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Nelson Eddy

Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred with soprano Jeanette MacDonald. He was one of the first "crossover" stars, a superstar appealing both to shrieking bobby soxers and opera purists, and in his heyday, he was the highest paid singer in the world.

During his 40-year career, he earned three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one each for film, recording, and radio), left his footprints in the wet concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, earned three gold records, and was invited to sing at the third inauguration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941. He also introduced millions of young Americans to classical music and inspired many of them to pursue a musical career.

Early life
Eddy was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the only child of Caroline Isabel (née Kendrick) and William Darius Eddy. Nelson grew up in Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and in New Bedford, Massachusetts. As a boy, he was a strawberry blond and quickly acquired the nickname "Bricktop". As an adult, his reddish hair prematurely whitened, so his hair photographed as blond. He came from a musical family. His Atlanta-born mother was a church soloist, and his grandmother, Caroline Netta Ackerman Kendrick, was a distinguished oratorio singer. His father occasionally moonlighted as a stagehand at the Providence Opera House, sang in the church choir, played the drums, and performed in local productions such as H.M.S. Pinafore

Living in near poverty, Eddy was forced to drop out of school and moved with his mother to Philadelphia, where her brother, Clark Kendrick, lived. His uncle helped Eddy secure a clerical job at the Mott Iron Works, a plumbing supply company. He later worked as a reporter with The Philadelphia Press, the Evening Public Ledger, and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. He also worked briefly as a copywriter at N.W. Ayer Advertising, but was dismissed for constantly singing on the job. Eddy never returned to school, but educated himself with correspondence courses.

Singing
Eddy developed his talent as a boy soprano in church choirs. Throughout his teens, Eddy studied voice and imitated the recordings of baritones such as Titta Ruffo, Antonio Scotti, Pasquale Amato, Giuseppe Campanari, and Reinald Werrenrath. He gave recitals for women's groups and appeared in society theatricals, usually for little or no pay.

He had a job in an iron works factory and then spent ten years as a newspaper reporter. He was fired for paying more attention to music than to journalism. His first professional break came in 1922, when the press singled him out after an appearance in a society theatrical, The Marriage Tax, although his name had been omitted from the program.

In 1924, Eddy won the top prize in a competition that included a chance to appear with the Philadelphia Opera Society. By the late 1920s, Eddy was appearing with the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company and had a repertoire of roles in 28 operas, including Amonasro in Aida, Marcello in La bohème, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, both Tonio and Silvio in Pagliacci, and Wolfram in Tannhäuser.

Eddy performed in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the Savoy Company, the oldest amateur theater company in the world devoted exclusively to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. With Savoy, Eddy sang the leading role of Strephon in Iolanthe at the Broad Street Theatre in Philadelphia in 1922. The next year, he played the role of Major-General Stanley in Savoy's production of The Pirates of Penzance. He reprised the role of Strephon with Savoy in 1927, when the group moved their performances to the Academy of Music. Thirty-one years later, he was asked for advice by a new Strephon with the company. Eddy wrote:"I envy you. I'd like to play Strephon again, too! The one thing I suggest is to keep him gay, happy, and care-free. You can set the character with your first entrance. Dance in with a sort of cute abandon. Then in 'Good morrow, good mother' act joyfully in love. The rest will fall right into line. The first time I did it – at the old Broad Street Theatre – was better than when I did it at the Academy. I let myself get impressed with the importance of the latter house and with my growing experience in opera – and I played it too grand. Don't fall into that trap. Good luck and my very best wishes – to you and all the Company. Sincerely, Nelson Eddy."

Eddy studied briefly with the noted teacher David Bispham, a former Metropolitan Opera singer, but when Bispham died suddenly, Eddy became a student of William Vilonat. In 1927, Eddy borrowed some money and followed his teacher to Dresden for further study in Europe, which was then considered essential for serious American singers. He was offered a job with a small German opera company. Instead, he decided to return to America, where he concentrated on his concert career, making only occasional opera appearances during the next seven years. In 1928, his first concert accompanist was a young pianist named Theodore (Ted) Paxson, who became a close friend and remained his accompanist until Eddy's death 39 years later. In the early 1930s, Eddy's principal teacher was Edouard Lippé, who followed him to Hollywood and appeared in a small role in Eddy's 1935 film Naughty Marietta. In his later years, Eddy changed teachers frequently, constantly learning new vocal techniques. He also had a home recording studio, where he studied his own performances. It was his fascination with technology that inspired him to record three-part harmonies (tenor, baritone, & bass) for his role as a multiple-voiced singing whale in the animated Walt Disney feature, "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met", the concluding sequence in the 1946 feature film Make Mine Music.

With the Philadelphia Civic Opera, Eddy sang in the first American performance of Feuersnot by Richard Strauss (December 1, 1927) and in the first American performance of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos (November 1, 1928) with Helen Jepson. In Ariadne, Eddy sang the roles of the Wigmaker and Harlequin in the original German. He performed under Leopold Stokowski as the Drum Major in the second American performance of Alban Berg's Wozzeck on November 24, 1931.

At Carnegie Hall in New York City, Christmas 1931, he sang in the world premiere of Maria egiziaca (Mary in Egypt), unexpectedly conducted by the composer Ottorino Respighi himself when famed conductor Arturo Toscanini fell ill at the last minute. Years later, when Toscanini visited the MGM lot in California, Eddy greeted him by singing a few bars of Maria egiziaca.

Eddy continued in occasional opera roles until his film work made it difficult to schedule appearances the requisite year or two in advance. Among his final opera performances were three with the San Francisco Opera in 1934, when he was still "unknown". He also sang Amonasro in Aida on November 11, 1934, to similar acclaim. Elisabeth Rethberg, Giovanni Martinelli, and Ezio Pinza were in the cast. However, opera quietly faded from Eddy's schedule as films and highly lucrative concerts claimed more and more of his time.

When he resumed his concert career following his screen success, he made a point of delivering a traditional concert repertoire, performing his hit screen songs only as encores. He felt strongly that audiences needed to be exposed to all kinds of music.

Hollywood
Eddy was "discovered" by Hollywood when he substituted at the last minute for the noted diva Lotte Lehmann at a sold-out concert in Los Angeles on February 28, 1933. He scored a professional triumph with 18 curtain calls, and several film offers immediately followed. After much agonizing, he decided that being seen on screen might boost audiences for what he considered his "real work", his concerts. (Also, like his machinist father, he was fascinated with gadgets and the mechanics of the new talking pictures.) Eddy's concert fee rose from $500 to $10,000 per performance.

Eddy signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), where he made the first 15 of his 19 feature films. His contract guaranteed him three months off each year to continue his concert tours. MGM was not sure how to use him, and he spent more than a year on salary with little to do. His voice can be heard singing "Daisy Bell" on the soundtrack of the 1933 Pete Smith short Handlebars. He appeared and sang one song each in Broadway to Hollywood and Dancing Lady, both in 1933, and Student Tour in 1934. Audience response was favorable, and he was cast as the male lead opposite the established star Jeanette MacDonald in the 1935 film version of Victor Herbert's 1910 operetta Naughty Marietta.

Naughty Marietta was the surprise hit of 1935. Its key song, "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", became a hit and earned Eddy his first gold record. He also sang "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" and "I'm Falling in Love with Someone". The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, received the Photoplay Gold Medal Award as Best Picture, and was voted one of the Ten Best Pictures of 1935 by the New York film critics. Critics singled out Eddy for praise:

 * "A new movie star emerged from the Capitol screen..." — New York Daily News.
 * "The screen has found a thrilling thrush, possessed not only of a rare vocal tone, but of a personality and form and features cast in the heroic mold." – New York American.
 * "Eddy ... has a brilliant baritone voice. He is engaging and good looking..." – Richard Watts, Jr., in the New York Herald.

Eddy appeared in seven more MGM films with Jeanette MacDonald:
 * Rose Marie (1936) is probably his most-remembered film. Eddy sang "Song of the Mounties" and "Indian Love Call" by Rudolf Friml. His definitive portrayal of the steadfast Mountie became a popular icon, frequently spoofed in cartoons and TV skits, and even generating travesties on stage (Little Mary Sunshine, 1959). One long-lived imitation, Dudley Do-Right , began as a cartoon character on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (1959-1964) and went on to be portrayed by Brendan Fraser in a live-action film, Dudley Do-Right (1999). When the Mounties retired their classic red jackets and campaign hats in 1970, except for ceremonial attire, hundreds of newspapers accompanied the story with a photo of Nelson Eddy as Sgt. Bruce in Rose Marie, made 34 years earlier.
 * Maytime (1937) is regarded as one of Eddy's best films. "Will You Remember" by Sigmund Romberg brought Eddy another gold record. Frank Nugent wrote in The New York Times that the film [was] "the most entrancing operetta the screen has given us. ... and it affirms Nelson Eddy's preeminence among the baritones of filmdom".
 * The Girl of the Golden West (1938) had an original score by Sigmund Romberg and reused the David Belasco stage plot also employed by Giacomo Puccini for La Fanciulla del West.
 * Sweethearts (1938) was MGM's first three-strip Technicolor feature, incorporating Victor Herbert's 1913 stage score into a modern script by Dorothy Parker. It won the Photoplay Gold Medal Award as Best Picture of the Year.
 * New Moon (1940) based on Romberg's 1927 Broadway hit, became one of Eddy's most popular films, although in 1978 it was included in the book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time. His key songs were "Lover, Come Back to Me", "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise", "Wanting You", and "Stout Hearted Men".
 * Bitter Sweet (1940) was a Technicolor film version of Noël Coward's 1929 operetta. The love theme was "I'll See You Again". Eddy played a Viennese singing teacher who elopes with his pretty English pupil and takes her to live in Vienna.
 * I Married an Angel (1942), adapted from the Rodgers and Hart stage musical about an angel who loses her wings on her wedding night, suffered from censorship problems. Eddy sang "Spring Is Here" and the title song.

