Life in a Ballistic Missile Submarine

The Day Kennedy Was Shot  

USS Ethan Allen (SSBN 608)

                It was 1963.  I was Weapons officer in USS Ethan Allen (SSBN608) (Gold) and we were tied up alongside the tender in the Holy Loch, Scotland. My assistant was not due to arrive until just before we sailed on patrol.  It was necessary for a weapons-trained officer to be aboard at all times, so no liberty in Scotland for me that month. 

                But, hark!! Alongside came HMS Dreadnought, Britain's first nuclear submarine.  I couldn't go ashore, but I could certainly visit a ship alongside, and I did, and had a couple of nice "wee whiskeys" there.  Then we invited the officers back to our boat for a proper American dinner.  I remember the happy scene that would have brought down the wrath of Rickover, as our Chief Engineer and Dreadnought's engineer, arm in arm and quite cheerful, headed aft  in our boat to conduct the pre-critical checkoff together.
                I made four patrols in Ethan Allen, each about two months in duration, submerged all the time.  I had come aboard in March, 1963, just a little while after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. 

                One of the agreements in resolving the Missile crisis, in return for removing Soviet missiles from Cuba, was for the United States to remove its Jupiter missiles from Turkey.  This left targets in the USSR uncovered and so Ethan Allen and other SSBNs were ordered to pick up those targets, which meant that during part of our deterrent patrols we would have to move into the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

                We were on patrol on November 22, 1963 when we received a flash message that President Kennedy had been shot.  We were on Zulu time, six hours ahead of Dallas, and when the flash message arrived at around 1900Z, (7 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time) no one in our government knew what would come next.  

                A short time after the news of the shooting, before we had heard that Kennedy had died, we got a Weapon Systems Readiness Test (WSRT).  These were very real alerts sent to SSBNs on patrol, meant to test the readiness of the Polaris weapon system.  We responded just as we would for a real attack order; we didn’t know if it was the real thing or a drill, as we brought 16 missiles up to readiness for launch and flight.      

               We  imagined that the assassination might be part of a large plot by the Soviets, culminating in a nuclear attack on the United States.  For a very scary period of time we didn’t know if we would be ordered to launch missiles for the start of World War III. The Captain and the executive officer held the actual message, which in this case was indeed a test, and we didn’t arm the nuclear warheads. But it was scary!

                We all know now that the Soviets were not launching an attack, but we didn’t know it then, and things were very tense for several hours.

                In the next several days we were fed news reports which helped us to piece together a fragment of the massive television and newspaper coverage that the rest of the world was getting.  When we returned to Holy Loch in early January 1964 we received our mail, and old Time and Life Magazines which reported all about the killing of the President, and then the killing of his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Kennedy’s funeral and the start of Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration.

                My “catching up” on the news now that I was back on dry land had to wait, though, because I took Marty to the Navy hospital to have a little girl.   That little girl is now all grown up, and has a family of her own.

Now, here are some books and paper that I am offering:

 New England Housekeeper Title Page

 New England Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book, The, Stereotype Edition [Second Edition]  by Howland, Mrs. E.A. (Esther Allen)  1846 Worcester, MA: S.A. Howland.  Little book provides New England housekeepers with recipes for scores of dishes, then in Medicinal Department, guidance for asthma, bleeding at the nose, burns and scalds, salve for a burn, sore mouth, dysentery, diarrhœa, consumption, corns and more.  Menu for Thanksgiving Dinner: Roast Turkey, stuffed; a pair of chickens, stuffed and boiled, with cabbage and a piece of lean pork; chicken pie, potatoes, turnip sauce, squash, onions, gravy and gravy sauce, cranberry sauce, oyster sauce, plum and plain pudding, with sweet sauce; mince, pumpkin and apple pies. Recipes include Dyspepsia Bread, Rice Bread, Johnny-Cake, 

Temperance Cakes, Mutton Pie, Indian Pudding, Boiled Calf's Head and Pluck  (tongue, heart, liver, brains); Mutton with Oysters; Indian Gruel, Sassafras Mead, many more.  Also inserted in book are ten+ handwritten recipes for Fruit Cake, Sweet Pickles, Cure for Dysentery, Pork Cake, Pickling Beef, Lemon Pie, Blood Syrup, more.  Also list of those who died in Winchendon (MA) in January, 1875. Excellent little glimpse into New England life in the Nineteenth Century. Frontispiece illustration of two women in kitchen. 108 pp. 10.5 x 18 cm. Paper on board with cloth tape spine; spine worn and frayed. 12+ handwritten recipes and notes and one 1875 newspaper clipping with recipes  inserted.  Book binding cracked, fair. (8099) $102.00. Cookbooks/Ephemera

To boil a Calf’s Head and Pluck

Clean the head very nicely, and soak it in water till it looks very white. The tongue and heart need longer cooking than the rest.  Boil these an hour and a half, the head an hour and a quarter, and the liver an hour; tie the brains in a bag, and boil them one hour. Take up all at the same time; serve up the brains with pounded cracker, butter, pepper, vinegar and salt. To be eaten with butter gravy.

Recipe for Head Cheese

Head Cheese

Take a hog’s head, ears, and feet, and boil them till you can pick all the bones out; then season it with salt, pepper, and a little sage, or summer savory; put in a round dish, or cheese-hoop, in a cool place, and press it; when cool, it is ready for use.

