Fired Assayer goes AWOL - more archive fun 0

[kbbpll]

[Kirt]

So ghosting was alive and well in 1900?

 

You can't fire me if you can't find me!

[DWLange]

Time to audit the bullion...

[RWB]

All sorts of fun stuff in those archive boxes. Maybe Mr. Elias was out looking for the numeral "1" for his typewriter?

:)

[kbbpll]

I was diligently searching for some correspondence (OK, not really) saying "Can we get this $%*& typewriter fixed?", and then I ran into this. There was probably never any "1" key!!!

Yes, @DWLange there has to be more to the Elias story.

[Kirt]

23 minutes ago, kbbpll said:

I was diligently searching for some correspondence (OK, not really) saying "Can we get this $%*& typewriter fixed?", and then I ran into this. There was probably never any "1" key!!!

Yes, @DWLange there has to be more to the Elias story.

 

San Francisco Call, January 21 1900: "Edward Elias Is Dismissed From The Mint - Assayer Receives A Sudden Discharge - Personal Affairs Tangled - Debt And Inattention To Duties The Reasons"

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1900-01-21/ed-1/seq-27/

Mind, it's on Page 27 and this is the age of yellow journalism...

EDIT: Actually, further down the column and into the 2nd column, the "Answers to Correspondents" is pretty interesting reading.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Kirt

[RWB]

I recall that typewriters did not have a numeral "1" until the IBM Selectric came out.

(I learned to type by cutting little letters out of wood blocks and stamping them on paper - slow work back then.)

Edited January 3, 2020 by RWB

[Crawtomatic]

54 minutes ago, Kirt said:

EDIT: Actually, further down the column and into the 2nd column, the "Answers to Correspondents" is pretty interesting reading.

Indeed it is.  Thanks for the share!

[kbbpll]

Ah, the old "cocktail route".

There's a lot of "drama" in those old mint records. I've been glossing over most of it, because I'm actually looking for coin-related stuff. Lots of entertainment though, like a letter from a dentist who was clearly melting gold coin to make teeth.

[RWB]

49 minutes ago, kbbpll said:

Ah, the old "cocktail route".

There's a lot of "drama" in those old mint records. I've been glossing over most of it, because I'm actually looking for coin-related stuff. Lots of entertainment though, like a letter from a dentist who was clearly melting gold coin to make teeth.

The Philadelphia Mint went so far as to buy access to dentist mailing lists so they could offer to sell small gold bars direct to users. (At that time, most dentists made their own gold alloy for crowns and other replacement work.)

[Just Bob]

3 hours ago, kbbpll said:

I was diligently searching for some correspondence (OK, not really) saying "Can we get this $%*& typewriter fixed?", and then I ran into this. There was probably never any "1" key!!!

 

 

Typists (is that a word?) were expected to use a lower case "L."

[Hambleton]

Hello everyone.  I am a distant relative of said Mr Elias and am writing a brief biography of him (spoiler: he came to a sad end).  I’m based in the UK and a lot of the archive materials are not digitalised as far as I can see.  Would anybody be very very kind and help a damsel in distress with any other mentions of Edward Elias they can find? I had not seen the letter posted by @kbbpll so very many thanks for that. A free copy of my book will come your way to say thank you. Deborah

[RWB]

On 3/9/2022 at 2:41 PM, Hambleton said:

Hello everyone.  I am a distant relative of said Mr Elias and am writing a brief biography of him (spoiler: he came to a sad end).  I’m based in the UK and a lot of the archive materials are not digitalised as far as I can see.  Would anybody be very very kind and help a damsel in distress with any other mentions of Edward Elias they can find? I had not seen the letter posted by @kbbpll so very many thanks for that. A free copy of my book will come your way to say thank you. Deborah

I have a considerable archive of US Mint documents and will be pleased to send you anything I might happen to have. I have the originally posted letter, and a prior one, plus a table showing his wages and the employment letter of his successor. I have others from 1899 that might contain additional information. If you PM your email address, I will send you what I can locate. Not sure how helpful all this paper will be in fighting a fiery dragon, but we must protect our supply of damsels.

Edited March 9, 2022 by RWB

[Hambleton]

Gosh thank you so much. That will be SO helpful for my book.  @RWBI will PM you. Deborah