text:
Volume 8, Issue 2 /
The Unlucky Collins Line
An enterprising Yankee briefy ruled Atlantic sea lanes but a chain of disasters dogged his great steam packets
Ralph Whitney
10 years ago By admin
It was a time when the sea called out to every Yankee lad its promise of adventure and reward. America was still the coastline and the rivers, and both then and thereafter seemed laden with an unmistakable scent of brisk salt air. Mr. Madison's War of 1812 had ended, the seas beckoned to all who would sail them, and it began to look as if America would not only sail them—but might even inherit them.
New York was well on its way to becoming the nation's busiest port. It was a city of ships, crowded with masts from every land, and the water front was lined with landsmen whom Herman Melville saw "posted like silent sentinels all around the town … thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging... They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand—miles of them—leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues—north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite."
In January of 1824 a short young man named Edward Knight Collins arrived on this scene, to add "& Son" to the shipping firm of I. G. Collins. Then just past his twenty-first birthday, Edward Collins had gone to work as a shipping clerk when he was fifteen, sailed as a supercargo on a small vessel in the West Indies trade, and acquired in the Caribbean some firsthand experience of pirates and shipwrecks. Joining his father, Captain Israel Collins, who had given up the sea in 1818 to establish himself as a shipping merchant in New York, the junior partner showed, in his first year with the firm, evidence of the successful daring which was to characterize his spectacular career.
At the end of January, 1825, a ship brought news of a sharp rise in the price of cotton on the English market, and a group of cotton speculators immediately commissioned young Collins to go to Charleston, the nearest cotton port, as its agent. There was no fast overland route: America's best coastal highway was the sea, and rival cotton buyers were taking the regular Charleston packet that same day. Against his father's advice, and to the consternation of his backers, Collins chartered a fast New York pilot schooner, hand-picked a crew, and set out to race the packet. By keeping close to shore in his shallow-draft vessel he look advantage of land breezes and avoided the northbound current of the Gulf Stream. When the packet made port with his rivals and news of the price rise, Collins was on his way home with invoices for all the cotton on the Charleston market in his pocket.
Up to this time, Israel Collins had operated only small "transient traders" (which would be called tramp ships today), but in 1827 the firm started a line of packets on a regular schedule to Vera Cruz, Mexico's chief Gulf Coast port. The line prospered in spite of unsettled political conditions in Mexico and the loss of several vessels on the poorly charted routes, and apparently Edward Collins deserved a good deal of the credit; for when his father died in 1831, the shareholders of an important New York-New Orleans packet line invited E. K. Collins to take over its management. Almost at once, Collins began providing larger vessels, better accommodations, food, and service than his rivals offered, and by hiring outstanding captains, he was able to deliver shorter average passages. His became the favorite of all the coastal packet lines, both for freight and passengers, and was particularly popular with the rich Louisiana planters making their annual visits to New York or the first leg of the long trip to Europe. The short man who always wore a tall hat was on his way to bigger things.
During the slack summer season in the southern trade, the New Orleans packets often made voyages to Liverpool, and in 1835 Collins sent his new ship Shakspeare (the favored spelling then) on this run. Larger than other transatlantic packets, the Shakspeare was more luxuriously appointed, and had as master Collins' Uncle John. When he reached Liverpool, John Collins had the Shakspeare holystoned, painted, and polished, and opened her to public inspection for a week. She was immediately hailed as the finest packet ship ever seen at that port, and on the return trip carried the largest cargo yet brought to New York. On the strength of this successful venture E. K. Collins decided to enter the Atlantic service.
At this time, Atlantic shipping was virtually an American monopoly, and the United States merchant marine held a position in 1836 which it never reached again, even in the greatest days of the Yankee clippers. This pre-eminence dated back to 1818 when four New York shipowners pooled resources and began regular service to Liverpool in what became the famous Black Ball Line. Their decision to operate on a "frequent and regular" schedule, with ships sailing on fixed dates, is standard practice today; but in 1818 it was considered revolutionary folly. Ships sailed when they had a full cargo—not before; and if passengers, freight, and mail had to wait days or weeks beyond the estimated departure date, that was somebody else's concern. Old-timers shook their heads knowingly when the first packets sailed half empty. But before long the idea took hold, and a new era in maritime history began when other New York shipowners were forced to follow the pioneer packet line's lead. When Collins entered the transatlantic service there were already three well-established New York-Liverpool lines, two to London, three to Le Havre, and one Philadelphia-Liverpool—all American-owned and operated.
For some reason no foreign company tried the successful packet line idea, although England found herself in the embarrassing predicament of having her important cotton-weaving industry depend largely on American shipping. New York was the headquarters of the American cotton market, and whether the South liked it or not (and it did not), most cotton for British and French mills passed through New York, leaving a fat slice of the profits there. With Collins' ships carrying more than their share of cotton—sometimes from New Orleans direct to Liverpool, more often from New Orleans to New York to Liverpool—his new venture was almost certain to prosper. Prosper it did, but E. K. Collins was no man to settle for second place.
His successful formula of bigger and better ships, with greater attention to what the passengers wanted, was put to work in three ships he now built as the Shakspeare's running mates. Other packet lines named their ships haphazardly after cities, countries, merchants, or members of the owners' families. Collins, a showman at heart, named his new vessels the Garrick, Sheridan, and Siddons. Likenesses of the famous originals in figureheads and interior decoration gave them the glamour of the classic stage and earned them a catchy title—the "Dramatic Line." The owner seemed to be able to guess what the public wanted before people realized they wanted it—soda fountains, for instance; cabin quarters located on the better-ventilated upper deck; roomier and airier steerage. And where Collins' popular innovations led, other lines had to follow, while his motto of "bigger and better" soon made him the leading figure in Atlantic shipping.
Probably his most important contribution—one which the clipper ship authority Carl Cutler calls "the most noteworthy innovation which had yet been developed in American naval architecture"—was the adoption of the long, flat floor of the New Orleans packet, instead of the sharp V-bottom. Brown & Bell, who built the Dramatic vessels, advised against it. Old masters warned they would "never make a passage to the west'ard." But Collins was sure of his design.
In 1838 he added the 1,030-ton Roscius (named for the celebrated Roman actor) to the line. Much the largest and most luxurious ship yet built, the Roscius cost over half again as much as her nearest competitor. Condemned by skeptics as "Collins' Folly," she carried almost as much canvas as the great clippers of later years, with a mainmast nearly as tall. The Roscius was, in fact, a direct antecedent of the unsurpassed clipper ships which were to be the most beautiful vessels America ever built, and like Collins' other packets amply vindicated his faith in their design. Not only could they carry far more cargo than the older packets, but Commodore Isaac Hull of the frigate Ohio declared flatly that either the Siddons or the Roscius would outsail any vessel in the United States Navy.
Capitalizing on his foresight with his visual showmanship, Collins chose sailing dates to coincide with those of the Black Ball, oldest and most famous packet line, then encouraged the betting on the winner. The Black Ball had eight ships to his four, offering two monthly sailings to his one; but some of the Black Bailers were getting on in years and slow, and the Dramatic Line finished its second year with the best average-passage record for the Liverpool packets. Even the luck of the sea played into his hands, adding to the fame of ships and masters when they saved an unusual number of survivors from other ships in distress. Collins' shipmasters held English and American decorations for their rescue work, and New York editors began to realize that the E. K. Collins office on South Street was an excellent source of shipping news. Collins had a great flair for public relations, always invited the press to the grand dinners with which he celebrated a ship launching or a maiden voyage, and he was on good terms with all of them, including that notoriously prickly character, James Gordon Bennett of the Herald.
By 1838 anyone even remotely aware of maritime affairs had heard of E. K. Collins. Skillfully combining a sharp Yankee business sense with showmanship, an understanding of public taste with a gambler's willingness to back up hunches, he and the Dramatic Line were riding the crest. But that year, the same that the Roscius began operating, something happened that changed forever the Dramatic Line, the future of E. K. Collins, and the entire course of maritime history. On April 23 the little British ship Sirius came in sight off Sandy Hook, seventeen days out of Cork—the first vessel to make the crossing entirely by steam power. The city went wild with excitement and curiosity—but there was more to come. A New York paper went on with the account:
… suddenly there was seen over Governor's Island, a dense black cloud of smoke, spreading itself upwards, and betokening another arrival. On it came with great rapidity, and about 3 o'clock its cause was made fully manifest to the multitudes. It was the steamship Great Western …. This immense moving mass was propelled at a rapid rate through the waters of the Bay; she passed swiftly and gracefully around the Sirius , exchanging salutes with her, and then proceeded to her … anchorage in the East River. If the public mind was stimulated by the arrival of the Sirius , it became intoxicated with delight upon view of the superb Great Western.
Fifteen days from Bristol, the Great Western had just completed the shortest passage that had ever been made.
Most of the packet owners belittled the steamers and went ahead with plans to add new and larger sailing ships to their lines; but Collins is quoted as saying, "There is no longer chance for enterprise with sails; it is steam that must win the day." He abandoned plans to double the size of his fleet and built no more sailing ships after the Roscius.
From the beginning of time until that day in April, 1838, the elements had ruled the earth, and man's struggle against them had been an unequal one. True, there had been earlier signs that the days of sail were numbered: the pioneer American steamship Savannah used her engines during part of a historic European passage in 1819; and by 1825 nearly half of the river traffic was carried in steamboats. But from this moment on, the writing was clear and indelible—and E. K. Collins made his plans accordingly.
For a time the sailing packets held their own. The early steamers were noisy, sooty, smelly, and subject to engine trouble, and a great many passengers refused to have anything to do with them. And while the steamers were laid up in winter months for fear of damaging their machinery, the packets kept right on sailing. Then, in 1840, Samuel Cunard started a line of steamers between Liverpool and Boston, touching at Halifax, supported by a British Post Office subsidy of £60,000 a year. The Cunard ships gave regular service, even in winter, and although packet men claimed that people would not go to Boston to take a steamer, a great many were doing so. New York papers, used to getting European news from New York steamers and the fast packets, soon found themselves receiving most of it via Boston. They didn't like it and began to agitate for a subsidized American transatlantic steamship line—from New York, naturally. The leading candidate for manager of the line was Edward Knight Collins.
Resistance was bitter, not only from dyed-in-the-wool sailing men but also from an economy-minded Post Office that cared little for speed and stood four-square in favor of "the free winds of heaven." One steam disaster after another dampened public confidence; the steamship subsidy was quite a while a-borning. When it came, the first American ocean mail contract was given, not to Collins, but to one Edward Mills of New York, for a line to Bremen and Le Havre. The first ship to sail, in June, 1847, was a complete disappointment. Stung by this failure and spurred on by news that Cunard planned to start a Liverpool-New York line in 1848, with a greatly increased Royal Mail subsidy, the Post Office finally awarded Collins a contract. He disposed of all his packet line interests in the fall of 1847, surveyed his competition, and characteristically decided to beat it with something "bigger and better."
Collins took nearly three years to finance his line and design and build his ships—the Atlantic, Arctic, Baltic, and Pacific . Wooden side-wheelers of 2,856 tons, 282 feet long, they were bigger and more powerful than the terms of Collins' contract required, and some 500 tons larger than the biggest Cunarders. No steamship of their size had ever been built in America or, with one exception, anywhere. That exception was the iron ship Great Britain, finished in 1845 by the man who later created the fabulous Great Eastern—Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the English genius who specialized in premature monsters. When the Great Britain proved unsuccessful in the transatlantic service, she was shifted to the Australian trade, leaving to Collins' ships the honor of being the largest on the Atlantic. They were built in shipyards along the East River, and huge crowds turned out to witness the launchings. Cannon salutes boomed, bells rang, spectators kept up a "continued shout," while Collins entertained distinguished guests—and the press.
Service started with the Atlantic on April 27, 1850. Her first eastbound passage was slowed by mechanical trouble, and she had to lay over in Liverpool for three weeks for repairs. While she was there, English shipping men took an uneasy look at her, remembering Collins' past performances. There were critics, of course, who called the Atlantic ugly, severe, and stark-looking. Her masts were too short, her sail area too small, her funnel too heavy and short for their taste. Actually, Collins and his architects had broken sharply with tradition, evolving the prototype of the modern ocean liner, except for the auxiliary sails, the paddles, and the wooden hull. America's rolling mills were still not capable of producing material for a metal ship of that size, and the screw propeller had not developed sufficiently to deliver the required speed.
Internally, there was certainly no starkness or severity. Whereas Cunard specified ships "plain and comfortable, not the least unnecessary expense for show," Collins believed that ocean travelers liked fancy trimmings, and he provided them. The profuse decorations included state shields, stars, spread eagles, and a painting of Liberty trampling a feudal prince in the dust. There were marble-topped tables, mirrors, paintings, thick carpets, carved and upholstered furniture, and not a few startling innovations—automatic signals from bridge to engine room and from staterooms to stewards' quarters, a French maître de cuisine, steam heat in the passenger areas, wide "wedding berths" for honeymooners, and a glorious barber shop with patent reclining chair. Today's ocean voyagers, who enjoy almost every imaginable luxury at sea, owe E. K. Collins a great deal for starting it all.
The Atlantic justified Collins' expectations by breaking Cunard's westbound record on her return trip, and on her second voyage she broke all records both ways. In April, 1851, the Pacific made history with the first crossing under ten days. (In 1952, when the United States recaptured the Atlantic record, she was the first American ship to hold it since Collins' ships, a century before.) Excitement was keen on both sides of the water, and Punch provided the final British accolade with a near-seditious jingle:
A steamer of the Collins Line,
A Yankee Doodle Notion,
Has also quickest cut the brine
Across the Atlantic Ocean.
And British agents, no way slow,
Her merits to discover,
Have been and bought her—just to tow
The Cunard packets over!
P. T. Barnum, who recognized a showman when he saw one, was a personal friend of Collins', and Barnum brought the "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind to America on one of the Atlantic's early voyages after a build-up which is still considered a classic. The rich and celebrated flocked to Collins' ships; the line soon carried more passengers than Cunard, and as much express freight; but it was not making any money. Pushed at top speed to meet the requirements of their subsidy contract, Collins' vessels consumed enormous quantities of coal and needed frequent repairs. Realizing the impossibility of raising his fares against Cunard's competition, Collins decided that the only answer was a larger subsidy. On January 10, 1852, he petitioned Congress for an increase from $385,000 to $858,000 annually—$33,000 for each of 26 voyages.
He knew he had a tough job on his hands. The alignment in Congress was as it would be in 1861--the industrial and maritime North against the agricultural South—and most of the newly admitted western states sided with Collins' opponents, protesting that they should not be taxed "to support a New York steamship line." While Collins argued that a modern steam merchant marine was a vital national asset, with vessels that could be converted to warships in time of emergency, he was also acutely aware that few members of his congressional audience had ever seen anything more impressive than a river or coastal steamer. He couldn't bring them to New York, so he decided to take the mountain to Mahomet. After checking the depth and width of the winding Potomac channel he announced that the Baltic would visit Washington.
Aside from the sheer spectacular magnificence of the gesture, Collins could not have picked a shrewder thing to do, psychologically. Whatever his opposition said—and it said a great deal—he was to the public an internationally famous American citizen, the Yankee who had twisted the British lion's tail, a chief ambassador of an onrushing industrial age, and a high-principled man who was giving the nation's lawmakers an opportunity to inspect one of his wonderful ships.
Collins invited official Washington, from President Fillmore and the Cabinet on down, to visit the Baltic. The ship was moored off Alexandria, and admission was supposed to be by invitation only, but there were so many gate-crashers that many invited guests were unable to come aboard. There were ruffled feelings, of course, but there was no doubting the sensation that finally resulted in an increased subsidy. After the decision, the Baltic obligingly made the line's best westbound passage, in nine days, thirteen hours; but unfortunately Collins' opponents had succeeded in writing a cancellation clause into the new contract which would hang over his head from that time forth.
For nearly 25 years, Collins' ships had been almost miraculously free from serious accidents, but disaster struck at last and its magnitude more than made up for all the years of immunity. The Arctic sailed from Liverpool September 20, 1854. On the twenty-seventh, a hazy day with patches of low-lying fog, she was driving at top speed across the Grand Banks, sixty miles from Cape Race, Newfoundland, when a small steamer suddenly appeared out of the fog, and, before the speeding liner could change course, struck her on the starboard side, just forward of the paddle box. The blow seemed so slight that the Arctic captain's first concern was for the safety of the smaller ship. He sent a boat to offer assistance before he learned that the Arctic 's wooden side had been gashed below the water line, and the sea was pouring into her hold and engine room. He headed for land, while efforts were made to plug the leak with mattresses and canvas, but the water gained on the pumps and put out the fires under the boilers. Suddenly the firemen, deck hands, and some of the officers panicked, made a rush for the boats, and left the passengers to shift for themselves with improvised rafts.
Sometime before 1854, Collins had become interested in spiritualism, and before his wife and two of their children left on a trip to Europe, they had arranged to establish communication at a certain hour every night, and to keep records of any "messages" that came through so that they could compare notes when she returned. Whether they established contact, we do not know; but it is certain that they never discussed it again, for Mrs. Collins, their only daughter, and Collins' youngest son went down on the Arctic, along with 319 other passengers. News of the disaster did not reach New York until October 11, two weeks after it occurred, when it was still hoped that the Arctic was merely overdue because of mechanical difficulties. Collins saw the shattering headlines in a paper as he stepped off the Jersey ferry, and although he probably did not see it at the time, the same edition also told of the burning of the new Great Lakes steamer E. K. Collins, named in his honor by an admiring Detroit shipowner. The eerie pairing of disaster was to be repeated fifteen months later.
On January 22, 1856, the Pacific left Liverpool with a light passenger list owing to the unpopularity of midwinter sailing. She was never heard from again. As a kind of cryptic omen, shortly before her departure the New York pilot schooner E. K. Collins, named in his honor by the Pilots' Association, was wrecked in a storm near Sandy Hook with the loss of four of her crew. Yet Collins went ahead. On April 7, 1856, the Adriatic was launched—355 feet long, 3,670 tons, and costing over a million dollars—much larger and costlier than the earlier Collins liners. Destined to be the last wooden side-wheeler ever built for transatlantic service, she was badly needed by the Collins Line, which now had only two of its original ships. But the Collins luck was all bad. The Adriatic was scheduled to sail in November, but the date was postponed, then canceled because of machinery trouble. She did not run her first sea trials until a year later.
Meantime, fate had dealt more blows to Collins, both financial and personal. His opponents in Congress invoked the six-month cancellation clause, reducing subsidy payments to the original $385,000. Worse yet, Cornelius Vanderbilt submitted a bid to carry the mails from New York to Southampton for $390,000 less than half the amount Collins felt he needed. It was the same technique Vanderbilt used to freeze out competition in the New York-Isthmus service. On the personal side, George Steers, creator of the Adriatic, was killed by a runaway horse late in September, 1856, long before his great ship was finished. One of Collins' closest friends, he might have helped correct the mechanical difficulties which delayed the Adriatic's completion for so long. But a much more telling blow was to follow, on the day the Adriatic was to sail on her maiden voyage. Collins' Uncle John, who had become the line's marine superintendent, and had been combination older brother and father to Edward, died on November 21, 1857.
Once again the Adriatic sailing was postponed; and when on November 23 the biggest and most luxurious liner afloat finally departed, she carried only 38 passengers, less than one tenth of her capacity, who were outnumbered by her crew almost five to one. She failed to equal the eastbound or westbound passage records due to bad weather and fog, but made one exceptionally fine day's run of 380 miles, and occasionally logged fifteen knots. The Adriatic looked like a potential record-breaker, but this was her only voyage for the Collins Line. The Atlantic made a sailing in December, and the Baltic in January, and then, on February 10, a short notice appeared in the ship-news columns: "The Collins steamship Atlantic will not sail on Saturday next for Liverpool, as has been announced." The Collins Line was finished. The ships were sold at public auction and the line wound up its affairs without having paid a penny in dividends.
There was some public regret at the passing of the line which had once been America's pride, and jubilation on the part of Collins' enemies; but for all his early victories, Collins had fought a losing battle from the start. Opposition to the subsidy, the nation's internal expansion, the Post Office's ultimate demand for high competitive speed—each had taken its toll. Collins was blamed for the unnecessary luxury of his ships, but this is not entirely fair. A conservatively managed line operating comfortable but unspectacular ships might have succeeded in the long pull with heavy government backing; but America of the 1850's shared Collins' compulsion to do things "bigger and better." The young nation was in a hurry. Yankee clippers were setting new records; locomotives sped west on ever-lengthening tracks; steamboats raced on the Hudson, the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes; and the cheering drowned out the roar of occasional bursting boilers. Americans wanted speed, they wanted ostentation, they wanted respect. Collins had given them all of these.
Although the Collins Line breathed its last in 1858, the man who was the Collins Line outlived his creation by nearly twenty years. He never engaged in shipping activities again, turning instead to mineral properties in the Great Lakes region. A farm he owned near Wellsville, Ohio, was found to be rich in coal and iron ore deposits. He began mining operations, he built blast furnaces, he even struck oil. But the Midas touch was gone, and failure followed a brief moment of success in everything he did. Larchmont Manor, his 300-acre estate on Long Island Sound, was mortgaged, subdivided, and sold. His Ohio property, with a house whose interior resembled the cabins and saloons of an ocean liner, was mortgaged back to its original owner. Despite all these failures, Collins held onto his self-respect; and years later an old lady in her nineties, who was only a child when Collins lived in Wellsville, still remembered him in a way he would have liked. "Mr. Collins," she said, "was a proud walker; he was something more than ordinary."
During the Civil War, the Atlantic and Baltic were used as transports—the magnificent Adriatic had been "sold foreign" for a third of her cost—and peace saw America's once-dominant merchant marine almost destroyed, with foreign shipping grown enormously. The New York press appealed for a revival of transatlantic steam service under the American flag, and some papers mentioned Collins. But Collins was an aging, tired man, and America had turned its face away from the Atlantic and was looking westward.
Commodore Vanderbilt had shifted his interest from shipping to railroads, and the death watch at the door of his Fifth Avenue mansion in 1877 was world news. When Collins died in a modest house at 133rd Street and Madison Avenue on January 22, 1878, his passing was almost unnoticed. A few old gentlemen, former masters and chief engineers of his famous record-breakers, attended the funeral; the shipping in New York Harbor lowered its flags in respect; but there were no great American liners on the Atlantic to salute his departure.
Collins' second wife and her three stepsons fought bitterly over his pitifully small estate, but not one of them bothered to place any sort of modest stone on his grave. Edward Knight Collins, the Yankee lord of the Atlantic who led America's shipping industry when it led the world, lies in an unmarked grave in sprawling old Woodlawn Cemetery, on the edge of the huge city he helped build into the world's greatest port.
Edward Collins
steam packets


