A publication of the Indiana Region Classic Car Club of America

July August 2015
Volume 43 Issue 4
Hoosier
Horn
A publication of the Indiana Region Classic Car Club of America
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page
INDIANA REGION CCCA
Table of Contents
Page 2 Board of Managers
Page 3 From the Director by Clifford Vogelsang
Page 5 From the vault by Ron Stuckey
2015 BOARD OF MANAGERS
Director
Clifford Vogelsang (2017*)
Assistant Director
Warner Young (2016)
Secretary
Jeff Shively (2015)
Treasurer
Marsha Clapper (2016*)
Board Members
Ed Dalton (2016*), Susan Maley (2017)
Stephen Tarr (2015), Steve Ortman (2015), Andy Wolf (2017*)
2015COMMITTEES
Page 6 Crown Hill Cemetery- The Burial Place of the
Indianapolis Automobile Greats
by George Maley
Page 9 Indianapolis Museum of art ”Dream Cars:
Innovative design and Visionary ideas”
by George Maley
Page 12 Memorial Day in Owen County
by Cliff Vogelsang
Page 14 The Packard Experience
Page 16 Ault Park 2015 by Cliff Vogelsang
Page 18 Limestone Country Tour by George Maley
Page 21 Tech Talk by James Dougherty
Activities
Chair: Susan Maley
Members:
Marsha Clapper, Alice Tarr,
Stephen Tarr, Helen Vogel, Madonna Wolf
Membership
Chair: Helen Vogel
Projects
Page 22 2015 CLC Grand National Scrapbook
by Jeff Shively
Page 24 1936 Pierce-Arrow “I bought that PierceArrow because it is the safest car in the
world.”
Ed Dalton
Publications
Chair: Stephen Tarr
Hoosier Horn Editor: Jeff Shively
Technical Chair:
Andy Wolf
Webmaster
TBA
* denotes end of second term on the Board
On the cover: The exquisite reconstruction of the legendary 1935 Bugatti Type 57 S Competition
Coupe Aerolithe as it sits at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 2
FROM THE DIRECTOR
Clifford Vogelsang
The great inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, told people, “Vision without action is an
hallucination.” If you have recently visited
the Indianapolis Museum of Art and seen the
exhibit, “Dream Cars,” you will certainly have
seen vision. You will also have seen vision in
action. The 1956 Buick Centurion XP-301 did
not have any rearview mirrors, inside or out.
This car had a patented, functional TV camera above the tail cone. The camera showed
the traffic behind the car on a 4” x 6” screen
located in the center of the dashboard. This
feature has been added to cars only in recent
years. What took so long to bring vision to
reality?
There are two classics in the collection: a 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne and a
1935 Bugatti Type 57 S Competition Coupe
‘Aerolithe. The Voisin is elegant in its Art
Deco design. The interior is unique. The
Bugatti caused a sensation when it was first
shown. Ettore Bugatti was an accomplished
engineer and he was also an artist, from a
family of artists. To me these were the most
beautiful cars in the exhibit. It is gratifying
to realize that the art
world has finally recognized automobile design
as an art form.
If you go to the
exhibit, or go again (I
have been twice and
plan to go once more),
count the number of
features on these proto
types that have been
incorporated into production cars. It will be
an interesting exercise.
2015 Indiana CCCA Events
July 19: Picnic, ice cream social, and concert- Zionsville
August 8: South Bend Tour
October 17 or 18: Oktoberfest at Ed Dalton’s
November 1: Annual Meeting at the Garrison
2015
National
CCCA
Events
September 26-October 2: “Southern Hospitality” CARavan
Kentucky
Concours d’ Elegance
July 16-19: Keeneland Concours-KY
August 16: Pebble Beach-CA
August 22: Carmel Artomobilia- IN
September 18-20: Stan Hywet- OH
October 2-4: French Lick -IN
Hoosier Horn Advertising Rates
The rates given are for a single ad in one issue of the Hoosier
Horn.
