Category: 6 Things to Consider

Another baseball season is about to begin. One hundred and the years ago that the song Take Me Out to The Ball Game was written.

Jack Norworth was a vaudeville performer and a Tin Pan Alley songwriter when he saw the sign “Baseball Today — Polo Grounds” promoting a ball game at the home stadium of the New York Giants. This gave him the idea and he began writing the words to the song.

Harry Von Tilzer was a popular music composer of Tin Pan Alley working with a number of lyricist, including Norworth. Von Tilzer put a tune to Norworth’s two verses and chorus. By the end of 1908 the song was a hit and has been ever since.

It’s the chorus of the song that is commonly sung and that everyone seems to know. Few people have heard or even know that the song has two verses. In fact there are two versions of the lyrics one that was written in 1908 and a revised version that Norworth wrote in 1927.

The song is about Katie Casey, a young girl who had baseball fever and wants to go to all of the home ball games. She was so familiar with the team she knew all the players by their first name and would tell the umpire when they were wrong.

Neither Jack Norworth or Harry Von Tilzer were baseball fans. In fact it”s reported that Norworth didn”t actually attend his first baseball game until 32 years later on June 27, 1940 and Von Tilzer saw his first 20 years after composing the music.

Below are the lyrics of the 1908 version:

Katie Casey was baseball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad.
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev’ry sou1
Katie blew.
On a Saturday her young beau
Called to see if she’d like to go
To see a show, but Miss Kate said “No,
I’ll tell you what you can do:”

Chorus

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don’t care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win, it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.

Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names.
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along,
Good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:

Chorus

Accomack County, as it is today, was last formally established in 1671. In 1634 the Eastern Shore of Virginia was one of the original eight shires of Virginia and was name Accomac Shire after the Native American word Accawacke, which means “across the water”. The British decided to eliminate ‘heathen’ names in the New World and the Shire was renamed Northampton.

In 1663 the shire was split into two counties with the northern county assuming the original Accomac name. The county was abolished in 1670 only to be reestablished in 1671. It wasn’t until 1940 that the “k” was officially added to the spelling of the county’s name.

The very first Sheriff in what is now called the United States was William Stone, who was appointed to serve Accomack County in 1634.

Accomac is the county seat of Accomack County. In 1693 the Accomack County courthouse was moved from Onancock to a site at Matomkin. The town was established in 1786 with the name Drummond. In 1893 the town was renamed Accomac. Even today some locals will still refer to the town as Drummond.

Many of the incorporated towns of the Virginia Eastern Shore had their origins because of the railroad. Bloxom, Belle Haven, Hallwood, Keller, Melfa, Painter and Parksley are a few of those towns. Parksley is the home of the Eastern Shore Railroad Museum and in many ways the town still has the character of an 1880’s railroad town.

With as much shore line as Virginia’s Eastern Shore has, there is also a history of life on the water for Accomack County. Chincoteague is a family resort island town that is famous for the Chincoteague ponies. Each year the Volunteer Fire Company auction Wild Ponies from Assateague Island as part of their annual fundraising as well as holding an annual carnival.

The history of the Maryland Colony began with a failed attempt by George Calvert, the First Lord Baltimore, in Newfoundland. Calvert had been the Secretary of State under King James the I and he had requested a chance to build a colony in the New World. The “Province of Avalon” began settlement in 1623 and by 1627 when Calvert first visited the colony 100 men and women were living at Ferryland, a plantation being built for him.

He stayed for a while before returning to England. In 1628 he returned with his household with the intention of remaining there for the rest of his days. The winter of 1628-29 was much worst than he expected and returned again to England. He continued to desire a colony in the New World and began the process that would become the Maryland Charter.

The colony was named in honor of King Charles’s Queen, Henrietta Maria. Even though Calvert was a Catholic, he viewed the colony as a place where Catholics and Puritans could live together without oppression because of their faith. The boundaries were the Potomac River to the South, the Atlantic to the East and the 40th Parallel to the North.

George Calvert died on April 15, 1632 and the Charter for the Maryland Colony was granted to his son Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, two months later on June 20, 1632.

In November of 1633 two ships, the Ark and the Dove left England for the Chesapeake Bay and the Maryland Colony. They were led by Calvert’s brother Leonard.

