Adventurers` Club News Apr 1989

The
ADVENTURERS CLUB
NEWS
A 12-FOOT HAMMERHEAD MENACES A RATHER DARING FISHERMAN
April 1989
OUR NEW TEMPORARY MEETING PLACE
EFFECTIVE MARCH 2, 1989
Vista del Arroyo Hotel
126 South Grand
Pasadena
From the Ventura Freeway, East or West--take the Orange Grove offramp, go south to Green, then one block West to Grand.
From the Foothill Freeway, South, take Ventura Freeway of f ramp West
and get off immediately at Organge Grove, go South to Green, West
one block to Grand.
From the Long Beach Freeway/Arroyo Parkway, North--turn left at
California to Grand then right.
THE ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS
ISSUE No. 4
VOLUME 32
APRIL 1989
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
3
6
10
12
AMERICA-STAND FIRM! (Al Adams #688) A visit
to the USS Vincennes.
DIGGING FWHYIHS IN MEXICO (J. R. Macdonald #762)
A trip to the land of frijoles.
ThE 1988 CLUB FINANCIAL REPORTS
KEITh'S KORNER (Keith Young #565) tells us it
was ROCKEFELLER, ar LINDBERG
14
DURIAN--STRANGE ERUIT APPEARS IN CALIFORNIA
(Mark Lane #989) A coincidental report on
our "smelly" story in the March issue.
16
18
19
20
ThE TM=
IN ThE 1.K)RID (Bil Brown #708)
His unbelievable statistics!
OUR NEWEST MF1BER---Michael T. Hyson #1002
MARINE SPECIMENS--WE (DLLECI' THEM (guest Don
Zumwalt) The program for February 9, 1989.
SPANISH ARMAJ)A--SPANISH SIDE (guest Peter Feldman) The program for February 16, 1989.
COMING IN MAY
THE CONCLUSION OF THE STORY OF
THE MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY.
April 1989
Page 1
AONU1EJLt
Ut?1
Nrulfi
(usPs 389-310)
THE ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS is the Official Publication of the
Adventurers Club, Los Angeles, California
Publisher - Frank Haigler #825
Editor - Robert Williams #905
§
President
First Vice President
Second Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Past President
Director - Bil Brown #708
Director - Bob Sechrist #828
Director - Sven Wahlroos #978
Frank Haigler #825
Pierre Odier #988
David Dahl #993
David Linehan #977
Keith Chase #664
Alan Siebert #932
Director - Bruce Meyers #973
Director - Bob Sandwick #909
Director - Milt Valois #974
§
THE ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS (USPS 389-310) is published monthly by
The Adventurers Club, P. 0. Box 15791, Los Angeles, Calif. 90015
Subscription $15.00 per year
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to P. 0. Box 15791, Los Angeles
California 90015
§
Manuscripts and other items intended for publication by the members of the Club should be sent to the Publication Office, 1735
Avalon Bay Road, Lake Havasu City, Arizona 86403. Phone is 1-602
453-3996. Hours 8:00 AN to 8:00 PM. Lead time for publication
is a minimum of three months. Adventure stories, human interest
stories, or other items submitted by the author are always welcome.
Adventurers Club News
Page 2
OUR APRIL FEATURE
AMERICA — STAND FIRM!
by Al A. Adams #688
By a lucky coincidence, two of our
members have made personal inspection
visits to some of the fighting ships of
our modern Navy. Last month lb Melchior #892 reported on his visit to the
In this issue Al Adams
USS Vincennes.
#688 tells us of his six—day inspection
cruise on the USS David R. Ray. We are
fortunate indeed to catch a close—up
look at these great vessels through the
eyes of two of our members. Ed.
Commodore Carmichael of the
Department of the Navy and of
Defense sent a welcome invitation to me to be a guest of the
Navy aboard USS DAVID R. RAY DD
971, one of the latest 563 foot
long Spruance Class destroyers
of the Pacific Fleet.
This cruise would cover many
Miles at sea accomplishing many
maneuvers, special assignments,
target practice, calibrations,
tests of equipment, speed runs,
man-overboard drills at night,
rendezvous with fighter planes,
navigation training and so much
more.
Our destination was San
Francisco, from San Diego, making our 1ndfall in pea soup
fog under the Golden Gate bridge.
This sea operation was very
special to me in many ways. It
was an opportunity to have an
up-to-the-minute firsthand look
at our Navy in action at sea,
and to sail with the very capable commanding officer, Captain
Donald R. Rhodes.
A warship like the RAY is
different because of its advanced propulsion systems and
its fully integrated combat methods.
The RAY's sonar is the
most advanced underwater system
for the detection of submarines
yet developed. Impressive to me
was the space, weight and electrical power reservations allocated in the design of the ship
to provide for the addition of
future weapons systems and enable these ships to keep abreast
of future technology. It was a
rare experience to stand on the
destroyer's bridge and witness
her classified speed of over 30
knots. It was incredible!
