As War Loomed, Hospitals Lacked Drugs to Treat Wounds, Infections

This 1939 original newspaper political cartoon by Joe Parrish (1905-1989), depicting Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini about to plunge into war, went to auction in November 2014.

By Jim O’Neal

In September 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich and infamously declared he had an assurance for “Peace for our time.” The phrase was an optimistic borrowing from a versicle in the Anglican service of evensong: “Give peace in our time, O Lord, because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only Thou, O God.”

Chamberlain was wrong on several levels since Germany (Adolf Hitler) had no intention of granting peace to Britain and its European neighbors. Secondly, Britain had a true leader-fighter in Winston Churchill, who had warned the British Parliament in 1935 of “Germany arming at breakneck speed, England lost in a pacifist dream, France corrupt and torn by dissension, America remote and indifferent.” A year later, this was no longer a rhetorical flourish, but a dangerous fact as Britain would soon be at war.

From the largest cities to the smallest villages, citizens prepared their civil defenses: air-raid shelters designated, blackout curtains for homes sewn, gas masks delivered, and fire marshals named. Trading cards in cigarette packs showing film stars and athletes were replaced with a series of 48 “Air-Raid Precautions.” Plans were made to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people from large cities to remote rural areas.

Major hospitals were organized into emergency medical facilities. A blood transfusion system was set-up, with widespread training under the Red Cross First Aid course. Prominently missing in all this was the critical supply of penicillin … for one simple reason: It did not exist. Neither did any other vital drug to treat wounds and other infectious diseases common to war casualties.

History credits the discovery of penicillin many years earlier (1928) to Sir Alexander Fleming at St. Mary’s Hospital in London after a serendipitous encounter with a mold growing in an untended Petri dish. However, he was such a poor communicator and orator that his work was largely ignored. Plus, he found the substance “too frustrating and difficult to work with” and abandoned it.

Fortunately, a small group at Oxford recognized the substance’s potential as a “miracle drug,” although they did not have the resources to manufacture commercial quantities until grants from the Rockefeller Foundation spurred the installation of small production sites.

Even more astonishing was that the first major application occurred in November 1942 when a fire at Boston’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub killed 492 people. Several hundred people survived life-threatening burns after treatment with a penicillin variant. The fire started after a club employee changed a light bulb in a darkened area, lighting a match to see what he was doing. With Freon in short supply due to the war, a highly flammable gas (methyl chloride) was being used as a substitute. Boom … the fire engulfed the entire building.

Of course, tens of millions of people were subsequently saved on many battlefields and in hospitals and emergency rooms all over the world. The worry now is that that through overuse, bacteria have developed resistance strategies, leading to new “super bugs.” Survival of the fittest seems to be an immutable law of nature.

Remember to eat your spinach and wash your hands!

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

Promise of Free Land Under the Prairie Skies was a Powerful Lure

This photograph, circa 1889, shows the town of Guthrie, Okla., which appeared in one afternoon shortly after the Oklahoma Land Rush.

By Jim O’Neal

Exactly at the stroke of noon on April 22, 1889, the largest one-day settlement of land in American history began. Free land for the taking. Just get there first and stake your claim. With the sound of “Dinner Call” from soldiers’ bugles, thousands of people fanned out across the open prairie of the Oklahoma territory to claim a plot of 160 acres to call their own.

When the dust finally settled, they had claimed 3,125 square miles, an area more than twice the size of Rhode Island, and Eastern reporters from newspapers and magazines were there to cover it. There was plenty to write about. The noise, the sheer mass of humanity and the impatient urgency of the scene came alive in story after story. Long rows toeing the line, panting with excitement and looking greedily toward a dream come true.

They were headed for some 2 million acres of land that had not been assigned to the Creek and Seminole Indian tribes in earlier treaties. A St. Louis Dispatch reporter wrote of a minister’s conversation with a man set to go after his land. When the minister offered a religious tract to the driver, he was told to keep it. “Don’t you want to go to heaven?” the minister asked. “That’s just where I’m headed!” the man replied.

When President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill that opened the land the month before in March 1889, it became known as “Harrison’s Hoss Run” or simply “The Run.” What had been wide-open prairie was settled almost overnight. Tents went up, businesses opened and postal service began. Harper’s Weekly reported that Oklahoma City looked like a “handful of white rice thrown out across the prairie.”

