Hector Cantu – Page 46 – The Intelligent Collector Magazine

Washington Recognized the Chaos of Autonomous States

The bronze sculpture *George Washington at Valley Forge* by Henry Merwin Shrady, modeled in 1905, cast circa 1906, sold for $54,970 at an April 2007 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

It had been a long war and George Washington was both tired and relieved to be returning to his plantation in Virginia for a well-deserved retirement. Mount Vernon was badly in need of his full-time attention and his finances were frayed.

However, he was apprehensive about a central government that consisted of a chaotic, ramshackle Congress considered by GW to be “wretchedly managed.” The legislature was a one-vote, one-state body that required a quorum of nine states to operate and a unanimous vote for major laws. This was no “United States,” but a loosely governed confederation of 13 states that were largely autonomous.

It seemed clear that the Articles of Confederation were impotent and in need of major revisions. However, it would probably require a crisis to force the changes and GW could sense that others would be looking to him (once again!) to provide the leadership needed, retirement or not.

He was right on both counts.

The crisis came when thousands of farmers in rural Massachusetts rebelled against tax increases on land the state had imposed to help pay off heavy debts. The farmers, many of whom had lost their land to foreclosure, swamped courthouses and threatened judges using their pitchforks.

They were led by Daniel Shays (hence “Shays’ Rebellion”), an ex-militia captain, and they finally marched on the Springfield arsenal intent on seizing muskets and powder. This anarchy was met by the Massachusetts militia, who fired point-blank into the crowd, and then by General Benjamin Lincoln, who arrived the next day with 4,000 soldiers to quell the rebels.

Washington was mortified by these events, since he feared disgrace from the Europeans who were still skeptical of American self-rule. More importantly, it galvanized him to join James Madison, James Monroe and Edmund Randolph to strengthen the Articles of Confederation they had fought so hard for.

Eventually, an executive branch was established and in February 1789, all 69 presidential electors chose GW unanimously to be the first president of the United States. In March, the new U.S. Constitution officially took effect and, in April, Congress formally sent word to Washington that he had won the presidency.

He borrowed money to pay off his debts and travel to New York again, this time to be inaugurated. After a second four-year term, he was finally able to resume his retirement. This time, it only lasted two years since he died on Dec. 14, 1799.

President Jimmy Carter bestowed the rank of “six-star general” and “General of the Armies of Congress” in the hope that Washington would be the highest-ranking military person of all time. Irrespective of future grade inflation, I’m betting this rank will not be surpassed.

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].

When it Comes to Phosphates, Guano is the Most Intriguing

In Ian Fleming’s novel *Dr. No*, James Bond diverts the flow of a guano-loading machine and buries the villain alive. This rare 1958 corrected proof, one of only 100 copies printed, realized $5,375 at a November 2015 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

The expression “blind as a bat” has been used for generations and it doesn’t seem too implausible since they navigate by radar, right? Except, of course, they are not blind and radar is not one of their navigational skills.

Most bats are nocturnal and do not use their eyes generally for an obvious reason … it is dark and hard to see. However, if forced out of a cave into daylight, a bat would be capable of seeing once its eyes adjusted to the glare. In fact, the fruit bat and leaf-nosed species have very good vision and navigate by eyesight.

Bats also lack a radar system.

Radar is an acronym for “radio detection and ranging,” a term coined by the U.S. Navy circa 1940. It is an object detection system to determine the range or velocity of ships or aircraft. Many countries worked on variations dating back to the late 19th century.

Bats emit high-pitched sounds that are bounced back to their supersensitive ears. This technique is closer to sonar or “sound navigation and ranging,” although the correct name is echolocation. In experiments, a bat’s sonar enables it to avoid a wire as thin as a hair and to distinguish a moth (dinner) from a variety of similar-shaped objects tossed into the air.

Another odd thing is the important role bat guano has played in agriculture. The value of bat guano as a fertilizer was not known in Europe until explorer Alexander von Humboldt returned from his 1806 voyage to Peru. Over the next 40 years, farmers in Great Britain and the United States learned of the astonishing results from its application to soil – and then the frenzy for control of the guano trade became very intense.

