When Flying Saucers Attack!

[anna]

Hi Mike!

It's bloomin' cold down here also! Brrrrrr...waiting for the snow that's expected.

Sorry to hear about your father-in-law,glad that he seems to be feeling better...sounds like quite a character.

You two had a bit of a trek!....why is it,when you really need a bus,they're never around...at least you had a bus shelter,and each other.

Keep warm,
ANNA.x

[Mike Covell]

It was quite funny Anna, as the bus shelter was open both ends, it was like a wind tunnel!

He is doing great, being cheeky to the nurses and keeping himself busy!

[sdreid]

How cold is it there? We haven't seen dirt around here for months due to the snow cover and tornado season is here in 4 weeks.

[Mike Covell]

Registered Minus 2 last night, it was snowing a second ago when I went to feed the rabbit. I packed his hutch with straw and hay, as well as plenty of rabbit pellets, carotts and fresh water.

Last time we had a bad cold snap, his water bottle froze!

[Mayerling]

Hi Mike,

I am glad that your father-in-law is doing better in the hospital. Hope he is able to leave it soon.

The temperature is pretty cold here with wind chills taking it to the teens. But it is not the worst weather - the snow and ice is slowly departing. And hey, it is now February. Half the coldest season's months are gone.

I just read in today's newspapers of the death of Ingomar Johannsan, the one-time heavyweight boxing champ. He was also the last champ of that title to be a caucasian.

They also solved a mystery out in Afghanistan. A soldier has led the authorities to the grave of the first elected President of that blighted country, who was killed with his familyl in 1978 when there was a coup by Communists that was accompanied by an invastion from the Soviet Union (a rather stupid move by the Soviet Union in the long run). The hiding of the slain President's body (with his family's) was a long standing issue in Afghanistan (it was against Islamic religious law) and this is considered extremely important there for national (as well as family) closure. By the way, the treatment of this man's remains (and his famiy's) reminds one of how the origianl Bolsheviks tried to hide the remains of Nicholas II and his family at Yeketinerinburg.

Best wishes,

Jeff

[sdreid]

Hi Jeff,

Johansson was the last Caucasian to hold the unfractured title. He was defeated in his amateur years by a fighter named Carl Nilsson. In 1948, a serial killer tried to murder Nilsson by throwing him off a moving train. He was the only one of five to survive an attack in this never solved case. That's how the story goes anyway because the reports are rather sketchy.

[Mayerling]

Hi Stan,

I think you may have mentioned on some thread that incident with Nilsen, as it sounds familiar. I take it the serial killer escaped, if the details are sketcy.

The only famous fighters that I know of who were murdered was Stanley Ketchel some time around World War I, by a rival over a woman, and "Bummy" Davis, who got killed trying to stop a robbery in progress at a bar he just entered in 1947. There have been rumors about the death of Sonny Liston too.

I am also aware of murder regarding two other fighters. "Kid" McCoy was sent to prison for killing a man in a barroom scrap in the teens of the last century. And James J. Corbett's father shot and killed his mother (and then committed suicide) around 1905.

I'm sure there were others (including several involved in "manslaughter" style trials in Britain and the United States and elsewhere, where one of the two parties in the ring did not make it.

Best wishes,

Jeff

[sdreid]

Hi Jeff,

Yes, if reports are true, the killer escaped and was never identified. I haven't been able to find a lot of details about this case but Carl Nilsson was a boxer in Sweden and there is a record of him fighting a youthful Johansson.

Many think that Freddie Mills' "suicide" was actually a murder. I think he was World Light-Heavyweight Champion or something of the sort at one time.

I should mention Rubin Carter as well, however you see it.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Stan,

All sorts of gangland/protection theories surfaced at the time, but the most reliable story about boxer Freddie Mills, found shot in an alley by London's Astoria Theatre, is that he was "Jack the Stripper", responsible for the deaths of around eight women whose naked bodies were found by the River Thames between 1959 and 1965.

Regards,

Simon

[sdreid]

Hi Simon,

Yes, the first account of the Stripper case I read in a book named Mills, and Mills alone, as a suspect. Subsequently, there have been more candidates named but he certainly has not been eliminated.

[Celesta]

Hi Gang,

Sounds like everyone has winter woes. With the kind of winter that much of the US has endured, I really dread tornado season. I hope the chaotic trend doesn't flop over into Spring.

Mike, Sorry to hear about your father-in-law. Hope he stays better.

As far as ghost are concerned, how does anyone know for certain who the ghost was in life? The ghost at the museum old hotel, where I worked, was seen and made his presence felt but no one had a clue who he was. We weren't allowed to talk about the place being haunted. The boss' religious beliefs forbade us expressing too much interest.

Jeff, I hope you mom is still doing better.

Stan, Actually, we already have a couple of pistols and a shotgun but they are all old and personally I wouldn't want to use the pistols. My husband was supposed to inherit an old rifle. Sorry, I've drawn a blank here... It was the kind that Custer's men had, I think. Someone has stolen it from my father-in-law's house. Dated to the 1870's. We're not happy about it's loss, even if it was useless to Custer.

Stay warm, folks.

[sdreid]

Hi Cel,

If I remember correctly, Custer's men had single shot cartridge rifles which could be a good gun for target practice. The government didn't want to give them repeating rifles, like the Indians had, because they said they'd shoot too often and waste ammunition. That kind of didn't work out for them.

[Celesta]

Hey Stan,

That kind of didn't work out for them.

Master of understatement! That's exactly what this was. A single shot rifle. It was brought by Tom's granddad from Indian Territories in Okla. It's just a real pi##er that it's been stolen. It was in fine shape, too.

Are you parents still alive? If so, Stan, ask them every question in the world you can think of to ask them. We have an endless list of questions we wish we had asked and now we'll probably never know the answers.

How's your boy? Did he get over his soreness from the fall?

Years ago, when we were young college brats, and before there were cell phones and other modern technogadgets, we drove all the way downtown to the Municipal Auditorium,through the aftermath of an ice storm because we had tickets for the Ice-capades. (Or however you spell it) I-20 was a solid sheet of ice. Turns out the Ice-capades were canceled because of ice. It was not announced until after we left, so we didn't know. We sat in the parking lot and watched the Ice-capades people slipping and sliding out of the back of the auditorium, down the steps, and across the iced-over parking lot. It was hilarious. That old Ford Fairlane thought it was a tank. We went everywhere in that sucker! Ice? Not to worry.

Stay warm.

[sdreid]

Hi Cel,

My son is OK now thanks.

Yes, my parents are 89 (dad) and 84.

I hope there is some way to identify that rifle in case it turns up somewhere like a pawn shop or gun show.

[Mayerling]

Hi Cel, Stan, and Mike,

Cel -Mom is doing better, although still occasionally taking a pain killer. She cooked dinner tonight (but I did the laundry tonight!)
Thanks for asking.

Stan - I forgot Freddy Mills and Hurricane Carter (but the latter was proven to be innocent!).

Your comments about the repeater rifles and Custer reminded me of the situation three years later at Isandhlwana. Due to being held responsible (financially) for the cost of lost ammunition, the quartermaster at the battle insisted on handing out literally handfuls of bullets at a time, which caused the British to be massacred. By the way, the genius' was named Edward Bloomfield (again not a relation). He also died in the battle. The ammo was also in "tins" like sardine can, and there was only one key to open them all. British soldiers at the end were desperately trying to break open the tins with their bayonets.

Best wishes,

Jeff