Friday, March 2, 2018


Quonset Point Naval Air Station (N.A.S. Quonset) was established as part of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941, shortly before the US entered World War II.   It served as the major northeastern naval base during the war and subsequent years.  During its heyday Quonset's workforce, combined with that of the adjacent Davisville Construction Battalion Center, was the largest in the state of Rhode Island.    Davisville would become the birthplace of the 'Seabees' a portion of service people in the U.S. Navy tasked with building bases, creating roadways and airstrips and numerous other construction projects during conflicts dating back to World War II.  It was the Davisville Seabees and their innovative problem solving skills that led to the creation of what is now known as the Quonset hut.  During the Second World War, Quonset was involved in the development of a naval night fighter aircraft.  After the war, Quonset Point saw depletion in ships on the base.  It then went on to become a Naval Air Rework Facility, where it specialized in reciprocating engines and repaired and manufactured naval aircrafts.  Like other WWII-era military installations across the country, Quonset Point fell victim to military budget cuts during the Nixon years.  The Quonset base was decommissioned on June 28, 1974.  The Navy declared most of Quonset Point surplus to its needs and the land and buildings were offered to the State of Rhode Island and North Kingstown for civilian use.

The U.S. Navy needed a versatile, multi-use building in 1941 that was easy to ship and could be assembled without any special skills or tools.  The original huts were five meters by eleven meters structures with steel members and a two and a half meter radius.  The sides were crafted out of corrugated sheets of steel, while the two ends were plywood covered structures with doors and windows.  The insides consisted of insulated and pressed wood lining with wood flooring.  The building could be assembled on concrete, pilings or on the ground directly.  The George A. Fuller Construction Company was chosen to produce the first lot within two months of being given the contract.  In World War II, the armed services needed housing units and storage facilities that were lightweight and Quonset huts (previously known as Nissen Huts during their service in WWI) filled the needs perfectly.  They could be quickly put together and taken apart in the field without needing anything more than hand tools.  They were easy to transport to the next location.  They were shipped as metal building kits, which provided dependable protection against the elements for people and machinery.  The huts got their name from the location of the first manufacturing facility, Quonset Point, Rhode Island.  During World War II, roughly 150,000 to 170,000 huts were produced and the surplus was sold to the public after the war at the cost of one thousand dollars for each hut.  A lot of universities bought them to be used as student housing.  Even some soldiers returning from war chose to purchase these steel structures as their homes.  Many are still standing today. Other than the huts that are currently being used as outbuildings, they are common at military museums.  During the war, the original design underwent many modifications--from the semi-circular shape to one with vertical side walls.  This required less shipping space than tents having wood doors and frames. Quonset hut steel buildings came in multiple interior designs and larger ones were eventually developed to be used as warehouses.  Later, exterior overhangs were added but then abandoned.  Olive paint was also added for camouflaging purposes for huts that were prepared for war zones.  Quonsets also contributed significantly to the classic country music and the root of rock and roll.  It was during the late forties and early fifties that Owen Bradley set up a brand new music studio now commonly known by the name of Decca Records.  He assembled a Quonset hut steel building in Nashville, Tennessee and set the foundations of one of the most successful music recording studios in history.  The shape and the steel construction of the huts proved to be ideal for the music recording business.  The songs recorded in the metal Quonset building became famous due to the outstanding acoustic space provided by the arched walls.  Well-known country music artists like Patsy Cline, Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn recorded music in the strong and economical Quonset hut during their most formative years.  These buildings provide advantages no other pre-engineered building can provide--low cost and high-security structures.  In fact, the rounded shape of the arch is one of the strongest architectural structures able to withstand blizzards, hurricanes or anything else Mother Nature can come up with.  That is why the form of the original Quonsets are still being employed in modern structures, while the redesigned modern Quonset huts are being used as housing, car dealerships (see Hummer), movie theatres and more.  Conrad Mackie  https://www.buildingsguide.com/blog/brief-history-quonset-hut/