Down in her engine room was
more of the unbelievable and the
reason for her speed. This destroyer is a member of the first
major class of surface ships in
April 1989
Page 3
AMERICA - STAND FIRM!
our U.S. Navy to be powered by
gas turbine engines. There, secured in a special sound deadening compartment, were four
Gen. Elec. LM2500 engines. They
are the marine versions of those
used in DC-10 and C-5A aircraft.
The jet force of these monsters
drive huge vanes at terrific
speed. That power in turn goes
through a reduction gear mechanism to then turn the two huge
shafts.
Twin controllable reversible pitch five bladed propellers on those shafts are then
controlled through a tunnel inside the shafts.
The shafts
turn at one constant speed and
directionandby controlling the
degree of pitch of those ten
blades the destroyer goes at the
desired speed or reverses, or,
the propellers turn in neutral.
Thus, it takes a man with
background such as Capt. Rhodes
to know all the facets of such
a warship.
He graduated from
the U.S. Naval Academy, earned
a Master's Degree in Mechanical
Engineering from the Naval Post
graduate School and then served
as instructor in the Mechanical
Engineering Department at the
U.S. Naval Academy. To further
round out his background, he
attended special Command and
Staff courses at the Naval War
College.
He has had many ship commands
Page 4
Antiship Cruise Mizci1ec are
the primary threat to
ships of this class
and sea tours also as Executive
Officer, Engineer officer and
now Captain of the great warship
USS DAVID R. RAY.
His ability
to handle this fast, highly maneuverable ship proved that his
training has served well for the
Navy and for himself.
His understanding goes beyond the ship
and its propulsion to the various complex weapon systems which
are of quick-reaction high fire
power missile and rockets which
provide antiship defense and
increases the survivability of
naval vessels.
The primary threat which these
weapons will encounter is the
Antiship Cruise Missiles which
are in large inventory around
the world. These systems are a
great break-through for the U.S.
In conjunction is the NATO Seasparrow Missile System, a short
range, rapid reaction defense
system for use against aircraft,
air launched and surface launched weapons.
These missile defense systems
are capable of searching for,
detecting and destroying air
and surface targets and maintaining surveillance on surface
target threats for surface launched weapons. It iSSelf_ooer.
Adventurers Club News
MORE, AMERICA - STAND FIRM!
ating without a man on deck.
Further there is responsibility
for the safe handling of powerful munitions such as two 5 in.
54 calibre guns, two MK-32 triple torpedo tubes and the Harpoon weapons system and an anti
submarine rocket launcher among
many others too new to speak of.
Of considerable interest was
to observe the ship's Gun Subsystem, consisting of 20mm gattling guns with 6 barrels each
that spin and fire up to 3,000
The ship's
rounds per minute.
Radar Subsystem performs target
search and track functions, also
tracking projectiles to develop
distance corrections making for
resultant deadly accuracy.
A disturbing thought was when
I requested information regarding the making of the ship's
potable water from sea water.
I was aware that harbor water
is not used in the desalting
system because of pollution expected in busy harbors. It was
then that I learned the ship has
to go 10 miles out to sea to
begin the desalinization process for pollution, poison chemicals, sewage, etc. pose problems even that far offshore.
Captain Rhodes gave me full
access to the ship for six 24hour days and at no time did I
see any discrepancy or evidence
Of the waste of tax payers dol-
Officers in todays Navy
are college graduates,
many with advanced degrees.
lars. The crew that I conversed
with are a new breed with common
sense, sea sense and intelligence. The average schooling for
them is 14 years, a big jump
from the 11 years I foundin the
past 10 years that I have made
such cruises with the Navy.
Officers, I found,, were college graduates, several with
degrees and some from the Naval
Academy. All the officers that
I interrogated were career Navy
personnel.
I liked what I saw
as a taxpayer.
Two hundred twenty three enlisted men live and work aboard
the destroyer with 18 officers
and 20 chief petty officers to
complete the personnel. The
Captain has the responsibility
of an institution which he must
understand. Captain Rhodes does
not believe in keeping trouble
makers in his crew or those who
interfere with the ship's good
morale. As he told me, "I talk
with them,txyto surmount their
problems, but if they continue
to disrupt my team they are allowed to leave.
If they don't
want a part in the success of a
fine ship, they waste the men's
time and mine." (Conl-'d on pg. 17)
April 1989
Page 5
Digging Mammoths In Mexico
J. R. MACDONALD
This intriguing story about
J.R.'s trek to the land of frijoles,
tortillas and "first class" accommodations will amuse you.
J. R. Macdonald #762
I joined the staff of the Los
Angeles County Natural History
Museum as Curator of Vertebrate
Paleontology in August 1962.
