CONSTANTIN DEMETRIOU 03

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New Rug

One of the things on our to-do list has been a new living room rug. I knew with the house and new curtains a lighter larger one would look better. The curtains I had picked out since last March, but the rug, that was a little harder. We finally decided to just buy one we liked and bring it home. If it was not right we could always take it back.

I think it is a winner!  It opens, brightens and defines the space very nicely.

I snapped a few quick pictures to see how it would look. Still trying to decided whether the pillows are okay or should be a different pattern........

At first I wasn't sure if it was going to be too matchy-matchy with the curtains, but it seems to tie it all together. (Kerri is at her favorite watching post!) I love the color tones in the rug, just perfect.

 A better view of the design.......and Kerri!

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FEBRUARY 6 = The U.S. & France Hitch Up!!

On today's date in 1778, the King of France, Louis XVI, signed a Treaty of Alliance with the rebellious colonies of the United States (pictured, right), thus recognizing their self declared independence, and committing his countries resources to their cause.  Try reading this if you can:

"The most Christian King and the United States of North America, to wit, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay.... having this Day concluded a Treaty of amity and Commerce, for the reciprocal advantage of their Subjects and Citizens have thought it necessary to take into consideration the means of strengthening those engagements and of rondring them useful to the safety and tranquility of the two parties, particularly in case Great Britain in Resentment of that connection and of the good correspondence which is the object of the said Treaty, should break the Peace with france, either by direct hostilities, or by hindring her commerce and navigation, in a manner contrary to the Rights of Nations, and the Peace subsisting between the two Crowns; and his Majesty and the said united States having resolved in that Case to join their Councils and efforts against the Enterprises of their common Enemy, the respective Plenipotentiaries, impower'd to concert the Clauses & conditions proper to fulfil the said Intentions, have, after the most mature Deliberation, concluded and determined on the following Articles."

WHEW!! Talk about a loooong sentence! But such are the vagaries of diplomatic-speak that such phrasing is or was quite normal in diplomatic documents. And the meaning of this treaty was quite clear indeed: the Kingdom of France was throwing her support behind the colonists in their rebellion against their mother country of Great Britain.

France -vs- England - the Mongoose and the Cobra!!

France had effectively been kicked out of North America by the Brits as a result of the French and Indian War of 1754 to 1763, and had been smarting from this unceremonious ejection ever since. The outbreak of war between Britain and her colonies provided just the sort of trouble that the French had been wishing upon her natural enemies in England. In fact the Comte de Vergennes, France's Foreign Minister wrote a letter to King Louis shortly before Franklin arrived stating:

"England is the natural enemy of France; and she is an avid enemy, ambitious, unjust, brimmimg with bad faith; the permenant and cherished object of her policy is the humiliation and ruin of France."
But France had a treasury which was limited, and taking on England again was an iffy proposition. Would France come out fully in favor of America?

Ben Franklin "Schmoozes" His Way Into the French Court.

It was with the hope of convincing the French to do just that that Benjamin Franklin was dispatched to France. Franklin was by this time 70 years old, so he was quite an elder statesman when he arrived in France in November of 1776. As a result of his experiments in science (the discovery of electricity with his kite) and also because of the international fame accorded to his "Poor Richards Almanac", he was the most famous American in the world. So his arrival in France caused an immediate sensation. Balls were given in his honor, and miniatures of his famous visage wearing the fur cap of the simple , but wise rustic philosopher (pictured below) were distributed everywhere. Franklin, the original "Spin Doctor" was in fact anything but rustic or simple, but he recognized the value of projecting this image, so he obligingly played the role.

And he used his considerable powers of persuasion upon the eminent members of France's government and society to get them to support the American cause. He would frequently relax with the French aristocrats in ways which made him seem like a frivolous ladies man. Now this was not entirely out of his character... the man did indeed have his randy side. Living with him in the village of Passy, his grandson would write:

"The air of Passy and the warm bath three time a week have made quite a young man out of him. His pleasing gaiety makes everybody in love with him, especially the ladies, who permit him always to kiss them."

