Black Angus McPherson

Assuming Utah Bob's info about Chinks descending down from the Spanish Chinkaderos is correct, similar to Chaps descending down from the Spanish Chapadero, why ISN'T CHinks pronounced SHinks? Or doesn't anyone really give a chit about the CHinks/Shinks, CHaps/SHaps inconsistency? Angus p.s. Tyrel started it!

I once got a radio call relayed from another jurisdiction that a motorcycle was heading our way down the highway in excess of 120mph. My response: "What do you want me to do? Tell you what color shirt he's wearing?" It was about 3 AM, I was about 30 seconds from the highway and in a car that couldn't hit 120 driving down a cliff with a stiff tail wind. Sometimes all you can do is laugh. (and hope he doesn't turn into a grease spot until he gets out of your town) Angus

Thanks to all who said "Frov." should probably be "Prov." for Provisional. That was my first thought, but I did not know. I'll put that one down as a typo on the Pass. CC, Just as an FYI the info I have shows the 360th Infantry Regiment combined with the 359th Infantry Regiment and the 345th Machine Gun Battalion to be the 180th Brigade. Also, the 357th Inf, 358th Inf and 344th M.G. Battalion as the 179th Brigade. Those two Brigades made up the 90th Division. Ooops, forgot to include the 315th Engineer (lists Company A, but I'm guessing the entire Regiment) and 344th Field Artillery Regiment. Is it strange that a M.G. Battalion and Field Artillery Regiment would have the same number, 344? The 360th Infantry Regiment was made up of: First Battalion-Companies A-D. Second Battalion-Companies E-H Third Battalion Companies I-M. An HQ Company and a Machine Gun Company Plus a Supply and a Medical Department. Supply lists 4 Officers: a Capt. and 3 LTs. That seems a little light for a Battalion since the Infantry Battalions show ~26 Officers. Looks light for even a Company where most show 6 Officers. Obviously part of that is just "different time, different organization." Oh, another FYI, The 3 Battalions of the 360th Infantry shows one Captain and two Majors in command. Regimental Staff shows a Colonel and a Lt. Colonel. Not coming from a military background I have to keep reminding myself of the proper Brigade-Regiment-Battalion hierarchy. From your description it sounds like the modern day Brigade is the equivalent of a WW 1 Regiment. i.e. 3 Battalions = 1 Regiment in WW 1. 3 Battalions = 1 Brigade now. No wonder I'm confused. "Officer of the Day" makes sense for the signature on the pass. Unfortunately I do not have any organizational information for the 345th Machine Gun Battalion. I am finding this stuff fascinating. Thanks again. Angus

I've been doing a little research on my grandfather's WW 1 service. I know he served in the 90th Texas and Oklahoma Division and I believe he served in the 345th Machine Gun Battalion. I have a pass issued to him dated 12/25/1918 (amazingly flimsy strip of paper) that shows: Camp d' Avours (Sarthe) 90th Div., 1st Frov.(?) Training Regt. Signed by Lt. Edwin Martin 360th Infantry. A dive into the 90th Division association website yielded some information. Lt. Martin is listed in different places as 360 Inf Regiment 2nd Battalion 2nd Lt. Martin, Intelligence Officer", Later 1st Lt. same position and also 2nd Battalion- 1st Lt. Martin Company E. I found mention of the 345th M.G. Battalion, but no separate history for them. The website does a good job of listing all the officers, but only in rare instances do they mention anyone below the rank of Lt. My Grandfather was a Sgt. The site is very interesting reading so far. I have a lot of questions, so please bear with me: Can anyone tell me what "Frov.", possibly "Prov." refers to? I know he was detached for a while for training, so the Training Regt. makes sense. Trivia - He thought the French Chauchat(sp?) MG was a real piece of garbage. Is it common for a Lt. to sign a leave form for a Sgt. from another battalion? Would it make any difference that it was after the Armistice and during the occupation? Who would be in command of the M.G. Battalion? I'm guessing the Brigade commander. (180th Brigade was comprised of the 360th INF. Reg., 359th INF. Reg. and 345 M.G. Battalion) Could the 345th M.G. Battalion have been assigned to the 360th? Is it more likely that I mis-remembered and my Grandfather was actually part of the 360th's (or some other regiment's) "Auxiliary" Machine Gun Company? I know I have some more info SOMEWHERE about my Grandfather's service, I just don't know where, at the moment. This all started because my sister may take a trip to France with some friends and she thought it would be interesting to follow my Grandfather's journey there. Any suggestions on where else to check that might have a listing of personnel below the rank of LT? BTW, some of that info I have that I can't find right now, is a short history written by my Grandfather's CO. It is typed on paper that is, now, VERY brittle. Once I find it, take photos of it and transcribe it I would like to donate it somewhere. Any suggestions? Thanks. I'll probably think up more questions later. Angus