Free land underneath the prairie skies – lots of land – was a powerful lure and Pennsylvania miners, Indiana bricklayers, Michigan lumbermen and New York pharmacists all made the run, along with butchers, tailors and blacksmiths. The news of free land even crossed the Atlantic, increasing the number of immigrants from Liverpool, Hamburg and Antwerp.

Some arrived by train, planning to simply set out on foot, while others had well-thought-out plans. Families rode in prairie schooners, huge wagons filled with furniture, household goods, farming implements and food. Men planning to start a business brought well-drilling equipment, medicine or a law library. Those who could afford a fast horse (some even purchased racehorses) intended to stake their claims ahead of the wagons. They used willow poles, sharpened at one end and a name and claim attached to the other. These were thrust into the ground around the perimeter of their claim.

Despite soldiers’ efforts to prevent anyone from crossing the line early, many jumped the gun, staked their claims and then hid out to avoid detection. They were called “Sooners” and scorned for their illegal tactics. However, it inevitably turned from a pejorative and became a term for those smart enough to get there first … an American virtue. Oklahoma, a Choctaw word for “red men,” is now known as the Sooner State.

Estimates vary for the number of people who made The Run in 1889, with some saying it was up to 100,000, which seems high since the 1890 census counted 53,829 inhabitants. But in less than 20 years, the newly settled land won statehood. President Theodore Roosevelt signed a proclamation on Nov. 16, 1907, making Oklahoma the 46th state of the Union.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

Really … When You Sit On a Chair, You’re Not Really On It

The rare first English edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s landmark The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy sold for $40,625 at an April 2012 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

In 1976, Apple Computers used a logo that featured Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) sitting under an apple tree. It was designed by Ronald Wayne, a lesser-known co-founder of the company who famously sold his stock for $800. Today, those shares would be valued at more than $50 billion.

Later, the logo changed to the more familiar rainbow apple with a bite in it.

Newton developed a complicated theory involving the universal laws of gravitation. In plain terms, it simply explains the motion of planets and ocean tides, and why we aren’t flung into space as Earth spins.

Every object in the universe exerts a tug on every other one. Sounds simple enough.

What is fairly astounding is to consider the solidity we experience all around us. One example: Billiard balls don’t actually strike each other. Instead, the negatively charged fields actually repel each other as opposed to colliding. In fact, were it not for their electrical charges, the balls would pass right through each other.

Similarly, when you sit on a chair, you are not actually sitting on it, but levitating above it at a height of one angstrom (a hundred millionth of a centimeter). Your electrons and the chair’s electrons are opposed to any closer intimacy.

The truly great physicists are generally disdainful of other scientific fields of endeavor. They have a history of disparaging remarks …

“All science is either physics or stamp collecting,” physicist Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) once said.

Personally, I prefer coin collecting.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

We Need to Take Care of Our Cozy Home

Chesley Bonestell’s oil on board Rings of Saturn sold for $20,000 at an October 2014 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

Four gigantic planets dominate the outer solar system. Very different from the rocky inner planets, these strange worlds are huge globes of gas and liquid, with no solid surface and hundreds of moons.

After the sun formed, its heat drove gases away from the inner solar system, leaving behind heavier compounds such as rock and metals. Astronomers call the outer planets gas giants, though they consist mostly of liquid, with solid cores.

Mighty Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and the largest in the solar system – so big that it is 2.5 times more massive than all the other planets combined! Its strong gravitational pull greatly affects the orbits of other planets, and its rate of spin stretches its surface clouds into spots (storms) and ripples swirling together.

The second-largest planet and sixth farthermost from the sun is Saturn, which shines like a bright yellow star. Even a small telescope will reveal its most famous feature: a magnificent ring system. Saturn’s main rings are 220,000 miles wide, yet they are only 30 feet thick. Beyond the main rings are hazy outer rings.

Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, was unknown to ancient astronomers, even though it is visible with the naked eye in perfectly clear and dark skies. Composer William Herschel discovered it from his back garden in Bath, England, in 1781. It is similar to Neptune and is the coldest of all the planets. A faint set of rings was discovered in 1997 and all of its 27 known moons are named after characters in works by Shakespeare or the English poet Alexander Pope.

Neptune, the eighth and farthest from the sun, was discovered in 1846. Astronomers had noticed Uranus wasn’t following its expected path – there seemed to be an unseen body, perhaps an undiscovered planet, pulling on it. Two mathematicians calculated where it might be and within days, it was spotted by an observatory in Germany. The violent weather on the surface is thought to be powered by 1,300-mph winds from internal heat, since it is too far from the sun to absorb much warmth.