Franklin Blends Realism With American Exceptionalism

But Franklin was devoted to securing French aid to his country and knew how to make it happen. He knew and very shrewdly understood where he could make France go for the American cause. He wrote a letter to the aforementioned Comte de Vergennes emphasizing the French interest in the outcome, that if France and Spain were to enter on the American side, the Brits would lose their colonies and her possessions in the West Indies, and "the commerce that has rendered her so opulent.." which would then relegate her to a "State of weakness and humiliation..." precisely what Vergennes had declared to be Britain's plan for France in his letter to King Louis. But as Franklin's biographer Walter Issacson has written:

"Frankin realized that appealing to the cold calculus of interests was only part of the equation. Better than most other diplomats in the nation's history, he understood that America's strength in world affairs would come from a unique mix that included idealism as well as realism. When woven together, they would later be in policies ranging from the Monore Doctrine to the Marshall Plan, they were the warp and woof of a resilient foreign policy. 'America's great historical moments ,' writes historian Bernard Bailyn, 'have occurred when realism and idealism have been combined, and no one knew this better than Franklin.' "
In effect, Franklin understood that it was by emphasizing America as a land of freedom and opportunity, who not only could be free of British domination, but should be, that he could ignite a real enthusiasm for the American cause that would be lacking for just another armed conflict.

The Alliance Comes to Life

So it was when the final obstacle to the French Alliance was overcome. France had indeed been ready to lend her full support to the Americans, but it was only the victory of the Americans in the battle of Saratoga (Sept. 19 & October 7, 1777) that convinced France to go ahead and sign on with us for good and all. It was because of the American victory over the forces of General Burgoyne in that battle that the French government, the Comte de Vergennes in particular

were at last convinced that the Americans had a chance of defeating a major British force in the field. With her need for realism thus satisfied, France went ahead and signed up to our side. This alliance would prove to be the decisive factor in securing American victory in the war. For it was during the Battle of Yorktown (September 28 – October 19, 1781) that a French fleet under Admiral Comte de Grasse defeated a Britsh fleet. This trapped the Army of Lord Cornwallis on the Yorktown Peninsula in Virginia and forced them to surrender (above) to the surrounding American forces under Goerge Washington and the French forces under the Comte de Rochembeau.


READERS!! If you would like to comment on this, or any "Today in History" posting, I would love to hear from you!!  You can either sign up to be a member of this blog and post a comment in the space provided below, or you can simply e-mail me directly at:  krustybassist@gmail.com  I seem to be getting hits on this site all over the world, so please do write and let me know how you like what I'm writing (or not!)!!
Sources:

The American Heritage History of the American Revolution by Bruce Lancaster, Bruce Catton and Thomas Fleming; American Heritage Publ., New York, 2004.

"Benjamin Franklin; An American Life" by Walter Issacson, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2003.

+ 181.
+ 72.

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Looking Forward

Today I am looking forward to having a burrito at one of my favorite places in the Mission. When I used to live in San Francisco, I would walk over to this Taqueria from my house. It's kind of a strange venue; it's tiny and its right next to a fish market and a Mexican shopping center. But the burritos are just as good as I remember! From work, it's only about an 8 minute BART ride to get there, so its a fun lunch time field trip!

This week I am looking forward to the rain (we need it!!), a great long run on Saturday (hopefully with no rain) and the Sour Beer festival on Sunday. Its the SF Beer Week and although I do not attend all the events, it's fun to attend a couple. You get to try a lot of different types of beer at once, and there are many varieties that the brewers bring that aren't normally available to the public. Plus, you get to see a butt load of beards!

This month I am looking forward to going to visiting Lisa. We have tentative plans for much hiking, hopefully lots of hot chocolate and gabbing and reading and fun! I have never been to NC, except to fly though the airport (which has rocking chairs), so this will be a fun adventure for me. I am also looking forward to the Way Too Cool 50k, as well as a tentative plan to see one of my good friends the first weekend of March for some food and catch up time with her.

This year I am looking forward to the Boston Marathon, a trip to the Grand Canyon, a probable trip to Oregon this summer, lots of running, my first 100k race, a hopeful trip somewhere foreign (as of yet TBD), lots of reading and a super great summer (with two trips to Tahoe planned so far) with lots of swimming and outdoor activities!

What are you looking forward to? How's the weather where you are?

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The Yarnalls (and More) and Another Inn

The Conestoga Wagon, or Yarnall Tavern

In the previous post, we looked at the early history of the Yarnall family, their acquisition of land around the area now known as Brandywine Springs, and the opening of the Conestoga Wagon inn, often called the Yarnall Tavern. In this post we'll take the story forward, focusing on the end of the Conestoga Wagon and on another "Mystery Inn" that may have been a successor to it.