Within a month I was off to Atotonilco el Bajo to run a fossil
dig. Don't look for it on the
map. It's about 60 klicks southwest of Guadalajara.
Dr. Ted Downs, whose position
I took when he was promoted to
Chief Curator of the Earth Science Division, had been digging
near Lago de Chapala south of
Guadalajara for many years. He
Page 6
was well known to the people of
the Universidad Autorioma de Jalisco.
The excavation of a series of
drainage canals near Catarina
and Atotorjilco uncovered a number of mammoths. The university
began to excavate several sites
under the direction of an instructor in architecture, Diego
Delgado. When the federal prehistory department got wind of
this effort they ordered the
excavations be filled in until
a professional paleontologist
could take over. Dr. Downs was
contacted and arrangements were
made forsetotake over the dig.
The Museum's anthropologist
had just returned from Guadalajara and assured me that first
class accommodations were waiting in Atotonilco. It didn't
turn out that way! It was better than Infantry bivouac but
not very wonderful.
Harley Garbani of San Jacinto, California had been on a
number of museum digs So he was
to go with me. Fortunately Her-
Adventurers Club News
DIGGING MAMMOTHS IN MEXICO
ley's Spanish was better than
mine so we were away in good
shape.
Upon arriving in Guadalajara
we contacted Delgado and started things rolling. The Federals had dealt themselves in so
the first mammoth went to them,
the second to the University -if there was another one it was
ours. We furnished money and
the University was to pt a crew
together, provide logistics and
arrange for quarters.
We were ready to go and it
started to rain out of season.
Senor Jose Luiz Lorenzo, the
Chief of Prehistory, decided
that I was a reincarnation of
the rain god, Tialoc. Maybe he
was right! This continued thru
several field trips.
While arrangements were being
made Harley and I stayed at La
Quinta, a rambling one story
hotel in Jocotepec on the west
shore of Lago de Chapala. Bob
Whipple was the pudgy and slightly strange owner. There was
a tall, nice looking, fortyish,
and slightly weird American woman managing the hotel for him.
Finally everything came together and Harley and I moved
to Atotonilco with our Jocotepec
rooms on hold for weekends. We
discoveL
that the Federals had
given us two graduate students
to "help".
Jean Brunet was a
Frenchman on some sort of lendlease and Pablo Lopez a Mexican
graduate student. Their "help"
(and I have pictures of this)
during the dig was to sit in
folding chairs under an umbrella
to watch the peons work. We had
a tn-lingual party but it worked out O.K.
Our "first class" accommodations were two small rooms on
the Street.
The graduate students had the room with the door
and we had the one with the window. We had two cots, a table,
four chairs, a twenty watt light
hanging from the ceiling, and a
picture of a teenage girl in her
coffin.
The roof was thatched
with a cover of tile. At night
strange and wonderful things
fell out of the thatch. Harley
and I headed back to Jocotepec
for blankets and netting.
Our landlady was a nice sort
without any English. She had a
two chair, one table bar in her
entry hall and an icebox full
of Dos Equis. Her sister would
visit her once in a while. If
I were to cast Macbeth I'd get
them for Witch I and Witch II!
Fortunately I had the good
sense to tell our landlady that
El Patron had had a hard life
and that she should not be put
out if I didn't eat all that she
served.
So the dig began with seven
April 1989
Page 7
DIGGING MAMMOTHS IN MEXICO
peons wielding shovels and picks.
The group was divided-those who
were most Indian and those that
were mostly Spanish. As a side
note I was somewhat amazed when
going to the ballet in Mexico
City in the 1950's that the bejewelled and beminked ladies
were wearing nylons with hairy
legs! This showed that they were
mostly European!
Back to food. When I have
to eat in a Latin American cafe
in the boondocks I always sit
near the door and facing out.
Thus I don't know what's going
on in the kitchen. I order tortillas, steak (filete), beans
(frijoles), and drink beer. It
works. But then I did get the
worst "thing" that I had ever
had at the best hotel on the
beach at Impanema in Brazil after several carefree weeks in
the outback. Thanks to the odd
gods of the galaxy there was a
bidet next to the toilet that I
could transfer to after doing
my thing!
The digging went well. The
Catarina mammoth had disappeared.
Years later it appeared in a
museum in Guadalajara looking
like it had been assembled by a
group of drunken plumbers. There
was enough pipe supports to
plumb a cottage.
Atotonilco el Bajo is an interesting place to live. At
Page 8
night the cocks crow as each
star appears. Th is followed
by a wave of barking by the vilThen about four in
lage dogs.
the morning the church bells
ring to insure an increase in
the population.
Next door a local entrepreneur had a one-cylinder engine
that ran a corn grinder. About
daylight the good house wives
would line up to have their corn
ground instead of using their
metates at home.
