Lewis "Lew" Wallace (1827–1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, politician, diplomat and author from Indiana.  Wallace's military career included service in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.  He was appointed Indiana's adjutant general and commanded the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment.  Wallace, who attained the rank of major general, participated in the Battle of Fort Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, and the Battle of Monocacy.  He also served on the military commission for the trials of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, and presided over the trial of Henry Wirz, the Confederate commandant of the Andersonville prison camp.  Wallace resigned from the U.S. Army in November 1865 and briefly served as a major general in the Mexican army, before returning to the United States.  Wallace made two unsuccessful bids for a seat in Congress (in 1868 and 1870), and supported Republican presidential candidate Rutherford B. Hayes in the 1876 election.  As a reward for his political support, Hayes appointed Wallace as governor of the New Mexico Territory, where he served from August 1878 to March 1881.  His next assignment came in March 1881, when Republican president James A. Garfield appointed Wallace to an overseas diplomatic post in Constantinople, Turkey, as U.S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire.  Wallace remained in this post until 1885.  Wallace arrived in Santa Fe, on September 29, 1878, to begin his service as governor of the New Mexico Territory during a time of lawless violence and political corruption.   Wallace was involved in efforts to resolve New Mexico's Lincoln County War, a contentious and violent disagreement among the county’s residents, and tried to end a series of Apache raids on territorial settlers.  In 1880, while living at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, Wallace also completed the manuscript for Ben Hur.  On March 1, 1879, after previous efforts to restore order in Lincoln County had failed, Wallace ordered the arrest of those responsible for local killings.   One of the outlaws was William Henry McCarty, Jr. better known as Billy the Kid.  On March 17, 1879, Wallace secretly met with the Kid, who had witnessed the murder of a Lincoln County lawyer named Chapman.  Wallace wanted the Kid to testify in the trial of Chapman's accused murderers, but the Kid had killed others and wanted Wallace's protection from the outlaw gang and amnesty for his crimes.  During their meeting, the pair arranged for the Kid to become an informant in exchange for a full pardon of his previous crimes.  Wallace supposedly assured the Kid that he would be "scot free with a pardon in your pocket for all your misdeeds."  On March 20, the Kid agreed to testify against others involved in Chapman's murder.  Wallace arranged for the Kid's arrest and detention in a local jail to assure his safety.  After the Kid testified in court on April 14, the local district attorney revoked Wallace's bargain and refused to set the outlaw free.  The Kid escaped from jail and returned to his criminal ways.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lew_Wallace

The General Lew Wallace Study & Museum, formerly known as the Ben-Hur Museum, is located in Crawfordsville, Indiana.  It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and in 2008 was awarded a National Medal from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.  It is located in the Elston Grove Historic District.  Wallace was said to have built the study because he wanted "a pleasure-house for my soul," that would be "a detached room away from the world and its worries."  Wallace died in his home on February 15, 1905.  Upon his death, his family allowed the public to tour his study.  In 1941 the city of Crawfordsville was given the property by a local civic organization, which purchased the property to donate it to the city.  Wallace's former house was mostly razed, with only its dining room, living room, and floored central hall remaining as part of a modern ranch-style house; it is not part of the National Register designation.  The carriage house opened in 2006 as the Carriage House Interpretive Center, and is now the launching point for visitor experiences.  Formerly used by the Girl Scouts and the Camp Fire Girls, it houses an exhibit that changes annually, gift shop, orientation video, offices and collection storage.  When the city of Crawfordsville acquired the structure, it became known as the Ben-Hur Museum; it is officially called the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum.  It still exhibits many of the 1,200 books Wallace owned.  The furniture in the study is original, including the chair that Wallace used when writing his masterwork, Ben-Hur (which he completed long before building the study).  Among the other artifacts in the collection are his military uniforms, artwork, musical instruments, and the fishing rod he invented.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Lew_Wallace_Study

Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards was an American writer of the late 19th century who published more than 90 books.  Born on February 27, 1850, she is best known for the nonsense poems she created for children to enjoy, such as “Eletelephony.”  Laura Richards’ parents were famous before she was born.  Her father was Samuel Gridley Howe, who ran the Perkins Institute for the Blind where Helen Keller and Laura Bridgman were educated.  (In fact, he named his own daughter after Laura Bridgman.)  Her mother, Julia Ward Howe, wrote the words to a famous song called “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”  When Laura Richards grew up, she and her sister wrote a biography of their mother that won a Pulitzer Prize.  In addition to writing many poems and works of fiction, Richards was a philanthropist.  She was very concerned about finding ways to help the people in the town where she lived with her husband.  For example, Richards helped to change the practice of making children work at difficult jobs as if they were adults, which was common at the time.  One of Richards’s best books of nonsense poetry is called Tirra Lirra.  The poems in this book use techniques like rhythm, alliteration, and startling imagery to tell an imaginative story.  http://www.poetry4kids.com/news/laura-e-richards-the-first-american-childrens-nonsense-poet/  See also http://www.online-literature.com/laura-richards/

