The Mackinac bridge

At the time of construction in 1957, the Mackinac bridge, at five miles, was the longest suspension bridge ever constructed, with its main span of 3,800 feet. It was a engineering challenge to build the caissons that would support the bridge.

All the details are covered in the book, Miracle Bridge at Mackinac by David B. Steinman and John T. Nevill ( 624 ST). David Steinman is a bridge engineer and John Nevill was a newsman.

In upper Michigan, before the bridge was built, people had to ferry from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace to reach the upper peninsula of Michigan.

In some books that I've read, the authors can get bogged down with too much technical information. These authors do a fairly good job of trying to explain some of the challenges of building the bridge so that the common person can understand it. Interestingly enough, they use the analogy of a can of vegetables to explain building the supports that are underwater.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the record holder now is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan with a main span of 6,5332 feet (compared to Miracle Bridge's 3,800 feet). See the following website for more information on the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge:

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/julaug98/worlds.htm

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The history of windmills

Growing up on a farm, the windmill was a familiar sight. The windmill was originally for pumping water, but by the time I was born, we used electricity to pump water. (I may be old, but I'm not that old!)

Years ago, it was a ubiquitous, easily recognizable image on the farmland, towering above the trees. No they are almost gone. If you do see windmills, they are more like the ones used to generate electricity that are popping up around the state.

Windmills: An Old-New Energy Source (+ 621.45 MCD) by Lucile McDonald tracks the history. The first wind machines were in the Middle East. They are mentioned as far back as the seventh century A.D. Some of the early ones were quite different from what we're used to seeing. Many had a vertical shaft that resembled a revolving door and they were close to the ground.

This thin book is full of illustrations, demonstrating the diversity of this architecture. Unfortunately, because of the age of the book, current windmills that are being installed across the U.S. are not included.

If you want to look at a book with even more photographs, but they concentrate mainly on ones found in Great Britain, look up Windmills by Suzanne Beedell (621.45 BEE).

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Dinosaurs in Egypt

The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt by William Nothdurft with Josh Smith (567.9 NOT) is about two paleontological teams who were separated by almost ninety years - one expedition was in 1911, the other in 2000.

In 1911, German paleontologist Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach trekked across an inhospitable desert in Egypt to find evidence of early mammals. He didn't find any mammal bones - the rocks were too old for that. However, he did find the remains of four new dinosaurs. Complications arose when he tried to the the bones out of Egypt to his homeland of Germany. When they finally arrived in Germany and placed in the Bavarian State Collection of Paleontology and Historical Geology in Munich, misfortune befell him again. During World War II, the museum was bombed, destroying all the bones that had been collected.

Fast forward to 2000: American graduate student Josh Smith brought a team to Egypt to find the lost dinosaurs that Stomer so meticulously wrote about in his journals. Despite the shifting sand and no good landmarks to use, Smith's team, amazingly, found the same location. The first bones they found just turned to dust when they tried to recover them. After a more thorough search of the area, they uncovered large, well preserved bones.

This book will appeal to those with various interests. Of course, those who are into paleontology will want to check out this book. This will also appeal to history buffs (especially those who like reading about WWI and WWII) and those who have a fascination with Egypt.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

He was charming and handsome...a real lady-killer

From the first page, Dying to Get Married by Ellen Harris (364.1523 HAR) reveals the disturbing scene at a murder crime scene. The reader is right there with the police, witnessing what they saw. Police were called to the home of Dennis and Julie Bulloch in St. Louis, Missouri. Julie had died in a fire that destroyed their garage. But, this was completely different from most burn victims.

This was the first time in U.S. history that a woman's burned body was found with over seventy feet of tape securing her to a rocking chair in, what appears to be, some sort of sexual bondage ritual. Because the death was so gruesome, the author included only one photo of the victim - showing her wrist bound to the chair.

The coroner declared that Julie died from suffocation. Two pieces of cloth were crammed so far in her mouth that they blocked her windpipe.

Because Dennis, the husband, was gone, they asked the housekeeper to look over the house for missing items, to see if this was also a robbery. According to her, nothing seemed to be missing. Surprisingly, she found additional items that she had never seen before - sexual manuals.

As the investigation continued, strange facts about the marriage between Julie and Dennis were revealed. After a whirlwind romance, Dennis and Julie got married. They secretly wed - Julie never met any of the groom's relatives. Only Julie's picture was in the wedding photos. Dennis conveniently forgot to tell his boss that he was married. When Dennis would be on many of his company trips, he would buy gifts for his girlfriends - nothing for his wife.

Dennis was one of those controlling guys who believed that all of the marital problems were Julie's fault.

Dennis eventually went to trial for the murder of her husband. Because of one elderly juror who felt that Dennis had suffered enough, the jury's decision was only involuntary manslaughter.