One night Brunet and I went
out into the calle to relieve
ourselves and looked at the sky.
Both of us were charmed with the
local Milky Way. When we went
inside I tried to ask Witch I
and II what it was called-- "El
Camino de las estrellas?" "El
Camino de leche?" "Los estrellas en Colunina?" Nothing except
blanks. Then Witch II lighted
up and said, "La escala de Santiago" Jacob's Ladder.
We finally closed down in
December. The only skeleton we
had was a juvenile that had mired down to the hips and shoulders. The Federals got that
one. However, no one was interested in the small goodies that
I boxed up and took back to Los
Angeles. There were shorebirds,
fish, capabera (a giant rodent)
horse, bison, and various small
rodent bones. Nothing spectac-
Adventurers Club News
(MAMMOTHS, concluded)
ular but really some scientifically good stuff.
As a footnote I might say
that Bob Whipple's manager poisoned herself.
I came back to
Jocotepec on a Friday night and
she was in the hospital in Guadalajara.
I drove him to town
and as she was gone we went to
the Fenix Hotel for some Whipple
mission. I was sitting in the
car when a car load of "ladies"
parked across the street. One
got out and crossed the Street
unzipping things here and there.
When she got close enough to see
my gray hair she turned around
and started zipping up.
Since 1937 (with the exception of 5
Years on active duty as an infantry officer), James Macdonald has spent field
seasons working fossil collecting areas
in the Western U.S., Mexico, Brazil and
Australia. His work has resulted in over a hundred scientific and popular
publications and the description and
naming of over sixty species of extinct
reptiles, birds and mammals. Is a Vertebrate Paleontologist and Geologist.
A SUGGESTION, IF I MAY...
The three postcards reported in the column on the right were delayed many days
reaching the Club because they were
mailed to the Church instead of our
Club's Post Office Box address. Be sure
to mail
'rds to P. 0. Box 15791,
Los Angeles, CA 90015.
WE HEARD FROM...
ON RUSSIA'S VOLGA RIVER
Ve.vt Gang,
I .s.tcz'te.d -thLo -t'p baiteiy
ab!e. to wai?Lk atvr. teaving the
ho4pta1 in L.A. but I'm happy
to .say I'm abnot my o!d 4e2
a.ga-Lrt and IouLng thA..o t't-Lp on
the Voga. Wo't.d Wcvt lI'
o'tLe. o, StaLLng'tad (Vo!gag'tad) come aü'e when you can
4e.e with yout own eyes whvte
htony wa-s made..
BOB BRAHMS #967
BANGOR, MAINE
Geneine.n,
At it again. ThiA -t-Lme. 6.,Lom
Maine. VeU..'e.'Lng a !1-Lncke.y
Soa'we.-te.i. 50 tom Sou'we.t
Kahbah (-tha-t'4 Ma-Lne. 6ot Ha'tho&)
to V'Lgn-La Beach, VA. Run o
575 mLte.ó and .houd take. about
4 dag.o by way o6 Cape. Cod Cana
Tha.t'o i6 aU goe.6 weU which
-omLme it does and ju.-ó-t a6
ote.n doen'-t!
EV BOPEN #659
NEW YORK, W.V.
I-U Gang!
Spending 4 days hvLe. to -take.
in the town. Ve.tvtday we -took
a 3-howt boat .t't-Lp all cvwund
Manhattan. Last night we went
to the Rainbow Room on top o
the Rocke.eJive Ce.n-te.'t 4o& dinnet and dancing. Going to the
EmpL&e. S.twte. BdgRQoH #684
April 1989
Page 9
THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB
STATEMENT OF NET ASSETS
(Unaudited)
1986
December 31
1987
1988
Cash:
Checking account
Money market account
Treasury Bills (see below)
Cash box
Inventory:
Emblems. flags, pins
Canteen
Equipment:
Furniture & fixtures
Captains chairs
Cost
5,953
2,199
Deor
4,750
2,198
Prepaid insurance
Deduct accounts payable:
Insurance
Caterer
Income taxes
Other
Net assets
Whereof:
Reserve Fund
Capt Roulac Memorial Building Fund
Net
1,203
1
4,251
13,929
93,380
100
111 1660
5,708
41,113
73,862
100
120,783
5,596
21,565
107,776
100
135,O7
1,755
117
1,414
117
1,359
117
1,702
1,506
1,204
2,108
2,048
606
117,342
125,868
138,323
2,976
2,960
1,617
156
46
-
593
-
109,633
125,822
137,730
46,437
63,196
47,257
78,565
51,199
86,531
109,633 125,822 13T730
The Club's funds and those of the Building Fund are
in Treasury Bills, money market, and checking accounts.