A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words.  It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames.  For example, in its basic form, three salmon (fish) are used to denote the surname "Salmon".  A more sophisticated example was the rebus of Bishop Walter Lyhart (d.1472) of Norwich, consisting of a stag (or hart) lying down in a conventional representation of water.  The composition alludes to the name, profession or personal characteristics of the bearer, and speaks to the beholder Non verbis, sed rebus, which Latin expression signifies "not by words but by things"  A modern example of the rebus used as a form of word play is:  H + picture of an ear = Hear, or Here.  By extension, it also uses the positioning of words or parts of words in relation to each other to convey a hidden meaning, for example:  p walk ark: walk in the park.  A rebus made up solely of letters (such as "CU" for "See you") is known as a gramogram, grammagram, or letteral word.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus

RECIPES from Marc:  "I'm a chef, photographer and food personality who’s loved cooking since before I could see over the kitchen counter.  For me, food is a life-long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation which has literally taken me to the far corners of the earth."  http://norecipes.com/index

Q.  What are pig trotters?  A:  Trotters is another name for pig's feet, typically from the ankle down.  Trotters are full of collagen, which breaks down while cooking and adds a velvety texture to soups and stews.  The bones and meat also help to increase the flavor of a dish.  In the United States, trotters are often pickled, but individuals can purchase them in their regular form from many supermarkets and butcher shops.  Individuals can braise, grill or cook down trotters into a stock that can be used in sauces and soups in place of broth.  https://www.reference.com/food/pig-trotters-d508f74feb07bef7#

The collections of the Cape Ann Museum at 27 Pleasant St. in Gloucester, MA represent the history of Cape Ann, its people, its industries, and especially its art and culture.  An exhibition showcasing the master skills of a Gloucester woodworker "Voicing the Woods:  Jeremy Adams, Instrument Maker" is running until March 5, 2017.   Adams is  one of the most gifted musical instrument makers in New England.  The exhibition includes a one-stop chamber organ, a demonstration organ chest, a 1995 clavichord and a selection of harpsichords, each built in its entirety by Adams in his Danvers workshop.   Adams’s harpsichords, clavichords and pipe organs can be found in public and private collections around the world, including the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston; the Sapporo Episcopal Cathedral and the Kyoto Fukkatu Kyokai (Kyoto Episcopal Church) in Japan; Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury; the Waring School in Beverly; Maple Street Congregational Church in Danvers; and the Annisquam Village Church in Gloucester. Restorations and expansions of existing instruments include work on Martha’s Vineyard and in Barbados.  Read about other exhibitions and link to the Library & Archives and Fitz Henry Lane Online at http://www.capeannmuseum.org/

Titanic is a 1943 German propaganda film made during World War II in Berlin by Tobis Productions for UFA.  Despite the fact that a British company had already released a German-language film about the RMS Titanic, the film was commissioned by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels with the intent of showing not only the superiority of German filmmaking, but also as a propaganda vehicle which would show that British and American capitalism was responsible for the disaster.  The addition of an entirely fictional heroic German officer to the ship's crew was intended to demonstrate the superior bravery and selflessness of German men as compared to the British officers.  The film's premiere was supposed to occur in early 1943, but the theatre that housed the answer print was bombed by Royal Air Force planes the night before.  The film went on to have a respectable premiere in Paris in November 1943 "where it was surprisingly well-received by its audience", and also played well in some other capital cities of Nazi-occupied Europe such as Prague.  But Goebbels banned its playing in Germany altogether, stating that the German people--who were at that point going through almost nightly Allied bombing raids--were less than enthusiastic about seeing a film that portrayed mass death and panic.  Titanic was re-discovered in 1949, but was quickly banned in most western countries.  Shortly after the war, the film, dubbed in Russian, was screened across the Eastern Bloc as a "trophy film."  After the 1950s, Titanic went back into obscurity, sometimes showing on German television.  In 1992, a censored, low quality VHS version was released in Germany.  This version deleted the strongest propaganda scenes, watering down its controversial content.  Finally, in 2005, Titanic was completely restored and, for the first time, the uncensored version was released in a special edition DVD by Kino Video.  Four clips from the film were recycled and used in the successful 1958 British film A Night to Remember:  two of the ship sailing in calm waters during the day, and two brief clips of a flooding walkway in the engine room.  The entire film was screened at the BFI Southbank in London as a part of its "Titanic" season in April 2012.  Nazi Titanic:  Revealed is a documentary on the film which was aired on Channel 5 in the UK on 6 March 2012.  An extended version was also broadcast on the History Channel in North America under the title Nazi Titanic on April 14, 2012.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1943_film)

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1690  February 8, 2017  On this date in 1922, United States President Warren G. Harding introduced the first radio set in the White House.  On this date in 1978, proceedings of the United States Senate were broadcast on radio for the first time.