Rockport Art Association

Artists of the Rockport Art Association, Thirty-fifth Anniversary Edition; a pictorial and descriptive record of The Oldest Art Organization on Cape Ann 1956 Rockport, MA: The Rockport Art Association. 204 pp. + 18 pp. adv. 19 x 20 cm. Wonderful collection of photos  and favorite art of hundreds of Rockport artists including Aldro Hibbard, Harrison Cady, Stanley Woodward, Gifford Beal, Agnes Abbot, Gladys and Herb Murphy, John Buckley, Louise Burbank, Franz Denghausen, Blanche Colman, Stow Wengenroth, Paul Strisik, Mayo Sorgman, Harold Rotenberg, Iver Rose, Richard Recchia, Roger Martin, Harold Maddocks, Tod Lindenmuth, Nota Koslowsky, Mildred C. Jones, Prescott Jones, Lilian Westcott Hale, Ruth Hagstrom, Antonio Cirino, many more. Informal photos of RAA events, like Christmas in Rockport, with Lura Phillips, Christmas Tea with Martta Somppi Blanchet.  Heavy cardboard cover with ring binding, cover soiled, contents very good, overall fair. (4866)  $29.00. Art/Antiques

1968 Peace Calendar & Appointment Book; Out of the War Shadow, an Anthology of Current Poetry Levertov, Denise, Compiler/Editor 1967 New York, NY: War Resisters League, 5 Beekman Street, NYC. Collection of poems by living (in 1967)  American and Canadian poets, written in the context of "longing for peace", "we are living at war." Poems by Galway Kinnell, Hayden Carruth, Barbara Gibson, Barbara Deming, Lewis Turco, Muriel Rukeyser, Sister Mary Norbert Körte, O.P., James Laughlin, William Lee Coakley, Dick Lourie, Gary Snyder, Harriet Zinnes, Gilbert Sorrentino, Allen Grossman, W.R. Moses, Gary Youree, Eileen Egan, William Burford, Emmett Jarrett, Vern Rutsala, Gail Dusenbery, Louis Zukofsky, many more. 62 pp. 13 x 20.7 cm. Paper booklet with spiral binding, heavy card cover, pages numbered in pen, good. (7996) $35.00. Cold War/Poetry

Berlin, 27. Februar 1969 "Ha, Ho, He -- Nixon is okay!" Booklet issued in commemoration of visit of President Nixon to Berlin text by Waldmann, Helmut 1969 Berlin, Germany: Presse- und informationsamt des Landes Berlin. Cover features color photo of President Nixon standing in open limousine in motorcade through Berlin, while Berliners wave. Introduction to text by Bürgermeister Klaus Schütz. Photos of arrival, visits to Charlottenburg Palace and Siemens Factory, photos of departure. Statement by Nixon, upon return to Washington: "If you could have been with me as  rode through the streets of Berlin on a snowy cold day and have seen the hopeful faces in those crowds on the streets....you (the American people) would have been proud that America did meet her world responsibilities in helping others defend their freedom." 64 pp. 19 x 20 cm. Paper booklet, very good. (7770) $21.00. Cold War/History

Drawings of a Draftee, inscribed by author by J.B. Dobbs,  ca. 1955. Author was drafted into the Army on election day, 1952. He produced graphic drawings of life in post World War II Germany, and of life in the Army. 36 pp. 25 x 16 cm. Paper booklet bound with plastic spiral rings. Very good. (5642) $21.00. History/Military

Hitler Marches in the Soviet Zone of Germany by Otto. Bertram 1961 Bonn, Germany: Berto-Verlag G.M.B.H. Book of excellent photos of Nazi era and Soviet era show how Hitler's regime is re-created by Soviets in their zone of Germany under Ulbricht. Same no-choice elections, Same dullness. Same marching troops. Same police state. Very skilful, sometimes funny anti-Soviet propaganda.  94 pp. 24 x 22 cm. Paper booklet, cover shows photos of Nazi troops marching for Hitler and Soviet troops marching with same goose-step. Cover shows moderate wear, very good. (6546) $22.00. Cold War/Communism

Iran Today, A Quarterly Review, Vol. I No. 1  published by the Department General of Information and Broadcasting, Tehran, Iran ca. 1956 Tehran, Iran: Dept. General of Information & Broadcasting. This magazine-format booklet features full-page photos of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlevi and Queen Sorayya (Soraya). History of Iran. Persian culture. Zoor Khaneh. Olympic Success in 1948 games. Woman of Iran, photo of Queen in fur coat, inspecting women at evening class. Photos of visits by Iskandar Mirza of Pakistan, Sokarno of Indonesia, Conrad Adenauer of West Germany and Camille Chamoun, of Lebanon. Radio Tehran broadcast schedule. 48 pp.  21 x 29 cm. Paper booklet, very good. (7760)  24.00. Cold War/History

Pakistan Times, The: Largest Circulation of any English Language Daily in Pakistan; Lahore, Saturday, March 22, 1958 (Ramazan-ul-Mubarak 1377 A.H.) 1958 Lahore, West Pakistan: The Pakistan Times. "West Pakistan Budget Passed"  Five more members of the Muslim League crossed over to the Republican side on Friday. "E. Wing Govt. Crisis" news from Dacca that 11 members of the Awami League Coalition Parliamentary Party  have withdrawn support from the Government.  AFP reports from Damascus that more than 200 Iraqi army officers have been arrested following an attempt to execute a coup d'etat in Iraq. Ramazan moon has been sighted in Lahore and Lyallpur. Tomorrow the Republic of Pakistan will celebrate the second anniversary of its birth.  Festivities have been planned  on an elaborate scale all over the country. Photo of Pakistani flag being raised on stern of PNS Jahangir, formerly destroyer HMS Crispin, in ceremony at Southampton, UK. Photo of Princess Birgitta of Sweden, in gymnastics uniform, rehearsing for yearly exhibition in Stockholm.  Tehran paper reports new pact by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, says initial move was by Pak Prime Minister, Malik Firoz Khan Noon. 8 pp. 44 x 60 cm. Newspaper, 2 cm closed tear in front page,  good. (7928) $22.00. History/Cold War Era

Please contact me at  scoulbourn1@verizon.net

Trip to Chah Bahar

Trip to one of the Hottest Places on Earth

When we lived in Iran, (1970-72) the Shah was in power.  He didn’t know it at the time, but his days were numbered. 

H.I.M. Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlevi, Aryamehr

He was riding high, ruling a country that was awash in oil money, and he was building a defense establishment as fast as he could—jet fighters from the U.S., artillery and combat vehicles from the USSR, destroyers from the UK. 

