How To Keep Cannon Balls

It was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon balls near the cannon on old war ships. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck was the problem. The storage method devised was to stack them as a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.

There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate with 16 round indentations, called, for reasons unknown, a Monkey. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make them of brass -hence, Brass Monkeys.

Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. And all this time, folks thought that was just a vulgar expression?

Minutes of Meeting of 21 Jan 2012

SONS Of The AMERICAN REVOLUTION Meeting Minutes of The Central Coast Chapter Jan. 21, 2011

The meeting was called to order at 1:10 PM. The

Invocation was by Earl Radar. The Pledges of Allegiance and SAR Pledge were by Gary Cooper.

Attendance 14!, which included guests Sheri Haynes, Barbara Stevens, and Spencer Eley.

Our speaker was Compatriot Al Stevens, who delivered a very cogent presentation on the paradigm shift in the oil and gas world. He explained how fracing (I assume that rhymes with racing) has enabled the extraction of oil and natural gas through horizontal drilling without undue damage to groundwater and the environmental. Al serves on the board of Southwestern Energy Co. , one of the leaders in this new paradigm.

The Treasurer reported a balance of $3,009.22

Bill Siler was awarded The Certificate of Patriotism for his meritorious service in World War II. Well deserved.

Benediction and closing pledge by Gary at 2:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

David A. Tissue, Secretary

Synopsis of Al Steven's Talk on Recent Developments in Oil & Gas Production

The speaker for our January meeting was Al Stevens, compatriot, and retired geologist, who spent his career in the development and production of oil and national gas.

A Michigan native, Al graduated in Geology and Engineering from Michigan Tech. He spent over 37 years in the petroleum industry with half of his experience in international areas. He ended his career in 2001 as president and chief operating officer for Southwestern Energy Production Co, Houston, Texas, and in 2010, he was elected the Board of Directors.

He and his wife, Barbara, have been married 45 years and have two sons, and nine grandchildren. He collects and restores antique clocks, as well as collecting antique geologic maps. Al provides field trips on the geology of San Luis Obispo County and has taken over 1500 people on these field trips in the past seven years.

In the last decade there has been a paradigm shift in the way we produce oil and natural gas in the continental United States. The conventional oil and gas plays have become so small and expensive as to economically reach the point of diminishing returns. In 2000 companies began to explore the possibility of producing hydrocarbons from the shale source rocks that originally generated the oil and gas. By applying and refining existing technologies of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracing, they were able to unleash a vast amount of new low cost reserves that has increased the reserves of natural gas 10 times of what existed in 2000 and has provided the United States with over a 100 year supply. The United States now has as much energy in our natural gas reserves as Saudi Arabia has in their oil reserves, and there is still enormous potential to increase these reserves in the future.

There has been a lot of press by the environmentalists which are politically against the development of these new reserves stating that fracing pollutes the fresh water and that the additives utilized are toxic. Federal and state investigations indicate that fracing has not been the source of fresh water contamination but rather the problems have been due to poor well integrity, and contamination of the fresh water supplies by historical unregulated drilling over the last 150 years.

Natural gas is the least polluting of all hydrocarbons. With this abundance of new energy supplies the challenge for our country is to seek ways to convert our existing transportation and infrastructure to wisely utilize these natural gas reserves to reduce our dependency on foreign oil supplies whose cost is out of our control.

If you did not attend this month's meeting, you missed a great presentation of the present state of the oil and gas industry in North America.

Next Meeting

Saturday, February 18, 1:00 PM

IHOP Restaurant

212 Madonna Road

San Luis Obispo, CA

Speaker:
Introducing your Vice President, South:

J Stephen Hurst. Member since 2002, with three supplemental memberships.

Life Member

State Awards: Meritorious Service Award for service as CASSAR Registrar

Chapter awards: Meritorious Service Award for service of two years as vice president and two years as president, George Patton Chapter

Silver Good Citizenship Award

Outstanding Citizenship Award

Bronze Color Guard Award

Past President pin

Education: Chemistry SDSU

MBA University of Missouri

Certified Financial Planner

Retired after more than thirty years financial advisor at a major investment firm.

Resident of California since 1962.

Military Service:

Captain, U S Air Force

Munitions officer

Missile launch officer

Equal opportunity officer

Okinawa, two tours in Thailand, North Dakota, Missouri, Vandenberg AFB

Three children: step daughter Stephanie, foster son Thuan Huynh, deceased son Eric, recipient of Carnegie Hero Award

Grandson: Nathan Huynh. Nathan is a youth registrant of the SAR.

Member NRA, American Sailing Associate bareboat charter diplomate, member Roseleaf Ragtime Club, Life member of the Society for Sedimentary Geology Pacific section, subscriber New West Symphony, member St. Georges Anglican Church,

Lineage Societies:

Past Secretary, California Society of War of 1812

Governor General, Order of the First Family of Maryland

Member Society of Colonial Wars

Life Member Society of Indiana Pioneers

“Call me Steve. From my efforts as Registrar, I know how congenial our society can be. It is a pleasure to associate with men interested in our country’s patriotic heritage. I want to help us to continue to grow by welcoming new, younger members.”

Benedict Arnold Was The Best General in the Continental Army!

"Without Benedict Arnold in the first three years of the war," says the historian George Neumann, "we would probably have lost the Revolution." In 1775, the future traitor came within a whisker of conquering Canada. In 1776, he built a fleet and fought a bigger British fleet to a standstill on Lake Champlain. At Saratoga in 1777, his brilliant battlefield leadership forced the British army to surrender. The victory persuaded the French to join the war on the American side. Ironically, Arnold switched sides in 1780 partly because he disapproved of the French alliance.

Despite Arnold's successes, he was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress while other officers claimed credit for some of his accomplishments.^[3] Adversaries in military and political circles brought charges of corruption or other malfeasance, but most often he was acquitted in formal inquiries. Congress investigated his accounts and found he was indebted to Congress after spending much of his own money on the war effort. Frustrated and bitter, Arnold decided to change sides in 1779, and opened secret negotiations with the British. In July 1780, he sought and obtained command of West Point in order to surrender it to the British. Arnold's scheme was exposed when American forces captured British Major John André carrying papers that revealed the plot. Upon learning of André's capture, Arnold fled down the Hudson River to the British sloop-of-war Vulture, narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of George Washington, who had been alerted to the plot.
Wikipedia