At December there are two Treasury Bills:
yield
Discount Invested
Due date Amount
8.29%
34,289
711
35,000
3-8-89
8.24%
73,487
3-16-89 75,000 1,513
17,776
110,000
THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB
STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENSE
(Unaudited)
Revenue:
Dues
Initiation fees
Interest on T-Bills & bank accounts
(excludes interest earned in Bldg Fund)
Dinners & Christmas party
Night of High Adventure
Contributions from members:
Ladies nights, less expenses
Rental value of two projectors
Venture fund
Bylaws, donation for printing
Canteen
Year
1986
Year
1987
Year
1988
13,998
300
3,665
17,647
1,600
2,905
17,555
600
2,918
(- 616)
3,287
(- 94) (- 694)
3,220
1,079
1,149
160
1,082
422
1,301
2,203
288
1,720
152
1,309
76
26,133
-
-
137
27,547
401
24,440
4,476
3,278
10,200
589
202
4,396
4,176
10,793
610
308
4591
4,312
4,750
94
66
220
242
3,448
524
482
186
640
2,477
376
211
714
1,349
302
Federal & state income taxes
Legal expense
Miscellaneous
Program expense
Roster expense
731
257
245
370
120
393
264
300
Plaques for speakers
Donation to museum
-
1,582
-
Net Income
24,901
1,232
26,727
820
100
2ff,498
3,942
Captain Roulac Memorial Building Fund:
Balance, January 1
Contributions received
Interest earned, less Income taxes
Balance, December 31
58,201
1,213
3,782
3196
63,196
12,007
3,362
78,565
78,565
3,720
4,246
86,531
Roster contributions
Miscellaneous
Deductions:
Notices and cards to members
Adventurers' Club NEWS
Rent
Electricity
Telephone
Postage
Stationery & printing
Insurance
Depreciation
Bylaws printing
-
350
-
-
-
-
-
-
261
757
2,734
KEITH'S
KORNER
Rockefeller, Not Lindberg
In which Keith Young #565 calls to our
attention an error in historical fact
that appeared in a report in our November
issue.
Yes, yes, I know.
They are
not professional reporters:
those scriveners who write up
and submit accounts of the goings-on at the weekly meetings
of our Adventurers Club and mail
them off to Bob Williams, Editor
of the A.C. NEWS. Since Bob is
a full-time resident of Lake
Havasu City, Arizona and cannot
be present at most meetings of
the Club, he is compelled to
rely on his reporters' authenticity in preparing his monthly
publication.
Happily, most of the time
these stories are reasonably
accurate accounts of the proceedings of the previous month's
meetings. But not always. Sometimes an obfuscation orexaggeration creeps in; occasionally
even mis-statements of fact.
But we, for the most part, are
men of the world. With an ability to distinguish fiction from
fact.
It may be that even we
may sometimes embroider a little
or fudge somewhat.
A matter, as someone once rePage 12
marked, of artistic verisimilitude and perhaps necessary to
lift a story out of the ordinary. However, gross misrepresentation of one's adventures,
as weall should know, is specifically forbidden by our own Bylaws. As they were also by our
now-vanished Constitution. But
we will not press the point
here; our speaker on the night
of September 22, 1988, was not
a member and is therefore not
chargeable. If, indeed, it was
he who mis-stated certain facts.
There was, however, a gross
error in either the reporting
of guest Mort Loveman's presentation "Space Age to Stone Age"
on that date or in the account
furnished bythe speaker himself.
In the penultimate paragraph of
the report on page 28 of the
November issue of the A.C. NEWS
the writer states that: ".. .
It was on this island (he is
speaking of Papua-New Guinea)
that Lindberg's [sic] son disappeared.
No trace of him was
ever found and there are a num-
Adventurers Club News
KEITH
S
ber of stories of what happened
but none proven."
As an old New Guinea hand myself I can state with some authority that it was not New Guinea but New Jersey where Lindberg's [Lindbergh's] infant son
disappeared in the Thirties. It
was Rockefeller's son (old John
D's grandson I believe) Michael
who disappeared some 30 years
later. Not from the island of
New Guinea itself but, as was
known to be a fact, from the
treacherous waters surrounding
that island, the second largest
in the world after Greenland and
if you do not count the continent of Australia as an island.
Revisiting the place not too
long after Michael Rockefeller's
unsolved disappearance, the story I got from some of the knowledgeable old-timers there was
that he had offended both native
Papuans (this was before independence or shortly after, I
forget which) and white Australian administrators by, shall
we say, a certain insensitivity
sometimes called the Ugly American Syndrome.
This, together with a demonstrable amateurishness in venturing in dangerous waters off
the Papuan coast at the height
of the typhoon season and in an
entirely unsuitable craft, almost certainly led to his demise
KORNER
at sea when he apparently failed
to overcome prevailing sea conditions, or, if he made it to
shore somehow, by his attitude
towards militant tribesmen living along the coast. To whom,
it is believed, he was known by
reputation.
