wrote:
Thanks for this tip!

I updated the Varuna page at http://www.jsjohnston.org/~varuna.html
If you can think of anything else to add, let me know!

We just added a few new images at
http://www.jsjohnston.org/browse3.html


Well well you have a picture of Americas last Slave ship the Wanderer:

Just were did you get these photos?
Do you have the originals?
Wanna sell them?

Joe

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Better Together
The slave trade became illegal in the U.S. in 1808, but for half a
century after that, a black market in chattel slavery thrived. In his
first book, former Newsweek correspondent Calonius tells the
fascinating, heartbreaking story of the last slave ship to dock on
these shores, in 1858, the Wanderer. Originally built as a sugar
baron's racing yacht, it was outfitted, as the New York Times reported,
for "comfort and luxury." But a trio of greedy proslavery radicals,
known as "fire-eaters," transformed her from plaything to slaver: deck
planks and inner framing were removed and iron tanks inserted. Then the
ship headed to Africa, and eventually returned to Georgia's Jekyll
Island with its human cargo. (En route, 80 Africans died.) Calonius
charts the subsequent media outcry and trials, and follows the
Wanderer's history through the Civil War, when, in a delectably just
turn of events, the U.S. government seized the ship and turned it into
a Union gunboat. This is fast-paced narrative history, and Calonius has
a terrific eye for atmospheric details. Still, one wishes he had
provided more analysis of the larger themes in Southern, American and
Atlantic history that this tragic episode illumines. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier
Inc. All rights reserved.










and
http://www.jsjohnston.org/browse4.html
Check out http://www.jsjohnston.org/~feiseen.htmlfor instance - What
was the Feiseen?

Thanks again!

C


thunder wrote:
On Sun, 19 Nov 2006 09:23:18 -0800, Joe wrote:

Varuna:

Eugene Higgins (1860-1948) was heir to his father Elias's New York City
carpet manufacturing fortune--an estimated fifty million dollars--and
according to the society pages, he was not only the wealthiest bachelor
in New York, but also the most handsome. (12) Higgins sold the family
business shortly after assuming control of it in 1889, which allowed him
to devote his attention to more leisurely pursuits. (13) He was a
devoted golfer, cross-country rider, fisherman, hunter, coach racer,
yachtsman, and fencer. In 1890 he won the American fencing championship,
and his yacht, Varuna, named for the Hindu god of the ocean, was
declared the most modern vessel of its kind. (14) A celebrated host,
Higgins planned "sumptuous pleasure campaigns" in advance of each season
for his elite circle of friends, and his town house at Fifth Avenue and
Thirty-fourth Street, and country estate in Morristown, New Jersey, were
regarded as "meccas of high society."

Also, "The Varuna was wrecked off the coast of Madeira on November 17,
1909, and although all but one of the crew was saved none of the contents
survived. "

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...n16068356/pg_2