MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

[Marilyn]

A flash bulb for an old camera?

[Marilyn]

( pssssst. . .Stanley. . . I have just read the label on the box. . . .was that supposed to be readable?)

[EileenDavid]

It's a view finder I also read the box or is this a cunning plan to put us off the scent? It does look like a flash for a camera? Eileen

[Tizer]

He's not putting you off the scent. It's a viewfinder for an old (possibly wooden construction) bellows type camera, made by J.F. Shew & Co of London. It screwed onto the top of the camera.

[chinatyke]

click here

See the 3rd and 4th pictures from the top.

We have Google in China sometimes when it isn't blocked!

[Stanley]

Maz, you're right, I didn't realise the lettering was visible till I'd posted it. You've all got it of course, the 'Radiant' view finder. In the box there is an alternative object lens. This one's easy but unusual. I've been in some funny places....

[Marilyn]

100% strength special gelatine

[Stanley]

Dammit, should have made it unclear! Tom will know where it was and who was doing it....

[EileenDavid]

Maz is right you can read the label manufactured by ICI was it something used in manufacturing polyester? Eileen

[Marilyn]

Should have gone to Spec-Savers, Stanley!
Let's see...gelatin is used from everything from making Gummy Bears, Icecream, Glue to Ballistics Gel...
( even explosives I believe)

[Tizer]

Is it real gelatine, i.e. chemically gelatin like we use in making jellies, or is it the loose use of the word to mean `blasting gelatine' which is used in quarries and mines, e.g. gelignite which doesn't actually contain gelatine but gets called that because it is a `jellified' version of dynamite. Confusing! As it's made by ICI and they have explosives factories I suspect it's something for making a big bang and knocking things down...such as chimneys!

[Stanley]

Dead right Tiz, here's the result....



Felling Dee Mill chimney.
In summer 1986 I got word from one of my moles that Dee Mill chimney was going to be felled. I went down there and introduced myself to Mervyn Simpson of Simpson Brothers (Explosives) Ltd from Heywood who had the job of dropping the stack. As it was isolated in the middle of a large derelict site they were dropping it with explosives. I had a professional interest in this of course from my army days and went with Mervyn to look at the preparations.

A word or two here about demolition by explosives. To the uninitiated, blowing something up is easy. You just stick a pile of explosives inside, light the blue touch paper and retire! Nothing could be further from the truth. The explosives aren’t used as a battering ram but more like a surgeon’s scalpel. The idea is to use the minimum amount of explosive in exactly the right place to destroy the integrity of the structure so that nature, in this case, gravity, can take its course. What Mervyn was aiming for was to use the charges to persuade the chimney to fall over. The demolition would happen when it hit the ground. The danger that he had to avoid was any chance of the detonation throwing loose bricks far enough to damage property or injure anyone.

He and his men had drilled holes around the inside of the stack and put a stick of gelignite into each hole. These all had detonators inserted into them and the detonators were joined to each other by Cordtex instantaneous fuse. This is an explosive fuse which, when actuated burns so fast that in effect, it ignites all the detonators it is connected to at once and so ensures simultaneous detonation of all the charges. The Cordtex was connected to an electrically fired detonator which in turn was connected to the exploder located well away from the chimney in a safe place. When all was ready and the police had ensured that the site was clear, Mervyn connected the wires to the exploder. Wound the high voltage generator by hand to charge the capacitor inside the exploder and then pressed the button which sent the current down the wires to the set-up. There was a dull thud, a small puff of smoke from the bottom of the chimney and then a slight pause before the chimney slowly toppled and disintegrated as it fell. It was a text book operation and the chimney shattered into individual bricks as it hit the floor. Dee Mill chimney had bitten the dust.

[Stanley]

Try this one...

[Gloria]

Have they come out of a pair of binoculars?

[Bodger]

Boy scout fire lighting kit

[Marilyn]

Is one concave, and the other convex?
We used to use something similar in quilt making ( which was never it's intended use) to squint through to see entire quilts for the purpose of matching patterns and colours...the curved lens enabled the object being viewed to be reduced so the entire thing could be seen. I expect the convex one would be excellent for extreme close up to enlarge a small viewing area.
I am not sure I have explained myself well, but I know what I mean.

[Marilyn]

Could they be lenses for a periscope?

[EileenDavid]

Are they from photographic enlarger (condenser) Eileen

[PanBiker]

Magic Lantern lenses?

[Marilyn]

Paper weights.

[Stanley]

Well done Maz, you realised they were glass lens. Ian is the closest but They're to big I think for a magic lantern. I have a lot of large lens that came out of a workshop I bought and the bloke seems to have had ideas of building astronomical telescopes. This was a very popular hobby in the early 20thC. Try this one....

[Bodger]

Cyclops monocle

[Marilyn]

A glass template...made of glass so the design can be centred, such as making badges or covering extremely large buttons.

[Stanley]

I like the monocle... However, you're not there yet. The bevel is the clue.