The majority opinion, as elicited by my Inquiries at the
time, was that most probably he
had been executed by a sharp rap
on the head by a stone-headed
club and then eaten. But eaten
he almost certainly was. If not
by infuriated Papuans then, if
he failed to make it to shore
(as is most probable) by either
sharks or huge sea-going, saltwater crocodiles. Nor would
he have been the first white man
to disappear so "mysteriously".
A CHANGE OF ADDRESS
FOR YOUR ROSThR
Charles A. Rucker #538
3408 Via La Selva
Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274
April 1989
(old) 4275 Crenshaw
Angeles, CA 90008
LOS
Dinner reservations to
(213) 588-4171
Before Wednesday Noon
Page 13
It seems that Henry von Seyfried is
not the only connoisseur of the finer
things in life. For another smelly adventure, read on.
Durian--Strange Fruit Appears in California!
by Mark Lane #989
Durian is a fruit popular
throughout much of the Orient.
It is roughly the size of a big
pineapple. It is green and covered with very sharp, spikelike thorns that extend about
3/4 inch from the fruit's thick
husk. The fruit grows on huge
trees with large chartreuse colored flowers.
Many gourmets consider durian
to be one of the most delicious
foods in the world--it is also
one of the most unpleasant smelEating durian has been
ling.
compared to trying to enjoy a
very delicious dessert while
standing in a public restroom.
No one who has tasted durian
will ever forget. it
Culinary adventurers know that
frozen durian fruit is available
at many Siamese arid Chinese markets. It is also used as a flavoring in cookies and ice cream.
When durian is frozen as in ice
cream ithas a surprisingly mild
odor until it begins to melt in
I'll never forget
your mouth.
the look on my date's face after
she let me feed her a spoonful
Page 14
MARK
LANE
//989
of durian ice cream at the conclusion of an exotic Siamese
dinner we had enjoyed. It will
be hard to ever fully regain her
trust.
In Malaysia, guards are posted in the durian groves to protect the valuable ripe fruit
from poachers. The guards have
to stay in huts with corrugated
metal roofs to protect then from
the heavy, spiked durian that
falls from the lofty trees with
deadly force when ripe.
This is only the second season that fresh durian has been
available in California. I was
leaving a Siamese restaurant in
Adventurers Club News
DURIAN - A RATHER SMELLY EXPERIENCE!
Long Beach when my nostrils Were
assaulted by a powerful stench
that meant. durian was nearby. I
followed my nose to a pickup
truck parked in an alleyway,
and staggered toward the source
of the powerful, unmistakable
smell.
There were two tough-looking
Thai men leaning on the truck
smoking.
As I approached them
they stood and faced me looking
nervous, but when I said "Dunan?" their faces broke into wide
smiles.
The word must have gone out
on the streets because every few
minutes someone would care along
and buy a fruit. I saw one the
size of a basketball sell for
$24.00 and the man who bought
it carried it gently and carefully as if it were a prized
object. They had about two hundred durian in the truck that
they were selling for $3.50 per
pound.
Although we had some language
difficulties I understood that
they had just come from the air
port with the load of ripe durian.
When I aske-3 one of them
to pick out a small fruit for
me he seemed surprised and inquired how I knew about durian.
I told him that I was a curious
adventurer and that I enjoyed
rare fruits.
I don't think he
understood.
He chose a nice fruit and offered it to me with a sly smile
and a knowing glint in his eye.
Strange fruit sellers in Long
Beach have the same style as the
sensimilla hawkers in Lahaina
and tht hashish sellers in Amsterdam.
I carried the thorny prize
carefully to my car.
After a
few blocks I had to open the
windows and sunroof for ventilation. When I got home I left
the durian in the garage overnight and I haven't seen any
bugs out there since then.
The following evening I invited several friends over and we
opened up the durian.
Of the
participants, none of the women
or children would touch it. The
three adult males (led by myself) attempted to enjoy the
rare delicacy. It is a creamy,
custard-like substance contained
in membrane-lined pods within
the spiny husk. Suspended within the fruit are seeds similar
to those found in avocado.
Eating fresh durian is a subtle but stinky experience. The
fruit has a delicate flavor but
the odor is pretty impressive.
We ate about a third of it and
I decided to freeze the remainder until I could think of some
thing to do with it.
The durian remained in my
freezer for some time and I for-
April 1989
Page 15
DURIAN, THE CONCLUSION
got all about it until I returI was
ned home one evening.
standing outside my front door,
fiddling for my doorkey when my
nose indicated that my freezer
had defrosted. Once inside the
door my survival instincts took
I turned on the fan,
control.
opened a window and grabbed a
--M.L.
shovel.
FROM THE DICTIONARY
Du-ri-an (door-e-an) The fruit
of the durian tree having a hard
prickly rind and soft pulp with
an offensive odor but a pleasant taste.