Our sun belongs to a giant whirlpool of stars called the Milky Way. Like all galaxies, the Milky Way is unimaginably vast. Galaxies come in all shapes and sizes, with some containing a few million stars, and others trillions. Our little home seems to be quite cozy and we need to take good care of it since there are no known options (at least yet).

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

America Remains a Beacon of Democracy for the World

Revolutionary War newspapers, like this July 31, 1776, edition of The Massachusetts Sun, often included reports on speeches by figures such as John Hancock and Patrick Henry.

By Jim O’Neal

During the winter of 1774-75, George Washington helped militia groups in Virginia form independent companies for a possible war with Great Britain. This included choosing officers and arming, equipping and training for a worst-case event. They naturally started clamoring for Washington as their commander and he finally agreed to accept the field command for four independent companies in Virginia counties.

In January, The Virginia Gazette thanked the aspiring hero in a quatrain: “In spite of Gage’s flaming sword/and Carleton’s Canadian troop/Brave Washington shall give the word/and we’ll make them howl and whoop.” The forces for war were gaining momentum.

In March 1775, Washington was summoned to Richmond to attend the Second Virginia Convention. This meeting ratified the resolutions of the Continental Congress and applauded the work of seven delegates from Virginia. Patrick Henry argued that British troops intended to enslave the Colonies and set pulses racing with his flaming response: “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Buoyed by these words, the convention agreed that Virginia should be placed in “a posture of defense.”

In April, it momentarily seemed as if an early chapter of the Revolutionary War would be written in Virginia when the British (Lord Dunmore) had all the gunpowder stored at a Williamsburg arsenal removed and placed in a British man-of-war under the pretext of worrying about a slave uprising. When enraged patriots threatened to invade the governor’s mansion, Washington counseled caution and advised the companies under his command not to march on Williamsburg. A young 24-year-old James Madison condemned Washington for having “discovered a pusillanimity little comporting with their professions or the name of Virginia.”

As a military man, Washington knew how indomitable the British military machine was and how quixotic a full-scale revolution would be. As he later said of America’s chances in the spring of 1775, “It is known that the expense in comparison with our circumstances as colonists must be enormous, the struggle protracted, dubious and severe. The resources of Britain were, in a manner, inexhaustible, that her fleets cover the ocean and that her troops had harvested laurels in every quarter of the globe … money the nerve of war, was wanting.”

But these colonists had something much more precious, as Washington would later say: “The unconquerable resolution of our citizens, the conscious rectitude of our cause and a confident trust that we should not be forsaken by heaven.”

The role of heaven is unknowable, but the importance of leaders, especially George Washington, is still a remarkable miracle that we should never forget.

We are still a beacon of democracy for the world to follow.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

Bitter Enemies United Forever on Currency

This 1861 Confederate States of America $1000 Montgomery Note, featuring John Calhoun and Andrew Jackson, sold for $76,375 at an October 2015 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

John Caldwell Calhoun served his full four years as vice president under John Quincy Adams, but the year was now 1828 and he needed to make a decision about his political future.

He previously had been a member of the House of Representatives (1811-17) and Secretary of War (1817-25). (He was later Secretary of State, and a U.S. Senator.)

He finally decided to run for the vice presidency again. But, in a twist, he decided to switch horses and run with Andrew Jackson rather than JQA. It seemed like a prudent choice at the time, and he and Jackson easily won the 1828 election. Then they started trying to work together.

They differed on so many fundamental issues, including states’ rights and nullification, that a schism seemed inevitable. Then, to make tensions even worse, his wife Floride Bonneau started meddling in White House politics … and Jackson’s famous temper was riled up. He even threatened to just grab Calhoun and hang him (another duel would have apparently been unseemly).

The end was much less dramatic, as Jackson simply picked Martin Van Buren to be his running mate in the 1832 presidential election. When they won, Calhoun resigned.

Calhoun would remain the only vice president to resign until Spiro Agnew joined the club.

On March 9, 1861, the Confederate States of America issued a $1,000 banknote depicting both Calhoun and Jackson. So the two bitter enemies remain joined for eternity.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

Confederate Torpedoes Wreaked Havoc on Union Vessels

This carte de visite of Lt. Frank Cushing, who led a mission that destroyed the Confederate ironclad Albemarle in 1864, went to auction in November 2008.

By Jim O’Neal

“Torpedo” is a generic name for a variety of naval and land mines employed by the Confederacy during the Civil War.