Nelson Eddy also starred in films with other leading ladies:
 * Rosalie (1937), with Eleanor Powell, offered a score by Cole Porter. In his first solo-starring film, the script called for Eddy to portray a football-playing West Point pilot who pursues a princess-in-disguise to Europe. Eddy recorded the title song.
 * Let Freedom Ring (1939), with Virginia Bruce, was a Western. Eddy got to beat up rugged Oscar winner Victor McLaglen and preserve freedom and the American way from bad guys, a popular theme just before World War II.
 * Balalaika (1939), with Ilona Massey, was based on the 1936 English operetta by George Posford and Bernard Grün. Eddy is a prince in disguise, in love with a commoner during the Russian Revolution. The title song became one of his standards.
 * The Chocolate Soldier (1941), with Metropolitan Opera star Risë Stevens, was a stylish musical adaptation of Ferenc Molnár's The Guardsman. Eddy played a dual role and turned in one of his best performances.
 * Phantom of the Opera (1943) was Eddy's first film after he left MGM at the end of his seven-year contract. This lavish Technicolor musical also starred Claude Rains as the Phantom and Susanna Foster as Christine.
 * Knickerbocker Holiday (1944) was based on the popular stage musical by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson. It co-starred Charles Coburn (singing the classic "September Song") and Constance Dowling.
 * Make Mine Music (1946) was a Walt Disney animated feature compilation. Eddy provided all the singing and speaking voices for the touching final segment, "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met," later released as a short, Willie, the Operatic Whale, by Disney in 1954. Using a technique based on his technical experiments with his home recording equipment, Eddy was able to sing sextets with himself on the soundtrack, providing all the voices from bass to soprano.
 * Northwest Outpost (1947) co-starred Ilona Massey. Rudolf Friml provided the songs for a story of Fort Ross, a Russian settlement in the Wild West of California. It was made at Republic Studios and turned out to be Eddy's final film.

After Eddy and MacDonald left MGM in 1942, several unrealized films remained that would have reunited the team. Eddy signed with Universal in 1943 for a two-picture deal. The first was Phantom of the Opera and the second would have co-starred MacDonald. She filmed her two scenes for Follow the Boys, then both stars severed ties with Universal. Eddy was upset with how Phantom of the Opera turned out.

Among their later other proposed projects were East Wind; Crescent Carnival, a book optioned by MacDonald; and The Rosary, the 1910 best-seller, which Eddy had read as a teen and pitched to MGM as a "comeback" film for MacDonald and himself in 1948. Under the name "Isaac Ackerman" he wrote a biopic screenplay about Chaliapin, in which he was to play the lead and also a young Nelson Eddy, but it was never produced. He also wrote two movie treatments for MacDonald and himself, Timothy Waits for Love and All Stars Don't Spangle.

Recordings
Eddy made more than 290 recordings between 1935 and 1964, singing songs from his films, plus opera, folk songs, popular songs, Gilbert and Sullivan, and traditional arias from his concert repertoire. Since both MacDonald and he were under contract to RCA Victor between 1935 and 1938, this made it possible to include several popular duets from their films. In 1938, he signed with the Columbia Masterworks division of Columbia Records, which ended MacDonald-Eddy duets until Favorites in Stereo, a special LP album the two made together in 1959. He also recorded duets with his other screen partner, Risë Stevens (The Chocolate Soldier), and for albums with, among others, Nadine Conner, Doretta Morrow, Eleanor Steber, and Jo Stafford.

Eddy's recordings drew rave reviews during the 1930s and 1940s, and he continued to get good reviews into the 1960s. The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner on October 4, 1964, noted: "Nelson Eddy continues to roll along, physically and vocally indestructible. Proof is his newest recording on the Everest label, "Of Girls I Sing". At the age of 63 and after 42 years of professional singing, Eddy demonstrates not much change has occurred in his romantic and robust baritone, which made him America's most popular singer in the early '30s".

War work
Like many performers, Eddy was active during World War II, even before the United States entered the war. He did his first "war effort" concert on October 19, 1939, with Leopold Stokowski for Polish war relief. In 1942, he became an air raid warden and also put in long hours at the Hollywood Canteen. He broadcast for the armed forces throughout the war. In late 1943, he went on a two-month, 35,000-mile tour, giving concerts for military personnel in Belém and Natal, Brazil; Accra, Gold Coast; Aden; Asmara, Eritrea; Cairo (where he met King Farouk); Tehran; Casablanca; and the Azores. Because he spoke fluent German, having studied opera in Dresden during the 1920s, his work as an Allied spy was invaluable until his cover was blown with a near-fatal assignment in Cairo.

Radio and television
Eddy had his own show on CBS (1942–1943) and starred on The Electric Hour (1944-1946).

His version of the song "Rose Marie" was used as the subject of an episode of the Scottish comedy sitcom Still Game (S4E2), in which the song was requested by a dying patient.

He began his more than 600 radio appearances in the mid-1920s. The first may have been on December 26, 1924, at station WOO in Philadelphia. Besides his many guest appearances, he hosted The Voice of Firestone (1936), The Chase and Sanborn Hour (1937–1939), and Kraft Music Hall (1947–1948), among other programs. Eddy frequently used his radio shows to advance the careers of promising young singers. While his programs often featured "serious" music, they were never straitlaced. It was in a series of comedy routines with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on the Chase and Sanborn Hour that Eddy's name became associated with the song "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", which was also included in the film Maytime. On March 31, 1933, he performed the role of Gurnemanz in a broadcast of Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal with Rose Bampton, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. During the 1940s, he was a frequent guest on Lux Radio Theater with Cecil B. DeMille, performing radio versions of Eddy's popular films. In 1951, Eddy guest-starred on several episodes of The Alan Young Show on CBS-TV. In 1952, he recorded a pilot for a sitcom, Nelson Eddy's Backyard, with Jan Clayton, but it failed to find a network slot. On November 12, 1952, he surprised his former co-star Jeanette MacDonald when she was the subject of Ralph Edwards' This Is Your Life. On November 30, 1952, Eddy was Ed Sullivan's guest on Toast of the Town.

During the next decade, he guest-starred on Danny Thomas's sitcom Make Room for Daddy and on variety programs such as The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Bob Hope Show, The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Spike Jones Show, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show. His television reunions with Jeanette MacDonald included Lux Video Theater and The Big Record (with Patti Page). Both appearances were highly successful but MacDonald's health was failing and although there was talk of their hosting a TV variety show together, it did not happen.

Eddy was a frequent guest on talk shows, including The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. On May 7, 1955, Eddy starred in Max Liebman's 90-minute, live-TV version of Sigmund Romberg's The Desert Song on NBC-TV. It featured Gale Sherwood, Metropolitan Opera bass Salvatore Baccaloni, veteran film actor Otto Kruger, and the dance team of Bambi Linn and Rod Alexander.

Nightclub act
The advent of television made inroads in the once-lucrative concert circuits, and in the early 1950s, Eddy considered future career options, eventually deciding to form a nightclub act. It premiered in January 1953, with singer Gale Sherwood, his partner, and Ted Paxson, his accompanist. Variety wrote, "Nelson Eddy, vet of films, concerts, and stage, required less than one minute to put a jam-packed audience in his hip pocket in one of the most explosive openings in this city's nightery history.... Before Eddy had even started to sing, they liked him personally as a warm human being". The act continued for the next 15 years and made four tours of Australia.

Personal life
Eddy married Ann Denitz Franklin, former wife of noted director Sidney Franklin, on January 19, 1939. Her son, Sidney Jr., became Eddy's stepson, but Nelson and she had no children of their own. They were married for 27 years, until Nelson's death. Ann Eddy died on August 28, 1987. She is buried next to Eddy and Eddy's mother in Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Eddy was a Republican.

Relationship with Jeanette MacDonald
Despite public denials from the stars themselves of any personal relationship between Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, documentation shows otherwise. In a handwritten 1935 letter by Nelson to "Dearest Jeanette", written on his letterhead, Nelson Eddy wrote: "I love you and will always be devoted to you." In the biography Sweethearts by Sharon Rich, the author presents MacDonald and Eddy as continuing an adulterous affair after their marriages. Rich, who was a close friend of MacDonald's older sister Blossom Rock, also knew Gene Raymond, and she documents that the relationship lasted with a few breaks until MacDonald's death. Newsreel footage from MacDonald's funeral shows Eddy as the last person exiting the chapel, circled by other celebrities, such as Lauritz Melchior, who offer him condolences. MacDonald had a reported eight pregnancies by Eddy, the first one while they were filming Rose Marie. This was before she had an intimate relationship with Gene Raymond. Raymond was physically unable to father children, and MacDonald alluded to this fact in her unfinished autobiography, writing that she returned from her Hawaii honeymoon with Raymond with the knowledge that "The MacRaymonds had no children." Nevertheless, MacDonald had additional documented and visible pregnancies while married to Raymond, all of which ended in miscarriage. Biographer E. J. Fleming also alleges that Eddy confronted Raymond about physically abusing MacDonald, who was visibly pregnant with Eddy's child while filming Sweethearts. Eddy attacked him and left him for dead; newspapers reported incorrectly that Raymond was recovering from an accidental fall. Louis B. Mayer adamantly refused to allow MacDonald to annul her marriage and elope. The situation ended with MacDonald losing her baby at nearly 6 months. The boy was named Daniel Kendrick Eddy, and Nelson buried him (or his ashes) on private property in Ojai, California.

Over the decades, MacDonald and Eddy had several private homes together. In 1938, they had a small Burbank house located at 812 S Mariposa Street. In the 1940s, Nelson leased and remodeled, for himself and MacDonald, the old cowboy bunkhouse at 1330 Angelo Drive, Beverly Hills. Starting in 1947, they used 710 N. Camden Drive, which had been the home of MacDonald's mother until her death. They also alternately stayed at favorite hotels and homes owned by their celebrity friends throughout the United States, including homes owned by Lily Pons and Irene Dunne. In 1963, MacDonald and Raymond moved into two adjoining apartments on the 8th floor in the East building at the Wilshire Comstock in Westwood. Nelson Eddy had his own apartment on the 7th floor of the West building. He allowed MacDonald to decorate it, and they used it as a rendezvous spot until she was too weak to walk the few yards over to his building. (After Eddy's death, his widow Ann learned of the apartment and moved into it.) Forbidden to marry early on by MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer, MacDonald and Eddy performed an unofficial wedding ceremony at Lake Tahoe while filming Rose Marie. They considered that "by God's laws", they had married, although they were never able to do so legally. Each fall, they returned to Tahoe to renew their vows. As late as 1948, MacDonald's desk diary had a handwritten "Lake Tahoe" entry. After their 1943 visit, Eddy wrote a lengthy diary entry about their trip and his love for her, calling her "my wife", which he did in private to the end of her life.