MARK LANE #989
THE TALLEST MAN IN
THE WORLD
By Bil Brown' 708
Around The Adventurers Club we have many
tall tales but I think I can authenticate this
one with the facts. I was in high school in
Springfield, Illinois and one or the big
occasions of the year was the State Fair.
On this particular day, at the fair, I had a
special purpose. It wasn't hard to spot my
target as this food stand had a crowd of
people around it. I worked my way right up
to the counter and there he was, sitting on a
huge chair and looking right at me, at 8 feet
11.1 inches, the tallest man in the world.
(And still officially recognized as such.)
Just then Robert Wadlow said, "What'll ya
have? I gulped and said, A coke.
Has traveled extensively in England,
Wales, France and the Netherlands to
see and study the castles, chateaus and
And that was the day I saw and talked to the
tallest man in the world.
attendant grounds. Hitchhiked to Fernet
Voltaire in France to study a Voltaire
built chateau and grounds.
Traveled
through the Keys and the Pennekamp Underwater State. Park surfing, snorkeling
and fishing. Hiked, dived and fished in
Hawaii
and the California Channel Is-
lands.
4390
6' 11.1
22.4
0 He was still growing during his terminal
IHiness.
His shoes were size 37AA and his arm span
was 9 feet 5 3/4 Inches.
Page 16
Robert Wadlow's statistics were:
Height
Weight
Age
5
5'4
105
60
6
169
9
180
6' 2 1/2
10
210
6'S
12
6' 10 I/2
13
7' 1 3/4
255
14
75"
301
15
7' 5
355
16
7' 10 1/2"
374
19
1/2"
480
6' 5
21
8'81/4"
491
Adventurers Club News
AMERICA - STAND FIRM! CONTINUED
(Continued from page 5)
The captain received a radio
message while we were at sea and
went on the ship's crew address
system to make an announcement,
one which brought applause and
cheers throughout the destroyer.
He said, "I am very proud and I
am sure you men will also be
proud to know that a member of
the RAY's crew, in competition
with 10 other ship's crewmen,
has just been selected Sailor
of the Year.
He is propulsion
specialist 2nd class Petty Officer GSE-2(SW) Robert A. Weatherholt an outstanding person.
Congratulations Robert Weatherholt."
It is the crew: the captain
and his sailors who make a vessel. Whether it be a boat or a
ship, it becomes a living thing
with a crew which gives it reality and distinctiveness. A
ship is lifeless until her crew
gives her a heart and soul. Each
crewman gives of himselfto create the character of his ship.
A concerned, proud crew makes
for a gallant craft.
There is an unusual character, an extraordinary charismatic spirit about the tJSS DAVID
R. RAY. It was immediately made
aware to me as I mounted the
gangway and saluted.
There I
saw the ship's handsome coat of
arms featuring the motto "Det-
ermined, Ready, Resourceful'.' It
was displayed proudly alongside
the uniformed saluting deck officer who checked my credentials
and welcomed me aboard.
The ship's motto alludes to
the initials of the destroyer's
namesake - a most impressive
young person. Hospital Corpsman
Second Class David R. Ray, who
while serving on the battlefield
in Quang Nam Province in the
Republic of Vietnam was mortally wounded while administering
to wounded marines. Going from
wounded marine to still more
dying and wounded marines, and
though shot and bleeding profusely himself, he continued.
An enemy grenade was thrown
next to a wounded man and David
threw his body onto the grenade
to save his patient. "For conspicuous gallantry at the risk
of his life above arid beyond the
call of duty," David was posthumously awarded the Medal of
Honor, the Purple Heart Medal,
the Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal,
Vietnam Service Medal with Star
and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
David Ray enlisted, had his
training at the Naval Training
Center and the Naval Hospital
Corps in San Diego and, served
on the USS HAVEN Hospital Ship.
He served at the Naval Hospital
April 1989
Page 17
AMERICA - STAND FIRM!, THE CONCLUSION
It
in Long Beach, California.
was interesting to me that he
requested a tour with the Marines, received it, and was assigned to the Field Medical Service School at the Marine Corps
Base at Camp Pendleton. He joined the Second Battalionnd was
serving as corpsman with the
battalion in Vietnam when he was
killed.
When the destroyer was to be
launched the U.S. Navy and the
Marine Corps requested that Da-
vid's mother christen the USS
DAVID R RAY at Pascagoula, Mississippi. According to tradition, the spirit of the sponsor
enters the ship at the time of
christening and remains there
forever. The ship became a part
of David and his mother and they
a part of the ship as it sails
the sea, preserving America's
freedom.
The warship USS DAVID R. RAY
DD971 has spirit and I felt it.
--A.A.A.