The word derived from a Latin name for an electric ray fish whose sting numbs its prey. It was first used to describe a weapon in 1776. It was disapproved on moral grounds because targets were struck without warning. The torpedo satisfied the Confederacy’s urgent need to compensate for its inferior strength of arms.

Torpedoes destroyed more Union vessels than all other actions, with 43 sunk or damaged, per best estimates. The psychological effect was obviously incalculable, but it was an important factor. Curiously, only one Confederate vessel fell victim to a Union torpedo … the ironclad CSS Albemarle in Lt. William Cushing’s famous commando raid.

Torpedo manufacturing proliferated with a major factory in Richmond, at Augusta Powder Works, and at many small facilities in various Southern cities. In Atlanta, even wives of naval personnel at the Naval Arsenal pitched in to help (an early version of Rosie the Riveter in World War II). Designs were configured to solve the three major issues: how to deliver the torpedo, how to keep the powder dry, and how to detonate the charge.

Some torpedoes were simply set adrift in a river to strike a ship’s hull in random collisions. Others were anchored and held in “plantations” set at a 45-degree angle downstream. This allowed Confederate vessels unobstructed passage over the frame, but Union ships travelling upstream would trigger explosions on contact.

Another clever variation was the “coal torpedo,” a bomb disguised as a lump of coal and hidden in coal bunkers. Later shoveled into a Union ship’s boiler, it had a devastating effect on the ship, the crew and others near the explosion. A “clock torpedo” smuggled aboard a ship at City Point on the James River created one of the most spectacular and costly explosions of the war.

It is amazing what desperate people will do, even to their fellow citizens, during war. The American Civil War is a tragic example of the horrors that can occur.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

Adamses First Presidential Couple to Mark their Golden Anniversary

Louisa Adams, shown in this oil portrait by Lawrence Williams, was our only First Lady born outside the United States.

By Jim O’Neal

Some presidential tidbits:

Three sets of presidents defeated each other:

► John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson in 1824; Jackson defeated Adams in 1828.

► Martin Van Buren defeated William H. Harrison in 1836; Harrison defeated Van Buren in 1840.

► Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland in 1888; Cleveland defeated Harrison in 1892.

So much for the power of incumbency.

John Quincy Adams and wife Louisa were the first presidential couple to be married 50-plus years. She remains the only First Lady born outside the United States (London) and the first to write an autobiography, “Adventures of a Nobody.” When she died in 1852, both houses of Congress adjourned in mourning (a first for a woman).

While in the Senate, John was “Professor of Logic” at Brown University and professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard.

Herbert Clark Hoover was the last president whose term of office ended on March 4 (1933).

He married Lou Henry Hoover (the first woman to get a degree in geology at Stanford), and when they were in the White House, they conversed in Chinese whenever they wanted privacy.

Our 10th president, John Tyler, only served 31 days as VP (a record) before becoming president after William Henry Harrison’s death.

His wife Letitia was the first to die while in the White House. When John re-married, several of his children were older than second wife Julia.

Tyler’s death was the only one not officially recognized in Washington, D.C., because of his allegiance to the Confederacy. His coffin was draped with a Confederate flag.

Our sixth president, James Monroe, was the first senator elected president. His VP for a full eight years, Daniel D. Tompkins (the “D” stood for nothing), was an alcoholic who several times presided over the Senate while drunk. He died 99 days after leaving office (a post vice-presidency record).

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

Let’s Take a Moment to Appreciate Where We Are

A meteorite believed to have originated from the planet Mercury sold for $4,780 at a June 2010 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

Our sun formed from a cloud of dust and gas around 4.6 billion years ago. The force of gravity generated by the sun’s vast mass keeps a family of planets and other bodies trapped in orbit around it. Together, the sun and all these bodies make up our solar system.

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are the solar system’s inner planets. On the face of it, they are worlds apart – but underneath the surface, it is a different story. The inner planets all formed from the same material when the sun was formed. All are a mix of rock and metal, with interiors that are roughly divided into layers. The heavier metals are concentrated at the center, while the lighter rock is on top. Each of these planets was bombarded by asteroids and comets early on and each has been affected by volcanic activity. Mercury’s heavily cratered face still bears the scars, but the surfaces of the other three have changed over time.

Mercury is the smallest and closest to the sun. It is a lifeless world that has barely changed in 3 billion years. The entire surface is pitted with craters formed when asteroids crashed into it. Mercury orbits the sun more quickly than any other planet, but it rotates slowly; for every two orbits, it spins around just three times. So a “day” on Mercury (sunrise to sunrise) takes 176 Earth days. Such long days and nights give it the greatest temperature range. During the day, it is hot enough to melt lead and at night, cold enough to liquefy air.

