Salt: A World History

"The city of Cincinnati was built into a major commercial center with salt from Kanawha and pigs from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. By the late 1830's, Cincinnati was packing almost one third of all western American hogs...

...Kanawha salt makers could still undersell their competitors, not only because the density of their brine but because their workers were slaves. 

Kanawha was in the state of Virginia, which had a huge slave-based tobacco industry that was slowly declining. The large tobacco plantations had more slaves than they could use, and the owners saw an economic opportunity in renting these people to Kanawha salt producers. According to the 1810 census, Kanawha county had 352 slaves, but by 1850, 3,140 slaves lived in the county, mostly assigned to saltworks...

Plantation slaves did not want to be leased to saltworks, and they would sometimes escape while beig taken west. The slaves knew that, like the salt, they were only a short journey to Ohio, which was a free state...

...By the 1840's, Syracuse, not Kanawha, became the leading supplier of salt in the Midwest."

Salt: A World History

"...At the height of their power in the fifteenth century, the Hanseatics were believed to have at their command 40,000 vessels and 300,000 men.

For a time, the Hanseatics were well appreciated as honorable merchants who ensured quality and fought against unscrupulous practices. They were known as Easterlings because they came from the east, and that is the origin of the word sterling, which meant 'of assured value.'

...To control herring and salt was to control northern economies."

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The 2021 net migration rate for Iraq is 0.359 per 1,000 population. That means net more people are moving into Iraq than into California or New York. Think about that for a minute... What will history recognize as the worse fashion fad? Pussy Hats or bell-bottom corduroy's?... Seems unfair that people remember Wally Pipp as the man who was replaced by Lou Gehrig but hardly anyone remembers Babe Dahlgren. He was the man who replaced Lou Gehrig... Salt (NaCl) is the only family of rocks eaten by humans... There were a lot of happy New England Patriots fans last night as Bill Belichick selected Alabama QB Mac Jones with the 15th pick. Belichick wasted no time submitting the pick either an indication they were really happy that the QB dropped to them. I hope the second-guessers at least give us a day to enjoy the pick... Would love to see a reporter ask a confused Joe Biden if he owns a pussy hat. How do you think Kamala Harris would react to such a question? Please someone make this happen...  

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Monday was the first Memorial Day without baseball since 1880. World War I, the Spanish Flu, and World War II couldn't stop the tradition but the Wuhan Virus managed the feat... "We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality." - Seneca. Always makes me think of the Dune quote, "Fear is the mind-killer." Seems like a couple of apt quotes these days... Hooray! The NHL has announced its return! There will be a 24-team playoff this summer... After the Wuhan Virus say goodbye to blowing on the dice or having someone blow on your dice in Vegas or at any casino while playing craps. In fact also so goodbye to crowding around the table of a hot shooter. Craps will be a completely different game from now on (though I hope someday it will return to how God intended)... Salt (NaCl) is the only family of rocks eaten by humans... Wuhan Virus confession - I was really taking my gym for granted. I miss my gym...