The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. [Speech, “Where Do We Go From Here?” by Martin Luther King, Jr. made to the Tenth Anniversary Convention of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C) in Atlanta on August 16, 1967. Dr. King projected in it the issues which led to Poor People’s March on Washington. From Foner, Philip S., The Voice of Black America: New York, 1972.] A nation that will keep people in slavery for 244 years will “thingify” them and make them things. And therefore, they will exploit them and poor people generally economically. And a nation that will exploit economically will have to have foreign investments and everything else, and it will have to use its military might to protect them. All of these problems are tied together. What I’m saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, “America, you must be born again! . . .[ Ibid .] What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. . . . [ Ibid .] Another basic challenge is to discover how to organize our strength in terms of economic and political power. [Ibid.] Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change. Walter Reuther defined power one day. He said, “Power is the ability of a labor union like the U.A.W. to make the most powerful corporation in the world, General Motors, say ‘Yes’ when it wants to say ‘No.’ That’s power.” [Ibid.] Now a lot of us are preachers, and all of us have our moral convictions and concerns, and so often have problems with power. There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. [Ibid.] [A] host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from widespread economic security. The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands, when he has the means to seek self-improvement. Personal conflicts among husbands, wives and children will diminish when the unjust measurement of human worth on the scale of dollars is eliminated. [Ibid.] [T]he Movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, “Why are there forty million poor people in America?” And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life’s market place. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, “Who owns the oil?” You begin to ask the question, “Who owns the iron ore?” [Ibid.] One night, a juror came to Jesus and he wanted to know what he could do to be saved. Jesus didn’t get bogged down in the kind of isolated approach of what he shouldn’t do. Jesus didn’t say, “Now Nicodemus, you must stop lying.” He didn’t say, “Nicodemus, you must stop cheating if you are doing that.” He didn’t say, “Nicodemus, you must not commit adultery.” He didn’t say, “Nicodemus, now you must stop drinking liquor if you are doing that excessively.” He said something altogether different, because Jesus realized something basic – that if a man will lie, he will steal. And if a man will steal, he will kill. So instead of just getting bogged down in one thing, Jesus looked at him and said, “Nicodemus, you must be born again.” He said, in other words, “Your whole structure must be changed.” A nation that will keep people in slavery for 244 years will “thingify” them — make them things. Therefore they will exploit them, and poor people generally, economically. And a nation that will exploit economically will have to have foreign investments and everything else, and will have to use its military might to protect them. All of these problems are tied together. What I am saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, “America, you must be born again!” [Ibid.] [L]et us go out with a “divine dissatisfaction.” Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort and the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. Let us be dissatisfied until those that live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security. Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family is living in a decent sanitary home. Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality, integrated education. Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity. Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character and not on the basis of the color of their skin. Let us be dissatisfied. Let us be dissatisfied until every state capitol houses a governor who will do justly, who will love mercy and who will walk humbly with his God. Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. Let us be dissatisfied until that day when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together. and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid. Let us be dissatisfied. And men will recognize that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout “White Power!” — when nobody will shout “Black Power!” — but everybody will talk about God’s power and human power. [Ibid.]
May we not find a great truth in the very position in which God placed His chosen people? It certainly teaches us that to be holy, or sanctified, we must be a separate people--living in the world, but not of it--as oil, that may be mixed, but cannot be combined with water.--_Guthrie._
Truth may be stretched, but cannot be broken, and always gets above falsehood, as oil does above water.
To make them run easily and swiftly, the axles of carriages are anointed; and for much the same purpose, some whalers perform an analogous operation upon their boat; they grease the bottom. Nor is it to be doubted that as such a procedure can do no harm, it may possibly be of no contemptible advantage; considering that oil and water are hostile; that oil is a sliding thing, and that the object in view is to make the boat slide bravely. Queequeg believed strongly in anointing his boat, and one morning not long after the German ship Jungfrau disappeared, took more than customary pains in that occupation; crawling under its bottom, where it hung over the side, and rubbing in the unctuousness as though diligently seeking to insure a crop of hair from the craft's bald keel. He seemed to be working in obedience to some particular presentiment. Nor did it remain unwarranted by the event.