OUR NEWEST MEMBER
MICHAEL T. HYSON #1002
Michael holds a Ph.D. in biology. His special interests:
the Space industry, manned space systems, teleoperations, robotics,
computer vision, binocular vision, occulomotor systems, neural models, visual perception, animal behavior, ethnobotony, and psychoneuroinunology. He has received the National Research Service
Award, is a Maytag Fellow in biology, holds a National Science
Foundation Traineeship in Biology. Served in the US Navy Reserves
in 1970. He has written more than twenty papers on subjects of his
interests.
He has travelled in Belize, Hawaii, Alaska as far north as the
Arctic Circle, and through Mt. McKinley National Park. He has also
swam in the Labrador Current at night in Ketchikan and climbed the
minor summit of Mt. Healy in Alaska. In addition he has skin dived
in Florida, Belize, Hawaii and California. He has made a study of
sharks and dolphins in Florida and is t1 founder of the World Dolphin Foundation. He has spelunked in caves in Illinois and Florida
and has presented two programs at the Club.
Page 18
Adventurers Club News
OUR THURSDAY NIGHT PROGRAMS - -
P Recording of History
February 9, 1989
Reported by George Evalenko
¶ We welcomed back our traveling adventurer Mary Rosenberg
#853 who gave us a brief report
on his 11,000 mile sea voyage
in the good ship Palio. He and
his wife explored the waters and
shores of Mexico, Costa Rica,
through the Panama Canal and on
to Venezuela, the full length
of the Caribbean winding up this
fascinating trip by sailing up
the Intra-coastal Waterway all
the way to Cape Cod and Maine.
They visited 21 countries and
spent a total of 34 months at
sea, a real adventurer's adventure.
The Program-"MARINE SPECIMENS-WE COLLECT ThEM"
by guest Don Zumwalt
Our speaker this evening, was
the former Senior Curator atthe
Shed Aquarium in Chicago. He
is a hunter, photographer, scuba diver and professional collector of marine specimens from
the Pacific area.
Through a series of well chosen slides, we were shown the
movement of a specially-prepared
marine railroad car to various
fish-collection points such as
Miami, the Caribbean and San
Diego. The car and its sea going barge, were later changed
for a custom-built research that
after several years service of
the rail car.
He and his crew have collected over 3,000 fish of many interesting types including 8 and
12 foot sharks, star fish, sea
urchins, lobster and crabs.
His Pacific tour included
stops in Hawaii, Guam, Yap and
Palau. Here he saw a 19' crocodile.
Nets and traps were used to
catch the many specimens they
brought back. Fish that had to
be shipped back to the Aquarium
were sealed in plastic tags with
an adequate oxygen supply.
The program was climaxed by
several slides of some very interesting underwater gardens.
An outstanding program evidenced
by the many questions asked of
the speaker at the conclusion
of his talk.
April 1989
Page 19
OUR THURSDSAY NIGHTS PROGRAMS
February 16, 1989
(Reported by telephone by Frank
Haigler)
¶ Don Taylor reported on plans
for his forthcoming round-theworld flight in a 1100-pound
ultra-light aircraft he is building.
¶ hilt Valois gave a short 15minute mini-program on the Antarctica.
IT President Frank reported that
member Carroll Craig has had a
moderate relapse but is on the
mend. Frank paid a call on Carroll to convey our greetings.
¶ An honored guest was a member
of the Adventurers Club of Copenhagen, Denmark.
I NEW TEMPORARY QUARTERS, beginning with the meeting of
March 2nd will be at the Vista
del Arroyo Hotel on South Grand
Avenue in Pasadena. The street
number is 125 So. Grand.
This
was the old US Court of Appeals
Federal Building. It has a big
meeting room, adequate dining
facilities, a bar with smoking
permitted, and an adjoining patio.
The Program—
SPANISfl ARMADA--SPANISH SIDE"
by guest Peter Friedman
Page 20
Our guest tonight, an Aviation Quality Assurance Manager
and president of Aircraft Metal
Products, gave a most interesting presentation of the Spanish Armada from the viewpoint
of the Spanish.
He spoke at some length about
King Henry VIII who lived in
the 16th century. Fom his view
point, old Henry wasn't the bad
guy that history has painted
him.
He was a renowned naval
architect who helped redesign
many ships in his navy. His one
big contribution to ship design
was the lowering of ship's cannon from the top deck to lower
decks to prevent top-heavy capsizing.
The "Mary Rose' did
just that due to the overloading of her top deck by her cannon and 300 soldiers.
A good program by an authority on the subject.
HAS
YOUR
ADVENTURE STORY
BEEN
PUBLISHED
IN
THE ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS??
Adventurers Club News
Second Class Postage
paid at
Los Angeles, California
MR. CHARLES ROZAIRE
% LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM
900 W. EXPOSITION BLVD.
LOS ANGELES, CA 90007
April 1989 issue