 Map of Iran shows Chah Bahar (Chabahar)

Trip to Chah Bahar.  The Shah wanted to expand his navy by building a new base on the Gulf of Oman, right next to Pakistan.  Several American officers accompanied Iranian officers on a flight down to Chah Bahar, at the farthest most corner of Iran. Lots of sand, the warm water of the Gulf of Oman, and hot as the hinges of Hell!   To get here, you either come by sea, or fly.  To drive you would have to cross the Dasht-i-Lut, the hottest, driest desert on earth, where the temperature has been measured at 159 degrees F., and winds roar for days at a time.  Crossing this brutal desert in a sandstorm caused helicopters to fail in Jimmy Carter’s abortive Desert One Operation. (April 24, 1980).

                 We flew down in a C-130 and drove off in a couple of Land Rovers that we had carried on board.  We spent the day exploring the area, to visualize building a naval base here.  When we landed, the local people were excited to see us—planes didn’t land there very often.  Most of the people there are Baluchi tribesmen, here and across the border in neighboring Baluchistan, which is part of Pakistan. 

Chah Bahar --Quay at the Village of Tis

                 We talked with a few of these people.  They understood Farsi, but their language was Baluchi. One old man we met we asked his age.  He didn’t have a clue! Same with a young boy I talked with.  Age just wasn't something that concerned them.  Looking back, the old man looked old enough to be maybe 60 or 70, but in that brutal climate, people probably don’t live too long. 

                 The Shah started building that base shortly afterward, and then in 1973, when the petrodollars began to flood the country, he accelerated the project.  However, in 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini came back, and the Shah was overthrown, and left for exile, first in Egypt and then in Panama, then back to Egypt.   The base is still under construction today. 

                 Today, much of Iran has changed little since the days of the Shah, but where the Shah's modernization and westernization ignored and minimized Islamic faith, now the Islamic Republic of Iran is all about Islam.  Not all the people buy it, however. 

                 The Iranians want to have their own nuclear weapons.  In our time there, they wanted to have a strong air force,  and today, they want to be like the “big guys” and have their own thermonuclear weapons.  Combine that with the talk of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, about “wiping Israel off the map” and you have a situation that makes us nervous.  It makes the Israelis nervous, too. 

I think the day will come when Iran can re-join the community of nations, and we can work with them again. 

Now, about these books….

Little Princesses, The, First Edition; Book Club Edition by Crawford, Marion 1950 New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace and Company.  Marion Crawford was Governess to Britain's Royal Family for 17 years.  She describes the private lives of young Princess Elizabeth, Britain's future Queen, and her younger sister, Princess Margaret Rose. Includes many photos (16 pp.) of early lives of Princesses and their family up to one of the young Queen with nearly one-year-old  Prince Charles. Montage of photos of royal scenes, wartime London on endpapers. 314 pp.+ 16 photo pages. 14 x 21 cm. Red cloth on board, very good. On first half-title page is affixed Canadian three-cent stamp showing King George VI. Dustjacket illustration shows framed pictures of princesses, photo of author on back; has minor chips and edgewear, interior corners clipped, fair.  (4946) $30.00. Biography

George Fox

 George Fox: Selections from the Epistles of George Fox, Abridged by Tuke, Samuel 1858 Philadelphia, PA: Association of Friends for the Diffusion of Religious and Useful Knowledge.              This is the first edition in abridged form of Samuel Tuke's earlier Selections of the Epistles of George Fox. Fox (b.1624, d.1691) is considered to be the founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers). The introduction in this small book is the same Tuke used in his earlier Selections. Fox's mission was to speak truth to all, and that truth often got him thrown into jail. When he visited America he became an early champion of the Indians and Black slaves (p.38-39, 67-70). He warns against vain fashions, not to be over thoughtful of the things of this world, and urged followers to believe in the Light as Christ commanded.  114 pp. 10 x 15.5 cm. Blindstamped design on brown cloth on board, top of spine worn, dampstain to first and last pages, good. (1734) $39.00. Religious/Quaker

 Mary Lamb

 Lamb: Mary and Charles Lamb: Poems, Letters and Remains: Now first collected, with reminiscences and notes, First Edition, published simultaneous with London edition. By W. Carew Hazlitt,  1874 New York, NY: Scribner, Welford and Armstrong.  Life of Charles Lamb, English Essayist, (1775-1834) and his sister, Mary (1764-1847). In 1796 Mary Lamb, in a fit of insanity, attacked her mother and father, killing her mother.  Illustrated with frontispiece portrait of Charles Lamb, and numerous facsimiles and illustrations of favorite haunts of Lambs in London and suburbs. Good friend of Mary was Lady Stoddart, later Mrs. Hazlitt. Author of this book is grandson of Hazlitts. Includes 31 pp. Notes of Charles Lamb to Thomas Allsop by George William Curtis. Lamb raves to Allsop about gift of Stilton cheese, notes Mary has "sense enough to value the present." 307 + 31 pp. 12 x 19 cm. Attractive dark blue cloth on board with gilt decoration, shows nude women in orbit around woman with crown and male figure with donkey's head. Slight rubbing top and bottom of spine, one illustrated page loose, some foxing, some pages unopened, altogether very good. (2257) $56.00. Biography/English Letters

 Guide Through Europe by HAPAG

Guide Through Europe Presented by the Hamburg-American Line; [Remains Property of the Traveler] 1902 Berlin, Germany: Hamburg-American Line. Marvelous guide to Europe at turn of the Twentieth Century with history of Hamburg-American Line, maps of Berlin, Dresden, Cologne, Munich, Hamburg, Vienna, Zurich, London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Brussels, fold-out full-color topographic map of St. Gothard Railway, through the Alps to Milan; full-color advertisement for Kölnische Düsseldorfer Gesellschaft Rhein-Dampschiffahrt, full-color fold-out description and timetable for Rhätische Bahn Landquart-Davos and Landquart-Chur-Thusis for Winter 1902. Detailed descriptions of sights and cities in Europe, advertisements. 936 pp. 12 x 18 cm. Decorated red cloth on board with HAPAG flag on cover, slight tear in lower heel of spine, moderate wear. Inside front and back hinges cracked, pp 1-2,2a-4, 223-224  loose, pp. 935-936 wrinkled. Overall very good. (2411) $60.00. Travel

