|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Hummph!®
Doesn't count, and you know it! Stringfellow's effort had strings attached, if you know what I mean.
Actually, Richard Pearse was a real clever sod, and the flying thingy was actually just a sideline. He built a bicycle which was years ahead of its time, he found a way of making traction engines much more efficient and came up with a whole host of other inventions.
But for all that he had absolutely no commercial nous (witness the fact that he flew his plane without publicity. But there is no doubt at all that he beat the Wright brothers to it by about nine months and possibly nearly 18 months.
He never took out a single patent. Idiot!
- Pfranz
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
The Coast Guard sailing ship is the Eagle
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Getting back to the booze, does anyone know the strength of these alcoholic drinks that sailors apparently imbibed with such reckless abandon? I have heard of something called 'small beer', which has become part of a well known phrase or saying for instance. That suggests to me that there is a possibility that the drinks were of lower strength than we are used to today.
Of course, since the water was so bad they may have been boiling off the alcohol by using it for cooking. No, seriously.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Good point, dxb. From what I understand, originally beer only contained about 4% alcohol, thus even children could drink it as nourishment without any serious inebriate effects. And it wasn't until the latter part of the 19th century that innkeepers began to ferment beer to a higher potency (proof) for recreational imbibing.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Why 'proof' for alcoholic content? What does it prove other than about how drunk you'll get if you drink more ounces of a higher proof alcohol than a lower one?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
|
|
OP
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Thanks to the U of Wyoming for the following:
" Proof refers to the percentage of ethyl alcohol by volume in any particular type of alcoholic beverage. Proof corresponds to twice the percentage rate. For example, a bottle of whiskey may be 80 proof or 40% alcohol by volume."
So now ya know!
stales
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618 |
So why is it double the percentage?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
|
|
OP
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Doc I'm tempted to say it's because it's American and therefore overstated - like the "World" series - but I won't. Can't get an explicit statement as to why, but the site below gives a hint. "Proof spirit" in the US is said to be 100 Proof - gives one a decimal to work with. Pure alcohol (which one doesn't/shouldn't drink) is 200 Proof. Of course the Poms have to be different - their pure alcohol is 175.25 proof. http://www.sasky.com/saskycom/databases/spirits/index3As regards the word Proof, it was apparently first used in the 17th century by whiskey dealers. Unscrupulous dealers used to add water to their whiskey to increase their profits, so to combat this, whiskey was tested by pouring a sample onto some gunpowder and setting it alight. If the gunpowder ignited after the alcohol had burned off, it was proof that the whiskey had not contained too much water. One can assume from this that a 50% ethanol / 50% water mix (ie 100 Proof) is the minimum blend that will not affect gunpowder's ability to burn after a soaking. stales
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
How do you go about lighting wet gunpowder?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
How do you go about lighting wet gunpowder?
Carefully, I'd say!
- Pfranz
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,318
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
781
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