Business Card (B/W) -$10
Quarter Page (B/W)- $25
Half Page (B/W)- $50
Full Page (B/W)- $100
Full Page (Color)- Inquire
Contact the editor at [email protected] for more info
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 3
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 4
From the Vault
“and now you find yourself in ‘82…”
material provided by Ron Stuckey
This entry is a lot more modern than the previous trips to the CCCA Vault. We are dropping in
on a garage tour on April 25, 1982. Does anyone know whose garage the club was visiting? Who
do you remember from the pictures? Helen Vogel is the only one that I personally know. For once,
the editor can comment on the era shown in this pictures, not as a historian, but as someone who
was actually alive at the time. Admittedly, I was nine-years old, in third grade at Washington Elementary School in Greensburg, and obsessed with World War II airplanes. I have a lot of fond
memories of 1982…..it was a great year for watching TV. Maybe that week, you, like me, enjoyed
such great programs as “M*A*S*H,” “Magnum P.I.,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,”
and “Matt Houston.” It looks like the CCCA was making the most of these
times as well.- Ed.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 5
Crown Hill CemeteryThe Burial Place of the Indianapolis Automobile Greats
by George Maley
On May 9th, Indiana Region Members
enjoyed a double header of two great but
very different venues. The morning event
will be covered here, while the afternoon
tour of the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s
special exhibit “Dream Cars: Innovative
Designs, Visionary Ideals” will be explored
elsewhere in the Hoosier Horn.
The Saturday morning tour of
Crown Hill started at 10:00 am. A tour
guide was originally slated to lead the
group through one of the largest cemeterAbove: Tour leader George Maley instructs CCCA members.
ies in the country, but a series of unfore- Below: The magnificent entrance to Crown Hill Cemetery.
seen problems prevented this. Event
chairman George Maley stepped in to lead
the group through the cemetery for the
balance of the morning. Maley took the
group by car over to the National Cemetery, which was founded early on during
the Civil War. Indianapolis was home to a
prisoner of war camp for Confederate soldiers, many of whom died during the war
while interned. Both Union and Confederate dead are buried here. Oliver P. Morton, wartime Governor of the State of Indiana, has a very fine memorial at the cemetery. It was through his friendship with attorney and financier John Lanier of Madison, Indiana that the war was financed. Morton prevailed upon him to market long term U.S.
Treasury bonds to help Lincoln finance the war effort. Prior to this, the only means of raising
money for the government was by tariff on imported goods. Many of the revenue centers were
located in the Confederacy, including Richmond, VA, Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA and New Orleans, thereby restricting funding to the Federal government.
From the National Cemetery, Maley took the group to the top of Crown Hill where James
Whitcomb Riley is buried. Riley is known as the children’s poet. At the base of the hill is the somewhat simple gravesite of the 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison. He was a
general in the Civil War and later a United States senator. His political career was topped by a
term as President of the United States. Contrary to today’s fashion, the crown of the hill was
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 6
reserved, Maley explained, as a place honor for
the Hoosier poet, with the grave of a United
States President serving as his footstool.
From Harrison’s grave site, Maley led the
tour group around the corner to the mausoleum
of Carl Fisher, the lead partner of four automobile greats in the building of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There is one empty crypt, but
Fisher is not buried in it. Instead, his ashes are
placed in a small bronze urn set atop a small
bronze table. The empty slot was reserved for his
ex-wife, Jane, who is buried in Florida. One crypt
was used by British aviator Captain Joseph Joel
Hammond. He was performing aerobatics over
the Speedway in the spring of 1918 when he perished in a crash. Fisher was unable to send his
body back to England because of the Great War,
so had the fallen aviator laid to rest in his own
crypt.
From the Fisher site the group travelled to
the Crown Hill mausoleum where August and
Gertrude Duesenberg are buried. “Augie” was
the right hand man for his brother Fred. After
Fred’s death in 1932, Augie continued to work,
designing the supercharger for the 1937 Cord 812
S/C as well as building the Duesenberg SJ
“Mormon Meteor,” the record setting salt flats
race car that Ab Jenkins piloted to a number of
speed records in 1935. Augie and his wife lived in
Indianapolis from 1921 until his death many
years after Fred’s untimely passing.