 Krupskaya, Lrnin's Wife

Social-Democratic Movement in Russia, Materials [Sotsial-Demokraticheskoye Dvizhenniye v Rossii] In Russian; Volume One;  A.N. Potresov and B.I. Nikolaevsky, Editors, Russian Reprint Series. 1967. The Hague, NL: Russian Reprint Series.  1967 Reprint of Original 1928 Volume One of Collection of letters of the early Communist movement in Russia. Foreword by P. Lepeshinsky. Many letters to Potresov from all the old Communist intellectuals, (1896-1904): Vera Zasulich, Rosa Luxemburg, Y.O. Martov, V.I. Ulianov-Lenin, P.P. Maslov, V.A. Ionov, V.L. Shantser, G.V. Plekhanov, A.A. Sanin, M.I.Tugan-Baranovsky, N.I. Tugan-Baranovsky, V.V. Vorovsky, P.B. Akselrod; Letters from Akselrod to the Munich Section of the "Iskra" Staff; Nazezhda Krupskaya to Akselrod  and to Vera Zasulich; Akselrod to Martov; Zasulich to Martov. Also text of many early documents: "Materiali o Raskolye 'Soyuza Russkikh S-D.' Zagranitsei v 1900 g."  Question about the International Conference in the Soviet Party (1904). Also about 70 pages of Primechanii (Notes). 410 pp. 15 x 22 cm. Green cloth on board with gilt lettering, very clean and fresh.  (2990) $66.00. History/Russia

You can reach me via email at scoulbourn1@verizon.net

Hunting for Wild Boar

HAPPY EASTER!

Hunting for Wild Boar 

In 1970 I was serving as an Executive Officer on a destroyer when I was assigned to an American joint military staff in Iran.  The U.S. Army had maintained a large presence in Iran since World War II, when we shipped many thousands of tons of arms to the Red Army from the Persian Gulf, and up to the Soviet Union, as Lend-Lease. 

Iran was taking more and more responsibility for patrolling the Persian Gulf and the whole Indian Ocean.  The U.S. was very interested in keeping the USSR and their allies from getting “comfortable” in the area. I was sent to advise the Iranian Supreme (Joint) Staff, under a U.S. Army Major General.

   Map of Iran

Hunting for Wild Boar. Colonel Sam Duncan invited me to join him on a hunting trip up in the wilderness north of Tehran, near the Caspian. Colonel Pasha of the Iranian Gendarmerie was our guide.  Both he and Sam were avid hunters.  I was not.

                 We left Tehran at 7 p.m., headed for the Nowshahr area in several vehicles. At the highest mountain pass we encountered a snowstorm, and skidded near a precipice. It was scary.  Iranians seem to have a death wish with their driving.  They love to drive really fast, particularly on narrow mountain roads where you can’t see what might be coming around the bend.  This Colonel Pasha was a mad driver.

We put on chains—the Gendarmerie troops accompanying our excursion helped.  At some times we would slide nearer the edge than I would have preferred.  You could look down the mountain and see the warm, humid jungle of the Caspian below.  That was where we were headed.  Finally, we took the chains off, and  started down.  We see huge rockfalls from a mountain tea house (chai khane). One falling rock nearly smashed us.  Our brakes were bad. At 3 a.m. we arrived in a Caspian orange grove, and entered a cottage where we slept on Persian rugs until 6 a.m.

                Then we started up the mountain on mules, the great white hunters, seeking the boar!

At noontime we stopped for a lunch in the wild. Col. Pasha had arranged a delicious chelo kebab lunch for us (loads of rice, marinated lamb on skewers, yogurt, and flatbread.)  

 Chelo Kebab

Our bearers were observing Ramadan, the Muslim fast from dawn to dusk, so they ate nothing at this time.  However, when we returned to camp that night, after dark, they had a fine time, lubricated by a little Scotch whisky that the Iranian colonel had slipped to them.

                In the afternoon, Sam shot and killed a large wild boar.  Col. Pasha quickly dressed it, but then how to haul it back to camp?  Since it was a pig, the Iranian mards (mard=common man) wouldn’t touch it.  Pasha solved the problem by borrowing Sam’s sleeping bag liner, and we stuffed the huge boar into the liner, then, insulated by the fabric, the mards could lift the boar’s carcass onto a mule. 

                Colonel Sam gave me a nice tenderloin roast from the boar, and we dined on that later in Tehran.

Now, about some books, papers and a photo I’d like you to look at…..

Sir Richard Burton’s “Kasidah”

 Kasîdah, The; of Hâji Abdû El-Yezdî, Or The Lay of the Higher Law by Abdû the Traveller; Translated and Annotated by His Friend and Pupil, F.B. Sir Richard F. Burton, K.C.B. [250 copies of this edition were published.] 1915 Portland, ME: Thomas Bird Mosher. Thomas Mosher issued this 1915 reprint of Burton's 1880 Kasîdah, dedicating it to Charles Freeman Libby. This edition has paper-covered boards with gilt inscription in Farsi: "Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî"  Frontispiece portrait of Burton from etching by Léopold Flameng, with tissue guard.  Kasîdah, acc. To Oxford English Dictionary,  is a classical Arabic or Persian poem, which begins with a reference to a forsaken campground, followed by a lament, and a prayer to one's comrades to halt while the memory of the departed dwellers is invoked. Introduction by William Marion Reedy declares that "The Kasîdah will never be as popular as the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (to which it is often compared), but it will endure...."  Burton (1821-1890) claims to have been the translator of these verses, and in Notes provided describes the author,  Hâjî Abdû, as a native of Yezd Province (central Iran), "who has travelled far and wide with his eyes open", and has added to his native Persian, and classical Arabic, some Latin, Greek, scraps of Chinese, Hebrew, Syriac, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Slav, Berber and more;   but it is well-established that Burton, the Victorian scholar, soldier, linguist and adventurer, was the author. This edition contains numerous tributes to Burton,  by Theodore Watts-Dunton and Algernon Charles Swinburne. It also reproduces a facsimile of the 1880 first edition.  At end of text is notation that 250 copies of this book were printed on Van Gelder hand-made paper and the type distributed in the month of  "October MDCCCCXV" 100 pp. including notes and bibliography.  23.5 x 31.7 cm. Paper-covered boards with gilt inscription in Farsi: "Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî";  cream trim, lightly soiled, with one-cm tear to top of spine. Frontispiece tissue guard loose. Text block excellent.  Deckle-edged pages. Very good.  (7314)  $95.00. Poetry.