Death
On March 5, 1967, Eddy was performing at the Sans Souci Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida when he was stricken on stage with a cerebral hemorrhage. According to Gore Vidal, writing in Myra Breckinridge, he was singing "Dardanella" when he collapsed. His singing partner, Gale Sherwood, and his accompanist, Ted Paxson, were at his side. He died a few hours later in the early hours of March 6, 1967, at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, aged 65.

He is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, between his mother and his widow (who outlived him by twenty years).

Papers
Eddy's meticulously annotated scores (some with his caricatures sketched in the margins) are now housed at Occidental College Special Collections in Los Angeles. His personal papers and scrapbooks are at the University of Southern California Cinema/Television Library, also in Los Angeles.

Discography

 * Hymns We Love (1946, Columbia)
 * Nelson Eddy in songs of Stephen Foster (1949 Columbia)
 * Songs for Christmas (1951, Columbia)
 * Nelson Eddy in Oklahoma! (1956, Columbia)
 * The Desert Song (1956, Columbia)
 * Nelson Eddy Favorites (1959, Columbia)
 * A Starry Night (1960, Everest)
 * Operetta Cameos (with Jeanette MacDonald) (1982, RCA Records Red Seal R263428 (e))
 * The Artistry of Nelson Eddy (1994); CD 2009, Essential Media)
 * Smilin' Through (2000, Memoir)
 * As Years Go By (2013, Jasmine)
 * Songs We Love (1950, Columbia Masterworks, A-965)
 * A Perfect Day (Original 1935-1947 Recordings) (2002, Nostalgia Naxos, 8.120591)

title: Nelson Eddy


text:
Category:World War I guns

These are types of guns used during World War I.

The term "Gun" is used to describe a cannon that fires a shell at high velocity in a relatively flat trajectory and increases range by elevating the muzzle; this compares to a Howitzer, which fires a shell at lower velocity in a high trajectory.

This category is for larger calibre weapons (towed or vehicle mounted etc.), not those for personnel use. Please see Category:World War I infantry weapons for such.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Category:World War I guns


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Talk:Subbase

Without heading
To explain my taking out "which covers X"...this may seem wrong at first, because you have to get the whole space X as an open set. The way you get it is with empty intersections. When you take the empty (in particular) finite intersection, i.e. the intersection of the empty subcollection of the subbasis, you get X. A good explanation of this is at nullary intersection. So, the worst you can possibly do, if the subbase is empty, is get the indiscrete topology. I hope this clears things up a bit. Thinking in terms of finite intersections forming a base is fine if you always remember to throw in X. This is a kind of "constructive" way of getting the topology. I prefer to think of it abstractly (even _define_ it abstractly) as the smallest topology containing the collection. This way, "generates" has the same meaning for base and subbase, it just means that the topology generated by an arbitrary collection (which might not be a base) might not be expressible as the set of all unions of elements of the collection. Using the constructive definition is good to play with examples, the abstract definnition is good to prove things. Either way, once you define it, you can prove the defs are equivalent.

--<>--

There are a number of things wrong with this page, and I will be correcting them.

There are authors who like nullary intersections, there are authors who do not. WP should not take a position on this. On the other hand, it is too trivial to play it up.

It is silly to claim that finding an instance of a definition is a use of the definition. It is a "use" in the pedantic sense that you took the definition and worked out what it meant, but it is not a mathematical use in that you are getting something back for your investment in this concept.

The real uses are two. Certain topologies (weak, product) are quite naturally defined in terms of subbases. And the Alexander subbase theorem, which I'll be adding with a proof sketch.--192.35.35.36 19:28, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * I don't understand what you mean by "it is silly..." When I said, "using the constructive definition", I meant e.g. by way of defining weak or product topologies by subbases. Here, it's good to have a concrete idea that the basis elements look like finite intersections of subbasis elements. When I said, "using the abstract definition", I meant there are certain proofs which follow more naturally by using the "smallest topology containing" definition. I consider each of these cases to be "getting something back for your investment". Revolver

Can you give an example of authors who "don't like nullary intersections"? To my understanding, they may emphasise the case of the nullary intersection for clarity, but I don't recall any that say it's incorrect to use the nullary intersection. In any case, I think you missed my point. Say you have a subbasis which covers X. Fine, you say the subbasis "generates" X, in the sense that the generated topology is the smallest containing the subbasis. But, if the subbasis does not cover X, then the "constructive" definition (unions of finite intersection, without the convention of nullary intersection) does not give the topology generated by X. Only the "abstract definition" gives the right topology. So, throwing out the nullary intersection negates a whole range of examples which "make sense" in the "abstract definition". To me, this is the most important reason for including nullary intersection in this case. You either have to include nullary intersections, or stipulate that the collection is a cover in ad hoc fashion. Either way solves the issues, just the former makes much more sense to me. Revolver

an example
''In topology, a subbase (or subbasis) for a topological space X with topology T is a subcollection B of T such that the collection of finite intersections of elements of B form a basis for T. This means that every open set in T can be written as a union of finite intersections of elements of B. Equivalently, this means that given x∈U with U open, there are finitely many members S1, … ,Sn∈B such that x∈S1∩…∩Sn⊆U. We say that the subbase generates the topology T, and that T is generated by B.''

 * No, here is where I disagree. Consider Sierpinski space. I say (and I believe this is shared) that if Sierpinski space = {0, 1}, where, 0, {0}, and {0, 1} are open, then { {0} } generates this topology, i.e. the Sierpinski space is the smallest topology containing { {0} }. In other words, { {0} } should be considered a true subbasis of Sierpinski space. However, under your definition above, "equivalently, given x in U with U open,..." { {0} } is not a subbasis, because, e.g. 1 is in the open set {0, 1}, yet there do not exist finitely many members S1,..., Sn of { {0} } such that 1 is in their intersection, which is contained in {0, 1}. (Because, of course, B only has one element, namely {0}, and 1 is not an element of {0}.) This is what I mean by the difference between the constructive and abstract definition. In the abstract definition, you don't have to puzzle over nullary intersections, in the constructive definition, you have to either allow them or explicitly throw in the whole space. Incidentally, I was looking at Joshi's book, and he presents it confusingly, too. It's a minor point, but we were quibbling over minor points. Revolver
 * Your statement becomes true if you put the word "proper" in front of "open set". Which is more inelegant: specifically excluding the whole space from this condition that must be met, or specifically including the nullary intersection? It seems a matter of taste, I guess, but the latter seems to me the far more elegant of the 2 "inelegant" alternatives.

Just to be clear, the problem I see isn't so much with the particular case of the indiscrete topology. The point in allowing nullary intersections isn't just so that we can elegantly "define" the empty subcollection to be a subbasis for the indiscrete topology. It's so that the two definitions ("constructive" and "abstract" above) agree. Without allowing nullary intersections or stipulating that it's a cover in an ad hoc fashion, these 2 senses of "subbase" will disagree whenever the subbase doesn't cover X. Adding the stipulation that the collection must cover X is unacceptable to me, because it creates a division between the 2 definitions of "subbase". To give an example, with this stipulation, statements such as "every family of subsets of a set X is a subbase for a unique topology on X" become simply false.Revolver

Forms a basis only when it's with the Empty set???
Wiki says.. "The collection of open sets containing the empty set, X, and all finite intersections of elements of B forms a basis for T."

And it seems to mean...

{empry set} U {X} U {all finite intersections of elements of B}  is a basis for T.

From the less wordy one I wrote above, Is {empty set} really necessary?

If so, it would be useful to explain in the article why it is necessary.

Cosfly 07:09, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Subbase generated by (-infty,a)
''The subbase consisting of all semi-infinite open intervals of the form (−∞,a) alone, where a is a real number, does not generate the usual topology. The resulting topology does not satisfy the T1 separation axiom, since all open sets have a non-empty intersection.''

I don't follow this: finite intersections of two of these guys yield (min(a,b),max(a,b)) and (-infty,a). Is it saying that every union of these guys will be nondisjoint from every other union? That's patently not true. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.57.117.130 (talk) 18:21, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

A late reply, but that line is still in the article. Unless I am mistaking, it seems to me that $$\bigcap_{i} (-\infty,a_i)=(-\infty,\inf_i a_i)$$

$$\bigcup_{i} (-\infty,a_i)=(-\infty,\sup_i a_i)$$

In particular taking finite intersections and arbitrary unions, we end up in the subbase or the empty set or R. So I think this collection of intervals (-infty,a), together with empty and R, is already a topology. If this is true, then it needs no comment that it does not yield the usual topology (e.g. it does not contain any bounded interval). And indeed it isn't T1: a singleton {x} is not closed, as R-{x} is not open, not being an interval. 145.97.197.215 (talk) 15:50, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Has anyone seen "semibase" used as a synonym of subbase?
I've just encountered the term "semibase" instead of subbase, here: Topology/Bases. (The original formulation was a bit unclear; but, on the other hand, it is clear from the history, that the author first intended to use the term "subbase", but changed their mind. This, I think, strongly suggests, that indeed the same concept was intended.)

Now, I personnally think the term "semibase" is more logical than "subbase" (since the latter term seems to indicate that we indeed have some kind of base); but this is of no real importance, compared to usage. Thus, for the time being, I leave the term "semibase" on the wikibook page; but if this term was invented there and is only used there, then it should eventually be replaced.