The first process in the manufacture of jute is termed batching. Batch setting is the first part of this operation; it consists of selecting the different kinds or qualities of jute for any predetermined kind of yarn. The number of bales for a batch seldom exceeds twelve, indeed it is generally about six, and of these there may be three, four or even more varieties or marks. The "streaks"[1] or "heads" of jute as they come from the bale are in a hard condition in consequence of having been subjected to a high hydraulic pressure during baling; it is therefore necessary to soften them before any further process is entered. The streaks are sometimes partly softened or crushed by means of a steam hammer during the process of opening the bale, then taken to the "strikers-up" where the different varieties are selected and hung on pins, and then taken to the jute softening machine. The more general practice, however, is to employ what is termed a "bale opener," or "jute crusher." The essential parts of one type of bale opener are three specially shaped rollers, the peripheries of which contain a number of small knobs. Two of these rollers are supported in the same horizontal plane of the framework, while the third or top roller is kept in close contact by means of weights and springs acting on each end of the arbor. Another type of machine termed the three pair roller jute opener is illustrated in fig. 3. The layers from the different bales are laid upon the feed cloth which carries them up to the rollers, between which the layers are crushed and partly separated. The proximity of the weighted roller or rollers to the fixed ones depends upon the thickness of material passing through the machine. The fibre is delivered by what is called the delivery cloth, and the batcher usually selects small streaks of about 1½ lb. to 2 lb. weight each and passes them on to the attendant or feeder of the softening machine. These small streaks are now laid as regularly as possible upon the feed-cloth of the softening machine, a general view of which is shown in fig. 4. The fibre passes between a series of fluted rollers, each pair of which is kept in contact by spiral springs as shown in the figure. The standard number of pairs is sixty-three, but different lengths obtain. There is also a difference in the structure of the flutes, some being straight, and others spiral, and each pair may or may not contain the same number of flutes. The springs allow the top rollers of each pair to rise as the material passes through the machine. Advantage is taken of this slight upward and downward movement of the top rollers to automatically regulate the flow of water and oil upon the material. The apparatus for this function is placed immediately over the 11th and 12th rollers of the softening machine and an idea of its construction may be gathered from fig. 5. In many cases the water and oil are applied by less automatic, but equally effective, means. The main object is to see that the liquids are distributed evenly while the fibre is passing through, and to stop the supply when the machine stops or when no fibre is passing. The uniform moistening of the fibre in this machine facilitates the subsequent operations, indeed the introduction of this preliminary process (originally by hand) constituted the first important step in the practical solution of the difficulties of jute spinning. The relative quantities of oil and water depend upon the quality of the batch. Sometimes both whale and mineral oils are used, but in most cases the whale oil is omitted. About 1 to 1¼ gallons of oil is the usual amount given per bale of 400 lb. of jute, while the quantity of water per bale varies from 3 to 7 gallons. The delivery attendants remove the streaks, give them a twist to facilitate future handling, and place them on what are termed jute barrows. The streaks are now handed over to the cutters who cut off the roots, and finally the material is allowed to remain for twelve to twenty-four hours to allow the mixture of oil and water to thoroughly spread over the fibre. Entry: A
GREGORY, EDWARD JOHN (1850-1909), British painter, born at Southampton, began work at the age of fifteen in the engineer's drawing office of the Peninsular and Oriental Company. Afterwards he studied at South Kensington, and about 1871 entered on a successful career as an illustrator and as an admirable painter in oil and water colour. He was elected associate of the Royal Academy in 1883, academician in 1898, and president of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1898. His work is distinguished by remarkable technical qualities, by exceptional firmness and decision of draughtsmanship and by unusual certainty of handling. His "Marooned," a water colour, is in the National Gallery of British Art. Many of his pictures were shown at Burlington House at the winter exhibition of 1909-1910 after his death in June 1909. Entry: GREGORY
COTMAN, JOHN SELL (1782-1842), English landscape-painter and etcher, son of a well-to-do silk mercer, was born at Norwich on the 16th of May 1782. He showed a talent for art and was sent to London to study, where he became the friend of Turner, T. Girtin and other artists. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1800. In 1807 he went back to Norwich and joined the Norwich Society of Artists, of which in 1811 he became president. In 1825 he was made an associate of the Society of Painters in Water-colours; in 1834 he was appointed drawing-master at King's College, London; and in 1836 he was elected a member of the Institute of British Architects. He died in London on the 24th of July 1842. Cotman's work was not considered of much importance in his own day, and his pictures only procured small prices; but he now ranks as one of the great figures of the Norwich school. He was a fine draughtsman, and a remarkable painter both in oil and water-colour. One of his paintings is in the National Gallery. His fine architectural etchings, published in a series of volumes, the result of tours in Norfolk and Normandy, are valuable records of his interest in archaeology. He married early in life, and had five children, his sons, Miles Edmund (1810-1858) and Joseph John (1814-1878), both becoming landscape-painters of merit; and his younger brother Henry's son, Frederic George Cotman (b. 1850), the water-colour artist, continued the family reputation. Entry: COTMAN