In the early part of the first millennium B.C., Persians started constructing elaborate tunnel systems called qanats for extracting groundwater in the dry mountain basins of present-day Iran.  Qanat tunnels were hand-dug, just large enough to fit the person doing the digging.  Along the length of a qanat, which can be several kilometers, vertical shafts were sunk at intervals of 20 to 30 meters to remove excavated material and to provide ventilation and access for repairs.  The main qanat tunnel sloped gently down from pre-mountainous alluvial fans to an outlet at a village.  From there, canals would distribute water to fields for irrigation.  These amazing structures allowed Persian farmers to succeed despite long dry periods when there was no surface water to be had.  Many qanats are still in use stretching from China on the east to Morocco on the west, and even to the Americas.  Read more and see graphics at http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/qanats/

Safavid art is the art of the Persian Safavid dynasty from 1501 to 1722, in present-day Iran and Caucasia.  It was a high point for the art of the book and architecture; and also including ceramics, metal, glass, and gardens.  The arts of the Safavid period show a far more unitary development than in any other period of Iranian art.  The Safavid Empire was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran.  They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires, with artistic accomplishments, since the Muslim conquest of Persia.  Read much more and see many pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safavid_art  See also The Art of the Safavids before 1600 at https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/safa/hd_safa.htm and The Arts of Iran, 1600-1800 at https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/safa_2/hd_safa_2.htm

"The unripe grape, the ripe bunch, the dried grape, all are changes, not into nothing, but into something which exists not yet."   "Have I done something for the general interest?  Well then I have had my reward.  Let this always be present to thy mind, and never stop doing such good."  The Meditations, Book Eleven by Marcus Aurelius  written 167 A.C.E.   translated by George Long

Medina "the radiant city", also transliterated as Madīnah, is a city and administrative headquarters of the Al-Madinah Region of Saudi Arabia.  At the city's heart is al-Masjid an-Nabawi ("the Prophet's Mosque"), which is the burial place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and is the second-holiest city in Islam after Mecca.  As with most cities in Saudi Arabia, Islam is the religion adhered by the majority of the population of Medina.  Sunnis of different schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali) constitute the majority while there is a significant Shia minority in and around Medina, such as the Nakhawila.  Outside the city centre (reserved for Muslims only), there are significant numbers of non-Muslim migrant workers and expats.  Historically, Medina is known for growing dates.  As of 1920, 139 varieties of dates were being grown in the area.   Medina also was known for growing many types of vegetables.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medina

Confusion between the verbs clamor [klăm’ər] and clamber [klăm’bər].  Used as both noun and verb, clamor comes from Latin clamor, “a shout.”  Clamber, on the other hand, is related to the verb climb.  It  means to climb by catching hold with hands and feet; to creep or crawl up (or down); to climb with difficulty and effort.  Even if one pronounces both words as /klăm’ər/, it’s easy to choose the correct one.  Try substituting the word climb or call and see which one makes more sense:  There are many voices out there today, each one climbing for our attention.  There are many voices out there today, each one calling for our attention.  If “climb” makes sense in the context, clamber is the word you want.  If “call” makes more sense, clamor is the word you want.  Maeve Maddox 
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/clamoring-and-clambering/  Memory aid:  Climb and clamber both have the letter b.                                                                                                                                       

Mononymous persons who wish to remain unknown are said to request mononymity.  Such persons have sometimes accomplished this by using names such as Distant, Aloof, Superintrovert, and the less-popular, hyphenated version At-arms-length.  Thank you, Muse reader!

The world's first plastic-free supermarket aisle was unveiled in Amsterdam February 28, 2018 as pressure to curb the world's plastic binge and its devastating impact on the planet continues to grow.  Ekoplaza, which has 74 stores across the Netherlands, says it will roll out the aisle across all branches as soon as possible.  According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, by 2015 humans had manufactured 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic, and of that, 6.3 billion metric tons had become plastic waste.  Of that waste, only 9% was recycled and 79% ended up in landfills or the natural environment.  Madalena Araujo and Isa Soares  https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/28/europe/ekoplaza-plastic-free-supermarket-aisle/index.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1851  March 2, 2018  On this date in 1962, Wilt Chamberlain set the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.  On this date in 1983, compact discs and players were released for the first time in the United States and other markets.  They had previously been available only in Japan.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2

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