On April 11, 1912, the British liner Carpathia carrying some 740 passengers departed from New York City for Fiume, Austria-Hungary (now Rijeka, Croatia).  Carpathia was best known for rescuing survivors from the ship Titanic in 1912.  On April 15 at approximately 12:20 AM, the ship received a distress call from the Titanic, which had struck an iceberg and was sinking.  Capt. Arthur Henry Rostron ordered the Carpathia to the Titanic’s position, which was about 58 miles (107 km) away, and began preparing the ship for any survivors.  Despite the presence of icebergs, the ship traveled at top speed (some 17 knots), arriving at approximately 3:30 AM.  The Titanic had sunk more than an hour earlier, but the Carpathia rescued 705 people in lifeboats. The ship returned to New York City on April 18.  The actions of Rostron and the Carpathia’s crew were credited with preventing further loss of life, and Rostron was awarded a U.S. Congressional Gold Medal.  During World War I the Carpathia transported Allied troops and supplies.  On July 17, 1918, it was part of a convoy traveling from Liverpool to Boston.  Off the southern coast of Ireland, the ship was struck by three torpedoes from a German U-boat and sank.  Five people were killed; the rest of the passengers and crew were rescued by the HMS Snowdrop.  In 1999 the wreck of the Carpathia was discovered intact and lying upright at a depth of more than 500 feet (152 metres).  Amy Tikkanen  See graphics at https://www.britannica.com/topic/Carpathia   

SS Californian was a British Leyland Line steamship that is best known for its inaction during the sinking of the RMS Titanic, despite being the closest ship in the area.  Judging by available evidence, the Californian was likely the only ship to see the Titanic, or at least its rockets, during the sinking.  The United States Senate inquiry and British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry into the sinking both concluded that the Californian could have saved many or all of the lives that were lost, had a prompt response been mounted to the Titanic's distress rockets.  The U.S. Senate inquiry was particularly critical of the vessel's captain, Stanley Lord, calling his inaction during the disaster "reprehensible".  Despite this criticism, no formal charges were ever brought against Lord and his crew for their inaction.  Lord disputed the findings and would spend the rest of his life trying to clear his name.  In 1992, the UK Government's Marine Accident Investigation Branch re-examined the case and while condemning the inaction of the Californian and Captain Lord, also concluded that due to the limited time available, "the effect of Californian taking proper action would have been no more than to place on her the task actually carried out by Carpathia, that is the rescue of those who escaped . . . [no] reasonably probable action by Captain Lord could have led to a different outcome of the tragedy".  Californian was later sunk on 9 November 1915, by the German submarines SM U-34 and U-35, in the Eastern Mediterranean during World War I.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Californian  See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpathia   

milecastle (plural milecastles) noun  One of a series of small rectangular fortifications, spaced roughly one Roman mile apart, built during the period of the Roman Empire  synonyms ▲  one of a series of small rectangular fortifications, spaced roughly one Roman mile apart, built during the period of the Roman Empire  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/milecastle#English   

While many cemetery visits are solemn, cemetery tourism is a way to walk through the gravestones differently with historical viewpoint.  Rosie Grant, a University of Maryland graduate student, told NPR that she thought of the recipes as a way to connect with people in the afterlife by using what they wanted us to remember them by.  And even though gravestone recipes are a pretty new-wave concept, according to the New York Times, the practice is popping up all over the world, from Alaska to Israel, giving people who decide to try the recipes a cultural reference of where the food is from.  Grant told NPR that her favorite gravestone recipe she’s made so far is a spritz cookie listed on Naomi Dawson’s tombstone, which she says tastes like a cross between a sugar and shortbread cookie.  It turns out the recipe belongs to Richard Dawson’s mother, who refused to give the recipe up.  Even though the recipe lacked measurements, Grant made a plate to bring to Naomi Dawson’s grave.  https://matadornetwork.com/read/gravestone-recipes/   

You Can Now Book a Stay at King Charles III’s Royal Retreat in Transylvania  Not a vampire to be found.  Nestled among the hills of the Zalán Valley, the property includes the three cottage-style homes, where guests have seven double rooms from which to choose.  To give guests a sense of place, each of the rooms are furnished with accents that showcase traditional Transylvanian culture, from antiques to embroidered textiles.  All the accommodations feature en-suite bathrooms, private terraces and a living area with a full kitchen.  There is also another cottage that has a drawing room and dining area as we as a communal fire pit where guests from across the property can interact.  And meals are prepared by a local chef who creates a menu based on the day’s fresh harvest.  King Charles purchased the property back in 2006, where he acquired one of the cottages after a visit and came back and bought the remaining homes in 2010.  The Transylvanian guesthouse isn’t the monarch’s only former retreat you can book a night at.  There’s also Dolphin House in Sicily, Italy and Dumfries House in Scotland.  Dana Givens  See photos at https://robbreport.com/travel/hotels/explore-the-transylvania-countryside-in-king-charles-retreat-1234752396/   

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the publication of “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot, we invited four writers and academics—Beci Carver, Jahan Ramazani, Robert Crawford, and David Barnes—to discuss the importance, context, artistry, and legacy of the poem.  See article at https://lithub.com/the-most-important-poem-of-the-20th-century-on-t-s-eliots-the-waste-land-at-100/   

Art is the elimination of the unnecessary. - Pablo Picasso, painter and sculptor (25 Oct 1881-1973)  

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2582  October 25, 2022