As noted in the first post, it's unclear exactly when the Conestoga Wagon first opened. My hypothesis was that Sarah Yarnall began keeping the inn soon after her husband Ephraim's death in 1793. New information has called that theory into question, quite possibly moving the date of the house and tavern significantly forward. This new idea will be dealt with more fully in another post to come.


Although there's uncertainty as to when the tavern began, Holton Yarnall's financial situation seems painfully clear. Not very long after taking control of the property south of Faulkland Road, Holton was deep in debt. According to C.A. Weslager in his book Brandywine Springs: The Rise and Fall of a Delaware Resort, by 1802 James Gibbons held a mortgage of 600 pounds on the property. The mortgage was transferred to James Robinson, a neighboring blacksmith, in 1807. Robinson in turn assigned the mortgage in 1818 to Jane Wilson, "a single woman of Wilmington". What Yarnall needed this money for originally is unclear. He may have assumed debts from his father, he may have amassed his own, or he may have needed funds to build or rebuild the home on his property.

Whenever Yarnall began keeping his tavern, by 1814 he was looking to sell it and the rest of his tract. He took out a newspaper ad then (it didn't sell) and again in 1816. Both ads referred to the property as "Yellow Springs" in reference to the mineral spring that would ultimately be its savior. The tract was 80 acres, containing a well finished stone house (the tavern) 33 feet square and two stories, a good frame barn, and other various outbuildings. Unfortunately there were again no takers, and the property was put up for sale in 1822 for at least the third time. This time Yarnall also offered to sell only a few acres (containing the springs and the tavern), if the purchaser did not wish to buy the farm (in the literal sense).

From the American Watchman, Sept. 11, 1816

The luckless Yarnall was again unable to find a buyer, and his time was just about up. In 1827 Jane Wilson died, and her executor (MCH native) Washington Rice was pushing for settlement of the debt. Rice went to court and won a $3200 settlement which Yarnall was unable to pay. In July the Yellow Springs property, including the Conestoga Wagon tavern, was sold for $2805 to a Wilmington businessman who was probably acting as a front for the group who wanted to build the Brandywine Springs resort hotel. And thus ended the Yarnall family's tenure as innkeepers in Mill Creek Hundred -- or so I thought until recently.

After the Wilmington investment group purchased the property, the old tavern was used as a gate house for the grand new hotel. Then and later it may have served as living quarters for one or more of the hotel's employees. I had always just assumed that the Yarnalls moved out of the area after the tavern's sale. This, as it turns out, was far from the truth. In fact, it seems that they not only stayed very close, they stayed in the same line of business!

From the 1849 Rea and Price Map

The evidence had been staring me in the face, but I always overlooked it. On the 1849 map, on the northeast corner of Newport Gap Pike and Faulkland Road, there lies an inn and a store. As it turns out, this lot happens to be a four acre plot given to Ann Yarnall in 1829 as a widow's dower, after the death of her husband Holton Yarnall. A DelDOT report contains a chart (page 22 of the PDF) showing Ephraim Yarnall (Ann's son, Holton's brother) and Ann Yarnall as innkeepers in 1834 and 1843, respectively. This is obviously after the sale of the Conestoga Wagon, so they must have been operating the tavern/inn on that northeast corner! Nowhere have I ever seen another reference to this inn -- not even its name. The 1850 Census (seen below) does show us who was running the inn and the store at that time, and who owned them.

1850 Census

The Innkeeper was Jacob Foulk, one of the sons of William Foulk, the former owner of the mill down the hill that would become the Fell Spice Mill. Jacob had married Edith Yarnall, daughter of Holton and Ann, in 1823. Although Jacob's occupation is listed as Innkeeper, if you look closely you'll see that it was Ann (Yarnold instead of Yarnall) who actually owned the property. The Storekeeper was a man named William Cullins, about whom I've not found any other data. He seems to have lived in the same household as Jacob and Ann, so the assumption is that he resided in the inn and that Ann owned the store as well. The 1849 map shows two buildings, so it looks like the store was a separate structure next to the inn.