Flight of the Southern Cross, The, by Kingsford-Smith, C.E and  Ulm, C.T.P., with a Foreword by His Excellency, the Right Honorable Lord Stonehaven P.C., G.C.M.G., D.S.O., Governor-General of Australia; Illustrated 1929. New York, NY: National Travel Club. 295 pp. 13 x 21 cm. Squadron Leader Kingsford-Smith and his gallant Australian and American companions set out from San Francisco for an attempt to fly across the Pacific Ocean. Includes about 24 photos of airplanes and crew who made this journey.  Black cloth on board with gilt lettering, spine sunned. Cover worn.  Inside hinges cracked, front and back. No jacket. Fair. (3232) $15.00. Travel/Aviation

 India: Portland Transcript, Portland, ME, May 19, 1877; Vol. XLI No. 7 Portland, ME: Elwell, Pickard & Co. India Today by Rodney Paul-- humorous account of travels amongst Hindoos.  "Hindoo babies never cry; and no one shows them how to laugh. In Benares you have Brahmins, the most interesting and intellectual, Mohammedans, who are arrogant and dissolute, with warlike and fanatical dispositions; and Parsees, the merchants, dressed in black, notice no one, except he face them as a customer." 8 pp. 42 x 58 cm. Newspaper, worn,  good.  (5785)   $15.00. Travel/History

Prague, Czechoslovakia: Circular Tours around Prague by Cedok Motor Car ca. 1925 Prague, Cz.: The Czechoslovak Tourist and Transport Office Ltd. Leaflet advertises sightseeing tours by Cedok Motor Car of Prague. Daily twice circular tours (Sunday excepted). Starts from main entrance of the Obecni Dum Na Prikopech. Sightseeing lasting three hours. Authentic and complete explanations in all world-languages given to sightseers by expert local guides. Price Kc 35.00. Tour includes Vaclavske namesti, Rytirska ulice, Uhelny trh, Havelska ulice, Krizovnicke namesti, Hradcanske namesti, Karlovo namesti, Kralovske Vinohrady, Prasna brana, more. 2 pp. 16 x 30 cm. Paper leaflet, printed on both sides, good. (6859)  $17.00. Travel

 Photo: Slovenian Girl, ca. 1905

Photo: Elegant woman from Carniola, Slovenia.  ca. 1905 Detroit, MI: Detroit Publishing Co. Hand-tinted photograph of woman in native costume, with very elaborate headdress. High-quality studio photograph of woman in costume of Carniola, Slovenia, in former Yugoslavia. Photo is hand-tinted for use in costume series.  17 x 22 cm. Photograph, mounted on heavy board with annotation: "16624 P.Z. Krainerin" and on reverse, "City Library Association, Springfield, Mass." and handwritten: "Costume Austro-Hungary. Austria-H. girl in Carniola cost." Item  deacquisitioned. Very  good. (6642)  $60.00. Travel/Photo

Rockport, MA: Ye Headlands of Cape Ann-- Real Estate Advertisement by Giles, Jason 1902 Rockport, MA: The Rockport Review. 32 pp. 23 x 15 cm. Booklet tells history of Rockport as it offers a parcel at the Headlands of the Norwood property.  Property is served by water and electric lights, with an easy walk of eight minutes to stores, markets and post office, and in ten minutes, to the B. & M. R.R. railway station.  Booklet shows the beginnings of granite breakwater in harbor, intended to provide 'Harbor of Refuge' for the North Atlantic Squadron of U.S. Navy war vessels during the summer months.  Photos of local sights, including two page spread showing photo of town and harbor, taken from belfry of the Congregational Church. Paper booklet, very good. (7282) $59.00. Travel/History

Tunis and Tunisia Little Guide Book from O.N.T. Fédération des Syndicats d'Initiative de Tunisie ca. 1910 Tunis, Tunisia: Syndicat d'Initiative of Tunis. Tunisia has been under French protection since 1881. History, Climate. As of 1898, according to Sir H. Johson, Regency of Tunis is as safe for tourists as is France itself. Description of Tunis, population 200,000, including 80,000 Moslems, 20,000 native Jews, 42,000 Italians and 22,000 French. Korbous warm springs, famous since Roman times.  Mohammedia, Oudna, Zaghouan, Nabuel & Hammamet, Douga, Bizerta, Utica & Kef, Khroumirie; Tunis to Susa & Kirwan, two days by rail or motor car; From Sisa to Gabes by El-Djem & Sfax; Gafsa & the Djerid; From Gabes to Matmata; From Gabes to Medenine and to the country of the "Ksours".  Tunisia has 2,200 miles of splendid roads, for motoring, even into the real desert. 24 pp. 12 x 19 cm. Paper booklet, worn, fair. (7748) $21.00. Travel

You may contact me at scoulbourn1@verizon.net

Visit from the Red Cell

                I was commanding a base in Sasebo, on the southern island of Kyushu, Japan 1983-86. 

 U.S. Navy Fleet Activities, Sasebo, Japan

                

                Japan, and Americans on bases in Japan, were having a bit of trouble with communist terrorists (like Chukaku-ha) in those days (1986) and so this team of SEALS was sent by the Navy to train us on counter terrorism security. 