Dying to Get Married, a nonfiction book, reads more like fiction - maybe something that Don Harstad would write.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

No worker is buried in the Hoover Dam

According to the U.S. Department of Interior website, about one million visitors see the Hoover Dam each year. A few years ago, my best friend, Tom, and I went there. It was the second time for Tom; the first for me. Unfortunately, because this was after 9/11, there was heightened security and the tour was not as extensive as it was when Tom toured it many years ago.

Before I toured the Hoover Dam, I had remembered hearing a rumor that one of the workers was died and was buried in the concrete. Of course, the tour guide set us straight on that rumor, telling us that only five feet of concrete was poured at one time, allowing workers to keep a close eye on what was happening.

In fact, I find it amazing that concrete was poured in such small amounts when you consider the overall size of the project. In Hoover Dam: An American Adventure by Joseph E. Stevens ( 627.82 STE), there is a photograph showing the stair step construction of concrete forms - a very dramatic picture.

Although no one was buried alive in the concrete, there is a story in this book about some construction workers who, as a joke, placed two shoes against the concrete forms. Once the concrete hardened, the workers saw the soles of two shoes, creating a panic within the workforce and getting some workers in serious trouble (page 294).

Built in the 1930s, during the depression, Hoover Dam is one of the greatest architectural achievements in the United States, and this book gives you all the information about the history as well as little known trivia.

Here is the website if you are interested in more information:
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/index.html

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

Lou Anne Johnson had her work cut out for her

I still remember when my sister was at UNI with a teaching major many years ago. Before she could graduate, she was required to student teach for a semester. It still holds true today - my nephew had to do the same thing.

Lou Anne Johnson writes in My Posse Don't Do Homework (371.1 JOH) that she only student taught for one day before she was asked to teach on her own. From the way she writes it, it didn't sound as if the request was because she was extremely talented at teaching high school. It was out of desperation by the administration.

The previous teacher of the high school English class of thirty-four students suddenly retired due to health reasons. The class had gone through two substitute teachers in a very short time - two people who refused to continue with that class. Of course, the vice-principal if the school left out some of the details for the sudden retirement.

Johnson found out that the class had no text book, she was not given any grades up to that point. Essentially she was starting from scratch. She wasn't allowed to talk to the substitute teachers. She knew something was wrong.

Describing the class as "Saturday Night Live" sophomoric skit, the students are undisciplined, unmotivated, and disruptive. Fortunately for her, she finds a way of getting their attention to let them know that she is there the help them. Her experience in the military helps just as much as the theory classes she took in college.

Johnson's sense of humor and storytelling lightens the mood of a serious problem within some school systems. Through her wit, she was able to get students who thought of themselves as "stupid" and "worthless" to begin to care about their studies. As the subtitle says, it is funny and inspirational.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

The history of department stores

OK, I admit it, the cover is tattered and old - and not at all appealing. But don't let that stop you from reading A History of the Department Store ( 658.871 FE) by John William Ferry. Because the author is writing about the founding of some of the most prestigious retail stores, the information is still valuable.

Because this book was printed in 1960, many of the current big box department stores we have in the Cedar Valley are not listed. But that doesn't mean you won't recognize many of the names. Author John Ferry devotes a section to the history of each of the stores he feels contributed most to the development of our concept of a department store. Although many of stores featured had their start in New York and London, the author still has quite a few from Chicago and other areas.

The first thirty pages talk about the "current" state of retail (in 1960), so that information is just a little old - OK, really old. Before working at the library, I worked in retail for many years (starting in 1976 or 1977). There are many comments made by the author that were outdated even by the middle of the 1970s. However, it's still a wonderful look at what it was like working in retail.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007

One prison for seven guys

Long Knives and Short Memories by Jack Fishman (364.138 FIS) is about the Spandau prison in Berlin and its seven infamous residents. After their convictions, seven of the top Nazi leaders were sent to prison at Spandau gaol. In a prison that was originally designed to hold six hundred inmates, it now only held these seven people:

Rudolph Hess

Walther Funk
Albert Speer

Baldur von Schirach
Konstantin von Neurath
Karl Doenitz
Erich Raeder

The prison was three stories high. The wall surrounding it rose to thirty feet. There was a 10 feet high barbed wire fence encircling the prison as well. If that wasn't enough of a deterrent to prevent anyone from escaping, it was also constructed with 6 foot high electrified barrier, with a 4,000 volt charge. Built into the wall, 9 machine gun posts.

Considering the number of inmates, the staffing was enormous: 2 officers, 2 sergeants, 6 corporals, and 44 privates. The responsibilities of manning the prison fell on the four superpowers: the United States, Great Britain, U.S.S.R., and France. Coming to a consensus on what the punishment for their crimes should be and how long they should be incarcerated and to what degree was a delicate matter. Some political leaders favored the death penalty, but ultimately, life sentences were decreed.

Reading about the lives of each of the residents is amazing, since some admitted no guilt, and one had such false hopes of reclaiming the German power.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007