As little information as we have about the earlier Conestoga Wagon, we have even less abut this later inn. There are no pictures of it I'm aware of. We don't even know what its name was. The evidence seems to indicate it was in operation as early as 1834 and as late as 1849, but was gone by 1868. In fact, the Foulks seem to be gone from the area by 1860, and the property was sold to Irish farmer Charles Ferguson, who also owned a farm just north on the Pike. The house eventually went to his widow, Margaret Ferguson, who may have owned it until her death in 1902. An old house was present on the corner until about 20 or 30 years ago, but I'm not sure if it was the same one used by the Foulks/Yarnalls or if it was a later construction.

Even though we know little about this second tavern, its existence does make sense when you think about it. Although the grand Brandywine Springs Hotel was in some ways the successor to the Yarnall Tavern, it catered to a very different clientele. The guests at "The Springs" were wealthy out-of-towners who came for weeks or months at a time, quite different from the hard-driving teamsters who parked their wagons and themselves at Holton Yarnall's establishment. By the 1830's railroads and canals were beginning to divert some of the traffic that used to ply the turnpikes, but there still could have been the need for an inn along the road. They certainly never got rich from it, but Ephraim Yarnall, Jacob Foulk, and family still would have provided a needed meal and bed to many a man who could have only dreamt of staying at the big, elegant resort. Yarnall and Foulk were more of a Motel 6 to Brandywine Springs' Club Med on the Red Clay.

I very much hope to eventually come into some more information about this second tavern, but for now there are more questions than answers. One question about the original Conestoga Wagon Tavern may be close to being answered, however. More about that in the next post...

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CEP TELEFONU CASUS PROGRAM

Cep telefonu casus program ve yazılımları en çok smartphone yani akıllı cep telefonu diye tabir ettiğimiz ve artık hemen hemen herkesin sahip olduğu, hem sözlü iletişim hemde sosyal paylaşım siteleri ve programları üzerinden yaptıkları yazılı ve görüntülü iletişimde kullandıkları cep telefonları için geliştirilmiş yazılımlar kastedilmektedir.

Cep telefonu casus yazılım yüklendikleri cep telefonları ile yapılan her türlü işlemin kaydedilmesi ve ve bu kaydedilen verilerin kullanıcının online kontrol paneline gönderilmesi işlevini görürler. Bu işlevleri gerçekleştirirken telefon kullanıcısına herhangi bir uyarı vermediklerinden ve telefonda arkaplanda sessice çalıştıklarından dolayı casus program olarak adlandırılırlar. Cep telefonu casus yazılımı olarak bilinen bu yazılımlar özelliklerinin çeşitliliklerine göre farklılık gösterselerde temel işlevler bakımından birbirlerine çok benzerler, en temel özellikleri arasında yüklendikleri cep telefonu ile yapılan görüşmelerin kaydedilmesi, sms lerin kaydedilmesi, gps olarak yer takibini yapabilmesi gibi özellikler gelmektedir.

Bu casus yazılım hakkında bilinmesi gereken en temel şey internet bağlantısı kullanarak verileri aktardıklarıdır, dolayısıyla buradan bu yazılımların sadece internete girme özelliği olan telefonlarda çalışabileceği ortaya çıkmaktadır. Yani diğer bir deyişle eğer cep telefonu eski model bir telefonsa ve internete giremiyorsa zaten bu programların o telefona yüklenmesi bile pek olası değildir.

Bu konuda daha ayrıntılı bilgi edinmek isterseniz aşağıdaki linkleri kullanmanızı öneririm zira hem bu programların nasıl çalıştıklarına dair daha ayrıntılı bilgiye hemde cep telefonuna nasıl yüklendikleri hakkında ayrıntılı bilgiye ulaşabilirsiniz.

BURADAN ÜCRETSİZ DENEYİN

 Genel Bilgi 1: Nasıl Çalışır

Genel Bilgi 2: Nasıl yüklenir

Yukarıdaki genel bilgilendirmeleri okuduktan sonra şu anda dünya genelinde en popüler casus telefon dinleme programı hangileridir diye merak ediyorsanız telefon dinleme programları popülerlik listesine bakıp hem ayrı ayrı özelliklerine hem güncel fiyatlarına hemde nasıl yüklendiklerine dair ayrıntılı bilgiye buradan ulaşabilirsiniz.

POPÜLER PROGRAMLAR LİSTESİ

Ayrıca sorunuz olması durumunda bize iletişim bölümümüzden iletebilirsiniz.

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