On the other hand, if anyone has seen that "semibase" does appear in the literature (wikibooks uncounted:-), then the term should be mentioned at the start of this article, and a redir written from Semibase. Thus, my question: Has anyone seen this alternative name used somewhere else? JoergenB (talk) 18:05, 13 August 2015 (UTC)

Restoring an older version
I have restored a older version of the article for the following reasons.

The difference between the two versions consists essentially of approximately 50 edits by the same user,. The edit summaries do not allow to know if there is a significant content change between the two versions. Most changes deal with the presentation of the content. Many are simple changes of styles that ar forbidden by MOS:VAR, and also make very difficult to read the source of the article. All together, the edits change the encyclopedic style into a textbook style (see WP:NOTTEXTBOOK). In particular, definitions, theorems and other results are systematically presented in a quoted form. In Wikipedia, this may be convenient for the most importent results that require to be emphasized. Using this, as it has been done here, for recalling standard notations and results that are described in other articles is very confusing, since it makes difficult to find the main results (there are few in this article) and the significance of the definitions (this should be the most important part of this article).

It is possible that some of these numerous edits are content improvement, but checking this is too time consuming, as this is not clear from edit summaries. D.Lazard (talk) 09:38, 4 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Since you reverted my edit that fixed several technical details and removed redundant information, please fix these issues that you have reintroduced. Mgkrupa 17:12, 5 October 2020 (UTC)
 * It is to you to fix things that you think that need to be fixed. It is not the fault of other editors if you mix bold edits that are likely to be controversial with technical edits that hopely are not. Here there is a reorganization of the structure, and such reorganizations deserve always to be discuted. There is also, if I believe your previous post, several technical details, which are difficult to identify without spending time that would better be used elsewhere. So, if there are things to fix, fix them one after the other, with an edit summary that explains clearly each edit. If you think that this could be done better by another editor, explain clearly each issue in separated edit requests. D.Lazard (talk) 18:24, 5 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you D.Lazard. Well said! PatrickR2 (talk) 04:35, 16 April 2022 (UTC)

Verbal proofs
The proof of the Alexander Subbase Lemma here is good and I don't want to change the standards of proofs in mathematics, yet it might (or might not) be convenient for readers of an encyclopedia to read proofs in a different style, and I'll just post this as an example for the Alexander Subbase Lemma.

Proof. Unless there are no topological covers of X without finite subcovers at all, Zorn's Lemma states that there are such covers that are maximal, i.e. do possess a finite subcover, when another open set is added to them.

When such a cover is restricted to its subbasic elements, it is no longer a cover, since otherwise it would possess a finite subcover under the conditions of the lemma. Hence there is at least one point of X that isn't covered by the subbasic elements of the cover and neither is some environment from the cover that covers that point, henceforth called the missing environment. However, the missing environment has subbasic generators containing the point in question. Hence these generators are not part of the cover and adding them to the cover provides us with a finite subcover in each case. Since they themselves are only finitely many, the union of the subsets of the cover needed to form these subcovers is still a finite set. But then it covers everything except an area within the intersection of the generators, which is itself contained in the missing environment. Hence adding the missing environment to the union provides us with a finite subcover of X, showing that under the conditions of the sublemma there are no topological covers of X without finite subcovers.

Alternate definition section
The "Alternate definition" section (added 11 Apr 2005 to the article) says that in some sources the definition of subbase requires that the collection of sets cover X. As a sample source (added 13 Jun 2013) it gives a reference to the book "Topological Methods in Chemistry", written by two chemists from industry.

1. I propose to remove that source for the following reason. The authors are not mathematicians. As they themselves say in the preface of the book:
 * "The purpose of this book is to introduce a new method and language for investigating molecular structure based on finite topological spaces. It is not intended as a mathematical text ... We have eschewed the ... style typical of mathematical works in favor of the type of mathematical discourse commonly used in physical sciences."

I don't want to distract anything from the value of the book for its intended purpose, but I don't think it can be taken as an authoritative source for standard terminology/definitions in mathematics.

2. Can anyone provide a good mathematics source for this alternate definition? The standard sources I have checked (Willard, Engelking, Dugundji, Arkhangelskii, ...) all use the first definition, i.e., without requiring that the collection of sets cover X. If there is no such source, maybe the alternate definition should be removed from the article? PatrickR2 (talk) 05:26, 16 April 2022 (UTC)

 * I removed the reference to "Topological Methods in Chemistry". PatrickR2 (talk) 21:12, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Subbase


text:
Toothpick

A toothpick is a small thin stick of wood, plastic, bamboo, metal, bone or other substance with at least one and sometimes two pointed ends to insert between teeth to remove detritus, usually after a meal. Toothpicks are also used for festive occasions to hold or spear small appetizers (like cheese cubes or olives) or as a cocktail stick, and can be decorated with plastic frills or small paper umbrellas or flags.

History
Known in all cultures, the toothpick is the oldest instrument for dental cleaning. Hominin remains from Dmanisi, Georgia, dated to about 1.8 million years ago, bear lesions indicating the repeated use of a “toothpick”. A Neanderthal man's jawbone found in the Cova Foradà in Spain evidenced use of a toothpick to alleviate pain in his teeth caused by periodontal disease and dental wear. Toothpicks made of bronze have been found as burial objects in prehistoric graves in Northern Italy and in the East Alps. In 1986, researchers in Florida discovered the 7500-year-old remains of ancient Native Americans and discovered small grooves between many of the molar teeth. One of the researchers, Justin Martin of Concordia University Wisconsin, said, "The enamel on teeth is quite tough, so they must have used the probes quite rigorously to make the grooves."

Materials and manufacture
There are delicate, artistic examples made of silver in antiquity, as well as from mastic wood with the Romans.

In the 17th century, toothpicks were luxury objects and like jewelry, were artfully stylized using precious metal and set with expensive stones.

In the Southern United States, the baculum (penis bone) of a raccoon, called a "coon rod", was sometimes filed to a point for use as a toothpick.

The first toothpick-manufacturing machine was developed in 1869, by Marc Signorello. Another was patented in 1872, by Silas Noble and J. P. Cooley.

Wooden toothpicks are cut from birch wood. Logs are first spiral cut into thin sheets, which are then cut, chopped, milled and bleached (to lighten) into the individual toothpicks. Nowadays other means of interdental cleaning are preferred such as dental floss, toothbrushes, and oral irrigators.

Dentistry
Dentists generally prefer floss to picks because of possible damages to oral health, specifically to the gum, to tooth enamel (if chewed), to tooth roots (if the gum is pushed low enough). Picks may also damage veneers and crowns, have splinters, or be accidentally swallowed.

A review of small-scale studies indicates that toothpicks and triangular woodsticks are similar in their ability to remove plaque.

title: Toothpick


text:
Swedish Ingria

Swedish Ingria (Svenska Ingermanland, ‘land of Ingrians’) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1583 to 1595 and then again from 1617 to 1721 in what is now the territory of Russia. At the latter date, it was ceded to the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Nystad, at the end of the Great Northern War between the two empires.

History
In 1617 Russia ceded Ingria and the County of Kexholm to Sweden under the Treaty of Stolbovo. This area was along the basin of the Neva River, between the Gulf of Finland, the Narva River, and Lake Peipus to the southwest, and Lake Ladoga to the northeast. Kexholm and Swedish Karelia were bordered by the Sestra (Rajajoki/Systerbäck) river to the northwest.

Ingria had fallen to Sweden in the 1580s, was returned to Russia by the Treaty of Teusina (1595), and again ceded to Sweden in the Treaty of Stolbovo (1617). Sweden's interest in the territory was strategic: as a buffer zone against Russian attacks on the Karelian Isthmus and present-day Finland; and Russian trade was to pass through Swedish territory. In addition, Ingria was used as a destination for Swedish deportees.

Ingria remained sparsely populated. In 1664 the population was counted as 15,000. Swedish attempts to introduce Lutheranism were met with repugnance by the Orthodox peasantry obliged to attend Lutheran services. Although converts were promised grants and tax reductions, Lutheran gains were chiefly due to voluntary resettlements from Savonia and Karelia. Ingria was enfeoffed to noble military and state officials, who brought their own Lutheran servants and workmen to the area. The indigenous inhabitants of Ingria have always been Finnic with Finnic culture and language.

Nyen became the trading centre of Ingria, and in 1642 was made its administrative centre. In 1656 a Russian attack badly damaged the town, and the administrative centre was moved to Narva in neighbouring Swedish Estonia.

In the early 18th century the area was reconquered by Russia in the Great Northern War after a century under Swedish possession. The new Russian capital, Saint Petersburg, was founded in 1703 on the site of the Swedish town Nyen (Finnish Nevanlinna, meaning Castle of Neva). This territory, close to the Neva river's estuary at the Gulf of Finland, is now part of Leningrad Oblast, Russia.

Governors-General

 * Stadtholder
 * Samuel Nilsson till Hässle (1601–1607)
 * Filip von Scheiding (1607–1613)
 * Evert Karlsson Horn af Kanckas (1613–1615)
 * Anders Eriksson Hästehufvud (1615–1617)
 * Ingrian Governors (Narva, Ivangorod, Jaama, Koporje and Nöteborg)
 * Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm (1617–1620)
 * Henrik Klasson Fleming (1620–1622)
 * Anders Eriksson Hästehufvud (1622–1626)
 * Nils Assersson Mannersköld (1626–1629)
 * Heinrich Matthias von Thurn (1629)
 * Ingrian and Livonian Governors-General
 * Johan Skytte (1629–1634)
 * Bengt Bengtsson Oxenstierna (1634–1643)
 * Ingrian and county of Kexholm Governors-General
 * Erik Carlsson Gyllenstierna (1642–1645)
 * Carl Mörner (1645–1651)
 * Erik Stenbock (1651–1654)
 * Gustaf Evertsson Horn (1654–1657)
 * Krister Klasson Horn af Åminne (1657–1659)
 * Simon Grundel-Helmfelt (1659–1664)
 * Jacob Johan Taube (Kudina mõisast) (1664–1668)
 * Simon Grundel-Helmfelt (1668–1673)
 * Jacob Johan Taube (1673–1678)
 * Gustaf Adam Banér (1678)
 * Jacob Johan Taube (1678–1681)
 * Ingrian Governors
 * Martin Schultz von Ascheraden (1681–1682)
 * Hans von Fersen the older (1682–1683)
 * Göran von Sperling (1683–1687)
 * Ingrian Governors-General
 * Göran von Sperling (1687–1691)
 * Otto Wilhelm von Fersen (1691–1698)
 * Otto Vellingk (1698–1703)

title: Swedish Ingria


text:
Turkey Stearnes

Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes (May 8, 1901 – September 4, 1979) was an American baseball center fielder. He played 18 years in the Negro leagues, including nine years with the Detroit Stars (1923–1931), six years with the Chicago American Giants (1932–1935, 1937–1938), and three years with the Kansas City Monarchs (1938–1940).