text:
Bibliographic List of Sources
Darrow, Clarence. "Attorney Clarence Darrow's Plea for Mercy in the Franks Case." In Attorney Clarence Darrow's Plea for Mercy and Prosecutor Robert E. Crowe's Demand for the Death Penalty in the Loeb-Leopold Case. Chicago, IL: Wilson Publishing Company, 1924), pp 5-85. [=A]
Darrow, Clarence, "Plea for Leopold and Loeb." In Words of a Century: The Top 100 American Speeches, 1900-1999. Eds. Stephen E. Lucas and Martin J. Medhurst. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp 157-208. [=B]
Statement of Editorial Procedures
The copy-text is Darrow 1924 (=A), the text taken from the Wilson Company's 1924 pamphlet, posted on the University of Minnesota's Law Library website. Darrow, ever mindful of his public persona and the written record of his speeches, borrowed–and did not return–some of the original court transcripts of his closing statement to work on an edited version for publication after the trial ("The Judgment"). This creates some challenges because there is no complete set of court transcripts for all three days of Darrow's speech. Text A is a proof-read replica of Darrow's summation published in 1924 by the Wilson Publishing Company. The October 4, 1924 issue of the Chicago Defender carries an advertisement on page A14 for the Wilson's Company's 50-cent publication, which contains not just Darrow's closing statement but Crowe's arguments and Caverly's verdict, as well as supplementary material such as the full text of letters exchanged by the boys, the ransom notes sent to the victim's family, and a précis of the case. This version is largely identical to that published in Words of a Century (=B): this version draws on the court stenographer's recordings for the first day of Darrow's speech and the Wilson pamphlet for the second and third days (Lucas and Medhurst). The editors of Words of a Century note that of the various versions of Darrow's speech in circulation, the Wilson pamphlet hews most closely to the court stenographer's recordings for the first day, and is able to convey "the distinctly extemporaneous flavor of his remarks on days two and three" (p. xxi), prompting their decision to rely on the pamphlet to provide the text for the second and third days in their compilation of Darrow's statement. I use the Wilson pamphlet's version of Darrow's address as the basis of Text A, while following the Lucas and Medhurst version (Text B) for spelling, grammar, and word usage.
Darrow 1924 [=B] is followed for spelling, grammar, and word usage (details are provided in the notes below)
Paragraph numbers have been added in square brackets at the beginning of each paragraph.
The text of this edition has been thoroughly checked and proofread.
Departures from the Copy-Text and General Editorial Procedures
Notes: The following is a list of instances where the language found in Text B is used over the language in Text A.
105 There is not any man on earth [who] can mention B: There is not any man on earth can mention A
118 who go down into [dis]honor and disgrace B: who go down into honor and disgrace A
194 It has been heralded, broadcast through the world B: It has been heralded broadcast through the world A
Bibliographic Sources for Statement of Editorial Procedures
"Just Out: Loeb-Leopold Case" Chicago Defender, October 4, 1924, A14.
Lucas, Stephen E. and Martin J. Medhurst, eds. Words of a Century: The Top 100 American Speeches, 1900-1999. Oxford University Press, 2009.
"The Judgment: The Defense Rests." In The Murder that Wouldn't Die: Leopold & Loeb in Artifact, Fact, and Fiction, Northwestern University Library digital exhibit. http://exhibits.library.northwestern.edu/exhibits/leopoldandloeb/. (Accessed September 7, 2014).
Textual Authentication Information for Clarence Darrow, "Plea for Leopold and Loeb."
1. Speech title as it is to be printed: "Plea for Leopold and Loeb."
2. Exact Date and Place of Delivery: 22, 23 and 25 August 1924, Cook County Criminal Court, Chicago, Illinois.
3. Complete Name of Speaker, with year of birth and year of death: Clarence Seward Darrow (1857- 1939).
4. Complete name of editor or compiler of electronic text, with indication of role: Rohini S. Singh (obtained text of Darrow's address from University of Minnesota's Law Library website's PDF copy of the Wilson Company pamphlet ("The Clarence Darrow Digital Collection," Law Library, University of Minnesota. http://darrow.law.umn.edu/trials.php?tid=1), converted into Word Document, inserted paragraph numbers, proofread for spelling mistakes, inserted dates as section headings for each day of the speech, and checked word usage against Text B).
5. Date of Electronic edition: [Unknown – taken from University of Minnesota's Law Library, "The Clarence Darrow Digital Collection"]
6. Languages: English (100%)
7. Proposed Library of Congress Subject Heading: Law (general level); Law of the United States (specific level); Library of Congress Classification: KF (Law of the United States), OR K181 (Miscellany)
8. Indication of editing functions performed: (e.g., data entry, proof-reading), by whom (complete name), and when performed (complete [inclusive] dates):
Rohini S. Singh: Obtained text from University of Minnesota's Law Library website's PDF copy of the Wilson Company pamphlet, converted into Word Document, inserted paragraph numbers in square brackets, proofread for spelling mistakes, inserted dates as section headings for each day of the speech (September 7th, 2014).
Rohini S. Singh: Changed speech title from Wilson Company's original title to match title of interpretive essay in this Voices of Democracy unit. Wilson Company's original title: "Attorney Clarence Darrow's Speech in the Franks Case before Judge Caverly in the Criminal Court of Cook County, Chicago, Ill., August 22 to 25, 1924." Amended to: "Clarence Darrow, "Plea for Leopold and Loeb," Cook County Criminal Court, Chicago, Illinois (22, 23, and 25 August, 1924). (September 7th, 2014).
Rohini S. Singh checked and edited Speech Text A against Speech Text B.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I love learning new little tricks in InDesign. One of the designers showed me a neat little cheat around when trying to layout storyboards.
Instead of having to build out six or nine different .psd files then placing them in InDesign, you just use your layer override button. How and where is that?! Let me show you.
1. Get your .psd file all set up. Each frame should be in it's own file. It will make things a lot easier later.
2. Place all of your images into the file.
4. Click the box to show the eyeball on the Frame you want to show.
4. Boom! Storyboards with less mess.