Anxiety over supply even reached the White House and led President Millard Fillmore to include the following in his 1850 State of the Union: “Guano has become so desirable an article to the agricultural interest of the United States that it is the duty of the government to employ all the means properly in its power for the purpose of causing that article to be imported into the country at a reasonable price. Nothing will be omitted on my part toward accomplishing this desirable end.”

Then in 1856, Congress passed the Guano Islands Act (still on the books) that allows U.S. citizens to claim any uninhabited/unclaimed island for the United States if the island contains guano. Over 50 islands in the Pacific and Caribbean were claimed, including Midway.

There was also a war fought in 1865-66, the Guano War, that pitted Spain against Peru and Chile.

More recently, guano apparently was on every Gemini and Mercury mission (for scientific reasons, we assume) and was the means by which James Bond killed Dr. No (a Chinese-German guano miner) in Ian Fleming’s novel.

Other phosphate sources just aren’t that interesting.

100 Years Later, Battle of Verdun Remains an Example of Senseless, Protracted Warfare

This World War I propaganda poster issued by the U.S. government in 1917 realized $15,535 at a July 2014 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

After every great war, heads of state invariably declare, “This must never be allowed to happen again” – as though their pronouncements will have some profound, magical effect on future generations determined to use force to rectify some grievance they have suffered.

That was certainly the case in 1984 when German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Francois Mitterrand met at Verdun, an ancient town on the Meuse River in eastern France. Later this year, President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel will again hold a ceremony in Verdun, this time to inaugurate a renovated museum.

One can only assume that their prepared remarks will contain similar definitive declarations.

This year marks the centennial of the Battle of Verdun, which was part of the First World War. The fighting erupted on Feb. 21, 1916, when German artillery began firing on French troops. It’s estimated that 1 million shells fell on the first day and an astonishing 60 million more in the next 300 days.

Historians and military experts are still asking a simple question: Why?

There was nothing strategic about Verdun in the context of the much broader war being waged, yet the battle raged for a remarkable 10 months – often cited as the single longest battle of WWI, if not history. In addition to 300,000 casualties, the lush forestland around Verdun, “an area larger than the city of Paris,” was devastated. Even today, arsenic, unexploded bombs, tracks of barbed wire and remains of the dead lurk under deceptive greenery.

The most popular theory is that the Germans were hoping they could lure French troops into a war of attrition by diverting their reserve troops from the main battlefronts. Then they intended to “bleed the French army white” as they attempted to defend their homeland and honor.

When the battle finally ended, the French could claim victory, but they had actually only moved a few hundred yards and without any tangible benefits – just immense suffering in a senseless, protracted battle that was part of an even more “tragic accident,” as World War I has often been described.

Twenty-six years later, in November 1942, Adolf Hitler would declare, “I do not want this to be another Verdun!” – referring to the siege of Stalingrad that would end up costing him his entire Sixth Army!

And still the question of “Why?” remains unanswered as Verdun maintains its eerie silence.

Vietnam Exemplifies the Sad Results of False Expectations

This South Vietnam, National Bank of Vietnam 1000 Dong ND (1955-56), is one of Vietnam’s most coveted currency designs. It realized $32,900 at an April 2015 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

The war in Vietnam was a continuation of a war that had been going on since the end of WWII. After the Japanese surrender, the French attempted to take back their former colony, but Vietnamese nationalists (led by communist Ho Chi Minh) defeated the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

In the peace settlement, Vietnam was divided into two separate states at the 17th parallel – North (a communist state) and South (a Western-backed democracy) with a DMZ in the middle to keep them apart.

However, the Viet Minh infiltrated the South, which the U.S. feared would lead to a takeover, followed by an Asian “domino” outcome. The response was a ramp-up in military aid, advisors and limited support troops. The first 3,500 combat troops landed in early 1965 and steadily increased to 200,000. By November 1967 (despite war protests), there were nearly 500,000 fighting the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army (NVA).

To counter the protests, General William Westmoreland claimed the U.S. was winning and President LBJ stood on the deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise and declared the war would continue “not many more nights.” It was late 1967.

Within weeks, the Tet Offensive would highlight the absurdly misplaced optimism of these words.

