Gold Prospecting

Colorado State Capitol

With the teacher rally/protest/strike and or protests at the Capitol building in Denver, thought a small odd ball tid bit would be of some interest to a few. 

Located on a ridge overlooking, Colorado’s capitol has a panoramic view of the Front Range.  Until the trees grew up, the building also dominated the Denver skyline.  Today the Capitol no longer dominates like it once did.  The trees are much taller and the nearby buildings are also more dominant on the skyline. 

The area around the capitol building, acquired the name Capitol Hill.  The complexion the neighborhood has changed over the years.  It has went from and elite area, to run down and back again.  All walks of life could be found in the area, the variety was endless.  The vibrancies of the neighborhood were in constant flux.

Bums and tramps like the area around the capitol building, because it was good panhandling and places to catch 40 winks.  The security people that patrolled the grounds got to know most of the tramps and for the most part left them be.  Tourists’ were in and out of the building and wandered around the grounds taking pics and gazing at the golden dome. 

Tramps would wander among them panhandling or offering stories about the area, anything for a handout.  Mix in the occasional protestor(s) and there would be moments on the Capitol grounds. 

It had been an early spring shower and the patrolman was walking the Capitol grounds.  There at the corner of the building a tramp was bent over picking things up from the ground.  Seeing nothing ominous, the patrolman just walked on by and they exchanged pleasantries.  A few days later any rain rolled over the capitol.  Again the guard was patrolling the building and there was the tramp.  All huddled up and bent over the ground picking things up.  The two nodded to each other and went about their business. 

It had been a heavy rain and the tramp was on the grounds again all bent over picking through the dirt.  This time the guard stopped and watched what the tramp was doing.  There at the end of the drain spout, the tramp was hunched over.  With tweezers, he was picking out small flakes of gold.  The tramp then moved on to the next drain and started again, picking out flakes of gold.

When the tramp had finished going around the Capitol building and picking out the gold flakes.  He would head out for the Pawn Shop where he could sell his gold flakes.  The patrolman watched the process and sure enough, the nest rain storm.  Here came the tramp after the rain had quit.  Down on his knees at the first drain spout he was picking up gold flakes.  After the rain, small flakes of gold would detach from the gold dome on the state capitol. 

The tram had created his own little industry of cleaning up the capitol grounds and making a nice profit for a bottle of wine.  Soon it was the grounds maintenance people that were out there cleaning out the drainage and had things covered over.  The tramp had lost his source of income. 

Justice Department

US Justice Department

            With all the turmoil and politics in today’s Justice Department, I found this article interesting.  Life magazine in 1954 wrote a story about the US Attorney General.  He was listed as leading the world’s largest law firm.  This was during the Eisenhower Administration. 

            In the first paragraph, Life Mag. Noted that Brownwell was cleaning up the department.  Sound familiar, in today’s political climate.  More then 50 years ago, there were problems in the DOJ.  It also points out how easy it is for government agencies to wander outside the lines.  It is nothing new, bureaucrats operating outside of government guidelines has been a story more then a couple of centuries old. 

            Yet here is a story in a national magazine about the DOJ head trying to clean up his department.

            The DOJ wields lots of influence and power, considering they are the federal police agency.  Not only is the FBI under the DOJ, so are all the Federal US Attorney’s and their offices, Federal Prisons and today that includes Homeland Security, plus all the other agencies.  The US Attorney General also provides recommendations to the President for Judgeships to be filled.  One can see that their influence is far reaching.

            In 1950’s, the DOJ had around 33,000 employees.  Today it is about three times that many, with over 117, 0000 employees. 

            It is amazing how history rolls in circles as it repeats itself.  Different chapters, same names, just a; larger cast. 

After The War

The Equalizer

            At the end of the war, the soldiers returned home.  Many with large sums of money from combat pay.  The automobile brought them the freedom of the road and a way to travel home.  With an auto, the world had become the GI’s oyster. 

The soldiers returned home, married their sweetheart, bought a home and began the American dream.  The car allowed him to live a distance from his job and no longer have to walk or catch the trolley.  The auto was a freeing mode of transportation that opened many doors that had only been open to the rich. 

Now the family could take vacations, live in the country, drive to the shore or just have a Sunday picnic at the park.  The automobile had become more then a status symbol, it had become an icon of freedom.  The glorious freedom of defeating the enemy was found in many ways back home.  The car gave the average person a way to expand their boundaries.  Not be restricted to where public transportation took them.  Hop in the car and be down the road a hundred miles in a couple of hours. 

With all the cars on the road, the giant auto industry grew beyond the dreams of many.  Splashy car ads were all over.  Aftermarket auto parts became a big business.  Cars of the 50’s were pretty easy to work on, and the backyard mechanic showed up.  . 

The weekend was a time to tinker with the new fangled horseless carriage.  No longer was there the crank, cars now had starters.  Radios were standard and the radio DJ’s were becoming a new phenomena.  There was an era on the horizon that many like to relive today. 

In the back of the barn, under years of dust, sits the WWII veterans’ first car.  It is now surrounded by other cars that he has bought and stored with his very first car.  It is a memory that has become indelible.  A moment that has been etched on the fabric of society. 

WWII and Smoking

The Smokers

            With the ending of WWII, the returning soldiers brought lots of the habits home with them from the war.  One of them was the cigarette, a new icon for masculinity.  Have the cigarette draped on the edge of the lips hanging out the side of the mouth, was the new cool.  The roaring Twenties and the Speakeasy, was probably the first chapter in smoking to be acceptable across the general population.  Until then it had been the stodgy backrooms and boardrooms of cigars and pipes.  Then there was the cowboy with his funny rolled weed pile that smoked away. 

            During WWII rations were the common meal for those on the frontlines.  The ration pack, generally included a chocolate bar and a small pack of cigarettes.  When the young man from back home had his first ration meal, he was confronted with a pack of cigarettes.  Most had never smoked before and were not sure.  They were surrounded by the city boys who had been smoking for years and would trade for the cigarettes.  These puffers of smoke looked cool, so the youngsters from the country sampled the tobacco.  It was a new experience that grew on many of the youngsters.   Soon, to smoke became a status symbol of acceptance into the group. 

            Besides having cigarettes, one had to have a lighter and the Zippo became the hallmark of smokers.  There were other lighters, many that looked like the Zippo but none were equal of the Zippo.  Unlike today of the disposable lighter, lighters back then could be refilled.  Refueling the lighter became a ritual and different techniques were sworn on by the different people. 

            A few tried using gas from the jeep and it worked until it exploded or burned as hole in their leg.  So the little cans of lighter fluid and flints, became as prominent icon as the lighter did.  In the duffle bag, beside the cigarettes, was the can of lighter fluid and the flints. 

            Sitting on the front lines after the C-Rations were consumed, one could see the waffs of smoke curing up from the after meal cigarette.  Through war, the cigarette had found its way into American Society.  To smoke brought acceptance of the group.  War movies back then, showed the dying soldiers last request, was to have one more cigarette.  GI’s were shown with cigarettes hanging from their mouths as they fired at the enemy. 

            Today that image is being revisited by Hollywood on how they portray their heroes and cigarettes.