text:
"I'm not stepping down." But Tourism Chief says she is not reapplying
Samoa Tourism Authority, Chief Executive Officer, Papalii Sonja Hunter (Photo: Misiona Simo)
By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia - Ah Tong, 04/05/2019
The Chief Executive Officer of the Samoa Tourism Authority, Papali'i Sonja Hunter, has decided not to reapply for her job.
Papali'i has been at the helm of the country's tourism body for more than 10 years.
"It is more or less that I have not reapplied for the job," she told the Samoa Observer.
"My contract finishes on 7 June (2019) and I have decided not to reapply. I'm running the contract until it finishes and I'm obligated to do that," she said.
Papali'i has been involved in the tourism industry since her days with the Samoa Visitors Bureau from 1994 until 2000.
She returned in 2007 at the Chief Executive Officer of what is now known as the Samoa Tourism Authority.
Asked why she decided not to reapply for her position, Papali'i said there was no particular reason.
"Nothing really, if you look at our environment compared to ten years ago, it wasn't as enabled and this is an enabled environment and Government has made it for us," she said.
"Everyone is saying I'm stepping down, no I'm stepping up."
Tourism development in Samoa is now in the hands of the developers, with Papali'i saying the developers know their product and business better than anyone.
As for her future plans after she exits S.T.A. in June, she said she is keeping the details to herself for now.
Having spent over a decade on the job, Papali'i acknowledged the S.T.A. staff and also acknowledged the support of local and international partners during her tenure in office.
She also left a message for those in the tourism industry – be encouraged and think positive.
Statistics on tourism indicates a rising trend of the number of visitors arriving in Samoa between 2014–2018.
A total of 131,796 visitors was recorded for Samoa in 2014. But those figures have grown over the last four years with an additional 40,700 visitors visiting in 2018 to total 172, 496 visitors. Samoa was ranked third place in the Pacific in the number of visitor numbers in the last financial year.
M.P., P.M. square off over legislative process
An independent M.P. has questioned the scope of the power of the head of the Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (M.P.M.C.) to determine which bills become law.


