Kroc opened the first franchised McDonald's. He had gotten the idea from a hamburger stand in San Bernardino run by the McDonald brothers. On opening day, a hamburger was 15 cents. The Bic Mac was introduced in 1968, selling for 49 cents. The Quarter Pounder followed in 1971 and sold for 53 cents. There are now more that 31,000 McDonald's in 119 countries. Source: Chases Calendar of Events.