After a stop at the Jamestown where they bought animals and other supplies they ventured further up the Chesapeake Bay. They landed on March 25th at a small island they called St Clement’s Island, called Blakistone Island in later years. Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources controls the island as a state park.

America was just entering the 1st World War when 102nd Infantry, 26th Yankee Division was doing combat training at Yale University in 1917. A short tail dog of an unknown breed, possibly a mix Boston Terrier and Pit Bull or even a pure American Pit Bull terrier was found by Private John Robert Conroy. He named the dog Stubby.

Stubby soon became the unit’s mascot and learned the bugle calls and drills. He even learned to salute by placing his right paw on his right eyebrow. He shouldn’t have been allowed to stay at camp, but was because he increased morale.

When the division shipped out to France on the SS Minnesota he was smuggled on board. When discovered once in France he was allowed to stay with the unit after giving a salute to the Commanding Officer.

Due to an injury he suffered from gas exposure he became very sensitive to gas. One night as the company slept they were attacked by gas, but Stubby was able to alert the men saving many lives. He also was able to find wounded men who spoke English allowing rescuers to bring them back to the trenches.

He even once discovered a sleeping German soldier and bit the soldier attacking him until others arrived. For his Capture of a enemy soldier he was made a Sgt.

Even after the War ended he was a famous dog. While J. Robert Conroy was studying Law at Georgetown University Sgt Stubby became the mascot of the Hoyas. Sgt. Stubby died on March 16, 1926. His body can be seen on display at the Smithsonian, still wearing his special jacket which displays all of his medals.

In a 53 week period from July 30, 1977 to July 29, 1978 The Brothers Gibb (The Bee Gees, brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin, or their younger brother Andy) held the Number 1 spot for 31 weeks.

July 30 – August 13 and September 17, 1977 (4) “I Just Want to be Your Everything” – Andy Gibb
December 24, 1977 – January 7, 1978 (3) “How Deep is Your Love – Bee Gees
February 4 – February 25 ( 4) “Stayin” Alive” – Bee Gees
March 4 – March 11 (2) ” (Love is) Ticker than Water” – Andy Gibb
March 18 – May 6 (8) “Night Fever” – Bee Gees
May 13 – “If I Can’t Have You” – Yvonne Elliman (Written by the Bee Gees)
June 17 – July 29 (7) – “Shadow Dancing” – Andy Gibb

During this 53 week period the only artists to have a Number 1 song were:
August 20 – September 10 & September 24 (5) – “Best of my Love” The Emotions
October 1 & 8 (2) “Star Wars Theme” – Meco
October 15 – December 17 (10) – “You Light Up My Life” Debby Boone
January 14 – January 28 (3) – “Baby Come Back: – Player
May 20 & 27 (2) – “With a Little Luck” – Wings
June 3 – “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late” – Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
June 10 – “You’re the One That I Want” – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

The movie “Grease” would have another Number 1 song in 1978, its theme song “Grease” by Frankie Valli and written by Barry Gibb. It would spend 2 weeks at Number 1, August 26 and September 2.

Who was Millard Kaufman, one may ask? Kaufman was a screen writer beginning in the late 1940s and into 1970s and was the co-creator of Mr. Magoo.

Born March 12, 1917, in Baltimore, Kaufman spent two years as a merchant seaman after high school. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Johns Hopkins University in 1939. After graduation he moved to New York City and worked as a newspaperman.

In 1942 he enlisted in the marines and served on Guadalcanal, landed at Guam with the 1st Marine Brigade (Provisional) then participated in Okinawa with the 6th Marine Division. While serving in the Pacific, Kaufman was stricken with malaria and dengue fever. He returned to New York only to discover he couldn’t tolerate the climate changes. He and his wife moved to Los Angeles.

In 1949, Kaufman wrote the screenplay for the short film Ragtime Bear, the first appearance of Mr. Magoo. He followed this up in 1950 with another Mr. Magoo film, Punchy de Leon. Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness.

Kaufman shared an agent with Dalton Trumbo. Trumbo, also a screenwriter, was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Trumbo co-wrote the screenplay for Gun Crazy, but it was Millard Kaufman’s name that was on the credits.\

A writer for most of his life it wasn’t until he was 90 that Kaufman published his first novel. Bowl of Cherries was released in October 2007. A second novel, Misadventure, was published in April 2010 a few weeks after his death. He died two days after his birthday at the age of 92.