The game doesn't need a powerful PC.
Codemasters will release their new rally game DiRT Rally 2.0 in February. But is your PC ready for it?
Codemasters revealed official PC system requirements of DiRT Rally 2.0. If you want to play the game, you will need at least AMD FX4300 or Intel Core i3 2130, 8 GB RAM and AMD HD7750 or NVIDIA GTX 650 Ti.
Here is the system requirements of DiRT Rally 2.0.
DiRT Rally 2.0 will release on February 26, 2019 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. What do you think about the game? Will your pc be able to run it?


NEWLY-RENOVATED ROOMS! Retreat to spacious new accommodations at Courtyard San Antonio Airport/North Star Mall boasting complimentary Wi-Fi, flat-panel TVs and plush bedding. Located less than 2 miles from San Antonio International Airport (SAT), our newly renovated hotel along Loop 410 features convenient perks for all types of travelers. Step into our state-of-the-art lobby where you'll find free Wi-Fi and media pods with plenty of spaces to plug in, then grab a bite to eat in The Bistro, serving up fresh fare for breakfast and dinner daily. Get rid of leftover energy in our state-of-the-art fitness room and indoor pool. For fun off site, visit popular destinations including North Star Mall, located minutes away, as well as SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta, just a short drive from our hotel. Need a place to meet? Reserve our high-tech event space for small business meetings or social celebrations. Start planning your next trip to our North Star Mall hotel today!


