 Editor in Chief Bill   | 07 Mar 2008 8:09 p.m. PST |
A 26-year-old Los Angeles man faces a federal prison term and a stiff fine for breaking off a wooden piece of the hull of the salvaged U.S.S. Cairo, a Civil War ironclad, for a souvenir. link |
 Murphy  | 07 Mar 2008 8:22 p.m. PST |
Sometimes I wonder  are idiots like this thinking? Then again, I realize that obviously he isn't. He deserves the time in the pokey and fine. There's been waaaay too much vandalism at CW parks and battlefields over the last couple of years. |
| Editor in Chief Bill | 07 Mar 2008 8:26 p.m. PST |
Reminds me of Mark Twain, writing about tourists bringing home pieces of the Parthenon… |
| oldgamer | 07 Mar 2008 8:52 p.m. PST |
I'm sort of sorry the fine isn't larger. My wife used to be an Archaeologist and the utter disrespect some showed for native graves really really got to me. |
 Saginaw  | 07 Mar 2008 9:19 p.m. PST |
What else can be said. He'll pay, but he pretty much permanently damaged a piece of history. The $8 USD million should have been spent to protect the Cairo. |
 Nashville | 07 Mar 2008 9:25 p.m. PST |
here is a nice U tube of the Cairo
link but for heavens sake I am loss to understand the point of having such a relic which when detached from the boat is just an old piece of wood. It is amazing the guy wants to destroy history..shoot his butt out of a cannon.. |
| Acharnement | 08 Mar 2008 12:29 a.m. PST |
When I visited the British Museum about 15 years ago, the Rosetta Stone was on a open display only protected by a metal frame about a meter high and a guard. Of course there were large signs saying Don't touch, but some goof tried to reach over the barrier. The guard was quick to stop him but it makes you wonder if Thulsa Doom (Conan the Barbarian movie) was right "People have no grasp of what they do." |
| aecurtis | 08 Mar 2008 3:23 p.m. PST |
Since history is being destroyed every day (I won't go into specifics, as it's CA territory; but those who understand archives will know what I'm talking about), it seems a little shortsighted to focus on one artifact. It's all important, and all deserves protection. Allen |
| Ditto Tango 2 1 | 08 Mar 2008 5:59 p.m. PST |
I remember being horrifed when visiting Stonehenge. There was a rope around it with signs not to go past it for fear of footsteps eroding the supporting soil away and causing the stones to fall (AFAIK, they do let folks in there for Summer soltice celebrations). True to form, a bunch of tourists (North American, I'm embarrassed and afraid to say) just said to hell with it and went underneath the rope to get pictures of themselves by one of the stones. Idiots. The other 100s of people there respected the place. Most people respect this sort of thing, but there are always s who don't. |
| Dan Cyr | 08 Mar 2008 9:56 p.m. PST |
Ah, yes, Tim, the 95/5 rule. All rules (laws) are written for the 5 percentage of the population that is totally stupid and void of good sense, while the vast majority of the population understands why one should not drive over the speed limit on icy roads (for example), or damage/destroy historical artifacts. Of course, on bad days it becomes the 50/50 rule (smile). Dan |
| Tom Bryant | 08 Mar 2008 11:16 p.m. PST |
This man is a moron. Pure and simple. Throw the bokk at him. Hell, make it the whole USCJ library! |
| Oddball | 09 Mar 2008 5:39 p.m. PST |
What a nimrod. $50,000 fine and 6 months in jail, but the damage is still done. |
| terrain sherlock | 09 Mar 2008 11:25 p.m. PST |
Well.. all praise to the guy who turned the clown in..! |
| Texas Grognard | 10 Mar 2008 4:49 a.m. PST |
I'm sure people are saying "What was he thinking!" Probably Dollar signs as he would have likely tried to have sold it on Ebay. Greed and stupidity do not make a great mix. Regards Bruce the Texas Grognard |
| Master Caster | 13 Mar 2008 5:23 a.m. PST |
One of our own? Years ago there was a Charles Morfin who was a gamer and a writer of a rules set for Ironclads. Same guy perhaps. |
| vojvoda | 15 Mar 2008 5:18 p.m. PST |
Acharnement 08 Mar 2008 12:29 a.m. PST Wrote:
When I visited the British Museum about 15 years ago, the Rosetta Stone was on a open display only protected by a metal frame about a meter high and a guard.I was there in 92 or 93 cant remember which. There were no guards and no frame and everyone could touch it, stand next to it. and even sit on it! Times have changed. As for historical preservation sometimes they go too far. There was talk about closing many historical sites a few years back because of damage done by folks walking on these sites. Silly if you ask me. History is the the living not the dead. Without the ability to see and explore we might as well just have books to understand history. Touching history is just that.
VR
James Mattes |
| capncarp | 16 Mar 2008 6:37 a.m. PST |
He broke a piece off because he didn't have a cannon to blow chunks off it like Napoleon's troops did to the Sphinx. As for a suitable punishment, I'd say make him plant white oak saplings purchased at his own expense, tend them as they are growing to replace the white oak trees he will cut down with single-bitted axe, mill to correct dimensions at a historically-correct sawmill, and construct with historically correct tools and techniques a brand-new USS Cairo complete with cannon he will mine the ore for and smelt the iron for.
Did I mention making him hand-craft the boilers and stand next to them while they are being pressure tested? And tow it from its mooring by swimming with a hawser in his teeth. And when he is done with Cairo, there's Carondelet, Mound City, Cinncinnati, Pittsburg, St.Louis, Louisville, Benton, Essex,Osage, Neosho, Indianola…. Capn Mark, who believes all punishments should be creative. |