It started early in the morning of Jan. 31, 1968. The sounds of firecrackers were heard and assumed to just be Tet, the annual Vietnamese celebration heralding the beginning of the lunar New Year, “The Year of the Monkey.” All over Vietnam, similar celebrations were going on.

It was actually a massive attack by the communists on the South, and the surprise trapped many noncombatants, especially journalists, who quickly relayed the news home; vivid reports made front pages around the world with scenes of carnage shown nightly on television.

After the first few days, TV legend Walter Cronkite reportedly blurted, “What the hell is going on? I thought we were winning the war!” It mattered little that within weeks the North Vietnamese were being pushed back with heavy losses. The dramatic images stuck in people’s minds.

The combined impact of the offensive and images would ultimately force President Johnson not to seek reelection – a shocking result for the leader and his advisers, given the fact the offensive would end with an American victory, the devastation of the Viet Cong as a fighting force, and a severe mauling of the NVA.

It was a heavy price to pay for the faulty military propaganda and lying to the public that the war was “almost” won. Setting false expectations always leads to sad endings – but leaders persist, yet today.

Paul Revere Was a Patriot – and Silversmith – Who Helped Win Our Independence

This set of six silver tablespoons made by Paul Revere sold for $83,650 at an April 2011 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

In the January 1861 issue of The Atlantic, they published a (now) well-known poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that begins:

Listen, my children, and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

It was an attempt to bolster the North’s courage and resolve on the eve of the Civil War. Longfellow hoped to illustrate how much impact individuals can have during times of dramatic, historic occasions. He used Paul Revere as an example in the hope it would inspire others as the nation stared into the abyss of war.

At the time, it was titled Paul Revere’s Ride and also known as The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere or The Landlord’s Tale; Paul Revere’s Ride. (Take your pick since HWL fictionalized the facts for poetic effect.)

We do know that PR was at various times a silversmith, engraver and patriot. He was even a part-time dentist when the Boston-area economy was slow. As a militant, he was one of the “Indians” at the Boston Tea Party and probably participated in the Stamp Act Riots.

He joined the “Sons of Liberty” in 1765, acting as a courier for the revolutionary forces. The famous ride he is associated with was to alert the Colonial militia about the advancement of British forces just before the Battle of Lexington and Concord (“The shot heard around the world”). One of his personal accounts is that he yelled, “The Regulars are coming out” instead of the more familiar “The British are coming” as he dashed around alerting everyone.

He had a long commercial career in iron casting and bronze bell and cannon casting, in addition to all the silver metalwork that Boston is replete with. In fact, his extensive metal factory work led to him becoming the first American to successfully roll copper into sheets in 1800 for use as sheathing material for naval vessels.

But, thanks to Longfellow, we will always fondly remember him as a genuine patriot who helped win our independence. (Naturally, all the men from that era were in fact dead as Longfellow suggests in his famous poem.) Whether the poem had any effect on the North is doubtful. By 1861, the terrible war that cost 630,000 lives was already just a short time away, unfortunately.

‘Immaculate Reception’ Perhaps the Most Famous Play in American Football History

1970s-era Terry Bradshaw (12) and Franco Harris (32) game-worn jerseys are popular with collectors, often realizing up to $20,000 at auction.

By Jim O’Neal

The Immaculate Reception was a pass caught by Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game against the Oakland Raiders. It took place on Dec. 23, 1972, at Three Rivers Stadium, with the Steelers in their first playoff game since 1947.

With 22 seconds remaining in the game and Pittsburgh behind 7-6, QB Terry Bradshaw had a 4th and 10 on the Steelers’ own 40-yard line. He threw a long bomb to John Fuqua that was deflected by Raider safety Jack Tatum.

Harris scooped up the deflected pass and ran for the game-winning touchdown, 13-7 after a PAT. The game is arguably the most famous play in the history of American football and has been a source of controversy since many claim the ball touched either Fuqua or the ground before Harris caught it, either of which would have caused it to be an incomplete pass by the rules at the time.

The entire team and crowd were first stunned and then went wild. However, a week later, the Steelers lost the AFC title game to the Miami Dolphins.

This was the Miami team that went on to win Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins and finish the season 17-0, the only NFL team in history to finish undefeated and untied.

