News From Fort Schuyler
May 24, 2002 - Volume 6, No. 18
SLOCUM VICTIMS TO BE REMEMBERED - According to a press release from FRANK
DUFFY, Maritime Industry Museum Executive Vice President, the museum will
join with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation for the 98th Annual
GENERAL SLOCUM Memorial Ceremony on Saturday, June 15. "The excursion
steamer GENERAL SLOCUM burned in the East River on June 15, 1904 with the
loss of some 1200 passengers. The disaster was the largest fire fatality in
New York City history until 9/11 and the World Trade Center and the second
worst inland waters disaster in the nation's history. The [10:30 AM]
ceremony will be held in Tompkins Square Park, in Manhattan, East 9th Street
and Avenue B, by the Slocum Memorial Fountain."
AMERICAN WANDERER - Cross-country bicyclist, BOB LANG, Class of 1958,
condensed his 44-day ride for NFFS: "I, along with 22 others, arrived in
Brunswick Georgia on bicycle [on May 12] after leaving Carlsbad, California
on March 30. A police escort led us to the Atlantic Ocean on St. Simons
Island. It was a fantastic trip and the 2,453.2 mile ride was completed
without a drop of rain. So, other than 102 degree desert heat, 9 mile climbs
up mountains, 9 days of serious head winds in Texas and 2 days of riding in
smoke filled air (Okefenokee Swamp was on fire), it was smooth biking. We
had one accident when a biker ran into another biker who was fixing a flat
and resulted in a trip to the hospital and an end to her trip. One close
call with a rattlesnake in the desert in Arizona when a biker was struck in
the sandal and missed his leg by an inch."
"Why cross the USA by bike one might ask ? This is a wonderful country
and the American people are fantastic, caring, helpful and generous. The
trip gave me an opportunity to chat with 'the locals' and learn more about
this great country and its inhabitants. What's next ? Good question, but I'm
confident it will be exciting and challenging !" [Hats off to one of
Schuyler's more active retirees. He always puts his best foot forward. There
is more information on these do-it-yourself tours at
http://www.wanderingwheels.org]
CALL ME HERMAN - The second volume of Hershel Parker's monumental biography
of Herman Melville (who is described as the "first American literary sex
symbol") came out May 22 under the imprint of Johns Hopkins University
Press. This concluding volume deals with Melville's difficult years in New
York, where he worked at the Customs House, made frequent visits to his
brother, Thomas (who was the governor of Sailor's Snug Harbor), and slowly
slipped into literary obscurity. In researching this volume, Dr. Parker
reviewed many documents contained in the Luce Library's Sailors Snug Harbor
Archive. According to the publisher: "Through prodigious archival research
into hundreds of family letters and diary entries, newly discovered
newspaper articles, and marginalia from books that Melville owned, Parker
vividly recreates the last four decades of Melville's life, episode after
episode unknown to previous biographers." For the full story go to the
publisher's website at
http://www.press.jhu.edu/press/books/titles/parker/preface.htm or visit your
local bookstore.
TRAINING SHIP SETS SAIL - Fort Schuyler parent, MIKE WILLS, father of SEAN
WILLS, Class of 2003, has posted an online album of the 17 May preparation
and 18 May departure of EMPIRE STATE VI on Summer Sea Term 2002. Go to
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291806315&code=2826101&mode=invite.
To view the album, you will need to enter a password in lower case -
"maritime11" (that is the number "11", not the letters "LL".) SEAN, an
engineering major, is making his First Class cruise as the Refrigeration
Rate.
FOLLOW ALONG - Check http://www.sunymaritime.edu for the links to the
Summer Sea Term 2002. There already are many messages from parents and
friends of the college posted to shipboard personnel. In addition the ship'
s Master, CAPT. RICHARD S. SMITH ,Class of 1981, has already posted the
first entry on the online cruise log, "Departure." Photographs and cruise
reports probably will be posted following EMPIRE STATE VI's arrival at the
first port, New Orleans, on 25 May.
OLD CRUISES COUNT TOO - A heads up from CAPT JOHN INGRAM, USNR (ret), Class
of 1964 - "NOW HEAR THIS: Naval Reservists who have completed 20
satisfactory years of Naval Reserve service are entitled to retirement
points for their Summer Sea Training Cruises. They must obtain a certified
copy of their transcript from the College which shows the actual dates of
each cruise and then send to: CO NRPC 4400 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA
70149-7800, Attn: ACCREDITATION, requesting the additional points. There is
no special form, just letter and satisfactory proof of sea service for the
training cruises."
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