The IoT Security Foundation (IoTSF) announces 'Release 2' of its IoT Security Compliance Framework today following user feedback of the previous release. A significant enhancement is a move to a risk based approach that gives the Framework more flexibility and greater applicability beyond earlier versions, which were aimed at consumer-grade products.
The new and improved Framework is a practical tool for managers and developers who need to assure security, it could also be used as part of the purchasing function. There are three escalating modes for IoT producers; as an internal assessment reference, a checklist to self-certify against, or by a third party conformity assessment body, potentially as part of an accredited certification scheme. The structured process of questioning and evidence gathering encourages optimal security mechanisms and practices to be implemented regardless of target application. Existing users of the Framework will be able to adopt the new release seamlessly as it is backward compatible.
Alongside the Framework is a companion questionnaire, which is used to record evidence of conformity. Each tab in the questionnaire corresponds to sections in the Framework, where supporting evidence is referenced. A revised version of the questionnaire accompanies release 2 and includes a simple tool to configure the strength of the three security goals of confidentiality, integrity and availability, which collectively determine the compliance class.
The mission of IoTSF is to help secure the Internet of Things, in order to aid its adoption and maximize its benefits. To do this IoTSF will promote knowledge and clear best practice in appropriate security to those who specify, make and use IoT products and systems.
IoTSF promotes the security values of a security-first approach, fitness for purpose and resilience through operating life. The security values are targeted at key stages of the IoT eco-system – those that build, buy and use products and services: Build Secure. Buy Secure. Be Secure.
IoTSF was formed as a response to existing and emerging threats in the Internet of Things applications.
IoTSF is an international, collaborative and vendor-neutral members' initiative, driven by the IoT eco-system and inclusive of all parties including technology providers and service beneficiaries.
For more information, visit www.iotsecurityfoundation.org or contact contact@iotsecurityfoundation.org.
Scotchman 1016 Band Saws Improved!


text:
Rudnik zlata Zod  (; v Armeniji znan kot rudnik zlata Sotk, ) je po rezervah čistega zlata največji rudnik zlata v Azerbajdžanu in Armeniji. Leži v bližini kraja Sotk (prej Zod), provinca Gegharkunik v Armeniji, del pa v sosednjem azerbajdžanskem okrožju Kalbajar. Rezerve cenijo na več kot 120 ton, ekonomsko zanimiva vsebnost je 0.8 g zlata na tono.

Zgodovina
Rudišče so odkrili leta 1951, rudnik deluje od leta 1976. Od leta 1993 - s prvo vojno v Gorskem Karabahu - do novembra 2020 je azerbajdžansko okrožje Kalbajar (z azerbajdžanskim delom rudnika) bilo pod nadzorom Armenije (de jure dalje del Azerbajdžana). Leta 2007 je Armenija ruskemu podjetju GeoProMining enostransko podelila pravico do izkoriščanja rudnika. Leta 2009 so izkopali 320.500 ton zlate rude, leta 2010 490.000 ton, leta 2011 pa 880.000 ton. V rudniku je bilo zaposlenih med 350 in 400 delavcev. Ruda se je predelovala v obratu za pridobivanje zlata Ararat, kamor so jo prevažali po železnici.

Ko se je 27. septembra leta 2020 začela vojna v Gorskem Karabahu, je GeoProMining začasno ustavil obratovanje rudnika. 25. novembra 2020 so enote azerbajdžanskih oboroženih sil v skladu z izjavo, ki so jo po konfliktu podpisali azerbajdžanski predsednik, armenski premier in ruski predsednik, ob umiku armenskih sil vstopile v okrožje Kalbajar. Inženirska dela in odstranjevanje min so tekla vzporedno z napredovanjem azerbajdžanskih enot. Naslednji dan je Hakob Avetjan, vodja armenske skupnosti Geghamasar, ki meji na Azerbajdžan, sporočil, da je azerbajdžanska vojska vstopila v rudnik. Po njegovih besedah so Azerbajdžanci prišli na lice mesta brez strela in zahtevali, da se ozemlje osvobodi, čemur naj bi sledila pogajanja. Po besedah Avetjana so zaposleni, čeprav ni bilo nobenih groženj, rudnik začeli zapuščati. Zvečer istega dne so objavili, da so predstavniki Armenije, Rusije in Azerbajdžana začeli izvajati razmejitvena dela s tehnologijo GPS, da ugotovijo, kje leži državna meja. Azerbajdžanske sile so na svoji strani rudnika postavile tri postojanke. Po dolgotrajnih pogajanjih med azerbajdžansko vojsko in predstavniki GeoProMininga so 27. novembra uslužbenci podjetja zapustili azerbajdžanski del rudnika. GeoProMining naj bi v pogajanjih dobil možnost nadaljnje eksploatacije v azerbajdžanskem delu, ko bo demarkacija državne meje zaključena.

Sklici

Azerbajdžan
Armenija
Gorski Karabah
Rudniki v Azerbajdžanu

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Born in 1977 in Hunan Province, China, Xie Aige (谢艾格) is a sculptor whose works in bronze display a sense of sincerity, clarity, and hope. She graduated from Shanghai Fine Arts College in Shanghai, and taught in the Cultural and Art Design Department of Shanghai's Tongji University. Currently living and working in Shanghai, she responds to the craziness of her adopted city through works of figurative peace. In today's world of rapid changes and hectic lives, Xie Aige's sculptures are a breath of fresh air, uncorrupted and serene.
Striking a balance between the ideal and reality, she sculpts figures that are poised, whimsical, reflective, and charming. Poetically conceptual at heart, Xie Aige is inspired by Buddhist thought and the human spirit. With many of her works depicting men in nature, at peace or play, she draws on childhood memories of rural China and prominently features symbolic elements (such as birds for freedom and apples for desire) in her sculpted world. Her works have been exhibited throughout China, as well as in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, and have been collected by a range of private, institutional, and corporate collectors, including the Beijing Capital Airport, People's Bank of Italy, and Shanghai Park Hyatt Hotel.


KIKI`s Organic Psyllium Husks Powder is a highly soluble and convenient source of dietary fibre and is also rich in micronutrients.
KIKI`s psyllium husks are derived 100% from seed husks of the plantago ovata plant. They have not been genetically engineered, modified or chemically treated. The husks are ground into a fine powder which mixes easily with liquids and is easily digestible.
Organic Psyllium Husks Powder is a pleasant and easy way to add valuable bulk to your diet, which is essential for healthy digestion.
Add one heaped teaspoon to any drink or smoothie. It is vital that you drink plenty of water when consuming psyllium husks and throughout the day afterwards.
Below are reviews of KIKI Health Organic Psyllium Husks Powder - 275g by bodykind customers. If you have tried this product we'd love to hear what you think so please leave a review.
Love this powder! Much better than psyllium husks.


text:
Q: Selenium webdriver identify button and clicking on it using Java currently im trying to automate filling in a rather large webform with selenium and java. im using the firefox webdriver. i have firebug installed and xpath checker (on firefox).
My problem is clicking on a button after logging in to a website. the login part is no problem. its a username/password and submit action.
ive tried various FindElement methods and im thinking it should be Xpath. i simply dont know how to identify the button since it has no name property.
xpath checker: id('sectiondiv_81')/x:input

<input class="Button" type="button" onclick="window.location='/Apps/app_editopportunity.jsp?appid=103184&nextlevel=1&companyid=&opportunityid=0&opportunitytypeid=13997&defaultstatusid=12824&providertoken=Sml3L21uJDk!HkITNmAzGDUlHhd2GxoXH2JcU0JFal9AQVxWHwQIUxkbbFFfXhI~'" value="Apply for a scientific research project">

where it concerns the button with value 'Apply for a scientific research project'.
i would greatly appreciate a solution.

