The Classics - CLOSING LINES: The Study of Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyles

As narrated by Dr. Watson:

"Didn't I tell you so when we started?" cried Sherlock Holmes with a laugh. "That's the result of all our Study in Scarlet: to get them a testimonial!"

"Never mind," I answered, "I have all the facts in my journal, and the public shall know them. In the meantime you must make yourself contented by the consciousness of success, like the Roman miser—

"'Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo Ipse domi simul ac nummos contemplor in arca.'"

(Published 1887) (This short novel introduced Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to the public)

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing
 

Words of Old at Christmastime: Christmas Greeting from a Fairy to a Child by Lewis Carroll

LADY dear, if Fairies may
For a moment lay aside
Cunning tricks and elfish play,
'Tis at happy Christmas-tide.

We have heard the children say---
Gentle children, whom we love---
Long ago, on Christmas-Day,
Came a message from above.

Still, as Christmas-tide comes round,
They remember it again---
Echo still the joyful sound
"Peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Yet the hearts must child-like be
Where such heavenly guests abide; 

Unto children, in their glee,
All the year is Christmas-tide.

Thus forgetting tricks and play
For a moment, Lady dear,
We would wish you, if we may,
Merry Christmas, glad New Year!

~Lewis Carroll

Published 1884

Below is a special holiday treat from Germany, 
by composer and Lewis Carroll fan Carson Braun.

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

The Classics - Opening Lines: A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

As narrated by Dr. Watson:

"In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army. Having completed my studies there, I was duly attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as Assistant Surgeon."

(Published 1887) (This short novel introduced Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson)

I love the classics and plan to share some "opening lines" over the coming months. Comment if you like, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, but were they really?

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

The Classics - CLOSING LINES: The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

"Will Hyde die upon the scaffold? Or will he find courage to release himself at the last moment? God knows; I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end." (Published 1886)

 
I love the classics and plan to alternately share some "CLOSING lines" over the coming months. Comment if you wish, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, or were they really?

The Classics - Opening Lines: Heidi by Johanna Spyri

"The little old town of Mayenfeld is charmingly situated. From it a footpath leads through green, well-wooded stretches to the foot of the heights which look down imposingly upon the valley." 
(Published 1881; translated into English 1899)


I love the classics and plan to share some "opening lines" over the coming months. Comment if you like, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, but were they really?
 

L is for Life Raft: Inventions by Women A-Z

Actors on a life raft - "Primitive Lover" 1922

Maria Beasley (1847-1904?) of Philadelphia (PA) wanted a better life raft, one that was "fire-proof, compact, safe, and readily-launched" when needed. According to the patent, she invented a new design in 1880.



Maria's life raft sported guard railings and rectangular metal floats, unlike typical rafts with hollow tube floats and zero safety railings. By changing the style of the floats, Maria's raft actually folded and unfolded more easily for use and storage, even with the added guard rails. It is not clear from the patent how she made the raft fire proof or why that was important. Life rafts were made of wood and metal in the 1800s, but it seems logical water itself would have been a huge deterrent to fire.

A typical life raft in 1874

(patent) Maria's life raft in 1880 had guard railings

Not much is known about Maria's personal life. From a census in 1880, she was reported as an unemployed housewife, but later, it is clear from other records she had become a successful inventor and business woman. At the Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans in 1884, we know that she displayed some of her inventions, including an improved version of her life raft patented in 1882.  

Maria actually made money from her inventions (15 to be exact). Some of her other inventions were:

• foot warmer
• steam generator
• anti-derailment device for trains
• wooden barrel-making machine

 Her wooden barrel-making machine (for wine-making and food preservation) is said to have made Maria a fortune. She earned close to $20,000 a year, while most working women in her day earned about $3 a day!





Resources:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US258191.pdf
http://www.herstorynetwork.com/thank-woman/maria-beasley/; http://www.askcathyblog.com/?p=790
A Biographical Dictionary of People in Engineering: From the Earliest ... By Carl W. Hall
Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology By Autumn Stanley
https://books.google.com/books?id=uRJt7QqA7GEC&pg=PA348&lpg=PA348&dq=inventor+maria+beasley+census&source=bl&ots=l5ugKhlpeh&sig=OKAEeUeI1Dband-5XCbLLjulUkw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yhcJVeevJoqwyAT0nIDoCg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=inventor%20maria%20beasley%20census&f=false: http://www.goldensilents.com/stars/harrisonford.html

Copyright 2015 © Sharon Marie Himsl

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing
 

F is for Fire Escape: Inventions by Women A-Z

Anna Connelly invented a fire escape that was patented in 1887. Very little is known about her personally, but from the patent, we do know she resided in Pennsylvania. According to one source, her filing was the first patent registered for a woman after the Civil War. (But I would add, it was maybe one of the first, since there were certainly other women with patents prior to 1887). It would be interesting to research her story using primary resources (hmm....a book opportunity for someone?). 

1860 New York City Tenement Fire

 We do know that fire escapes were either missing or inferior in American cities in the late 19th century (and likely elsewhere in the world). Without building codes, fire outbreaks had become a serious threat to lives and property. With more and more apartments (tenement housing), and multi-level business buildings and factories being built, increasingly in wood, news of workers and families trapped inside their workplaces and homes was becoming commonplace. 

