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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, August 1-3, 2018 W The Park Record A-13 Green Tips AY WE WERE Local mining men in far-off lands Get smart and keep cool in summer heat HALEY LEBSACK MAHALA RUDDELL PARK CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM, DIANE W. AND RICHARD D. ARNER COLLECTION When Park City mining men Colonel William M. Ferry and James Kescel, along with other prominent experts left Utah bound for Peru in October 1888, Parkites watched excitedly for updates. Ferry, Kescel, and their expedition had been tasked by East Coast investors in with overseeing the development of mining interests in the Peruvian Andes. Their journey began on October 24, when the group left for San Francisco. Kescel added an entertaining touch of humor in his letters back home, which were published in the local paper. On San Francisco, he commented that while the city is initially satisfying, at some point: “You are alive to the fact that there is something which is not measles but just exactly as pleasant that will almost bring grey hairs to your head.” Luckily for Kescel, their stay was short. The group boarded the Pacific Mail Steamer Colima and departed for Panama on Oct. 28, 1888. The ocean journey kept close to land, making stops along the Mexican coast en route. In Panama, the expedition was scheduled to transfer to a new ship which would take them the rest of the way to Peru. While there, the voyagers were witness to the initial effort to construct the Panama Canal, a channel which would allow ships to bypass the much longer, more dangerous voyage around South America’s tip, Cape Horn. Construction was managed by the French, who were having an abysmal time. Though work was still progressing in November 1888 when the Ferry expedition arrived, engineering difficulties and extremely high mortality Park City Museum research coordinator James Kescel, left, was part of a mining expedition to Peru in the 1880s. He entertained Parkites with humorous, insightful, and exciting letters home about the journey. rates bankrupted the project just six months later. The Canal was not completed until 1914. Kescel addressed the region’s difficulties with a touch of morbid wit. “Panama is rather cosmopolitan, though not very large on account of the great mortality,” he wrote. “If an appointment is made a few hours ahead, when one goes to meet it he is generally met with, ‘I am very sorry but Mr. Blank has just left for New York, embalmed. Is there anything I can do for you?’” In their letters, both Ferry and Kescel related many of their experiences using references Parkites would understand. Ferry likened the Peruvian mining districts to Park City’s great Ontario vein. In his descriptions of their overland voyage, Kescel noted that “the second day we commenced to go up hill about like the one west of town.” In doing NOTICE OF PROPOSED TAX INCREASE Central Utah Water Conservancy District in Summit County The Central Utah Water Conservancy District is proposing to increase its property tax revenue. • The Central Utah Water Conservancy District tax on a $359,929 residence would increase from $74.04 to $79.18, which is $5.14 per year. • The Central Utah Water Conservancy District tax on a $359,929 business would increase from $134.61 to $143.97, which is $9.36 per year. • If the proposed budget is approved, Central Utah Water Conservancy District would increase its property tax budgeted revenue by 4.27% above last year’s property tax budgeted revenue excluding new growth. All concerned citizens are invited to a public hearing on the tax increase. so, the letters connected readers to the far-away landscape in a personally significant way. Because of the nature of travel in the 1880s, correspondence from the expedition took months to show up back home. Letters written in November often arrived in February, or sometimes even later. But the length of time that had passed seemed not to matter for many Parkites. The Park Record and various Salt Lake newspapers published the letters and the public read them eagerly. The Ferry expedition returned to the United States in late April 1889. They traveled directly to Washington to deliver their reports to their investors. They had all made it back to Utah safely by May. Set your ceiling fan to rotate counter-clockwise, to increase the air flow. Pay attention to your appliance usage. Appliances such as irons, washers, and dryers can add significant heat to the inside of your home. Use these appliances at night or early in the morning to avoid adding big sources of heat to your home during the hottest hours of the day. Consider eliminating the dryer altogether and using a clothesline. Consider changing your light bulbs. Incandescent light bulbs waste about 90 percent of their energy in heat. Switching to compact fluorescent or LED bulbs will keep your home cooler and your energy bills lower. Recycle Utah, your community non-profit drop-off recycling center, provides these weekly tips. Visit their website for more information – www. recycleutah.org. Recycle Utah When it heats up outside, Americans spend big bucks to cool off. Our love of the air conditioner costs us about $29 billion a year, using 183 billion kilowatt-hours. And, while those air conditioners are cooling off our house, they are helping to heat up our earth by releasing over 117 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air annually. Save money and keep cool with a few simple steps.: Use window coverings to your advantage. If you’re not home during the day, close all window curtains and blinds to keep your house cool for as long as possible. Use the ceiling fan even if the air conditioner is on. The average ceiling fan costs less than a penny an hour to run and can make you feel 3-8 degrees cooler, so you can turn your AC a few degrees higher. Ogden and Provo papers share editor including five in the newsroom. Carroll acknowledges the transition has been “bumpy,” but said good changes are coming and asked readers for patience. Carroll is a Texas native who graduated from Brigham Young University and has worked for the Daily Herald for six years, three of them in the top newsroom position. Publisher Rhett Long says she is “young in age, but really old in wisdom,” and he appreciates that she will challenge him on tough decisions. Associated Press OGDEN – The Standard-Examiner newspaper in Ogden has named a new executive editor to oversee its newsroom in addition to her current post directing the Daily Herald in Provo. The Standard-Examiner reported Jordan Carroll’s new role Friday, two months after it was sold to the Provo newspaper’s West Virginia-based parent company. Twenty-one people were laid off at the Standard-Examiner, PUTTING OUR LENDING EXPERIENCE TO WORK FOR YOU! Formerly SINCE 1986 Welcomes Aaron Allen TO OUR TEAM! 435-657-0154 XcelFinancialUtah.com 1670 Bonanza Drive #205 LOCAL PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGEABLE INTEGRITY RESOURCEFUL Date/Time: Location: PUBLIC HEARING 8/9/2018 at 6:00 p.m. CUWCD Orem Office Building 355 West University Parkway Orem, Utah 84058 To obtain more information regarding the tax increase, citizens may contact Central Utah Water Conservancy District at 801-226-7100. ORGANIZED Suzy Hanney “It’s essential to have a local, knowledgeable professional as a resource to help you with your buying or selling needs. Please give me a call, I’d be happy to help guide you through the process.” – Suzy EMAIL: SUZY@BHHSUTAH.COM | VOICE: (435) 640-5383 WEB: MOVINGTOPARKCITY.COM © 2017 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc. Equal Housing Opportunity. |