Stearnes ranks fifth in Major League Baseball (MLB) history with a .616 career slugging percentage and seventh in MLB history with a .348 career batting average. He led the Negro National League (NNL) in home runs six times. He won the NNL batting championship in 1929 with a .390 batting average and repeated as batting champion in 1931 with a .376 average.

Stearnes was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Early years
Stearnes was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1901. There are two versions as to how he acquired the nickname "Turkey". The most common version is that the name came from his unusual style of running the bases while flapping his arms. The second version, advanced by Stearnes himself, was that he gained the nickname due to a pot belly he had as a child.

Stearnes attended Pearl High School in Nashville. He later recalled: "I learned to play baseball in high school. We had a lot of sandlots. All the schools around there had clubs. At that time I was a pitcher. They were getting me to play every Friday." Stearnes' father died when he was 15 years old. Stearnes left school to find work to support his family. Stearnes later recalled: "I just did any job that popped up, taking care of hogs or cows and anything like that. I worked at a grocery store, driving a wagon, delivering groceries. I worked at the Baptist Publishing Board, a janitor mostly, running errands." He continued to play sandlot baseball on Saturdays and Sundays.

Negro Southern League (1921-22)
Stearnes began his career in professional baseball in 1921 with the Montgomery Grey Sox of the Southern Negro League. He was Montgomery's leadoff hitter and led the club to the league pennant. He switched to the Memphis Red Sox. In his history of the Negro leagues, Mark Ribowsky described the impact Stearnes had in Montgomery:"In Montgomery, Alabama, a cobralike outfielder, Norman 'Turkey' Stearnes, was ripping up league pitching. All arms and legs, Stearnes was a pastiche of oddities; in his batting stance he leaned way forward and his back foot pointed straight up. When he ran, his elbows flapped in and out — thus his nickname. He choked up on a light, thin bat, yet he hit moonshot home runs."

In 1922, Stearnes joined the Memphis Red Sox of the Southern Negro League and continued to play well. The Detroit Stars sent catcher Bruce Petway to Memphis to scout Stearnes, who was then playing first base and pitcher. Petway offered Stearnes a chance to play with the Stars in 1922. Stearnes declined, deciding to remain in Tennessee to finish high school.

Detroit Stars (1923-31)
After finishing high school, Stearnes traveled to Detroit and joined the Stars in March 1923. In an interview with Negro league historian John B. Holway, Stearnes described his move to Detroit:"I came north in 1923, March 1. I came here to Detroit. I worked at the Briggs Manufacturing Company, the same man that owned the Tigers. All our gang. He gave us a job out there and we'd play semi-pro. We were painting the bodies of the cars. I was putting them into the drier myself. The white boys were painting. I’d put them on the drier for them. . . . In ’23 I was playing professional ball with the Detroit Stars out on Mack Avenue. . . .That was the biggest thing doing around here in the Detroit among the colored.'"

As a rookie in 1923, Stearnes immediately became one of the top players of the Negro National League (NNL). He led the NNL with 14 triples and ranked among the NNL leaders with 49 extra base hits (second), 136 putouts in center field (second), 17 home runs (third), 85 RBIs (third), 70 runs scored (third), 198 total bases (third), a .710 slugging percentage (third), and a .362 batting average (seventh).

Stearnes' remained a fixture with the Stars, holding down the center field position for nine years from 1923 to 1931. He had one of his finest seasons in 1925 when he hit for a .371 batting average and a .668 slugging percentage and led the NNL in hits (135), triples (14), home runs (19), and RBIs (126). Three years later in 1929, he recorded his first NNL batting championship with an average of .390 and also led the league with a .468 on-base percentage and a .672 slugging percentage.

In 1930, Stearnes left Detroit to play for the New York Lincoln Giants. He returned to Detroit after playing 20 games in New York. Playing without Stearnes, the Stars finished fourth in the first half of the season; with Stearnes' return, they won the second-half pennant.

In 1931, his final year with the Stars, Stearnes won his second NNL batting championship with a .376 average and again led the league in on-base percentage (.465) and slugging (.632).

Chicago/Cole's American Giants (1932-35)
The Detroit Stars folded after the 1931 season, and Stearnes joined the 1932 Cole's American Giants of Chicago and helped lead the team to the Negro National League pennant. At the end of the 1932 season, the American Giants faced the Nashville Elite Giants in a postseason series. Stearnes played in two games and drove in five runs with seven hits.

Stearnes continued as the American Giants' center fielder through the 1935 season. He remained one of the best players in the Negro leagues. In 1934, he led the league's center fielders with a .989 fielding percentage. In 1935, he compiled a career-high .469 on-base percentage and ranked among the league's leaders with a .388 batting average (second), 52 RBIs (second), a .624 slugging percentage (second), 86 putouts in center field (second), and 106 total bases (third).

Philadelphia and Detroit (1936-37)
In 1936, Stearnes played for the Philadelphia Stars. He led the Negro National League with five triples and 120 putouts by a center fielder and ranked among the leagues leaders with 122 total bases (second), 74 hits (second), 23 extra base hits (second), 43 RBIs (second), 45 runs scored (third), 10 home runs (third) and a .571 slugging percentage (fourth).

Stearnes returned to Detroit Stars in 1937. His batting average dipped to .286 but he still ranked second in the league with five home runs.

Chicago and Kansas City (1937-40)
Stearnes concluded his major-league career with the Chicago American Giants (1937–38) and Kansas City Monarchs (1938–40). In 1939, he compiled a .330 batting average and led the Negro American League (NAL) in both runs (47) and home runs (7). In 1940, his final major-league season, Stearnes at age 39 led the NAL in both RBIs (33) and home runs (5).

An all-around player: Power, average, speed, and fielding
Despite his slender build, Stearnes led the Negro major leagues in home runs seven times—1924, 1925, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1939, and 1940. He hit a career-high 24 home runs in only NNL 80 games played in 1928. His 187 career home runs is the most in Negro leagues history, seven more than second-place Mule Suttles.

In an interview with John Holway, Stearnes described the source of his power as follows: "I never did weigh over 168 pounds. Well, I have reached up to 175 my last few years in baseball. But people couldn't understand how I hit the ball so hard and far. . . . I was strong in my shoulders; that was the difference."

Despite being one of the Negro leagues' best home run hitters, he was typically a leadoff hitter. In his history of the Negro leagues, Leslie A. Heaphy wrote: "Stearnes generally led off even though he had a fair amount of power. His speed and his high average made him a great choice at the top of the order. . . . He also had great speed and a strong arm."

Stearnes was also known for his unusual batting stance. The Negro League Baseball Museum described it as follows: "Stearnes had an unique stance, with his front foot turned heel down and toe pointed straight up, but although not a heavy man, he was a natural hitter with powerful shoulders." Biographer Richard Bak described the stance as "right foot splayed, the toe pointed skyward." Satchel Paige noted: "He had a funny stance, but he could get around on you. . . . He was one of the greatest hitters we ever had. He was as good as Josh [Gibson]. He was as good as anybody ever played baseball." Another contemporary, Jimmie Crutchfield, recalled Stearnes as a "quicky-jerky sort of guy who could hit the ball a mile. Turkey had a batting stance that you'd swear couldn't let anybody hit a baseball at all. He'd stand up there looking like he was off balance. But, it was natural for him to stand that way, and you couldn't criticize him for it when he was hitting everything they threw at him!"

Despite having played pitcher and first base before joining the Stars, Sternes also won a reputation as one of the best center fielders in the history of the Negro leagues. Negro league contemporary Ted Radcliffe opined that even "Cool Papa Bell couldn't field with Turkey Stearnes. [Bell] was faster, but Turkey Stearnes was one of the best fly ball men."

Stearnes' career totals rank him among the greatest batters in baseball history:
 * His .6157 career slugging percentage ranks fifth in major-league history.
 * His .348 career batting average ranks seventh highest in major-league history.
 * His .4168 on-base percentage ranks 24th highest in baseball history.

He led Negro league baseball in triples six times (1923–1925, 1927, 1934, 1936), which is the most all-time. In light of Major League Baseball announcing several of the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1948 as major leagues, Stearnes now shares the record for most times leading a league in triples with Sam Crawford. He is one of nine players in Negro league baseball history to have won multiple batting titles, with only Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston having more than Stearnes, who won twice.

Cool Papa Bell said of Stearnes: "That man could hit the ball as far as anybody. And he was one of our best all-around players. He could field, he could hit, he could run. He had plenty of power."

Family and later years
Despite his accomplishments, Stearnes had to work winters in Detroit's auto plants to survive. He worked for 30 years for the Ford Motor Company in the foundry at the River Rouge plant.

In 1946, Stearnes was married to his wife, Nettie, a school teacher. Nettie was also a niece of Negro league veteran Ted Radcliffe. Stearnes and his wife lived in a modest house on Detroit's east side. They had two daughters, Joyce and Rosilyn.

Stearnes died at Detroit's Harper Hospital in 1979 at age 78. He had a heart attack earlier in the year and also had a large stomach ulcer. He fell into a coma during an operation on the ulcer.

In 2023, Vanessa Ivy Rose, Stearnes' granddaughter released a 6-part podcast named “Reclaimed: The Forgotten League” which told the story of many of the greats of the Negro Leagues. It was promoted and distributed by ABC and ESPN's 30-for-30.