One tenement fire in 1860 made the headlines that caused alarm when people had to jump from the burning building. Fortunately, that particular fire and others like it brought attention to the problem. There was a sharp increase in fire escape inventions during the period 1877-1895. 

Thirty-three of the inventions filed were by women. 

Anna Connelly's invention was an improvement over the classic fire escape that wound down the side of a building. Her invention allowed people to escape via an "iron railed bridge" that  connected adjacent roof tops and buildings. Two trap doors at both ends of the bridge made access easy. 

The diagram in the patent

An example of how it worked

Anna's invention led to the first building codes ever established in New York City, which stated that a second means of escape in a fire was mandatory. The fire escape did not require remodeling of the building, so it was very cost effective, and helped fire fighters get water to the fire faster. The new fire escape also had staircases with platforms between levels, preventing people from falling. 

Anna's invention was not the first fire escape patent filed. In 1766 another patent had been filed for a much cruder set-up involving a pulley system with a wicker basket, whereas Anna's fire escape with all its improvements, became the prototype for the modern fire escape we know today. Thousands of lives have been saved as a result.



 
Sources:
http://americacomesalive.com/newsletter-archive/important-inventions-women-may-2014/
http://www.thetalleygroup.com/tag/anna-connelly/
http://eastcoastfireescapes.com/fire-escapes-and-eminism-the-irst-ire-escape-invented-by-a-woman/#.VQDTyY6UbYg  

Copyright 2015 © Sharon Marie Himsl

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing
 

A is for Alphabet Blocks: Inventions by Women A-Z

Parents have long understood the educational value of alphabet blocks in teaching their children how to read, in addition to inspiring the imagination and encouraging coordination skills as a building toy. 

Alphabet blocks are just plain fun.  

In the 19th century, alphabet blocks were found in school rooms everywhere in the educated world. Historically, some form of alphabet blocks existed as far back as 1693. The English philosopher John Locke wrote that “dice and play-things, with the letters . . . teach children the alphabet by playing,” and make learning how to read enjoyable. 

Does anyone reading this not remember playing with alphabet blocks as a child?

"Baby at Play" (Thomas Eakins, 1876)

Similar references to alphabet blocks appeared in 1798 in a book called Practical Education (Maria and R.L. Edgeworth) as "building bricks," in 1820 (U.S.) as "multi-colored blocks," again in 1837 (Germany), and in 1850 (England) as "terracotta toy blocks." 

Adeline Dutton Train Whitney (1824-1906)

But the alphabet blocks that most of us identify with today were invented by a Massachusetts woman named Adeline Dutton Train Whitney. 

Adeline was well educated and came from a well-to-do family. Her father owned a successful shipping business. After marrying at nineteen and raising four children, Adeline pursued her dream of writing. She wrote poetry and over twenty books, stories mostly for young girls. 

Adeline held to traditional values typical of her time, opposing women's suffrage and promoting the domestic role of women in the home. At age 42 (1882) Adeline patented a set of alphabet blocks constructed of wood, and officially became the toy's inventor. Her model is still used today, although they are often made with non-wood materials.

 

Sources:
http://www.aauw.org/2010/09/16/alphabet-blocks/
http://famousamericans.net/adelineduttontrainwhitney/
http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys/alphabet-blocks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_block

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

The Classics - Opening Lines: The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

"Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable."    Published 1886


I love the classics and plan to share some "opening lines" over the coming months. Comment if you like, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, but were they really?
 

Pioneering Women by Jeff Savage: Book Review

 
"True Tales of the Wild West" series
Pioneering Women
Author: Jeff Savage
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2012
Reviewer: Sharon M. Himsl
Age: 12 up, Young Adult nonfiction
Pages: 48

When Agnes Morley’s father died in 1886, the family was left to fend for themselves. Agnes, her mother, and two siblings became ranchers in New Mexico, and before Agnes was even a teenager, she could saddle and ride a horse like a man, herd cattle, handle a gun, and defend the ranch against cattle rustlers. Agnes was forced to take on duties “considered man’s work,” Savage writes. However, she grew to enjoy her freedom as a young woman, and even wore a five-gallon Stetson cowboy hat, refusing to wear a sunbonnet. Agnes is representative of the brave women who traveled overland to settle the American west beginning in the 1830s, but not all women were the same, Savage explains. Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding, for instance, were the first of these women to travel west and came with their husbands as missionaries. Most women were married and had more traditional roles: raising children, cooking, running the household, etc. But like Agnes and her mother, they often learned out of necessity how to manage a homestead alone, hunt for food, and defend their property. Other more independent-minded women traveled west alone. They liked being free to do as they pleased and challenged the traditional roles of women. Calamity Jane, for example, openly drank, smoked cigars, and gambled. Some women traveled west to mine for gold. Women even became outlaws, such as Belle Starr, better known as the “Bandit Queen.” Women came as reformers and teachers, too, bringing education, morality and respect to the frontier, including suffrage. Savage does a good job summarizing the different types of women who traveled west. One chapter appears to deviate from the theme, however, and is devoted to American Indian women (e.g., Sacagawea) and Spanish women in the Southwest beginning in the 1500s. As Savage then explains, these are really the “first western women,” to settle the frontier; they share a kindred pioneering spirit with the women who traveled from the east later. Pioneering Women is aimed at older reluctant middle grade readers, but advanced readers will also find the book interesting. Black and white photos, Glossary, Index, and References are included. 

Copyright 2012 © Sharon Himsl