The telegraph was invented by Samuel Morse in 1835 and it was Alexander Graham Bell’s intention to improve on the telegraph that lead to his invention of the telephone. It was on March 10, 1876 when Bell in one room and his assistant Thomas Watson in another when he shouted the words, “Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you” into the transmitter. Watson was able to hear what was said and reported back to Bell the exact words. With this the first working telephone was born.

Bell’s experiments with the telegraph was an attempt to transmit multiple messages over the same wire at the same time. He felt that this could be done if each signal would have it’s own different pitch.

On February 14, 1876, Bell and Elisha Gray with his Western Electric Manufacturing Company, submitted their patients to the United States Patient Office in Washington DC. Bell’s paperwork with application fee was completed first, Gray’s caveat was entered first, but his filing fee was entered after Bell’s. On March 7, 1876, three days before the successful experiment, Bell received Patent Number 174,465.

Gray would file lawsuits challenging Bell’s patent. He would lose them all, mainly because it was determined that he failed to take actions to complete his caveat until others had demonstrated a working unit. Gray still wasn’t left in the dark since he did receive a patent for the telautograph, a way to transmit handwriting through telegraph systems. It can be called the first fax machine\

The Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877 and by 1886, 10 years after the first voice transmission, over 150,000 people in the United States owned telephones.

There really isn’t a sole inventor of the telephone. Bell’s ideas closely resembled Gray’s. The telephone’s transmitter was greatly improved when Edison’s carbon microphone was introduced. Not to mention that the entire idea of the telephone is really just an improvement and enhancement of Morse’s telegraph.

It was on February 28, 1827 that the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad Company was incorporated in Maryland, A week later on March 8th the incorporation was confirmed by Virginia. By the 24th of April, the company’s first Board of Directors had been elected with Philip E. Thomas as its first President.

Construction began on July 4, 1828 and nearly two years later on May 24, 1830, the first section, from Baltimore to the town of Ellicott’s Mills (now called Ellicott City) opened. The original terminus in Ellicott City is the oldest surviving station in America and now is a museum where there is a 40-foot model train layout showing the original thirteen miles of track.

Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence, laid the cornerstone of the Railway. The Carrollton Viaduct, the B&O’s first bridge and the world”s oldest railroad bridge still in use, was named for him.

The railroad was built to link the port of Baltimore in Maryland to the Ohio River at Wheeling and Parkersburg, Virginia, now West Virginia. The Baltimore harbor and the Ohio River were connected on the day before Christmas in 1852 when the line reached Wheeling.

On the same day as the groundbreaking for the B&O Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company broke ground for the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal. John Adams attended that groundbreaking. The 185 mile canal runs along the Potomac River from Alexandria, Virginia to Cumberland, Maryland.

Samuel Morse used the B&O Railroad right of way to send the first telegraph from the Capitol in Washington DC to Baltimore in 1844. The State of Maryland in 1833 chartered this spur of the railroad to Washington because of a demand for rail transportation between there and Baltimore.

On March 29, 1848 Niagara Falls stopped. For thirty hours the water of the falls ran at a trickle then just as suddenly as they stopped they started again. High winds caused the ice fields of Lake Erie to move the millions of tons of ice towards the source of the river. The ice blocked the channel until a change in the forces of nature allowed the water to flow again.

Cecil County, Maryland located at the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay is the only county that has both an eastern and a western border on the Chesapeake Bay.

Even though Los Angeles is only a few miles from the Pacific Ocean and the State of Nevada is East of California, The City of Reno, Nevada is actually further west than Los Angeles. Nevada’s western border angles east as does Southern California.

The Four Corner point where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet, the only such point, is located within the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Tribal Lands. The point is marked by the Four Corner Monument at 36° 59′ 56.32″ N, 109° 2′ 42.62″ W.

The state of California has both the lowest point, Death Valley at 281 feet below sea level and highest point, Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet in the contiguous United States. Mount McKinley in Alaska at 20,320 feet is the highest point in the United States.

The Statue of Liberty sits on Liberty Island (formally Bedloe’s Island) which lies in the New Jersey waters of the New York Bay. However due to an agreement between New Jersey and New York dating from 1664 and reaffirmed in 1834 as part of the charter that created New Jersey, it is located in New York. The island in total is controlled and managed by the United States Park Service.