Baseball Hall of Fame and legacy
Stearnes was not inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during his lifetime. Even as the Hall began to induct others who had played only in the Negro leagues (Cool Papa Bell in 1974, Oscar Charleston in 1976, and Pop Lloyd in 1977), Stearnes was overlooked. Stearnes' widow Nettie noted: "Norman was very shy. He'd play very well, then go right home after the game." Stearnes' biographer Richard Bak added: "Lacking a colorful personality, he never was a fixture in the storytelling that earned other Negro leaguers belated entry to Cooperstown in the 1970s and 1980s." A stand-offish personality likely also detracted from his popularity. Bob Sampson, who was track coach at Cass Tech High School, recalled: "You could go up to him and say something to him, but he wouldn't talk. Never seen anybody like him. . . . He was a peculiar fellow, but he sure could play the game."

After Stearnes' death in 1979, Nettie led a 20-year campaign to have Stearnes inducted into the Hall of Fame. Stearnes was finally inducted in July 2000. At the induction ceremony, Nettie said: "I prayed every morning for 20 years that this would happen. My husband was one of the greatest baseball players ever to play the game. . . . This is certainly an honor he deserved. We wish it could have happened during his lifetime."

Stearnes also received other notable posthumous honors, including the following:

 * In 2001, baseball historian Bill James ranked Stearnes as the 25th greatest baseball player of all time.
 * In July 2007, the Detroit Tigers held a Turkey Stearnes day at Comerica Park. As part of the ceremonies, a permanent plaque honoring Stearnes was unveiled outside the center field gate.
 * Stearnes was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in February 2008.
 * Stearnes was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in February 2010.
 * In 2019, a display honoring Stearnes was included in the Hank Greenberg Walk of Heroes at The Corner Ballpark (the historic site of Tiger Stadium) at the intersection of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues in Detroit.

title: Turkey Stearnes


text: Template:Atlanta landmarks

title: Template:Atlanta landmarks


text:
Talk:Surfside Beach, Texas

Untitled
Hi. I just wanted to state that Ron Paul actually lives in Lake Jackson.

I was wondering if horseback riding is allowed on surfside beach..

I dunno, but I've never seen 'em on the island

 * from the city website:

Horses are not allowed on the beach from May 15 through September 15. Horses are allowed on the beach during weekends from April 1 through May 15 and September 15 through October 31. Horses are allowed on the beach every day from November 1 through March 31.

Mari Adkins 18:27, 28 April 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by MariAdkins (talk • contribs)

The name of the island
Is it located on Follets Island? --Jerome Potts (talk) 03:41, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Yes, Surfside Beach is located on Follet's Island. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.200.114.221 (talk) 23:43, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Village Of Surfside Water Quality
Surfside has smelly and discolored water. The Village has had hundreds of violations from TCEQ. Beware before you buy a house or rent a property from here. 209.44.179.148 (talk) 16:58, 11 September 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Surfside Beach, Texas


text:
User talk:EricPoehlsen

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title: User talk:EricPoehlsen


text: Category:Wittgensteinian philosophers

title: Category:Wittgensteinian philosophers


text:
Willem Kieft

Willem Kieft, also Wilhelm Kieft, (September 1597 – September 27, 1647) was a Dutch merchant and the Director of New Netherland (of which New Amsterdam was the capital) from 1638 to 1647.

Life and career

Willem Kieft was appointed to the rank of director by the Dutch West India Company in 1638. He formed the council of twelve men, the first representative body in New Netherland, but ignored its advice.

He tried to tax, and then drive out, local Native Americans. He ordered attacks on Pavonia and Corlears Hook on February 25, 1643, which erupted into a horrific massacre (129 Dutch soldiers killed 120 Indians, including women and children). The Dutch local citizen advisory group had been specifically against such a raid, and were aghast when they heard the details. This was followed by retaliations resulting in what would become known as Kieft's War (1643–1645). The war took a huge toll on both sides, and Dutch West India Company Board of Directors fired him in 1647. He was replaced with Peter Stuyvesant.

He died on September 27, 1647, in the Princess Amelia shipwreck near Swansea, Wales, en route to Amsterdam to defend himself, along with many of his opponents, including the Rev. Everardus Bogardus. His archive was also lost, so his exact role cannot be established apart from what his opponents wrote of him. He is depicted in the Gods of Manhattan series by Scott Mebus.

title: Willem Kieft


text:
Pengo (video game)

Pengo (ペンゴ) is an arcade video game developed by Coreland and published by Sega. It was first released in Japan on September 26, 1982, in North America the following month, and in Europe that December. The player controls Pengo, a red penguin that resides in the Antarctic. The game takes place in an overhead maze made of ice blocks, where Pengo crushes blob-like Sno-Bees by sliding blocks into them. The objective is to survive each round by eliminating all Sno-Bees and Sno-Bee eggs, while optionally lining up the three diamond blocks to earn a large score bonus.

There are two versions of the arcade game: the first uses "Popcorn" as the theme, and the second has original music. There are other small differences as well. Pengo was ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit computers, and Game Gear.

Gameplay

The player uses a four-position joystick and a single button to control Pengo, a penguin character. Pressing the button while pushing the joystick against an ice block will cause it to slide in that direction until it hits another block or a wall if the space ahead of it is empty. If that space is occupied, pressing the button will crush the block instead.

The goal is to destroy every Sno-Bee on the board by sliding ice blocks to crush them, crushing blocks that contain unhatched Sno-Bee eggs, or running over them after stunning them at a wall. Doing so in less than 60 seconds awards bonus points based on the time taken.

At the start of each round, a certain number of eggs hatch into Sno-Bees, while other blocks flash to indicate that they contain eggs. As the player destroys active Sno-Bees, new ones hatch from the eggs to replace them. Crushing multiple Sno-Bees with one block awards extra points. The Sno-Bees can crush blocks in an attempt to reach Pengo. Pushing against a wall causes it to vibrate and temporarily stuns any Sno-Bees in contact with it; the player may then crush them with a block or simply run over them to destroy them.

Three blocks in each round are marked with diamonds and cannot be crushed. Bonus points are awarded for forming a continuous vertical or horizontal line of these blocks: 10,000 if none of them are touching a wall, or 5,000 otherwise. Forming such a line also stuns every active Sno-Bee for a short time.

If the player survives for two minutes without either losing a life or completing the round, all active Sno-Bees become Blobs. Their movement speed increases and they will move directly toward one of the walls, crushing all ice blocks in their path. Once a Blob reaches a wall, it will move toward a corner of the screen and disappear upon reaching it. Once all Blobs have either disappeared or been destroyed, the round ends. If the player destroys one of the last two Sno-Bees, the survivor will become a Blob after a 12-second delay. However, if the player destroys multiple Sno-Bees and leaves only one alive, it will become a Blob immediately.

The game includes a total of 16 rounds. After every second round, one of six intermission animations is displayed. It then repeats indefinitely.

One life is lost whenever Pengo touches an un-stunned Sno-Bee or Blob. When all lives are lost, the game ends.

Reception
In Japan, the annual Game Machine chart listed Pengo as the fourth highest-grossing arcade game of 1982. Game Machine later listed Pengo in their June 1, 1983 issue as the fifteenth top-grossing table arcade cabinet of the month. In North America, the game was a commercial arcade success for Sega in 1982, and it sold an estimated 2,000 arcade cabinets in the United States.

Computer and Video Games (C&VG) magazine gave it a highly positive review upon release, calling it "the cutest of coin-operated video games" and praising the "wonderful graphics, delightful characterisation, plenty of scope to work out your own" tactics, "catchy melody" and "that feeling of satisfaction you get when an ice-block picks up speed and knocks all the wind out of a surprised sno-bee!" Four members of the C&VG team gave a verdict that "is unanimous... Pengo is the C&VG tip for 1983."

Legacy
In 1982 and 1983 Bandai Electronics created two official Sega licensed handheld games featuring Pengo. The first was an LCD pocket game, the second a VFD tabletop version. In 1995 a brand new game called Pepenga Pengo was released for the Sega Mega Drive only in Japan.

According to Zero magazine, Hudson Soft's Bomberman series adopted gameplay elements from Pengo.

In 2010 a location test for the wide screen remake was announced in arcades, which features eight player multiplay. A second location test took place at Sega Shinjuku Nishiguchi in May 2012. During the 3rd location test at Club Sega Akihabara Shinkan between 2012-07-14 and 2012-07-16 as part of the 4-game compilation title named 'Ge-sen Love ~Plus Pengo!~' (ゲーセンラブ. ～プラス ペンゴ！～), the game was made available as a download by RINGEDGE2 machines through Sega's new ALL.NET P-ras Multi game network, and was later released on 2012-09-20. The compilation title is included with the Xbox 360 game Ge-sen Love Plus Pengo!.

Clones
Contemporaraneous Pengo clones include Orca's Penga, Pengi for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, Percy Penguin for the Commodore 64, Block Buster for the VIC-20, Chilly Willy for the Microbee, Pengon for the TRS-80 Color Computer, the unrelated Pengon for Atari 8-bit computers, Pengy for the Atari ST, Freez'Bees and Do-Do for the ZX Spectrum, Stone Age for the VTech CreatiVision, and Pango for MS-DOS. Hopper is a clone for the TI-99/4A with a kangaroo instead of a penguin. Bubble Trouble is an underwater-themed adaptation for Macintosh computers.

title: Pengo (video game)


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Talk:Walkerton, Ontario

Untitled
Is there any opposition if I make the Tragedy an article of its own? I think it belongs in it's own article. CaseInPoint 03:29, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)

 * No objections here; there's room for a good-sized article, especially with all the analysis over the years and the debate on blame (province? municipality? Koebels?). Go for it. Radagast 19:05, Nov 30, 2004 (UTC)

Kill seven, make thousands sick, get off with common nuisance, the absolute minimum. Not a bad deal. =p (On the other hand, look what innoculant peddlars get away with.) I am getting so disgusted with "my" country... Kwantus 17:21, 2004 Nov 30 (UTC)

 * The article Walkerton Tragedy is started. I moved and also expaned the  material .  20:02, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Isn't the postal code N0G 2V0 in Walkerton? Mine is and I live here... lol Or are there 2 postal codes? I'm not exactly sure, that's why I didn't change it.

title: Talk:Walkerton, Ontario


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Kolar district

Kolar district is a district in the state of Karnataka, India.