Some Gnostics sprinkled the heads of the dying with oil and water to render them invisible to the powers of darkness; but in the East generally, where the need to compete with the Cathar sacrament of _Consolatio_ was less acutely felt, extreme unction is unknown. The Latinizing Armenians adopted it from Rome in the crusading epoch. At an earlier date, however, it was usual to anoint the dead. Entry: EXTREME
It soon became evident that if a wick were employed the difficulty of getting it perfectly symmetrical was a serious matter, and that it could only be utilized in drawing the oil up to a heating chamber where it could be volatilized to produce the oil gas, which on then being mixed with air would give the non-luminous flame. In the earlier forms of incandescent oil lamps the general idea was to suck the oil up by the capillarity of a circular wick to a point a short distance below the opening of the burner at which the flame was formed, and here the oil was vaporized or gasified by the heat of the head of the burner. An air supply was then drawn up through a tube passing through the centre of the wick-tube, while a second air current was so arranged as to discharge itself almost horizontally upon the burning gas below the cap, in this way giving a non-luminous and very hot flame, which if kept very carefully adjusted afforded excellent results with an incandescent mantle. It was an arrangement somewhat of this character that was introduced by the Welsbach Company. The lamps, however, required such careful attention, and were moreover so irregular in their performance, that they never proved very successful. Many other forms have reached a certain degree of perfection, but have not so far attained sufficient regularity of action to make them commercial successes. One of the most successful was devised by F. Altmann, in which an ingenious arrangement caused the vaporization of oil and water by the heat of a little oil lamp in a lower and separate chamber, and the mixture of oil gas and steam was then burnt in a burner-head with a special arrangement of air supply, heating a mantle suspended above the burner-head. Entry: A
LA FARGE, JOHN (1835-1910), American artist, was born in New York, on the 31st of March 1835, of French parentage. He received instruction in drawing from his grandfather, Binsse de St Victor, a painter of miniatures; studied law and architecture; entered the atelier of Thomas Couture in Paris, where he remained a short time, giving especial attention to the study and copying of old masters at the Louvre; and began by making illustrations to the poets (1859). An intimacy with the artist William M. Hunt had a strong influence on him, the two working together at Newport, Rhode Island. La Farge painted landscape, still life and figure alike in the early sixties. But from 1866 on he was for some time incapacitated for work, and when he regained strength he did some decorative work for Trinity church, Boston, in 1876, and turned his attention to stained glass, becoming president of the Society of Mural Painters. Some of his important commissions include windows for St Thomas's church (1877), St Peter's church, the Paulist church, the Brick church (1882), the churches of the Incarnation (1885) and the Ascension (1887), New York; Trinity church, Buffalo, and the "Battle Window" in Memorial Hall at Harvard; ceilings and windows for the house of Cornelius Vanderbilt, windows for the houses of W. H. Vanderbilt and D. O. Mills, and panels for the house of Whitelaw Reid, New York; panels for the Congressional Library, Washington; Bowdoin College, the Capitol at St Paul, Minn., besides designs for many stained glass windows. He was also a prolific painter in oil and water colour, the latter seen notably in some water-colour sketches, the result of a voyage in the South Seas, shown in 1895. His influence on American art was powerfully exhibited in such men as Augustus St Gaudens, Wilton Lockwood, Francis Lathrop and John Humphreys Johnston. He became president of the Society of American Artists, a member of the National Academy of Design in 1869; an officer of the Legion of Honour of France; and received many medals and decorations. He published _Considerations on Painting_ (New York, 1895), _Hokusai: A Talk about Hokusai_ (New York, 1897), and _An Artist's Letters from Japan_ (New York, 1897). Entry: LA