Tubman, Jackson on Same Bill Provides Example of Delicious Irony

Andrew Jackson appears on this rare $10 1923 Legal Tender. This same portrait was used when Jackson appeared on the $20 bill in 1928.

By Jim O’Neal

As a longtime admirer of Alexander Hamilton, I was relieved when the Treasury Secretary announced that Harriet Tubman would join Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill instead of the $10. However, I wonder if everyone realizes just how much delicious irony is involved in conjoining these two American icons, effectively, forever.

Tubman … born into slavery, army nurse, spy, suffragette and martyr to her cause.

Jackson … first president born in a log cabin and to ride on a railroad train, plantation slave owner (the Hermitage) and first man elected to the House from Tennessee. Strong opponent of “paper money,” as well as the Second National Bank and bitter enemy of its powerful President Nicholas Biddle.

Then again, Jackson has been a rich source of trivial factoids since he became the only president to serve in both the Revolutionary War (a 13-year-old courier captured by the British and held as a POW with his brother) and the War of 1812. His famous victory in the Battle of New Orleans actually occurred after the war had ended.

His marriage to Rachel Donelson Robards caused a major controversy since she apparently never formally divorced her first husband due to a misunderstanding. Jackson (a well-known duelist) was forced to defend her honor and he always blamed her early death on the gossip and intrigue that ensued. In fact, she never actually became First Lady since she died on Dec. 22, after his election to the presidency but before the formal inauguration in March the following year.

A fictionalized version of their life together appeared in 1950 after Irving Stone published his historical novel The President’s Lady. The book was later made into a movie starring Susan Hayward and Charlton Heston. In 1958, Heston would play Jackson again in The Buccaneer, the only movie Anthony Quinn ever directed.

A second controversy occurred in 1830 when as president he signed the Indian Removal Act, which required the “Five Civilized Tribes” (Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee-Creek, Seminole and Cherokee) to relinquish their rights as autonomous nations in the Southeast U.S. and relocate to federal land west of the Mississippi River. States in the North had simply killed the Indians and taken their lands, but this was considered at the time a more legal and humane way to gain control of large areas of valuable land. States in the South, especially Georgia, enthusiastically supported this action for obvious reasons.

President Jackson sincerely believed this would be better for the Indian tribes and promised to pay all “moving expenses” and guaranteed their new lands would remain in their control. We all know how this ended up and “The Trail of Tears” describes this dark period of American history.

Maybe the many Indian-owned casinos represent a small down payment for the debt we still owe these original Americans. If not, Harriet will be close enough to Andrew to remind him occasionally for a long time!

Germany Represents Vivid Contrast Between Capitalist, Communist Systems

Robert Indiana painted his famous “LOVE” graphic on one side of a chunk of the Berlin Wall, and the word “WALL” on the other. This piece realized $65,725 at an October 2009 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

After the end of World War II, the Allies divided Germany into four zones, one each for the British, French, Soviets and Americans. Berlin lay inside the zone belonging to the Soviets and it also was divided into four sectors.

In 1949, the three Western powers merged their zones into a single entity: West Germany. This resulted in Berlin becoming an “island” in the heart of the East German communist state. Everyone in Berlin had an identity card, which allowed them to travel between East and West.

However, at midnight on Aug. 12, 1961, trains that traveled between East and West suddenly stopped. Passengers were forced out and told to walk home. The much bigger issue was that those living in the East were never allowed to travel to the West again (legally).

Then the East-West border was sealed off with armored cars, troop carriers and Soviet tanks. By the next year, concrete poles were erected and strung with barbed wire to further restrict travel. The metaphor of an “Iron Curtain” had become a reality.

By 1960, West Berlin had built 100,000 new apartments, raised luxury hotels, and constructed museums and art galleries. Industrial plants resumed production, creating thousands of new jobs.

In East Berlin, the economy of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was stagnant and food and clothing scarce. Burned-out buildings were a stark reminder of the war. Three and a half million East Germans fled to the West, including 1 million through East Berlin, where there were no barriers (by treaty).

Then the GDR decided to build a wall!

Eventually, there was a concrete slab wall – 13 feet high, 87 miles long – completely encircling West Berlin. There were nine border crossing points, including “Checkpoint Charlie,” where spies were exchanged and East-West met with steely tensions.