And I'm sure he will get it. Just as soon as he's released from the hospital. Angus

Already happening. At least once against a police officer. Angus

You're lucky. I've known a couple. One was so extremely proud of the fact he had never ever touched a gun, much less fired one, he about pissed himself with pride. Ignorance is bliss, they say. He was so.... blissful, I was surprised he was allowed out on his own. I've never met a man who was so determined to maintain his ignorance. Have fun shooting. I've turned more than one person from "I don't like guns and I'm afraid of them" to "Hey! This is a lot of fun." just by getting them to come out to the range with me. Angus

Marshall, Ain't that the truth! FKCGG, thanks for the info. I'll forward it along. Still not 1820 but it may give them some more to work with. ("with which to work" for you grammer nazis) Angus

Does anyone happen to have "proof" that hand held bells were used by school teachers ~1820? I know there won't be pictures, but maybe contemporary written accounts? This was brought up in a discussion among re-enactors when one claimed the hand held bells were not historically accurate for that (1820 and before) time period. Somewhere a decision was made that "If you can't prove it, you can't do it." I believe the "Little House on the Prairie" books mentioned them, however, they are ~1840, so too late to be used as evidence for 1820. Plus, one claimed they are works of fiction written much after that time frame and not reliable as proof. My view: "Who cares? If it plays well in the story, go for it." Some re-enactors can be really anal about stuff. Obviously I'm not that hardcore. None of this effects me, I'm just really curious. I figured somebody here would be able to help. Thanks, Angus

Quick! Somebody shoot the Finn! Angus

I have a very similar S&W in .38 S&W caliber. It belonged to great grandfather in Iowa(?). It was loaned to a deputy sheriff who was chasing a couple horse thieves. He caught up to them at a farm and ended up shooting them while they were trying to hide behind a well. He put two small notches at the bottom of the grip. At least that's the story that's been handed down with the gun to my grandfather and to me. The notches are very real and plain to see. I can only believe that the story to go with them is true. I've always wondered why a deputy sheriff didn't have a gun of his own. Angus

Did anyone else notice they were marching out of time? As the DI says "Left" their right foot hits the ground. I wonder if they did it on purpose to see if anyone noticed. Actually, at about :34, the guy in front of John Candy can be seen on the correct count. Angus

Chain of evidence. Alpo witnesses shots fired into business. Alpo witnesses unknown kid pick up fired brass from street and seizes brass from kid. Alpo releases brass to Officer Some as evidence. Officer Some tags brass as evidence #1234 and places it into evidence locker. In court: Alpo testifies he witnessed shots fired, kid pick up brass, Alpo seized brass from kid and gave it to Officer Some. Officer Some testifies what he did with brass. The officer you dealt with was either an idiot or incredibly lazy and didn't want to be bothered. Did he even spend any time looking for any other evidence? Angus

I'm not saying whether or not it's a good idea, BUT, sometimes it's just fun to shoot heavy, booming loads. BTW, back when I shot Police type matches everything was either buck shot or slugs. IIRC a lot of the buckshot was at steel targets. Why do some folks shoot heavy .44 magnum loads? Heck, why did Elmer Keith even invent .44 magnum? I won't even go into the .50 caliber insanity. Angus

Somewhere there's a supervisor saying: "Because we've always done it that way." Angus