Leaving the mausoleum, an attempt was
made to find some other gravesites, but without
help from the cemetery, this proved futile in one
case. In 2011, Maley and current region director
Cliff Vogelsang had laid a wreath at Harry Stutz’s
grave. Unfortunately, the exact tombstone could
not be located. Maley explained to the group that
the untimely death of Stutz was caused by an appendix that burst during a car trip back from Florida in 1930. By the time his wife drove him to
Methodist Hospital from Beech Grove, it was already too late. Being a resident of Florida, he
Top: President Benjamin Harrison’s simple monument.
Middle: CCCA members pay respects to the Hoosier Poet.
Bottom: George Maley tells a tale of Carl Fisher.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
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had made no provision to be buried in Indianapolis. A quick decision was made to bury him in a
grave within his second wife’s
family plot. The name “Stutz” is
on one side of the monument,
with his wife’s maiden name on
the other. From the Stutz gravesite one last stop was made at the
grave of Fred and Isle Duesenberg. Their only son, Denny, and
his wife are buried on the backside of the tombstone. Upon the
completion of the tour, the group
headed over to the Indianapolis Museum of Art for a bite of lunch in the cafeteria.
Those on the morning tour included: Marsha Clapper; David and Allison Duesenberg, guests
of the Maley’s; Stan Cuppy and his daughter Skylar and her boyfriend Dillon; Jo Davis; Larry and
Louise Haskett; John and Diana Madden; George and B.J. Maley; Richard and Elizabeth Marshall;
Dan Phenicie; Phil Schaefer; Jeff Shively; Tim Turner; Reverend Cliff Vogelsang; Mike Wright and
Melanie Stallings. Later Paul and Patty Warrenfelt, along with their daughter Eva, joined the group
for the afternoon tour.
Above: The Crown Hill Mausoleum .
Below: George Maley at the gravesite of Fred Duesenberg.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
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Indianapolis Museum of art
”Dream Cars: Innovative design and Visionary ideas”
By George Maley
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is most fortunate to have sponsored a magnificent display of automobile concept creations put together by the staff of the High Museum of Atlanta,
Georgia. This travelling exhibition consist of exotics of the Classic Car Era, futuristic post-war
automobile designs following World War II, and space-age ideas of the 21st century. These dream
cars all stood out because of their beauty , speed, power and passion. Although this article contains photographs of most of the concept cars, the author has reserved the right to highlight
mostly the Full Classics®.
Most interesting of this era is the recreation of the 1935 Bugatti Type 57 S Competition
Coupe Aerolithe. The original automobile was fabricated out of a magnesium alloy which was very
hard to form but was very light in weight. Thus the fenders were made into two half shells and riveted together, leaving an exposed center seam. The recreation of the original Aerolithe was done
by David Grainger of the Guild of Automobile Restorers in Bradford, Ontario, starting with the earliest surviving Type 57 frame. Every detail was meticulously duplicated, including the double-sided
Dunlop whitewall tires.
Another of the more striking examples of Classic Era rolling sculpture was the 1941 Chrysler
Thunderbolt convertible, first displayed at the New York International Automobile Show in 1940.
The disappearing headlights, ala the 1936 Cord 810, later found a place on the 1942 Desoto (NC).
From the intriguing stable of the French automobile manufacturers, the exhibit featured a
beautiful 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerdyne four door sedan. In first studying the lines of this exotic piece
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
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Above: Looking modern even today, the 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt was radical in its own time.
of art, one is struck by the similarities to the Chrysler Airflow design of the same period. The Art
Deco modern form was dominant in both of these two automobiles. In contrast to the Chrysler
Airflow design, the C-25 retained its manufacturers distinctive and prominent radiator grille and
mascot on its top.
Above: The 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerdyne demonstrates the French interpretation of streamlining.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
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Although not a Full Classic®,
the 1936 Stout Scarab is worthy of
note. William B. Stout, drawing
from his extensive aeronautical
background, designed this automobile using tubular frame covered with aluminum panels.
Power came from a V-8 Ford engine.
Front independent coil
spring suspension provided an
amazingly smooth ride. In many
respects, it looks like a post-war
Volkswagen minibus.
By the twilight of the Classic
Era, Cord 810/812 designer
Gordon Buehrig, became intrigued
with the idea of offering domestic
competition to the English sports
cars entering the market. Buehrig
called his Tasco a “king sized MG.”