In June 1985, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced perestroika (restructuring), expansion of trade, loosening of borders and limited freedom in other eastern bloc countries. Erich Honecker, head of the East German Socialist party, decried the reforms and promised the East Berlin wall would “last 50-100 years.”

In the autumn of 1989, thousands of demonstrators marched the streets of East Berlin, Honecker resigned, and on Nov. 8 the East Germans began allowing unrestricted travel. German Reunification was officially declared on Oct. 3, 1990, but the citizens of Berlin knew the real uniting began on Nov. 9, 1989, when the hated wall was breached forever.

Today, Germany represents the most vivid contrast between the capitalist and communist systems of government.

55 Years Ago, Alan Shepard Became the First American to Travel Into Space

The first photo of Earth from deep space, signed by all 29 Apollo astronauts, sold for $38,837.50 at a June 2011 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

Space … the final frontier …

● The first U.S. space program was the Vanguard. Out of 11 attempts, only three were successful.

● The initial 1961 flight of Alan Shepard – America’s first astronaut – lasted only 15 minutes and 22 seconds.

● Virgil “Gus” Grissom made the second manned space flight, but his Mercury capsule, Liberty Bell 7, sank on splashdown and Grissom was safely recovered. The Gemini capsule for his second flight was nicknamed “Molly Brown” after “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” Sadly, Gus died in the Apollo 1 fire.

● The first Space Shuttle orbiter was scheduled to be named Constitution by NASA. However, after President Ford received 100,000 letters from Star Trek fans, the name was changed to Enterprise.

● There were six Apollo missions that landed men on the moon: 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Apollo 13 was aborted when an oxygen tank exploded and the astronauts were forced to return via the lunar module.

● Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left a plaque on the moon: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

Journalist John Reed Witnessed 10 Days that Shook the World

This original photograph of Tsar Nicholas II, dated May 20, 1910, realized $16,730 at an April 2008 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

On Oct. 25, 1917, U.S. journalist John Reed was staying at the Hotel Astoria in Petrograd – the former grand city of the czars, Saint Petersburg. At 10 a.m., he awoke to bells ringing and trucks racing up and down the streets.

The trucks belonged to the Bolsheviks, a small left-wing revolutionary party headed by Vladimir Lenin. They were filled with soldiers who plastered up proclamations stating, “To the Citizens of Russia! The provisional government has been deposed. State power has passed to the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies … Long live the revolution of workers, soldiers and peasants.”

Actually, the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky had not been deposed, but an ever-impatient Lenin was partially right: That morning in Petrograd would change the face of a century – as the revolution “that shook the world” had begun.

The events of the next 10 days set in motion a seismic upheaval of an entire country and resulted in a massive communist empire. It should have been no surprise as the country had been ruled by omnipotent czars and governed by a corrupt and crumbling bureaucracy.

The bloodletting of WWI became the catalyst for the Russian Revolution as Tsar Nicholas II vainly tried to regain the prestige lost in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and to reunite the people. It backfired and by the winter of 1917, Russia had millions of soldiers as casualties, prisoners of war and deserters.

Deserters returned home and began seizing land from the wealthy. Food shortages were rampant, workers began to riot, and soldiers – instead of shooting them – joined them by tying red ribbons to their bayonets.

Tsar Nicholas was forced to abdicate in March 1917, ending the 300-year rule of the Romanov dynasty. He and his entire family were exiled and then executed. A moderate provisional government was set up with a Constitutional Assembly and led by the 36-year-old Kerensky.

However, Kerensky launched an offensive against Germany with disastrous results. Rebellious troops commandeered trains to return home and began murdering landlords and pillaging the great estates. Factories ground to a halt and food shortages quickly spread everywhere.

Kerensky was unable to regain control and this gave the two men who would end up leading the 1917 revolution, Lenin and Leon Trotsky, the opening they needed. Both had been in exile for years in Siberia and Europe.

Kerensky wisely fled to avoid capture.

John Reed’s book Ten Days That Shook The World describes the events in great detail, but even he was an extraordinarily controversial figure who ended up charged with treason, fleeing the United States back to Russia, where he died of typhus in 1920.

He became one of those rare Americans who is buried in the Kremlin.