AGAIN, REMEMBERING...

...Jeannette Aurelia Bullis, who died 32 years ago this month. As in previous years, we quietly honor her memory.

We will again honor her on her next birthday, March 23, 2012, for we prefer to remember the beginning of her physical life and all that followed.

OLD LETTERS

This week volunteers took a look at copies of envelopes that had carried letters from family, friends, and a former comrade-in arms to John Lapham Bullis. Even though these envelopes are over 150 years old, they are still mostly readable, and they bear the addressee's name, date posted, and date received.

There were several small details about these envelopes that caught our interest. First, all of the date stamps record only the month, day, city, and state - no year.  (Wonder why the year wasn't included in the postal stamp, back then...hmmm...do any of you know?) Second, calculating the time between the date posted and date received, in 1868 it took approximately six weeks for a letter to travel from Macedon, New York to Brownsville, Texas. (This time frame is unimaginable to us today.)

We also looked at the contents of these envelopes. Most of the letters were several pages,  thoughtfully written in neat longhand,  the product of more than an hour's effort. (And quite a contrast to the quick text messages and emails we send today in less than a minute, with barely a thought at times.)

So...once again we concluded that we should enjoy, appreciate, and treasure all documents from the past, whatever their source and form. They have messages for us...we simply have to find them.

JOHN LAPHAM BULLIS PRESENTATION

Last Wednesday we had a good turnout when June Hamell shared information she brought back with her from San Antonio in May.  The Q&A session following the presentation showed that attendees found it interesting and were left with wanting more information about this local hero.  Future events are in the planning process, and we will keep you posted.

If you were unable to attend June's presentation and would like to see it, please contact her at MPL. We hope to repeat, and knowing who is interested will help us plan.

RECIPES FOR BLACKSMITHS

Here's two recipes from Dr. Chase's book we talked about last week:

1. "POOR IRON, — To Improve. — Black oxide of manganese 1 part; copper and common salt 4 parts each; dissolve in soft water and boil until dry; when cool pulverize and mix quite freely with nice welding sand.

When you have poor iron which you cannot afford to throw away, heat it and roll it in this mixture, working for a time, re-heating, will soon free it from injury, which is the cause of its rottenness. By this process you can make good horse-nails, even out of only common iron. "

2. "Welding a Small Piece of Iron Upon a Large One, with Only a Light Heat. — It is often desirable

to weld a small bit of iron upon a large bar, when the large piece must be heated equally hot as the small one. To save this: Take borax 1 lb.; red oxide of iron 1 to 2 ozs.; melt them together in a crucible ; and when cold, pulverize it and keep that powder dry for use.

When you want to perform the operation, just bring the large piece to a white heat, having a good welding heat upon the small slip ; take the large one from the fire, and sprinkle some of the powder upon the place, and bring the Other upon it, applying the hammer smartly, and the weld will be as good as could be made with the greater heat without the powder. " 

Do you have any favorite blacksmithing recipes you'd like to share with us? Please leave us a comment or stop by the Bullis Room.

DR. CHASE'S RECIPES, BLACKSMITHING, AND A BEAR

A Bullis Room volunteer reads Dr. Chase's recipe for improving poor iron for use in blacksmithing.

Below is our November 27, 2009 post. This week we took another look at that entry after we attended a Friends of Macedon Public Library blacksmithing presentation on Wednesday by two members of the New York State Designer Blacksmiths. They gave us the fascinating history of blacksmithing and brought us up to date on the current status of this craft. Afterwards, they asked if the Bullis collection had any books on the subject. Dr. Chase's book soon came to mind, and we're looking for others. In the meantime, we're zeroing in on blacksmithing recipes in this little book in order to share them with anyone interested.  We'll post some of them with you in next week. For now, perhaps you'd like to refresh your memory about this fun-to-read Bullis book.

"This little blue-covered book, which measures about 4 by 7 inches, is almost hidden by the thicker, taller medical tomes on the shelf. But it contains what must have been useful information in its day, proving that good things really do come in small packages.

Published in 1872 by R.A. Beal, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dr. Chase's Recipes; or, Information for Everybody; An Invaluable Collection of About Eight Hundred Practical Recipes instructs merchants, grocers, saloon keepers, housekeepers, physicians, druggists, barbers, bakers, and farmers how to make apple pie, an ague cure, deer skin tanning solution, a chronic rheumatism cure, washing fluid (saving half the wash-board labor), a Good Samaritan liniment, and 794 more concoctions. (Whew!)

Our copy is the 73rd edition and states that 730,000 copies (at $1.25 each) had been sold at that time, leading the author to the conclude that a good many folk recognized the value of so much handy information packed into one volume. Today, we may find many of these recipes outdated, but they still make entertaining reading. We recommend you spend some time with Dr. Chase's little blue book."

MARGARET MITCHELL, MARK TWAIN...

...are but two of an impressive list of famous authors who have had their books banned at some time, in various parts of the world and for various reasons.

Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) and Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain) as well as Anna Sewell's Black Beauty,  Charles Darwin's Origin of Species and Shakespear's The Merchant of Venice have at one time been forbidden reading. We can also add to the list the Holy Bible and the Quran.  Copies of all these books are a part of this collection.

We invite you to stop by the display case outside the Bullis Room to see some of the Bullis books that were banned.    Perhaps you'll go away with an enhanced appreciation of these books. (We did.)

BANNED BOOKS

Does the Bullis Collection contain banned books?  For some of us volunteers, our first answer to this questions was, "Surely not." But we were wrong.

There's an impressive number of banned books among the books on the shelves here in the Bullis Room. And some of them will be on display in the case outside the room.

So stop by and take a look.  You might be surprised, like we were.

(We'll post some of the banned titles, next week.)