Venus is sometimes referred to as Earth’s twin due to size and similar internal structure. But the two worlds are very different. The surface is hotter than a pizza oven, its air pressure is a crushing 90 times greater, and it’s covered by volcanos. It is permanently overcast, which causes a greenhouse effect. Venus spins more slowly than any other planet and in the opposite direction (clockwise). One orbit of the sun takes 224.7 Earth days.

Mars is the second-smallest planet in the solar system and is half the size of Earth. The average surface temperatures is minus 81 degrees, which makes it a frozen desert world. However, it wasn’t always dry since riverbeds show that water flowed here a long time ago. Mars may have been warm and wet enough for life to have flourished. The “Red Planet” nickname comes from the reddish color of its iron oxide (rust). It has a crust made of solid rock like Earth.

Third from the sun, Earth is the largest of the inner planets. It’s the only planet with liquid water flowing on the surface. Our vast oceans, land and two polar ice caps are all supported by a thin rocky crust. The crust is broken into seven huge segments and many smaller ones. Called tectonic plates, these giant slabs of rock creep slowly over Earth’s surface. Earth completes a spin every 24 hours, but it isn’t entirely upright. Its axis is tilted 23.5 degrees, so as it travels around the sun, one hemisphere and then the other is tilted toward the sun. This is what causes the seasons.

Fortunately, for us, we are exactly the perfect distance from the sun to maintain the temperature ranges to support the only known life in the universe. Just one degree of tilt or distance would have a profound effect. It is similar to Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ porridge … not too hot and not too cold. Personally, I like it here … a lot!

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

It’s Unlikely a Wall Will Solve the Immigration Issue

The Great Wall appears on this China/People’s Republic 200 Yuan, 1949.

By Jim O’Neal

One of the Great Walls of China dates to 200 B.C., intended as a protective barrier for its inhabitants rather than a way to restrict the movement of people. The concept surfaced again in the Ming Dynasty era in the 14th century. The Chinese have always preferred a closed societal culture … until the 20th century, when they discovered the advantages of low-cost labor to produce goods for export.

Conversion of a strategic asset like low-cost labor to generate capital for economic development becomes more feasible with every technology improvement. The competitive advantages among nations has evolved into a “flat world” (Tom Friedman) that economists typically call globalization.

However, we still have nations like Japan, which strongly prefers a monoculture (similar to a beehive) and relegates foreigners to service roles. As an island nation with a strong navy, they can implement immigration policies that are enforceable. The rub is that birth rates are so low and the population increasingly aging that their economy has been stagnant for 20-plus years.

Europeans who migrated here in the early 16th century did not have to worry about physical barriers to entry. Their challenges were primarily in crossing the dangerous Atlantic Ocean and then surviving in a new, uncivilized land. The Pilgrims (English Separatists) came from Plymouth, England, via the Mayflower in 1620. They were joined by Puritans, who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Many were seeking religious freedom, fame and fortune, or simply personal freedom.

When the U.S. Constitution was adopted on Sept. 17, 1787, it expressly gave Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. In 1790, they passed the Naturalization Act, which enabled those with two-year residency to apply for citizenship. However, it was restricted to “free white people” of good moral character. In 1795, it was modified to five-year residency and a three-year notification clause. A 1798 Act increased residency to 14 years and notice of intent to five years.

In 1802, Congress passed the Naturalization Law – “free white” retained – alien intent to three years – residency to five years – resident children included – ditto children abroad – former British soldiers barred from citizenship.

This was the last real major act of naturalization in the 19th century, except in 1870, when it was opened to African-Americans. But in the 20th century, the game changed. The U.S. focus changed from legislation that regulated immigration to restrictions. The Immigration Act of 1917 included literacy tests and barred immigration from the Asia-Pacific Zone. It dramatically increased the list of “undesirables” – alcoholics, idiots, those with contagious diseases, and political radicals. The “Barred Zone” included much of Asia and the Pacific Islands.

The Immigration Act of 1924 severely restricted the immigration of Africans and banned immigration of Arabs and Asians. In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act was designed to be the final solution. Four million undocumented workers got a path to citizenship in return for “border security.” It was never fully implemented.

Build a wall? Sure, no problem. Solve the issue? Two hundred years of American history says probably not.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is president and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].