Kolar (ಕೋಲಾರ) is the district headquarters. Located in southern Karnataka, it is the state's easternmost district. The district is surrounded by the Bangalore Rural district on the west, Chikballapur district on the north, the Chittoor district and Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh on the east and the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu on the south.

On 10 September 2007, it was bifurcated to form the new district of Chikballapur. Due to the discovery of the Kolar Gold Fields, the district has become known as the "Golden Land" of India.

People are citing that still gold is present in Kolar Gold Fields mines abundantly and also exists in Mulbagal, Kolar, Bangarapet, Malur, Srinivasapura taluks of Kolar District. However it must have to be confirmed by the state and as well central government authorities.

History
Kolar, formerly known as Kolahala, Kuvalala and Kolala, was called Kolahalapura during the Middle Ages. In Kannada, kolahalapura means "violent city" and it was the battlefield for the warring Chalukyas in the north and the Cholas in the south. In 1004 AD, the Cholas annexed Kolar until 1116. Vishnuvardhana (1108-1142) freed Gangavadi from the Cholas and, to commemorate his victory, built the Chennakesava Temple at Belur.

Kolaramma and Someshwara are notable temples in Kolar. The Kolaramma temple, built in Dravida Vimana style during the second century, is dedicated to Shakti. It underwent renovations under Rajendra Chola I in the 10th century and the Vijayanagara kings in the 15th century. Someswara Temple is an example of 14th-century Vijayanagara art.

Kolar's early history was compiled by Fred Goodwill, superintendent of the Wesleyan Tamil mission in Bangalore and the Kolar Gold Fields, and his studies have been published in a number of journals. Older than Bangalore, Kolar dates back to the second century. The Western Gangas made Kolar their capital, ruling Mysore, Coimbatore, and Salem. During the 13th century Bhavanandi composed Nannool, his treatise on Tamil grammar.

Under the Cholas, King Sridhar kora (ruled 970–985) reportedly built the temple for Renuka and founded the city of Kolaahalapuram. Veera Chola, Vikrama Chola and Rajendra Chola I built stone structures with inscriptions at Avani, Mulbagal, Sitti Bettta and elsewhere. Chola inscriptions, which document the rule of Adithya Chola I (871-907), Raja Raja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I of Kolar, refer to Kolar as Nikarili Cholamandalam and Jayam Konda Chola Manadalam. Inscriptions from Rajendra Chola I also appear on the Kolaramma Temple. Many Siva temples were built in Kolar during the reign of the Cholas, including the Someshwarar and Sri Uddhandeshwari Temples at Maarikuppam Village, the Eswaran Temple at Oorugaumpet and the Sivan Temple at Madivala Village. Chola rule of Kolar lasted until 1116. The inscriptions are neglected, and some have been vandalised.

In 1117 Kolar became part of the Hoysala Empire; in 1254 it was bestowed to Ramanatha, one of King Someshwara's two sons. The Hoysala were defeated by the Vijayanagara Empire, which ruled Kolar from 1336 to 1664. During this period, the Sri Someshwara Temple at Kolar was built.

For 50 years in the 17th century Kolar was under Maratha rule as part of the Jagir of Shahaji, followed by 70 years of Muslim rule. In 1720 it became part of the Province of Sira, with Fateh Mohammed (the father of Hyder Ali) the province's Faujdar. Kolar was then ruled by the Marathas, the Nawab of Cuddapah, the Nizam of Hyderabad and Hyder Ali. It was under British rule from 1768 to 1770 before a brief Maratha rule followed by Hyder Ali. In 1791 Lord Cornwallis conquered Kolar and returned it to the Kingdom of Mysore in the peace treaty of 1792.

In the Kolar region, inscriptions document the reigns of the Mahavalis (Baanaas), the Pallavas and the Vaidumbaas. Benjamin Lewis Rice recorded 1,347 inscriptions in the Kolar District, in the 10th volume of his Epigraphia Carnatica, of the inscriptions, 422 are in Tamil, 211 in Telugu. But the oldest are in Kannada. This was the original language. Tamil came in with the Cholas in the 11th century, and Telugu with Vijayanagar kings after the 15th. The period covered by the inscriptions is from 4th to the 18th century.

List of tourist attractions in Kolar district
List of tourist attractions in Kolar district important temple and tourist attractions details are provided here

Taluks

 * Kolar
 * Bangarpet
 * Malur
 * Mulbagilu
 * Srinivaspura
 * Kolar Gold Fields

Demographics
In the 2011 census, the district had a population of 1,536,401 —roughly equal to that of Gabon or Hawaii. It ranked 324th of India's 640 districts). The district has a population density of 384 PD/sqkm, with a growth rate of 11.04 percent from 2001 to 2011. Kolar's sex ratio is 976 females per 1,000 males. Its literacy rate is 74.33 percent. 31.25% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 30.32% and 5.13% of the population respectively. The district has 15 towns and a total of 3,321 villages (2,889 inhabited villages and 432 uninhabited).

At the time of the 2011 census, 51.51% of the population spoke Kannada, 22.67% Telugu, 12.88% Urdu and 10.99% Tamil as their first language. Kolar is part of Morasu Nadu, where both Kannada, Telugu and Tamil language and culture blend.

Culture
The district's primary language is Kannada; Urdu, Tamil and Telugu are spoken by large minorities. Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) has an Anglo-Indian population. Festivals include the 13-day summer Karaga, celebrated in Kolar District, Kolar being one of the oldest Karaga traditions then followed in different regions of the district and usually beginning the first Friday after Ugadi; the water festival Theppothsava, and Dyavara.

Notable people

 * L. Basavaraju - noted writer in Kannada
 * Sir M. Visvesvaraya - Bharat Ratna and First Engineer of India
 * D. V. Gundappa - Kannada poet
 * K. C. Reddy - first Chief Minister of Karnataka
 * Masti Venkatesh Ayengar - Kannada writer and Jnanpith Award recipient
 * K. H. Muniyappa - Former Union Minister of state for Indian Railways; represented Kolar in the Parliament of India for six terms
 * N. R. Narayana Murthy - Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited
 * Soundarya - South Indian film actress
 * A. N. Prahlada Rao - author and crossword
 * B. K. S. Iyengar - the founder of the style of yoga as exercise known as "Iyengar Yoga" and was considered one of the foremost yoga teachers in the world.
 * Picchalli Srinivas - popular singer and theatre personality

Media

 * Kolara Patrike - first Kannada daily newspaper
 * Kolaravani - Kannada daily newspaper
 * Kannada Thilaka – Kannada daily newspaper

title: Kolar district


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List of cricket commentators

This is a list of notable media commentators and writers on the sport of cricket from around the world.

A number of famous players have had a second career as writers or commentators. However, many commentators never played the game at a professional level, yet they have gone on to become famous names associated with the game. The following is a list of the cricket commentators, including name, nationality, Broadcaster/Publication and other careers.

title: List of cricket commentators


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Cordwood construction

Cordwood construction (also called cordwood masonry or cordwood building, alternatively stackwall or stovewood) is a term used for a natural building method in which short logs are piled crosswise to build a wall, using mortar or cob to permanently secure them. This technique can use local materials at minimal cost.

Construction
Walls are usually constructed so that the log ends protrude from the mortar by a small amount (an inch or less). Walls typically range between 8 and 24 inches thick, though in northern Canada, some walls are as much as 36 inches thick.

Cordwood homes are attractive for their visual appeal, maximization of interior space (with a rounded plan), economy of resources, and ease of construction. Wood usually accounts for about 40-60% of the wall system, the remaining portion consisting of a mortar mix and insulating fill. Cordwood construction can be sustainable depending on design and process. There are two main types of cordwood construction, throughwall and M-I-M (mortar-insulation-mortar). In throughwall, the mortar mix itself contains an insulative material, usually sawdust, chopped newsprint, or paper sludge, in sometimes very high percentages by mass (80% paper sludge/20% mortar). In the more common M-I-M, and unlike brick or throughwall masonry, the mortar does not continue throughout the wall. Instead, three- or four-inch (sometimes more) beads of mortar on each side of the wall provide stability and support, with a separate insulation between them. Cordwood walls can be load-bearing (using built-up corners, or curved wall designed) or laid within a post and beam framework which provides structural reinforcement and is suitable for earthquake-prone areas. As a load-bearing wall, the compressive strength of wood and mortar allows for roofing to be tied directly into the wall. Different mortar mixtures and insulation fill material both affect the wall's overall R value, or resistance to heat flow; and conversely, to its inherent thermal mass, or heat/cool storage capacity.

History
Remains of cordwood structures still standing date back as far as one thousand years in eastern Germany. However, more contemporary versions could be found in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. There is no detailed information about the origins of cordwood construction. However, it is plausible that forest dwellers eventually erected a basic shelter between a fire and a stacked wood pile. In the work of William Tischler of University of Wisconsin, he states that "current" cordwood probably started in the late 1800s in Quebec, Wisconsin, and Sweden. He believes that the technique started in these areas around the same time.

Wood
Cordwood construction is an economical use of log ends or fallen trees in heavily timbered areas. Other common sources for wood include sawmills, split firewood, utility poles (without creosote), split rail fence posts, and logging slash. It is more sustainable and often economical to use recycled materials for the walls. Regardless of the source, all wood must be debarked before the construction begins. While many different types of wood can be used, the most desirable rot resistant woods are Pacific yew, bald cypress (new growth), cedars, and juniper. Acceptable woods also include Douglas fir, western larch, Eastern White Pine, and Spruce Pine.

Less dense and more airy woods are superior because they shrink and expand in lower proportions than dense hardwoods. Most wood can be used in a wall if it is dried properly and stabilized to the external climate's relative humidity. Furthermore, while log ends of different species can be mixed in a wall, log-ends of identical species and source limit expansion/contraction variables.