                SEALS, like Jesse Ventura, are superb athletes-- they can swim for miles, run, lift weights, and kill enemies with their bare hands.  They are very tough, mean dudes.  Some are also known to drink excessively, get in fights, and are not too gentle with the ladies.  We call them "snake eaters."

Marcinko

                The leader of the team that came to Sasebo was a Navy Captain named Dick Marcinko.  Marcinko (who has written several macho-obscene military books)    He was a protegé of then Admiral Ace Lyons, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific.

                He led a team of mostly enlisted SEALs, and their job was to train my guys about counter terrorism.  It was a “Red Cell.”

                They had just arrived at the base, and we were prepared for them.  Their job would be to penetrate our security, and simulate blowing things up, kidnapping personnel, and such.

                We had heard about an incident in New London, CT where they had done their training.  In one event, they kidnapped the base commander's wife.  Her husband was a Captain Wendell Powell, whom I knew.  His wife was a nice lady, and she was wearing a dress.  These idiots hung her out of a third story window, holding her by her feet, so her dress dropped down and exposed her underwear.  We were impressed to hear this.

                About that time, a package arrived at my office.  It was from Hokkaido.  I didn't know anyone in Hokkaido, and suspected that this was a trick of the Red Cell. I called my own snake-eater team-- our Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) detachment.  They came and xrayed the package.  They couldn't detect its contents, so they did what EOD people do whenever it doubt. They took it off a ways from my office and blew it up.

                What they found was it was a well-destroyed Kokeshi doll.  My wife Marty was not happy with me, as it was a doll she had ordered from a Japanese woman who had recently shown her dolls at a craft show at the base.

                During that week of training by the Red Cell, Marcinko's team stormed our Bachelor Officers' Quarters and took hostages in what was the denouement of their visit.

                My predecessor was visiting the base at the time.  He had retired from the Navy, and was looking into setting up a business relationship with a local cultured pearl impresario.  While he had been base commander he had apparently formed a rather close liaison with his young Japanese secretary.

                As Marcinko’s team raided our BOQ at about 3 am, my predecessor was in one of the rooms.  It turned out that the secretary was also there.  I'm sure she was just giving him a briefing on events in Sasebo. 

                All this got wrapped up into the terrorist "event"--- and it became a task to get the girl out of his room quietly.  Of course, all the Japanese on the base, and all our Navy people, found out about it.

                Besides the drama with the retired naval officer and the Japanese secretary, the Red Cell had taken many hostages in an event that closely approximated real terrorist events that had recently taken place.  These guys were good, and everyone learned a lot. 

                One thing I learned is never to have the Red Cell come to your house for “a drink”.

Let's change the subject to some diverse books and printed material I'm offering:

Home Angel, The, by L.B. Urbino (Levino Buoncuore, d. 1888)  Boston, MA: Wentworth and Company. "Does the reader believe it impossible to live happily, as these good people did, in a community of negroes? Let him pray that his Christianity may be more Christ-like, and his heart so enlarged that he can take in all mankind as his brothers."  Miss Urbino took on a monstrously obscure subject in this novel about interracial marriage.  Written in the years of slavery in the United States, this is the story of Esther Le Gendre, whose  whose father was a fair-skinned count, and whose mother died as she was born.  Esther is a "mulattress", but it's difficult for her to find out her background. She meets her grandfather, a former slave, and learns that her mother was "colored". Novel is written in the elaborate language of the mid-nineteenth century, with much religious reference. Very scarce. 239 pp. 12 x 19 cm. Red cloth on board with blind-stamped and gilt design. Edges worn and  frayed, inside rear hinge cracked. "Mrs. Josie H. Lang" inscribed on front free endpaper. On second free endpaper is a small (3 x 3 cm.) enameled picture of a woman and a man, and an inscription in pencil: "Leavis Collishead G A 2nd 1869". A few light stains on pages, fair. (5705) $70.00. Fiction/Race

Fidel Castro--Rebel Liberator or Dictator? These are the questions the world is asking. Here are the penetrating answers by the outstanding American correspondent who knows Castro best…. First edition, second printing by Jules Dubois,  ©1959 Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc. One month after Dictator Fulgencio Batista had escaped from Cuba, and Fidel Castro's revolution had triumphed, Dubois published this story of Castro, including photos as a child and as a young man.  Fresh, positive, very favorable picture of Castro. 389 pp. 15 x 22 cm. Paper on board, inside front hinge broken, good. Dustjacket worn, several chips, fair. (5755) $26.00. Biography/Cold War

American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1833 Fourth Annual Volume 1832 Boston, MA: Gray and Bowen; and Carter, Hendee and Co. Calendar of Celestial Phenomena for the Year; Red snow of the Alps, Showers of Dust, Meteoric Stones, Mirage, Halos, Parhelia or False Suns, Lightning Rods. Part II: Executive Government. President Andrew Jackson receives salary of $25,000 per annum. Senate: Daniel Webster was Senator from MA; John Tyler from VA, Thomas H. Benton, MO, Henry Clay, KY; John Q. Adams of Quincy, MA was Congressman; Benedict J. Semmes was Congressman from MD, James K. Polk Congressman from TN. John Marshall was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger Taney was Attorney General. Bank of the United States--a bill rechartering this Bank was passed by both houses of Congress but was rejected by the President. Census shows free white population of 10.526,248, free colored of 319,599 and slaves 2,009,043. Information on each state provides interesting data on railroads constructed, under construction, and planned, and river transportation.  Section on Commonwealth of Virginia contains interesting report on Committee on Slavery  and Removal of Free Negroes, which concluded with resolution that it is currently "inexpedient to make any legislative enactments  for the abolition of slavery." Includes reports on various foreign nations, and a Chronicle of Events for Sept. 1831 to Sept. 1832. 312 pp. 12 x 19 cm. Paper covered book with 4 cm. hole burned in cover; owner name "Fannie P. Matthes" handwritten on cover. Fair. (2555) $79.00. History