LANDSEER, SIR EDWIN HENRY (1802-1873), English painter, third son of John Landseer, A.R.A., a well-known engraver and writer on art, was born at 71 Queen Anne Street East (afterwards 33 Foley Street), London, on March 7th 1802. His mother was Miss Potts, who sat to Sir Joshua Reynolds as the reaper with a sheaf of corn on her head, in "Macklin's Family Picture," or "The Gleaners."[1] Edwin Henry Landseer began his artistic education under his father so successfully that in his fifth year he drew fairly well, and was familiar with animal character and passion. Drawings of his, at South Kensington, dated by his father, attest that he drew excellently at eight years of age; at ten he was an admirable draughtsman and his work shows considerable sense of humour. At thirteen he drew a majestic St Bernard dog so finely that his brother Thomas engraved and published the work. At this date (1815) he sent two pictures to the Royal Academy, and was described in the catalogue as "Master E. Landseer, 33 Foley Street." Youth forbade his being reckoned among practising artists, and caused him to be considered as the "Honorary Exhibitor" of "No. 443, Portrait of a Mule," and "No. 584, Portraits of a Pointer Bitch and Puppy." Adopting the advice of B. R. Haydon, he studied the Elgin Marbles, the animals in the Tower of London and Exeter 'Change, and dissected every animal whose carcass he could obtain. In 1816 Landseer was admitted a student of the Royal Academy schools. In 1817 he sent to the Academy a portrait of "Old Brutus," a much-favoured dog, which, as well as its son, another Brutus, often appeared in his later pictures. Even at this date Landseer enjoyed considerable reputation, and had more work than he could readily perform, his renown having been zealously fostered by his father in James Elmes's _Annals of the Fine Arts_. At the Academy he was a diligent student and a favourite of Henry Fuseli's, who would look about the crowded antique school and ask, "Where is my curly-headed dog-boy?" Although his pictures sold easily from the first, the prices he received at this time were comparatively small. In 1818 Landseer sent to the Society of Painters in Oil and Water Colours, which then held its exhibitions in Spring Gardens, his picture of "Fighting Dogs getting Wind." The sale of this work to Sir George Beaumont vastly enhanced the fame of the painter, who soon became "the fashion." This picture illustrates the prime strength of Landseer's earlier style. Unlike the productions of his later life, it displays not an iota of sentiment. Perfectly drawn, solidly and minutely finished, and carefully composed, its execution attested the skill acquired during ten years' studies from nature. Between 1818 and 1825 Landseer did a great deal of work, but on the whole gained little besides facility of technical expression, a greater zest for humour and a larger style. The work of this stage ended with the production of the painting called "The Cat's Paw," which was sent to the British Institution in 1824, and made an enormous sensation. The price obtained for this picture, £100, enabled Landseer to set up for himself in the house No. 1 St John's Wood Road, where he lived nearly fifty years and in which he died. During this period Landseer's principal pictures were "The Cat Disturbed"; "Alpine Mastiffs reanimating a Distressed Traveller," a famous work engraved by his father; "The Ratcatchers"; "Pointers to be"; "The Larder Invaded"; and "Neptune," the head and shoulders of a Newfoundland dog. In 1824 Landseer and C. R. Leslie made a journey to the Highlands--a momentous visit for the former, who thenceforward rarely failed annually to repeat it in search of studies and subjects. Entry: LANDSEER
HUNT, ALFRED WILLIAM (1830-1896), English painter, son of Andrew Hunt, a landscape painter, was born at Liverpool in 1830. He began to paint while at the Liverpool Collegiate School; but as the idea of adopting the artist's profession was not favoured by his father, he went in 1848 to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His career there was distinguished; he won the Newdigate Prize in 1851, and became a Fellow of Corpus in 1858. He did not, however, abandon his artistic practice, for, encouraged by Ruskin, he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1854, and thenceforward regularly contributed landscapes in oil and water-colour to the London and provincial exhibitions. In 1861 he married, gave up his Fellowship, and was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, receiving full membership three years later. His work is distinguished mainly by its exquisite quality and a poetic rendering of atmosphere. Hunt died on 3rd May 1896. Mrs A. W. Hunt (_née_ Margaret Raine) wrote several works of fiction; and one of her daughters, Violet Hunt, is well known as a novelist. Entry: HUNT
A sheet of paper crossed my desk the other day and as I read it, realization of a basic truth came over me. So simple! So obvious we couldn't see it. John Knivlen, Chairman of Polamar Repeater Club, an amateur radio group, had discovered how IC circuits work. He says that smoke is the thing that makes ICs work because every time you let the smoke out of an IC circuit, it stops working. He claims to have verified this with thorough testing. I was flabbergasted! Of course! Smoke makes all things electrical work. Remember the last time smoke escaped from your Lucas voltage regulator Didn't it quit working? I sat and smiled like an idiot as more of the truth dawned. It's the wiring harness that carries the smoke from one device to another in your Mini, MG or Jag. And when the harness springs a leak, it lets the smoke out of everything at once, and then nothing works. The starter motor requires large quantities of smoke to operate properly, and that's why the wire going to it is so large. Feeling very smug, I continued to expand my hypothesis. Why are Lucas electronics more likely to leak than say Bosch? Hmmm... Aha!!! Lucas is British, and all things British leak! British convertible tops leak water, British engines leak oil, British displacer units leak hydrostatic fluid, and I might add Brititsh tires leak air, and the British defense unit leaks secrets... so naturally British electronics leak smoke. -- Jack Banton, PCC Automotive Electrical School [Ummm ... IC circuits? Integrated circuit circuits?]