Mortar
Various experts advise different recipes for mortar mix. One recipe which has proven to be successful since 1981 is 9 parts sand, 3 sawdust, 3 builder's lime (non-agricultural), 2 Portland cement by volume. Builder's lime makes the wall more flexible, breathable, and self-healing because it takes longer to completely set than cement. Portland cement chemically binds the mortar and should be either Type I or II. Another recipe uses 3 parts sand, 2 soaked sawdust, 1 Portland Cement and 1 Hydrated Lime; intended to have the advantage of curing slower and displaying less cracking.

Thermal mass and insulation
Depending on a variety of factors (wall thickness, type of wood, particular mortar recipe), the insulative value of a cordwood wall, as expressed in R-value is generally less than that of a high-efficiency stud wall. Cordwood walls have greater thermal mass than stud frame but less than common brick and mortar. This is because the specific heat capacity of clay brick is higher (0.84 versus wood's 0.42), and is denser than airy woods like cedar, cypress, or pine. However, the insulated mortar matrix utilized in most cordwood walls places useful thermal mass on both sides of the insulated internal cavity, helping to store heat in winter and "coolth" in summer. Thermal mass makes it easier for a building to maintain median interior temperatures while going through daily hot and cold phases. In climates like the desert with broad daily temperature swings thermal mass will absorb and then slowly release the midday heat and nighttime cool in sequence, moderating temperature fluctuations. Thermal mass does not replace the function of insulation material, but is used in conjunction with it.

The longer the logs (and thicker the wall), the better the insulation qualities. A common 16” cordwood wall for moderate climates comprises 6 in of perlite or vermiculite insulation between mortar joints. Another insulation option, used for over 40 years by Rob Roy and other cordwood builders is dry sawdust, passed through a half-inch screen, and treated with builder's (Type S) lime at the ratio of 12 parts sawdust to 1 part lime. With light airy sawdusts, this insulation is similar in its R-value to manufactured loose-fill insulations, at a fraction of the cost.

However, wood is an anisotropic material with respect to heat flow. That means its thermal resistance depends on the direction of heat flow relative to the wood grain. While wood has a commonly quoted R-value of about 1.25 per inch (depending on the species and moisture content), that only applies if the heat flow is perpendicular to the grain, such as occurs in common wood-frame construction. With cordwood/stackwall construction, the direction of heat flow is parallel to the grain. For this configuration, the R-value is only about 40% of that perpendicular to the grain. Thus, the actual R-value of wood, when used in cordwood/stackwall construction is closer to about 0.50 per inch.

But the R-value of a cordwood masonry wall must take into consideration both the wooden portion and the insulated mortar portion as a combined system. The only authoritative testing on the R-value of cordwood masonry was conducted by Dr. Kris J. Dick (PE) and Luke Chaput during the winter of 2004–2005, based on thermal sensors placed within a 24-inch thick wall at the University of Manitoba. A paper reporting on their findings appears in Cordwood and the Code: a building permit guide The authors' summary says, in part: "Based on approximately three months of mid-winter temperature data, the wall was determined to have an RSI Value of 6.23 (m²K/W), R-35 for a 24-inch wall system."

A thermal performance analysis in 1998 using “HOT 2000” computer software showed the relationship of domestic wall types and their insulating values. The simulation revealed an R value of 20.5 for the sample cordwood wall. Compare this to the basic 2 x 4 wooden stud wall, and 2 x 6 foam insulated and sheathed wall with R values of 15.8 and 25.7, respectively. Cordwood walls are not the best natural insulators but can be built to thermal efficient standards. The R value of a cordwood wall is directly related to its ratio of wood to mortar and insulation medium. However, R value in cordwood construction is not as significant as it is in stick-frame building due to the high thermal mass which increases a significantly higher "effective R-value.” Builders tailor their design and ratios to the existing climate.

R-value testing was completed at the University of Manitoba in the winter of 2005. The findings compiled by the Engineering Department, found that each inch of cordwood wall (mortar, log end and sawdust/lime insulation yielded an r-value of 1.47).

Costs
A cordwood home can be constructed for significantly less initial out-of-pocket cost than a standard stick-frame house of comparable size, since sometimes labor is done primarily by the owner, or volunteers. Properly built cordwood walls tend to have fewer maintenance needs than standard stick-frame, because there are fewer manufactured components (e.g., fiberglass insulation, nailings, sidings, flashings, etc.). Some maintenance still will be required, as there is wood and concrete exposed to the elements on the exterior side of the wall. A cordwood house that is poorly built without sufficient insulation can result in higher heating costs than a traditional stud-frame house.

In a 1998 comparative economic analysis of stud frame, cordwood, straw bale, and cob, cordwood appeared to be an economically viable alternative. A two-story 2512 sqft cordwood house in Cherokee, North Carolina outfitted with "high quality tile, tongue and groove pine, Russian Woodstove, live earth roof, hand shaped cedar trim, raised panel cabinets, and a handmade pine door," cost the owner an estimated $52,000. With the owner providing 99% of the labor, the house cost him $20.70 per sq. ft. A comparably sized and furnished stick-frame house in 1998 would cost between $75,000-$120,000 with zero owner labor. The 1997 residential cost data shows an "average" trim level 1,000-2000 sqft house costing $64.48-$81.76 per sq. ft. Both the acquisition of materials and source of labor play major roles in the initial cost of building a cordwood house.

Process

In certain jurisdictions construction plans are subject to the building inspector's approval. Before building, soil conditions on the site must be verified to support heavy cordwood masonry walls.

With felled timber, bark should be removed in the spring with a shovel, chisel, or bark spud. The sap is still running in spring time and provides a lubricating layer of cambium between the bark and wood, making separation an easier task than if left until the fall when the two layers are well-bonded together. Once debarked, the logs should sit to dry for at least three summers to limit splitting and checking. It is important to cut the logs, once debarked to the chosen building length. Richard Flatau, Cordwood Construction: Best Practices (2012) suggest splitting 70% of the wood for better drying and seasoning.

After drying, the logs must be cut to the desired length (usually 8, 12, 16, 18, or 24 in.). In this case a metal handsaw is preferable to a chainsaw because its finer cut helps to ward moisture and pest penetration. Actually a "cut off " saw or "buzz saw" will make quick work of cutting cordwood into chosen lengths. For especially furry ends like on cedar, rasps can be used for smoothing.

The wood then needs to be transported to the building site. It is convenient to have the source of cordwood and construction site nearby. Once a proper foundation has been poured which rises 12-24 inches above ground level with a splash guard, construction of the walls can begin. Temporary shelters can be used to cover the worksite and cordwood from rain. A post and beam frame supplies this shelter for subsequent cordwood mortaring.

Inexperienced homebuilders should experiment with a number of practice walls. This will ultimately expedite the building process and provide more satisfying results. When experimenting with M-I-M, (the more common form), two parallel 3 to 4 inch beads of mortar are laid down along the foundation, followed by a middle filling of insulation material. Then logs are laid on top with consistent mortar gaps, protruding no more than 1 inch on the inside and outside of the wall. Actual placement will depend on the size and shapes of the logs. Another layer of mortar is spread, then insulation poured in between, more logs follow and so on. When experimenting with Throughwall, a thin, even layer of insulative mortar is laid along the foundation, then the logs are seated firmly in the mortar bed, in an even fashion, leaving only enough space between them to "point" the mortar. The mortar gaps are filled to make a relatively flat top surface, then another thin layer of mortar is added and the process repeats. The shape and exterior orientation of logs is important only for appearance. Pre-split “firewood style” logs check less when in the wall and are easier to point or smooth and press evenly around than round pieces because the mortar gaps are generally smaller.

Rob and Jaki Roy, co-directors of Earthwood Building School in West Chazy, NY for 36 years, take a different point of view. They used to use mostly split wood, but now use mostly white cedar (or equal) rounds. The shrinkage is exactly the same in splits and rounds, and the Roys have found the wood easier to lay up because it more readily holds its shape from one side of the wall to the other. Further, the rounds are easier to point, because of the ragged edge that results on the bottom side of a split log. Finally, the greater amount of mortar using rounds is actually a plus because the mortared portion of the wall performs better, thermally, than the wooden portion.

If constructing a house with corners, each course of cordwood should be cross hatched for strength. Near the end, small filler slats of wood may be required to finish the joining or tops of walls. Windows and doors are framed with standard window boxes and wooden lintels. Glass bottles can be inserted for a creative stained glass effect. (Plumbing and electrical wiring are issues to consider but will not be elaborated on in this article).

A cordwood house should have deep overhanging eaves of at least 12- 16 inches to keep the log ends dry and prevent fungal growth. If the ends are maintained to be dry and well aerated, they will age without problem. Some owners have coated their ends with linseed oil, or set the outside log ends flush with the mortar for further weatherproofing. Over time, some checking is normal, and can be remedied with periodic mortar or caulking maintenance.

Sustainability
Although cordwood homes have been tested in -40F locations like Alberta, their thermal efficiency in any climate is below that of a purely cob house of comparable dimensions. In frigid areas it is appropriate to either build a thicker 24-36 inch wall, or two separate super insulated walls. In predominantly wet areas, the outside walls can be plastered, smothering the cordwood ends from air and moisture, but this hides cordwood's attractive log ends and the logs will rot. The quantity of labor relative to gaining a specific R value for cordwood is higher when compared to straw bale and stick frame construction. Funds saved in construction may need to be allocated for heating costs or longterm exterior maintenance. An organic, mortar-like cob creates less of an environmental impact because of the use of readily available mud and straw, whereas toxins emitted during the production of Portland cement are very harmful, albeit less tangible in the final product. Like many alternative building styles, the sustainability of cordwood construction is dependent upon materials and construction variables.

Following the Cordwood Conference in 2005 at Merrill, Wisconsin, a document was published to address best practices in cordwood construction and building code compliance. The document entitled Cordwood and the Code: A Building Permit Guide assists cordwood builders get the necessary code permits.

title: Cordwood construction