 Chief Wets-It Assiniboine (See "Glimpses of Indian Life" in 

American Monthly Review of Reviews

American Monthly Review of Reviews, The; illustrated; October, 1898 Shaw, Albert, Editor  New York, NY: The Review of Reviews Co., 13 Astor Place 126 + 81 pp. 18 x 24.5 cm. This issue is full of comment and criticism of the United States and Pres. McKinley in the Spanish-American War. Brilliant and biting political cartoons, several from German publications, which are smarting at American aggressiveness in Cuba and the Philippines. Criticism of Secretary of War Alger for a mismanaged Cuban campaign. "Medical and Sanitary Aspects of the War" by Dr. Carroll Dunham. Glimpses of Indian Life at the Omaha Exposition: fascinating article about Indians at encampment-- Assiniboines, Jicarilla Apaches,  Sioux, Blackfeet, Omaha, Chippewa, Cheyenne, Crow, Winnebago, Brule-Sioux, Flatheads, Mojave Apache, photos. "The Man at the Helm," William McKinley as War President by Gen. A.B. Nettleton.  The Founder of a Protestant Brotherhood--Rev. Thomas Champness of the Joyful News Mission. Periodical, cover has 2 x 2 cm corner torn off, spine frayed and torn, Table of Contents page misprinted, so that several page numbers do not appear.  Good. (5751)  $19.00. History      

       

 Lustige Blätter

 Lustige Blätter, No.24 XXXIII Jahrg. 202. Kriegs-Nummer, 30 May, 1918 (Famed German weekly humor  magazine, with World War I propaganda) Berlin, Germany: Verlag der Lustigen Blätter, (Dr. Eysler & Co.), G.m.b.H. Cover shows well-dressed African Americans: "Auf dem Broadway in New-York. Is doch Wilson famoose Präsident für uns-- will ganzes weißes Kaffe ausrotten!" Back cover shows Trainer (Pres.) Wilson feeding wine to animals: "Die gedopten Entente-Gäule." Cartoon shows an aged, exhausted Woodrow Wilson losing race to a fit, healthy Kaiser. Large color cartoon makes fun of Marshal Foch. 16 pp. 24 x 32 cm. Paper periodical, spinefold worn, very good. (5816) $20.00. World War I/History/Propaganda

 General McClellan

 Republican Herald and Post, Providence, RI, Saturday morning, October 29, 1864. Providence, RI: Alfred Anthony.  Fascinating  pre-election coverage of national and local news: Campaign to elect Gen. McClellan, running as a Democrat against President Lincoln; Republicans accused of cutting up McClellan flag in Newport, RI. Criticism of voters’ oath proposed by Vice President Johnson. News from Cedar Creek on great victory by Union forces. Defeat of Confederates in battle in Shenandoah Valley. Speech by Pres. Lincoln praises Marylanders on adoption of new constitution. Abraham Lincoln partizans (sic) burn McClellan banner in Washington.  4 pp. 54 x 64 cm. Newspaper, small holes in folds,  good. (6120) $39.00.  Civil War/History

Today is Lenin's Birthday

     V.I. Lenin (1870-1924) 

Today, April 22, is Lenin's Birthday.  He'd be 141 today.   It is also Earth Day, and it is not a coincidence.  It's regrettable that the Communists of the world seem to think that they are champions of preservation of the earth, because in the USSR they were very sloppy stewards. However, every year, even today, long after the USSR is gone, Russians observe his birthday with volunteer clean-up events.

    

Lenin's Subbotnik, cleaning up the Kremlin grounds, 1920

     The Soviets celebrated Lenin's Birthday with Subbotniks all over the Soyuz (Union).  A Subbotnik is usually on a Saturday (Subbota, in Russian) and it's a day when good Soviet citizens are expected to get out and clean up a park or a neighborhood, and they offer their labor for free.

      We lived in the Soviet Union when Leonid Brezhnev was General Secretary.  It was 1981 when we arrived, and 1983 when we left.  The Soviet Union at that time was seedy and threadbare, from Riga to Khabarovsk, across 11 time zones.   It was a country nearly on life support, struggling to fight a war in Afghanistan.

     Yet, the USSR had a vast array of nuclear weapons, and they could blow us to kingdom come.  

     I had few interactions with the upper echelons of Soviet heirarchy, but here is one little story:

The Bulgarian National Day Reception.  We didn’t spend a lot of time with the Bulgarians, but all the attachés were invited to the various National Day celebrations at embassies.  We invited everyone to ours on the Fourth of July.

                                  We really valued our visits to the communist celebrations like this, because it often gave us a chance to see and perhaps talk with the top officials in the USSR; they usually didn’t visit American or western embassy events, because we were officially giving them the “cool” treatment because of their actions in Afghanistan.

Gorshkov

               I saw Fleet Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, surrounded by lesser admirals, and I asked my boss, Brigadier General Charlie Hamm, if I could take him over and introduce him to the venerable father of the Soviet Navy.

              Charlie, when he had met Gorshkov, told him that he had received his commission in the Air Force the same year (1956) that Gorshkov had taken over command of the Soviet Navy.

              Gorshkov nodded and asked an aide to fill up his glass because this was an occasion for a toast.  Russians love toasts.

              We toasted Soviet-American Friendship. Then I talked a bit with Gorshkov, mentioning the Incidents at Sea Agreement which had recently been completed between our two navies. At this, the little guy reached up and tapped me vigorously on the ribbons on my uniform blouse, saying it was up to you [The U.S.N.] to uphold this Agreement.

             That Agreement probably saved our navies from some escalation over the years... and it certainly accounted for a lot of vodka to be consumed at the annual meetings our two navies held.