The stunning creation had similarities with the 1936-37 Cord, including concealed headlights and a
Top: 1951 General Motors LeSabre.
lack of running boards. A bright
Bottom: The 1959 Cadillac Cyclone.
and open greenhouse was a new
idea at the time. Only one Tasco was built. Somewhat like the 1948 Tucker, the future of the Tasco
was short lived.
In the 1950s, the imaginative minds at General Motors started to turn concept cars into reality. In this author’s opinion, the 1951 General Motors LeSabre was the sweetest design that GM
ever produced. The genius of Harley Earl, the head of styling at General Motors for many years,
reached its zenith in the LeSabre. Earl continued to supervise the styling of General Motors products through his last hurrah, the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. Earls’s imagination and inspiration made General Motors automobiles of the 1950s the envy of the world. His designs were
smooth, powerful, chrome laden chariots loaded with the latest gadgetry.
The Chrysler Corporation’s exciting new design philosophy was on display with the 1955
Chrysler Ghia. The streamlined Italian-built body looks like a stiletto slicing through a wedding
cake.
The last major concept that drew the author’s attention was the 1959 Cadillac Cyclone. The
rear view of the car reminds one of a super modern Air Force jet. With a wide but flat front end,
bubble canopy and tailfins, it looked all the part of a supersonic interceptor.
Thus ended a magical treat of exotic creations and long-ago predictions of cars of the future. The time spent savoring these exotic designs made for a spectacularly interesting afternoon.
Many thanks to the Indianapolis Museum of Art for bringing this exhibit to the city during the
magical month of May.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
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Memorial Day in Owen County
By Clifford Vogelsang
On Saturday morning the 30th of May, Memorial Day, members gathered in the parking lot of
the Scottish Rite Cathedral for a trip through the
back roads of Marion, Morgan and Owen counties. We went down Mann Road, enjoying the
freshly plowed fields with corn sprouting up from
the earth. We passed through a once flourishing
Brooklyn, IN. The remaining outstanding feature
of that village is the Carnegie Library. We passed
through wooded areas and drove down IN 67.
We eventually went over to US 231 and arrived
at the Maley’s Owen County home.
After a brief stop at Maley’s we proceeded to
the log home of Dr. Brad and Debbie Thurston.
We first visited his large workshop. Most of the
cabinetry in the home was built by Brad. There
are two sections of the house connected by a log
octagon built by Brad. The stairway connecting
the different levels was built without nails. The
house is decorated with stuffed animals that
were shot with bow and arrow. It was my third
or fourth visit to the home and I saw several
items that I had not noticed before. I think everyone enjoyed the unique house.
We returned to the Maley’s, ready to “tie on
the feed bag.” B.J. had prepared salad with her
own dressing in addition to potato salad. George
grilled steaks and the rest of us ate them as fast
as they came off the grill. It was an afternoon of
good food and delightful conversation.
Those attending included- Henry and Katherine
Bonnie (friends of Maleys); Dick and Marsha
Clapper; Jo Davis; Dan and Debra Fawcett; Bill
Greer and his son Jay Greer; Tom and Nancy Hall;
Larry and Louise Haskett; John Madden; George
and B.J. Maley; Don and Bev McCallum; Hugh
McKnight; Shawn Miller; Chuck and Roxi Morgan;
Marilyn Pecsok; Roger and Judy Pope (friends of the Morgans) Dan Phenicie; Jeff Shively; Brad and
Debbie Thurston; Tim and Martha Turner; Cliff Vogelsang; Dave Wiltshire; Warner and Pat Young.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 12
Top left:
B.J. Maley readies delicious
salad for hungry travelers.
Left:
Shawn Miller shows off his
newest acquisition…. a fabulous Auburn Twelve all
weather phaeton.
Facing page
Top:
George get the group ready for the trip
Middle:
A Packard and a Cord lead the way.
Bottom:
Brad Thurston’s wild animal trophies
Top right: Dan Fawcett keeps the cook, George Maley, dry while he
grills juicy steaks for waiting visitors.
Above right: Conversation flows freely in the Maley dining room.
Below: Jeff Shively’s 1941 Cadillac and Larry Haskett’s 1936 Cord.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 13
The Packard Experience
Hickory Corners, MI
Above:
John and Kathy Gambs relax inside
one of their fabulous machines.
