Wednesday, August 24, 2016

History: The Year is 1856

I've uploaded year 1856 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1856

Here are some one liners...


Borden's Rules for Dairymen -- We are talking sanitation rules that will save the dairy industry and Borden will do well when he gets a good business partner.

The Caning of Senator Sumner -- The Senator is nearly beaten to death over the issue of slavery.

The First Gay President? -- Was James Buchanan gay? Well... maybe, but why should I care about what people are doing sexually?

In Other News -- The first synthetic dye, the first cave man, and the worst train wreck to date.





Borden's Rules for Dairymen

This is going to sound like a commercial for Bordon's Milk but I'm telling you, what Bordon did for the dairy industry is right up there with pasteurization. A few years ago Gail Borden won a medal at the London World's Fair for his dehydrated "meat biscuit" which ended up being a commercial flop, but as he was returning to the USA he noticed that many children on the voyage fell ill drinking contaminated milk. He set out to solve this problem. Evaporated milk already exists, but he uses a vacuum process that speeds up the process and he patents it this year. Then he gets financing to open a factory and produces canned, evaporated milk, but that is not the whole story. Gail Bordon is a stickler for cleanliness. Remember, there is no germ theory yet. He just wants everything clean. Bordon issues rules for his dairymen to clean the cow's udders before milking, scald all equipment used for processing the milk. All containers holding milk must be covered and even the dairymen themselves should practice good hygiene. His rules become known as the Dairyman's Ten Commandments. This all seems obvious to the modern farmer, but at this point in time the "pasteurization" process won't even be invented until 1865. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
OK. Bordon has his product. We are from the future so we know the company is is going to do well, especially during the Civil War. Did anything go wrong? YES. The "meat biscuit" venture drained Bordon of his funds, and when he was looking for investors he didn't find many takers. Frankly, as smart and industrious as Gail Bordon was, he tended to jump from project to project and he was overly generous with his money at times. Don't get me wrong. He was a persistent businessman in that he believed in his product, but he was not necessarily a good business manager. That was when a guy named Jeremiah Milbank took a chance on Bordon's idea, but Milbank insisted on managing the business end. Good idea. He turned a $100,000 investment into $8 million dollars by the time he passed away. The Bordon Company condensed milk product is Eagle Brand which is what my mother used to use, and of course, who can forget Elsie the Cow? What? Who is Elsie? That's the name of the cow on the label. Am I that old? [7] [8]

The Caning of Senator Sumner

Republican Senator Charles Sumner has spent two days ridiculing the practice of slavery and mocking Senators Stephen Douglas and Andrew Butler. Kansas is coming apart over the question of slavery. No decent man could support it, and one might infer that Butler and Douglas are not decent men, but there is no need for subtle hints. Sumner is quite clear. Slavery is Butler's harlot and his tongue can say nothing against his mistress. Sumner's "Crime against Kansas" speech comes to a close and the pro-slavery advocates are outraged. A few days later Democrat Congressman Preston Brooks waits for the Senate to close out for the day. Senator Sumner is sitting at his desk on the Senate floor. Brooks walks up to him and begins beating him vigorously with his cane. Sumner has no chance to get up. He trips and his legs are trapped between the table and chair. Blood pours into his eyes and he is temporarily blinded. Other Senators attempt to help, but Democrat Congressman Henry Edmundson brandishes a gun and says, "Let them be." Finally, two Senators pull Brooks back. The cane is left on the floor in bloody pieces. Senator Sumner is alive, but barely. He will return to the Senate in 1859. Congressman Brooks resigns, but is reelected by his constituents. He will die of the croup later this year and never take his seat. There are no limits now. They have tasted blood and it is sweet. [9]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
So much is happening at once that it is difficult to express how wildly this whole slavery issue is spinning out of control. It looks like a war between Kansas and Missouri and the Federal government is supporting the slave states. Abolitionists like John Brown have decided that they must take the law into their own hands. This is the year of the Sacking of Lawrence, Kansas, followed by the Pottawatomie massacre in retaliation. Then the Battle of Black Jack when John Brown's sons are taken captive. Beecher's Bibles (otherwise known as Sharps carbines) are being shipped by the crate full to abolitionist forces. Pitting North against South began as a political strategy pushed by John Calhoun. Years later the War Between the States was characterized as a battle over States Rights but if the territory of Kansas had a right to a fair vote why was Missouri trying to fix the election? Nope. I'm calling BS on that one. Principles went down the crapper years before Kansas and Nebraska ever became territories. By 1856, any hope of sitting down and talking this one out was long gone. [10] [11]

The First Gay President?

Normally, I wouldn't pay much attention to James Buchanan, but in modern times when President Bill Clinton is called the "first black president " and President Barak Obama is called the "first gay president" then I must talk about whether or not President Buchanan was gay. Certainly he was a life-long bachelor, but that is not definitive proof. He lived with a man, but again, that is not proof. People suspected at the time. Andrew Jackson joked about it, but did anyone really care? I doubt it. There is only one letter that gives us an indication of what Buchanan was thinking. He writes: "I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them." The full quote is in the notes, but frankly, my attitude is this. I don't care what James Buchanan did or didn't do sexually. I don't care what Bill Clinton is doing right now sexually. In fact, I don't want to know. I just don't care what people do with their genitals unless they are trying to do it with someone against their will. Then I care. [12] [13] [14]

In Other News

  • The first synthetic dye is created by accident. An 18-year-old chemistry student goofs up an experiment and finds a purplish, mauve-colored liquid at the bottom of his beaker. He applies for a patent and the synthetic dye industry is born. [15]
  • The Neandertal Cave Man is discovered. Miners discover bones in a cave in Neander's Hollow in Germany. Thus begins of the search for man as ape. [16]
  • The Great Train Wreck! School children are on an excursion on the "Picnic Train" but they are running 20 minutes late and running headlong into the worst train disaster to date. 126 total dead including the engineer who is blamed for his carelessness. The conductor survives, but he will kill himself later. [17]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1856, Wikipedia.

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