Peace is Possible -- October 7, 2024

afsc.org

A year after Hamas invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip, murdering about 325 people and kidnapping about 240, Israel is still attacking Gaza. Israel has just sent ground troops into southern Lebanon to attack Hezbollah which has been firing rockets and missiles into northern Israel. More than 40,000 Gazans have died. Most of them had nothing to do with Hamas. This has to stop.

Feast of Saint Francis, 2024 -- October 4, 2024

Today is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. I took the photo at Saint Veronica's parish in South San Francisco on 24-February-2019.

"Lord make me an instrument of your peace;

Where there is hatred let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

"O divine master grant that I may

Not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life."

Harvey Kurtzman 100 -- October 3, 2024

coverbrowser.com

Cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman was born 100 years ago today, on 02-October-1924. He was the creator and first editor of Mad Magazine. 

October 2024 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- October 1, 2024

I just put the October 2024 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:

http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:

1. Picture of the Month: This portion of an ad for the Kelley Steiger and Company clothing store at Dodge and Fourteenth Steets, says that "Parties from out of town will find it convenient to take the Dodge Street line of cable cars, which run directly by our store, stopping at the post office." (source: Omaha Daily Bee, 08-January-1888).
2. On the Other Cities page: A ten year update about the Cable Tramway Company of Omaha, including several contemporary newspaper items
3. On the More Muni Photos page: Muni's 2024 Heritage Weekend
4. Added News item about Powell Street cars turning back because of a police action at the Powell Street station

Ten years ago this month (October 2014):

1. Picture of the Month: New Orleans Canal Street streetcar 2018 outbound at Royal Street in July, 2014.
2. On the Miscellany page: General Beauregard's Cable Car, a new article about an experimental line in New Orleans. Includes lots of photos of streetcars and other items of interest from my recent visit to the Crescent City
3. On the Who page and the News: The passing of economist and cable car historian George W Hilton
4. On the Horse Car Home Page: We visited History Park at Kelley Park in San Jose and saw Central Railroad 7, an 1863 San Francisco horse car built in New York by John Stephenson and shipped around the Horn.

Twenty years ago this month (October 2004):

1. Picture of the Month: The header of a Rider Alert card issued during the 2002 Powell/Market Turntable Replacement. The other side was in English. The Bay/Taylor turntable is being replaced this month.
2. Added the October installment of Val Lupiz's quarterly column, Tales From the Grip
3. Thanks to information from Rich Fill, updated the article about the Park Hill Incline, a funicular in Yonkers.
4. Migrated one item from the Cable Car Museum site:
   • Added "The Wire Rope Street Railways of San Francisco, California," an 1881 article by Andrew Hallidie from the Scientific American Supplement, collected by Val Lupiz, with an introduction by Walter Rice.
5. On the page about the 2002 Powell/Market Street Turntable Replacement page: Scans of a rider alert card in English and Chinese. Also a News item about the current Bay/Taylor turntable replacement.
6. Added News and Bibliography items about some outages that occurred in September
7. Added more Chronology items

In January 2024 I started on a long overdue process of cleaning things up on my site. I started with the development pages. Actually, I guess I started the year before with making most thumbnails 200 pixels instead of 100.

Coming in October 2024: On the Cable Car Businesses page: More items about businesses named after cable cars

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

The Cable Car Home Page also has an Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/cable_car_guy/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-October-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-July-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 29-February-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (updated obsessively)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

Jimmy Carter 100 -- October 1, 2024

Happy 100th birthday to former President Jimmy Carter. He is the first US President to reach that age. I voted for him in 1980. His basic decency caused him to make some mistakes as president, but he has been our greatest ex-president. He has acted as an actual Christian. He has helped to create peace agreements. The Carter Center promotes human rights. He has worked steadily for Habitat for Humanity.  He taught Sunday School until recently. I'll bet he was good at it. 

I am praying for President Carter to get his wish; he wants to live long enough to vote for Kamala Harris. 

 

The Happiness Boys -- September 17, 2024

New York Daily News, 19-September-1924

Billy Jones and Ernie Hare, billed as "The Happiness Boys," were pioneer broadcasters. They sang duets and engaged in humorous repartee. They performed on New York station WEAF. Many people find them obnoxious. Musical and comedy styles have changed.

New York Daily News, 19-September-1924

Twisting the Dials (Happiness Boys)

Lynching Record for Four Months -- September 17, 2024

Birmingham Age-Herald, 20-September-1899

33 lynchings in 4 months.