Andrew Carnegie was born into a poor Scottish family and became one of the wealthiest men in the world.  He was very complex.  He promised his mother that he would not marry as long as she was alive and remained a bachelor most of his life.  His mother lived with him.  A year after her death he married Louise Whitfield.  Andrew Carnegie was then 52.

After moving to the United States, he worked many low level jobs before creating the Carnegie Steel Company.  He sold it to US Steel Corporation at age 65 for $200 million and became a philanthropist who said, “The man who dies rich dies in disgrace”.  At the time he was said to be the richest man in the world.  He founded Carnegie Hall in New York City, Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and spent $60 million creating libraries.  1689 of them conformed to his construction dictates that included a suitable site in a city that agreed to provide money equal to one-tenth of the construction grant each year for maintenance and book buying.

My 2 favorite Carnegie Libraries are in Port Townsend, WA and Bryan, TX.  The library in Port Townsend is uptown at 1220 Lawrence Street, and it’s a traditional library built in 1898.  An addition that completely conformed to its architectural style was added in 1990.  The one on Bryan has a specialty.   I did not know about it until our 2020 visit.  Upon entering, Ruth and I were asked if we had a particular reason for being there.  As it turned out the 2nd floor is devoted to genealogical research.  Opened to the public in 1903, the Bryan Carnegie is where we met a Texas couple doing a family search.  Ray Picklo said that his wife Terry was the genuine researcher, but then he told me that he had spent more than 20 years finding out about his central European roots.  They helped me learn a bit about Harbaugh roots and told me how to continue on familysearch.com, among other websites.

The last time we were in New York, Ruth and I toured Carnegie Hall.   Andrew Carnegie funded it in 1891 while living in this city.  The Carnegie family owned it until 1925. Composer Pieter Tchaikovsky was one of 2 conductors at its first concert.  Carnegie’s home across the street from Central Park is now New York City’s excellent Cooper Hewitt design museum.  Part of the first floor still looks like it did when Andrew Carnegie lived there.  Both Bryan and Port Townsend are fine destinations as are their thriving Carnegie libraries.

Hank

Most countries in the world report cases of coronavirus.  Russia and countries in Africa, for some yet-to-be-explained reason, have fewer victims.  As of March 27, there have been 85,356 cases of COVID-19 in the USA and 1,246 deaths.  That’s why The New York Times headline reported the inevitable U.S. VIRUS CASES TOP THE WORLD. The state with the fewest victims is South Dakota, and New York has the most.  Both Dakota states has experienced at least one death.

There have been 2,519 deaths from COVID-19 in Iran, which has had more than 35,000 overall cases.  News reports say that almost 12,000 Iranians have recovered in hospitals.  At the same time Iran has recently experienced 2,197 cases of methanol alcohol poisoning from drinking and 244 deaths.  Iran!  Ironically, a top cleric Hadi Khosroshahi, who blamed Trump for the COVID-19 virus, has died from it.  A recent report said that 25 Iranian politicians and officials have been infected.

In a related new event, the Olympic games scheduled for Tokyo have been officially postponed until 2021.   Whether the death of Iranian discus star Ehsan Haddadi, an Iranian national hero since becoming an Olympic champion, influenced this decision has not been speculated on.  Yet.  That China has sent medical aid to Iran to combat the virus, however, has been officially acknowledged.

John, our Australian friend, has sent us some more information about what Australians are doing to reduce the chance of getting COVID-19.  In the “why not try it?” realm of thinking that suggests things to try that are both practical are doable, he says that this virus hates heat and dies if exposed to temperatures greater than 80 degrees Fahrenheit.  As a result, hot drinks like broth and tea and coffee should be consumed regularly during the day and cold drinks and ice water should be avoided.  The mouth and throat should always be wet and never dry.  It’s recommended that everyone sip water every 15 minutes.  This is certainly a good idea, easy to do, and might help.  Even if the virus makes it into your mouth, it might get flushed down to your stomach where gastric acids can destroy it.  This virus, he reports, survives on hard surfaces for up to 12 hours so avoid touching hand rails, door knobs and the like.  Don’t touch anything that gets lots of public use.  This is especially good advice on a cruise ship, an industry that has been severely impacted and might never recover from the COVID crisis.  “This virus” John says, “can survive on your hand for only about 10 minutes, so touching your face or rubbing your eyes are to be avoided for now.”  This is good advice but hard to do.

Since there are so many voices out there telling us what to do I have decided not to write about COVID-19 again unless something happens to change my mind.  In the meantime, if the United States is like other nations, we are about to experience fewer new cases.  This  will make the above New York Times headline old but still historic news.

Hank

PS  Ruth thinks the bear above is still the perfect rep for what all of us in isolation feel.  I prefer the shark.