THE BRIDGE IS OPEN!!!

The bridge over the canal at Canandaigua Road in Macedon opened to traffic yesterday.  The previous bridge was closed in 2010, so for local residents and commuters who can now travel a more direct route to and from the village, this is cause for a BIG celebration.  (Especially so since the new bridge's two lanes have eliminated the need to wait your turn to cross the previous one-lane.)

This bridge is just a bit north of the Bullis house, and the previous structure (built in 1912) was used a great deal by the Bullis family as well as other Macedon residents. Nettie Bullis herself probably drove across that bridge on work days to her job at Gleason Works.  So if she was with us today, what would be Ms. Bullis's reaction to the new bridge? Hmmm ...

Due to the Bullis Family frugality,  we can speculate that Nettie Bullis  may well have thought that, although the new bridge is a big improvement, that the original bridge was good enough ...  that it served her and other drivers quite well.  However, being a strong community supporter,  Ms. Bullis might also have thought that a new structure was safer and thus justified. So as we drive over the new bridge in the days and weeks to come, let's silently celebrate the new structure, the tax dollars that  made it possible, and strong community supporters, like the Bullis Family.

THE SPIRITS OF THE BULLIS ROOM

With Halloween "just around the corner," volunteers this week looked for books on spirits in the Bullis Collection. Here are three of several that they found:

Click on photo to read

Spirit Rapping Unveiled! An Expose of the Origin, History, 

Theology and Philosophy of Certain Alleged Communications from the Spirit World,

by means of "spirit rapping," "medium writing," "physical demonstrations," etc.

By Hiram Mattison (1811-1868)

Published by Mason Bros., New York, 1853

Currently in display case

Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World

By Robert Dale Owen (1801-1877)

Published by J. B. Lippincott & Co, Philadelphia, 1860

The Widow's Mite and Other Psychic Phenomena

By Isaac K. Funk (Isaac Kaufman Funk) (1839-1912)

Currently in display case

Published by Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York, 1904

Sooo ... we suggest you stop by the Bullis Room and spend some time with these books (and any others you find of interest). And next week we'll have another list for you. (And that's a promise!)

STUDYING THE STARS

Today,  Star Trek fans around the world are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the series. Fifty years ... half a century ...  very impressive.

The Bullis Collection has a book that you Star Trek fans out there might also find impressive. (At least, some of our Bullis volunteers who are also Star Trek fans have "oohed" and "ahhed" while looking at the maps and diagrams.)

A New Star Atlas for the Library, the School,

and the Observatory in Twelve Circular Maps:

Intended as a companion to 

'Webb's Cellestial Objects for Common Telescopes'

by Richard Anthony Proctor

Published in London by Longmans Green,  in 1881

The Star Trek series (according to several sources) reflects the fictional universe in the 23 or 24th century, over 200 years in the future. Proctor's book, with its charts, maps and diagrams, shows the universe as understood 135 years in the past.  Comparing the Star Trek universe, the 1881 view, and our current knowledge of the skies is interesting, to say the least.

So we suggest you add A New Star Atlas ...  to your "must stop by the Bullis Room and look through these books" list, and plan to do that soon.

WOOD

If any of the Macedon Bullises had been living at the time of the first Lumberjack Festival, they surely would have  been involved in some way, because they were known for their community  loyalty. No, they probably wouldn't have competed in the various events, but perhaps they would have shown their support by their attendance  or by sponsoring an event. They might even have offered some of the trees from their property to be used for the competitions. And this latter is where we drew a connection with the local festival and the Bullis family because there are several books on trees and wood in the Bullis Collection.

If you are also interested in this subject,  you'll want to look through these books that are on the shelves here in the Bullis Room:

Wood Preservation in the United States

by W. F. (William Forsythe) Sherfesee

Published by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C., 1909

Timber: An Elementary Discussion of the

Characteristics and Properties of Wood

by Filibert Roth

Published by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forestry Division,

Washington D.C., 1895

Formulas and Tables for Architects and Engineers

in Calculating the Strains and Capacity of Structures in Iron and Wood

by Franz Schumann

Published by W. Choate & Co., Washington City, 1873

Strength Values for Structural Timbers

by McGarvey Cline

Published by U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1912

So ... the next time you're in the library, consider spending some time with these books - or some others - in the Bullis Room.