            Not to change the subject, but here are some books, maps and papers that I have recently acquired, and offer them:

Mexico: Campbell's New Revised Complete Guide and Descriptive Book of Mexico by Campbell, Reau1 1909 Chicago, IL: Reau Campbell.  Very attractive, fresh-looking guide book to Mexico, written by a long-term scholar and traveler in Mexico, with many black and white photographs, taken in years before Pancho Villa and the events of 1914. Frontispiece is Photograph of President of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915). This book has geography, history, information about all parts of country.  Chronology of events includes 1908 merging of two national railroads.  Includes a very nice fold-out colored map of Mexico and inset maps of Mexico, D.F., etc.   352 pp. 14 x 18.7 cm. Maroon cloth on board with gilt decoration including Aztec figure and title. Spine title slightly faded, small crack inside rear hinge, yet very good. (4143) $26.00. Travel

Pettingell-Andrews Co. Lighting Furniture, Catalog No. 5 ca. 1910 Boston, MA: Pettingell-Andrews Co., Corner Pearl St. and Atlantic Ave. Large format catalog of lighting fixtures, or "lighting furniture". Commercial Lighting: H and B Celestialites; Keldon, Trojan, Ace; Duplex-a-lite; X-Ray Eye Comfort Indirect Lighting; Four-in-one Light; Aglight all glass; Brascolite. 48 pp. 27 x 40 cm. Catalogue, worn, front cover worn, back cover and price list missing; 15 x 3 cm strip from edge of pp 5-6 detached. Poor. (8119) $60.00. Advertising

Boston Harbor: Bird's Eye View of Boston Harbor in Colors --Along the South Shore to Plymouth, Cape Cod Canal and Provincetown Showing all Steamboat Routes 1914 Boston, MA: Wm. J. Finn, Rowes Wharf. Folded color map shows Boston Harbor and islands, Quincy Bay, Nantasket, Plymouth Bay to Provincetown. Folder includes ads for Hotel Pemberton and Pemberton Inn at Pemberton Landing. Hotel rates $4.0 a day and up; Fish and Lobster dinner $1.00, Lobster and Chicken Dinner, $1.50. Folder 48 x 38 cm. Paper folder and folded paper map, tiny tears in folds along bottom edge, still very good. (8113) $45.00. Maps

Canada: Map of the Grand Trunk of Canada and Connections: The Great International Route  ca. 1890 Buffalo, NY: Matthews, Northrup & Co., Engrs & Prs. Folded map shows railways from Topeka, KS in SW to Washington DC, detailed trunk all through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, across Quebec and Ontario, to Chicago, Milwaukee and Muskegon, west to Winnipeg, with inset showing routes to British Columbia and California. 1 map          80 x 42 cm. Paper folded map, stamped "From the Office of W.C. Tallman, New England Passenger Agent, 280 Washington St. Boston"; many tiny tears in folds, fair. (8118) $38.00. Travel

Jerusalem: A Brief Guide to Al-Haram Al-Sharif Jerusalem, published by the Supreme Moslem Council 1929 Jerusalem: Supreme Moslem Council. Guide describes "The August Sanctuary", a sacred enclosure of about 145,000 square meters. The two principal edifices are the Dome of the Rock and the mosque of al-Aqsa. Guide advises visitors of sacred nature of site, and warns not to smoke or bring dogs. Black and white photos of Fountain of Qait Bay, Southern Arcades and Pulpit of Burhaneddin, Dome of the Rock, al-Aqsa Mosque exterior and interior.  Booklet was used as entry ticket, and so a perforated triangle on back cover about 6 x 5 cm is removed.  16 pp. 16.4 x 21 cm. Paper booklet, bound by two staples. Clean. Perforated upper left hand corner of rear wrap removed. Booklet has two holes punched in fore edge throughout, this is apparently standard for this guide book. Very good. (8108) $65.00. Travel/Religious

Arrest of Polish Citizens bu Nazi soldiers, as depicted by children

W Oczach Dzieci: 10 lat Polski Ludowej w rysunkach dzieciecych [Through the Eyes of Children: 10 Years of the Polish People] In Polish. Zagala, Boleslaw; Jackiewiczowa, Elzbieta 1954 Warszawa, Poland: Nasza Ksiegarnia Warszawa.  Collection of delightful, full-color drawings by children during the years of World War II when Nazis occupied the country. Drawings include one labeled Wysadzenie pociagu niemieckiego przez partizantow polskich [Polish partisans blowing up German train], by Andrzej Wolniewicz, 13. Ewa Mehl, 7 draws a picture "Daddy Takes a Walk" shows prisoners in a concentration camp. Janina Piekarska, 14, drew a picture of Nazi soldiers arresting Polish people, all shown kneeling.  The children captured the terror and cruelty, and the heroism of liberators, and then rebuilding the country after the war. This copy has mimeographed summary in English pasted in front of book, and translation of titles of drawings pasted in back of book. ~85 pp. 28 x 20.6 cm. Blue-grey cloth on board, front hinge cracked, text block good, with added sheets containing translations. Good. (5377) $55.00. World War II/Poland

Weekly Bay State Democrat, Boston, Friday, February 17, 1843 Wright, Isaac H., Editor 1843 Boston, MA: Wright & Ballou, Proprietors, No. 14 Brazer's Building. Report on The Democratic Festival in Boston:  On Thursday, 9th February the Council, Senators and Representatives formed in procession at the Doric Hall of the State House, under the direction of Col. Peter Dunbar, Chief Marshal, and, preceded by a brass band, marched from the State House to Faneuil Hall, passing through Park, Tremont, Court, State streets, and Merchants' Row, in a Grand Triumphal March.  At 6 p.m. the Governor arrived, and there was a grand feast, but without any spiritous or fermented beverages.  List of all the toasts, including several that twisted the tail of Federalists, or Whigs. Discussion on the Oregon bill in Congress at Washington. Death of Isaac Hull at Philadelphia.  Laudatory letter to Massachusetts Democrats from Martin Van Buren.  4 pp. 42 x 60 cm. Newspaper, worn, fair. (8100) $27.00. Newspapers

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev On the Occasion Of His Visit to the United States ©1959 New York, NY: International Arts and Sciences Press. 32 pp. 14 x 21 cm. N.S. Khrushchev, now 65, b. Kalinovka, Kursk Region.  Publication supplied by Soviet Embassy for organization which publishes "Soviet Highlights" Paper booklet with heavy glossy cover.  Very good. (2140) $10.60. Biography/History/Propaganda

You may contact me at scoulbourn1@verizon.net