A: If that is the only button inside of , you might be able to find it by XPath like:
("//div[contains(@id, 'sectiondiv_81')]/input[contains(@class, 'Button')]")

or
("//input[contains(@value, 'scientific research project')]")

A: Can we look the full website for analyze it?
I recommend you Firebug and Firepath to check the XPath like that:
//div[contains(@id, 'sectiondiv_81')]/input[contains(@class, 'Button')]

you will be able to check the "section" or "sections" in the website that accords with your Xpath
Also you can get the XPath with Firebug, right click -> Inspect in FirePath

A: You should avoid to use digits, indexes if it possible, because it makes xpath query not flexible for possible ui changes.
It's better to use any element attributes, which give you unique result.
//input[@type='button'][contains(@value, 'Apply')]

A: The <input> element is a sibling of the
 element with an ID so try using the XPath following-sibling command like so:
WebElement myButton = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//div[@id='sectiondiv_81']/following-sibling::input"));
myButton.click();

This comes from the W3C XPath spec.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Everyone deserves to have a more comfortable ride. No matter your age, ambition, or fitness level, the biggest determining factor in how far, fast, and fun your cycling experience is how good it feels to get on the bike. We work to understand your unique needs, and so much of what we do isn't about the bike, it's about the body. That's why we look at range of motion, flexibility, and past injuries to make the best adjustments possible.
We also understand that your fitness, flexibility, and general feeling on the bike changes. That's why we offer one year of tweaks and adjustments included in your fit. Your body isn't static, and what works in April may not be right for your riding in July. We work hard to ensure you're comfortable today and tomorrow, so you can always enjoy the ride.
Breath in, breath out. Your position on the bike can affect your breathing in a big way, and that's just one of the details we account for in your bike fit with Ride Science. The respiratory system is one of the most important keys for any athlete, and for cyclists, perhaps the most accurate measure of fitness. The three part of the system (the airways, the lungs, and the muscles that contract the lungs) are complex, but the adjustment is simple. We structure your fit to get the most out of those respiratory muscles, which are the only part of the system that respond to training.
The cyclist's posture on the bicycle is iconic, but not universal. It's more than just being 'bent over the bars'; your body is sustaining and supporting trunk flexion for hours at a time. That position puts increased pressure on the thoracic and lumbar spine, and can lead to deformation of spinal tissue. The wrong position for a long time can lead to injury and pain. The right fit and sport-specific stretching exercises have been positively associated with a decrease in pain. This is why incorporating some fitness work off the bike is crucial. Stretch lightly before you ride, but set aside a dedicated ten to twenty minutes to stretch when you're done. Post-ride stretches have been proven to improve your recovery, prevent injury, and bring your spine back into proper alignment.
There have been plenty of studies show that saddle discomforts are among the main problems with cycling. These same studies argue that sitting on a bike saddle might promote erectile dysfunction, with all these studies have created lots of saddle designs. To improve the pressure load on the saddle, we would need to look more into the the rider's anatomy and the size and surface of the saddle. The pelvic position on the saddle can be analyzed by eye or by using some kind of technology. When by looking at a person from behind, it is possible to recognize a tendency of asymmetry. Feeling for markings the spinae iliac anterior with these bony structures provide information on the pelvic symmetry or asymmetry.Factors influencing saddle contact points are; shape of saddle,bib shorts, saddle height,saddle positioning,crank arm length ,cleat position, saddle tilt and cycling disciplines. The connection between the pelvis and the saddle is of central importance for the entire rider. Achieving this stability and comfort will improve the athlete's performance in which they would be riding more.
The simple act of pedaling actually has a lot going on. The pedal stroke can be broken down into two parts. Tangential force is moving in the direction of movement. Radial force is any energy that is directed in the crank itself, which can be in any direction during the course of a smooth, round repetition. The majority of your power comes during the downstroke, which is from noon to six, if you think of the stroke as a clock. Here, gravity is your friend, as is the ability to use large muscle groups, such as those in the hip extensors, knee extensors, and plantar flexors.
Putting out the power, therefore, is a process that includes a deep and complex web of biomechanical systems all firing in unison. Power into the pedals is useless if you're not comfortable, don't address some basic aerodynamics, or account for comfort. Using this information, incorporating stretching to encourage your body's symmetry, and taking steps to improve your physical fitness will not only make you a faster cyclist, but make every mile more enjoyable.


text:
"Navel-gazing at its finest."
Themed Overview Wizard MagazineNovember 20, 2018
Leave it to me to make talking about humor comics completely unfunny.
Whilce Portacio's rendition of Bishop graced the cover of Wizard #8.
This third installment of "Palmer's Picks" from the April 1992 issue of Wizard: The Guide To Comics was a bit of a departure. While the first two columns dealt with individual creators and their comics (Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Dave Sim's Cerebus), this time I decided to tackle a general topic and cover a sampling of different comic books. While I don't remember exactly what was going through my mind at the time—it's been over 25 years—I'm pretty sure it was another case of trying to be a counterpoint to what was going on in the rest of the magazine. What could be the complete opposite of the grim-and-gritty anti-heroes that were so popular at the time? Comics that make you laugh, of course!
In retrospect, this might not have been the best idea. While it was admirable to give some exposure to obscure names like Doug Allen and Mark Martin, I really didn't have the writing chops to properly convey the appeal of their work. This column reads more like a half-assed book report that I stayed up late to finish the night before it was due. It starts with a very brief history of humor comic books before giving quick bios of a number of creators who made me laugh. A better way to approach it would have been to give a brief description of some of the funniest gags from each artist. Do we really need a rundown of all of the magazines that have published Drew Friedman or would it have been better to mention that one of his early strips re-imagined the cast of The Andy Griffith Show as secret Klansmen? On second thought, maybe my original approach wasn't all that bad…
Another lesson learned: black-and-white comic books don't make for visually interesting art choices in a full-color, glossy magazine. My memory is fuzzy—it's still been over 25 years since I wrote the original column—but I vaguely remember picking out the individual strips that ran alongside the text and flagging them with Post-It Notes. Since the comics I was covering in "Palmer's Picks" were getting more and more obscure, I began sending sample comics when I turned in my work each month. I learned early on that it was very important to attach my name and address to each comic. A few books were lost along the way, but Wizard's research department was always good about buying replacements. (They even lost my copy of the 3-D version of Destroy! when I covered Scott McCloud and replaced it with a copy of the more expensive original, tabloid size edition. Score!)
While the art choices this issue weren't the most colorful, they did help a bit to sell why I thought these cartoonists were funny. It's much better to actually see Doug Gray's perfect comedic timing in the sample from Eye Of Mongombo or experience the absurdity of Steven by reading a full-length comic strip instead of trying to explain why you should be laughing. I doubt I would have been able to get away with a purely visual edition of "Palmer's Picks" at this early stage, but maybe a column that was nothing more than nice, large reprints of funny comic strips with very brief captions would have been yet another way to get readers interested in these cartoonists.
Cartoonist Kayfabe segment on "Palmer's Picks" from Wizard #8.
One last thing to note about this installment: good luck finding "Palmer's Picks" in the table of contents for this issue. The TOC pages in these early issues of Wizard are usually a mess (typos, wrong page numbers, bad design) but this issue is especially bad. None of the articles or columns are listed in numerical order. They're not even in alphabetical order! Wizard was still a small operation at this point, so a lot of mistakes were made and my little column was usually one of the things to fall through the cracks.
After this stellar introduction, I'm not sure many of you will want to keep reading. If you have the heart, keep scrolling to check out one of my least favorite "Palmer's Picks."
Palmer's Picks
By Tom Palmer Jr.
Let's face it. We all like to laugh. Despite this, the small group of quality humor comics is ignored by the general comic fan. Many of the early comic strips, like Krazy Kat, and the early comic books, such as Mad, fall into the humor genre. These books greatly influenced the humor comics today, which are mostly black-and-white comics published by small, independent companies.
Harvey Kurtzman was the first editor of Mad Magazine back in the early '50s when it was published as a four-color comic in the EC line. It survived the congressional hearings and the implementation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954 to become the full-sized black-and-white magazine that it is today. The trademark style of satire and parody that Mad is known for originated with Kurtzman's editorship. He began by poking fun at certain genres of popular culture like westerns or science-fiction stories, but soon sharpened his focus to specific movies, T.V. shows, and comic books such as King Kong, Dragnet, and Superman. Kurtzman stayed on for five issues when Mad became a magazine, and left to start other humor magazines such as Trump, Humbug,and Help!
Kurtzman's style had a direct influence on many cartoonists, most notably the underground artists of the '60s and '70s like Robert Crumb and Art Spiegleman. In turn, Crumb and the other underground cartoonists provided the basis for many of today's humor artists such as Peter Bagge, Drew Friedman, Mark Martin, Doug Gray, Sam Hurt, and Doug Allen.
Peter Bagge got his start in fanzines, like Comical Funnies and Wacky World, which he co-published with other cartoonists, and eventually became the editor of Weirdo during the mid-eighties. He then got his own comic, Neat Stuff, in which he developed his animated cartoon-like style. His characters frequently explode with anger and frustration into twisted forms of flesh. While his early strips were mostly nonsensical stories based around the characters he created, he soon began to develop his creations and place them in more familiar settings. His current comic, Hate, uses
one of his most popular characters, Buddy Bradley, to poke fun at life in America.
A student of Kurtzman's at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Drew Friedman, like Peter Bagge, cites the underground cartoonists as influences on his work. His stippled renditions of popular celebrities in bizarre situations have appeared in such nationwide publications as National Lampoon and Spy Magazine and comic magazines like Raw and Weirdo. The targets for his comics are usually celebrities from the forties and fifties like the Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, and the Swedish wrestler/actor, Tor Johnson. His caricatures are so accurate, that Friedman was once sued for libel by late-nite talk show host Joe Franklin.
Mark Martin began in the mini-comics and eventually graduated to full size comics during the black and white explosion of the mid-eighties with Gnatrat, a parody of the Dark Knight. He has since gone on to create a bi-weekly comic strip for the Comics Buyer's Guide which has become an outlet for his views on the comics industry and a place for him to introduce new characters and ideas.
Doug Gray, a relatively new cartoonist, is making his mark with his first series, The Eye of Mongombo. The book is basically a parody of the Indiana Jones movies, with the main character having been turned into a duck. Each page of the comic, including the page numbers, is loaded with sight gags and slapstick humor drawn in an uncluttered, but detailed style.
Aside from cartoonists specifically working in comic books, there are several artists working in newspapers who have had their work collected into comic books. Foremost among them are Sam Hurt and Dog Allen.
Hurt began his strip, Eyebeam, in the Daily Texan in 1978 and continued it until 1989. The comic was self-syndicated by Hurt in about twenty regional newspapers and was collected into a series of seven paperbacks. While the series covers a variety of topics, it is centered around the life of a law student in Texas.
Doug Allen created his character, Steven, in 1976 as a place to vent his anger, and has drawn him in weekly comic strips for alternative newspapers since then. Steven is an irritable boy surrounded by a group of supporting characters that frequently try to take over the strip from him. Allen has also drawn Steven for several comic magazines like National Lampoon and Blab!
Despite the fact that there are very few humor comics on the market, there are many different types ranging from finely-crafted social satire to crude physical humor. Only after trying a few will you be able to find the one that will suit your tastes in comedy.
Here is a brief sampling of the major works of the various artists mentioned in this article:
Harvey Kurtzman: The first six issues of Mad have been collected in one softcover volume from Russ Cochran. The book is also available as part of a hardcover set containing the remaining comic-book sized Mads.
Peter Bagge: Hate is published quarterly from Fantagraphics and Bagge's comics from Neat Stuff have been collected into four books: The Bradleys. Studs Kirby, Junior and Other Losers, and Stupid Comics.
Drew Friedman: Two books have been published collecting Friedman's cartoons from various magazines. These are: Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental from Fantagraphics, and Warts and All from Penguin Books.
Mark Martin: Two volumes of 20 Nude Dancers 20 have been published by Tundra collecting the first two years of the strip. A collection of the Gnatrat comics has also been published by Fantagraphics.
Doug Gray: The Eye of Mongombo is published very irregularly from Fantagraphics. Gray's cartoons have also appeared in Critters and as back-up features in Usagi Yojimbo.
Sam Hurt: The paperback books collecting Eyebeam are mostly out of print. but comic book reprints of the strip are being published quarterly from Double Diamond Press. His Queen of the Universe strip is being syndicated by United Features Syndicate.
Doug Allen: Steven appears weekly in various alternative newspapers, and four comic books from Kitchen Sink Press have been published collecting the series.
art spiegelman, comics buyers guide, double diamond press, doug allen, doug gray, drew friedman, ec comics, eye of mongombo, eyebeam, fantagraphics, harvey kurtzman, hate, kitchen sink, mark martin, neat stuff, palmer's picks, peter bagge, raw, robert crumb, sam hurt, steven, tundra, usagi yojimbo, weirdo, wizard
Previous Wizard #7: Dave Sim
Next Wizard #10: Anthologies


