Sentinel of the Century

A Hot time in the Old Town Tonight

2010-04-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

Well today was one that started WAY to early for me, (1:30am to be exact) But, it was well worth it. Because today was the 104th anniversary of The Great SanFrancisco Earthquake and Fire. My father and I were off to The City by 3:30am to prep the fire hydrante at 20th and Church Sts. (more on that later) and down to Lotta's Fountian at 3rd and Market Street before 4:30am for the commoration at exactly 5:13am. There was quite a turn out of people this morning, most likly due to the fact it was a Sunday. But never the less, it was nice to see so many people there to remember.

And we were joind by one living memory, William "Bill" Del Monte, at 104 1/2 was brought to the sence by police escort and treated with all the respect and reverance one would exspect, given he's one of the few remaining survivors of the great castrophy.

Once the cermony finished there, we all headed to 20th and Church to paint the fire hydrant gold. For those of you who don't know this story. This fire plug was the only one in the intire city that never stopped working and helped to save a substaincual part of the Mission District in April of 1906. Bill gave it a go first followed by the Fire Cheif and members of the SFFD brass. It was then openned to everyone. Many with personal stories or family history from the period regailed the very large crowd of on-lookers as they deticated their turn to famliy members now long gone.

We finished the morning as tradition dictates, with a breakfast at Lefty O'Doul's on Geary Street off of Union Square. And as the the rest of the City seamed to just be waking up, my father and I finished the morning back at 20th and Church cleaning up alittle and talking with passers by about a day that will live forever in the hearts and minds of the people, of the City by the Bay.

After much ado about nothing...

2010-04-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't died, fallen of the face of the Earth or been imprisoned. (I'm sure atleast, on the last one) What has keeped me from this little slice of the internet has been life in general. Or more to the point, the ups and downs that life tends to throw you in ones or twos or several dozen, as it has been my exsperiance as of late. So, as it's been more than a year, (Yes kind reader a YEAR!?) I pleadge to take better care and actually post to this space in a more timely fashion. So, please do find in the coming weeks more substance here. Yours, most cogially-Sentinel of the Century

A picture is worth a thousand words

2009-03-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

The resent discovery of what may be the last photograph of President Abraham Lincoln dated, March 1865 itself is quite the find. But what is more interesting is the revelation that it may also be the first photo ever of a seated U.S. president standing in front of the most iconic house in the free world. The photo was discovered in a album, originally belonging to the family of Gen. Ulysses Samuel Grant. You can find the full story by following this link http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_re_us/lincoln_photograph_uncovered

In quest of rank...also know as what the heck was I thinking!

2009-03-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

As some of you might be wondering, what is this "rank" that the Sentinel is wearing? Well, I'm about to tell you a rather challenging and frustrating story, which, believe it or not, has a happy ending. Late in 2005, with the centennial anniversary of the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 fast approaching, I began looking around for appropriate persona to play for the expected festivities. I thought it was important that I be there, I am a 5th generation San Franciscan. My family survived the catastrophe and helped in the rebuilding of the city.

I had stumbled across a picture a few years earlier of a group of soldiers in the Persidio of San Francisco from c. 1904. These "Electrical sergeants" were some of the first technical specialist in the U.S. Army. They were electricians in civilian life who were encouraged to join the Army with high pay and rank. Because, you see the Army needed their "special skills". The late 19th century found the Army in a processes of modernization, particularly in the area of coastal defenses. With the advent of bigger, more powerful guns, came the need for electric hoists to lift the increasingly heavier shells. Electric lights for the powder and shell rooms, searchlights to illuminate targets at night, etc.

As I am an electrician, I figured taking on the persona of one of these, "Electric Sentinels" would be easy. I can "Walk the walk and talk the talk." The uniform itself was easy, readily available tailor made uniforms can be had. The insignia, now that was an equine of a completely different hue...

The Readers Digest version of this story is much easier to follow and not mind numbingly long. So, to hit the important points. There were no originals available for reference or to wear. In the later case they would be to fragile as well as cost prohibiting to go this route. So, all there was to do was make them myself. Hah! How naive I was. The adventure began with the collection of any reference I could find. Including the original Quartermaster description of the insignia. With my fathers help we began essentially as the first designers did. By throwing the arcs required for the stripes. This created a full sized image to make a positive from. The five lightening bolts however were alittle more difficult. I used an original german silver"overlay", originally used to denote specialist rank on the 1885 dress helmets. This was a inch and an eighth representation of forked lightening. Applied to graph paper and simple scanned into the computer were it was blow up to what looked like right size. This image was then printed and cut out, with some minor adjusting of the size, it was used to create a positive in "ruby lith" (clear asitate film with a semi-transparent red overlay) Both images were scanned into a computer and digitized. This information was used as the pattern to run a computer driven embroidery machine. taking roughly 10,000 individual stitches to complete one insignia. From start to finish it took 6 months of leg work and research to complete this project.

Mobius illumina

2009-03-03T23:11:00.000-08:00

36inch arc searchlight on cantilever arm

3 cylinder jug engine provided power for the set

This was probably the first purpose built set used by the U.S. Army c.1900. Unlike the first mobile sets built from modified fire apparatus. Once I figure out a good way to scan those pictures, with out harming the book there printed in I will post them.

World War 2 era searchlight

2009-03-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

After my visit to Ft. MacArthur in San Pedro I'm again looking into the earliest use of carbon arc searchlights by the U.S. Army. I know that the Army had 6 portable searchlight sets on order at the beginning of the Spanish American War. These consisted of two horse drawn wagons, that appear to be modified fire fighting apparatus. This idea is confirmed by a photograph of the generator set mounted on a steam fire engine, similar to apparatus built by American La France. I found these photos in the Army handbook c.1900 " for the use of electricians, in the operation and care of Electrical Machinery and Apparatus of the U.S. Seacoast Defences" photos to follow later. Sometime later, after 1904 the Army switched to a gas engine to supply power to the 36' searchlight.

Stories don't always begin at the beginning...

2009-03-02T21:51:00.001-08:00

Hello to you all,

As this is my first venture in to the world of blogging I thought I'ld start with a little background. I'm fascinated by all things technological and scientific in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These include early use of electricity and steam power, strange inventions and eccentric fellows. So, needless to say, you'll find me delving into all sorts of odd and sometimes off the wall areas of interest. I hope you enjoy...