Cheap or inadequate bandwidth is likely costing you far more than you think you are saving.
Many companies are finding themselves in a decision process about how much bandwidth to order. For the most part, it's so many dollars per Megabit per second throughput. There are ways to actually get more Mbps for your bandwidth dollar, and I'll tell you about that in a second. First, though, let's see if there is a relationship between your network bandwidth and employee productivity.
If your only bandwidth connection is a broadband Internet service that employees use to sell personal items on eBay or play Farmville when the boss isn't looking, you might argue that less bandwidth would be a productivity enhancer. In fact, you'd be better off disconnecting from the Internet completely. But most companies can't do that anymore. They are completely dependent on both internal data transfers and connections to the Internet in order to conduct business. Still, what is the right level of bandwidth to install?
Let's use an analogy to see if we can figure this out. Suppose you have a office full of sales agents. This is certainly true of insurance firms and real estate brokers. It's also the case with many other types of business. Now, let's install one wall telephone for every two dozen agents. How much sales volume would you expect to be generated?
In such a case, you'd probably find that the telephone set would never get cold. There'd be a line of agents urging whoever was on the phone to wrap up the conversation and give others a chance. If these were salaried sales people, you'd be losing money in buckets. If they were commissioned sales people, the ranks would soon thin out from a steady stream of resignations.
Obviously you want to manage the productivity of your scarce resource, which is the skilled sales agent. You'd give them each a phone and perhaps both a desk phone and a cell phone. How about the number of outgoing phone lines? You'd install enough lines that there would rarely, if ever, be a busy signal.
This is an easy example because there is a clear connection between sales agents being able to make phone calls and the amount of revenue the company generates. It's also generally acknowledged that high producing agents are far more expensive than telephones and phone lines. But what about other employees? Does this analogy translate to other activities?
Of course it does. It's just when you have dozens or hundreds of employees doing all sorts of tasks, it's harder to nail down the cost of lost productivity. You should try, though, because the loss is there just the same. Any time someone has to wait for a file transfer or access to a Web site they need to do their job, you have minutes of productivity vaporizing.
Multitask, you say? Sure, people do that all the time. If they know that it takes 15 minutes to download a particularly large image file, they might do something else while they wait. But what if it takes 15 seconds? Chances are they'll sit back and relax or converse with someone at the next desk. Worst of all, what if your network performance is so variable that you have no idea if you'll get that file in 15 seconds or 15 minutes? Do you start another task only to be immediately interrupted or cool your heels only to find that you're doing nothing for the better part of most hours?
The problem is probably more insidious because these are extreme examples. In most cases, the wasted time is probably more like seconds than minutes per task. But multiply that lost time by the number of employees every day for a month and you might be surprised by how much it costs. Now, compare that cost to what you are spending on bandwidth per month and see if your telecom bill still looks outrageous.
To go a step further, consider how much more you might accomplish as an organization with more sophisticated tools that are also more dependent on Internet or cloud network connectivity. It's a tradeoff between the cost of automation plus ongoing bandwidth & maintenance charges versus the cost of bodies in seats to accomplish the same thing. It makes no difference if your bandwidth costs are a few hundred dollars a month, a few thousand or tens of thousands. It's what you are accomplishing for the money spent that counts.
Now, as promised, I'll let you in on a little secret about the cost of bandwidth. It's not the same for everyone. Pick out 10 companies, each with a T1 line or an OC3 fiber optic service, and you'll find they're paying 10 different lease prices. Why? Partly this due to the fact that the price of bandwidth is always changing but line leases are for a fixed time period. You also pay less if you sign a 3 year lease than if you hedge your bets and only commit to a 1 year lease. But the biggest cost differences come from what type of bandwidth service you order and who you buy it from. This can result in a factor of 2x or more in the cost of the same Mbps from one company to another.
How can you be sure you are getting the best rate on your voice or data bandwidth services? More competition is better, sousing a broker who has relationships with dozens of service providers helps insure that you didn't miss a big price break because you only got quotes from one or two carriers.
Also be sure that you compare all means of connectivity appropriate to yourbusiness. Did you know that you can get twice the bandwidth for the same money if you order Ethernet over Copper versus T1? They're both professional grade telecom services, but one is cheaper than the other if it's available for your location. There are copper, fiber and wireless options available for most businesses. Some services offer broadband and telephone on the same connection for a cost savings.


The New Prague High School boys hockey team was tagged with a pair of Wright County Conference losses last week. The Trojans lost to Orono 3-1 and to Mound Westonka 4-0.
New Prague has lost four in a row and five of its last six to drop to 6-9-1 on the season. The Trojans were scheduled to face Litchfield/ Dassel-Cokato on Tuesday, Jan. 15, and will host Delano on Friday, Jan. 18. They play Holy Family Catholic at home on Tuesday, Jan. 22.
Spartans 3, Trojans 1 New Prague and Orono faced off in New Prague on Tuesday, Jan. 8, with the Spartans going home with a 3-1 win.
Orono got the game's first goal at 4:26 of the first period, then added another late in the second to take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.
New Prague got on the board at 4:41 of the third on a goal by Carson Davis, assisted by Ethan Marek. The Trojans continued to attack, but couldn't tie the game and Orono scored an empty net goal in the final minute to make it a 3-1 game.


text:
Q: yii2 PHP Sessions stopped working (was working before, no code/composer updates) PLease note: this is NOT a csrf issue - it was working until a few days (CSRF enabled, which for security it should be).
This morning I noticed I couldn't log in to my site. Or rather, I could log in but not visit any authentication-required page (it would simply redirect to homepage).
Then after some investigation, found there to be 16million files in /var/lib/php/sessions, which I figured might be the issue. So I deleted all those files.
(rm'ed the sessions folder, which took a while, and recreated it with same permissions, basically following steps here: https://serverfault.com/a/1046464/382503)
Now, when trying to log in to the site, getting error: Unable to verify data submission.
so I added the code to disable the CSRF:
public function beforeAction($action)
    {
        $this->enableCsrfValidation = false;

        return parent::beforeAction($action);
    }

and deployed. Restarted entire VPS, plus apache2...
Now when I try and log in, it doesn't log me in at all (not getting 'couldn't verify submission' anymore though), simply goes to homepage...no output in any apache log files nor app.log ...
Clutching at straws here as to what to do ...
Any help much appreciated
Update:
I have set the sessions folder to chgrp and chown www-data, and chmod-ed it to 777, so it should definitely be writable:
[20:15:35][root@vps12345:/var/lib/php]#ls -l
total 236
drwxr-xr-x 2 root     root       4096 Feb  7 11:34 emptydir
drwxr-xr-x 4 root     root       4096 Apr  8  2019 modules
drwxrwxrwx 2 www-data www-data 229376 Feb  7 20:15 sessions

Also, it seems session files ARE being written to the folder:
[20:17:33][root@vps12345:/var/lib/php/sessions]#ls -l | wc
   4189   37694  339240

When I delete all files in the folder, and attempt to log in again (still getting same issue, won't log me in):
[20:19:13][root@vps12345:/var/lib/php/sessions]#ls -l
total 12
-rw------- 1 www-data www-data 23 Feb  7 20:19 sess_9gu45ng49mem7934e8qcap5rr4
-rw------- 1 www-data www-data 14 Feb  7 20:19 sess_aog85dp6ovrpn3hq2l14a46nms
-rw------- 1 www-data www-data 14 Feb  7 20:19 sess_r18rb7b72a97ku9dv19p1v3js3

Update 2:
OK, on inspecting the contents of the the session files, it seems its only flash-related stuff (nothing with login session details):
[20:32:48][root@vps12345:/var/lib/php/sessions]#for x in $(find . -type f); do cat $x; echo ""; done
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:1:{s:5:"error";i:-1;}error|s:27:"Service category not found.";
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}__id|i:7;
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:1:{s:5:"error";i:-1;}error|s:27:"Service category not found.";
__flash|a:0:{}
__flash|a:0:{}__id|i:69079;
__flash|a:0:{}

Update 3:
OK, I've enabled DB for session storage (https://www.yiiframework.com/doc/guide/2.0/en/runtime-sessions-cookies#custom-session-storage) and the problem is still there so looks like not a file-writing/permission issue
Update 4:
OK getting desperate here! None of my site users can log in, this is a disaster for the site :(
Absolutely no code was changed in the last few months. No composer commands have been run. No crons do anything session related.
In fact the only change is that I integrated with Ezoic Inc (ads provider). During setup I had to give them access to my CloudFlare username and password so they can access my CloudFlare API key (very scary). Perhaps it's a coincidence ... I don't know.
There's definitely some kind of caching going on too but I don't know if this will affect anything with sessions:
public function actionLogin()
{
   die('here'); // this line only comes into effect on POST requests

   //rest of login processing code...

}

A: OK, finally got issue resolved.
Turns out this was Ezoic cloudflare integration causing havoc with my sessions (not saying Ezoic is bad, they seem to have a good product - just need to figure out how to work around this issue).
As soon as CF Integration was removed (in my Ezoic admin area) login started working again...


text:
Topanga Canyon
MAGA Crimes
On the Industry
St. John's Confidential File
Theatrical Musings
Gardening With Tony
Secret Summers
Labor Week
Not Fake News
Toni Says Medicare
Publish DBA
Canyon News
Photo of Ryan Whitaker, who was shot and killed by Phoenix police. (courtesy of Heavy.com)
Noise Complaint Results In Death Of Arizona Man
AMERICA—Ryan Whitaker, a 40-year-old resident of Ahwatukee, Arizona, was gunned down inside his house by uniformed police officers on May 21, after they were dispatched to the area, due to a noise complaint from a neighbor.
Ryan, who was a gun owner, approached his front door with a 9mm handgun, in an attempt to protect himself, after hearing similar knocking noises earlier in the week. When he answered the door, police yelled out "hands!" as he was getting on his knees, then he was shot twice in the back and killed.
Officer Jeff Cooke was the one who fired on Ryan, killing him, while his partner Officer John Ferragamo did not discharge his weapon. Police body cam footage, which was released to the public almost two months later, showed the officers were standing on both sides of the door, so as to not be seen through the peephole.
According to Matthew Cunningham, the family's lawyer, Ryan did not fire his weapon, and was putting it down right before he was shot. Ryan's girlfriend, Brandee Nees, who was in the house with him, asked why he was shot afterwards, and Officer Cooke replied, "He pulled a gun on us, ma'am."
The Phoenix Police Department stated that Officer Cooke chose to fire his weapon, because he believed his life was "in imminent danger."
Officers did not attempt to give Ryan aid, as he laid on the ground following the shooting, also not allowing Brandee to go up to him to see if he's okay. The body cam footage showed one of the officers putting a gun on Ryan, as he laid on the ground, and the other officer talking to his girlfriend.
During a vigil for Ryan in May, his friend Tim Sevela stated, "I don't know what he could've done to threaten a police officer because he would never do it. He would've told everyone that's the wrong thing to do."
Ryan's family has started an online petition to have the officers responsible arrested and also put together a Facebook page titled "Justice for Ryan Whitaker."
noise complaint
Phoenix Police Department
Previous articleJenson Button's Mansion For Sale
Next articleSMMUSD Announces MOU With Teachers For Distanced Learning
Kevin is a graduate of San Francisco State University, where he majored in Broadcast Journalism.
Facebook Instagram Tumblr Twitter
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And His Legacy
Fighting Against Insanity
Ray Vega, Owner Of Casa Vega, Dies At Age 85
Volunteer Librarian Kathy Sullivan Dies
Canyon News is always open... Reach us on Whatsapp!


Entertainment Licences are issued by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 1985.
It applies to private functions and any events admitting members of the public where a charge is being made.
You also need a licence to stage open air music events on private land.
Educational institutions and licensed cinemas are also exempt.
The table below shows the fees for an indoor entertainment licence.
Please see the link below to the entertainment licence application pack for details of fees for outdoor licences.
Premises that require an entertainment licence must apply, in writing, to the council, using the application form provided (see bottom of this page).
An applicant must, no later than seven days after the date of application, give public notice by placing an advert in a local newspaper, allowing 28 days for any objections to be made. Public notices are not required for applications for a 14-day occasional licence made by schools, church halls, voluntary organisations or charities.
Copies of the application will be sent to the PSNI and NIFRS for consultation purposes. Their comments will be also taken into when deciding whether or not a licence should be granted.
All premises will be inspected by a council licencing officer to ensure compliance with licencing conditions are met.
Applicants will be notified within 10 working days of any Council decision in respect of the application.
Tacit approval does NOT apply to entertainment licence applications and you should not consider your licence granted until you receive formal confirmation from us.