Top:
Allen and Nancy Strong with their
1927Packard Eight sport touring.
Middle:
The Pumphrey’s fabled 1937 Packard
Twelve town car.
Bottom:
Tom and Roseanne Bayliff’s 1931
Packard club sedan
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 14
A trio of streamlined Packards
represent the
twilight years of
the Classic Era
and the transition to the final
chapter of the
Packard Motor
Car Company.
Although it was
the “Packard Experience,” there
were still examples of other Full
Classics®. A pair
of 1941 Cadillacs,
a sporty Series 62
convertible coupe
and a stately Series 60 Special,
represented the
“Standard of the
World” at Hickory
Corners.
Andy Wolf’s ultrarare 1939 Packard woodie
wagon. Although
not currently a
Full Classic®, it
certainly deserves
that honor.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 15
Ault Park 2015
By Cliff Vogelsang
After a substantial breakfast at First Watch in
Rookwood Commons, Tom Hall and I followed a
parade Austin Healeys (NC) out to Ault Park. The
advantage in doing this the parking, which was
just a short walk from the main entrance. After
getting a wrist band and waiting for the opening,
we walked through the gate. In the first spot was
Bob and Angela Westerman’s 1939 Packard 12
1707 Formal Sedan. This Packard is only one of
nineteen built in 1939. The car is in original condition, though it is not easy to find the wear on the
car. Bob had moved his chair under some trees
and later I sat with him and had a long and pleasant conversation.
Packards were well represented. Gene and
Sally Perkins had their 1930 745 Roadster on display. Bill and Pat Haynes showed their 1940 Packard Super Eight Convertible Coupe. The body is by
Bonham & Schwartz and only five hundred of
these were produced in 1940. Edward Stifel, III
showed his 1938 Packard 1608 Twelve Convertible
Sedan. Packard offered this car in fourteen body
styles.
There were two Auburn boat tail speedsters on display. One was a 1928 8-88 owned by
Richard and Helen Harding. This was the first year
for the speedster and is painted Navajo red and
black. The car was restored in 2014 and the owners went to Auburn for paint chips in order to get
authentic colors. The second Auburn boat tail
speedster was a 1936 model owned by Charles
and Mistele. The car is number 144 of 150 built
that year. While looking at this car I heard a man,
probably in his thirties, say “Auburn. Wasn’t that
built some place in Indiana?” I gently informed of
the location of Auburn’s production and recommended that he visit the ACD Museum in Auburn,
IN. Lisa Greene presented her 1929 Auburn 8-90
Cabriolet. Gregory Ornazian had his 1929
Top:
The showfield at
Ault Park.
Middle:
Dr. John Klein’s
1931 Duesenberg is
always a crowd
pleaser.
Bottom:
Approaching its
80th birthday, the
Cord still looks
fresh.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 16
Duesenberg Model J convertible coupe by Murphy
in the concours. The car
is unrestored except for a
repaint in the mid-fifties.
John Klein showed his
1931 Duesenberg J Rollston convertible Victoria.
This is only one of sixteen
convertible Victoria bodies produced by Rollston.
Indiana built cars were
well represented at Ault
Park. Three of our members served as judges:
John Klein, Shawn Miller
One of the “newest” Full Classics®- Jeff Griffin’s 1922 Haynes Model 75
and Gene Perkins.
Other cars were a 1932 Pierce Arrow, a 1938 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith, a 1931 Cadillac
Model 370 V-12 Roadster, a 1934 Bentley Park Ward drophead coupe. Don and Mary Kay Poinsette displayed their 1947 Chrysler Town & Country Convertible. The car has Chrysler’s fluid drive
transmission with two low and two high gears. The car, painted a bright red, drew considerable
interest from the crowd.
The featured marque this year was Mercedes Benz. The most interesting, at least to me,
was a 1935 500K Cabriolet A. There were only 116 of these built between 1934and 1936. This
bright red auto masterpiece is owned by Joseph Cantore of Oakbrook, IL.
There were also on display several “unique,” perhaps “eccentric” would be a better word,
Non-Classic cars in the concours. The Lane Motor Museum of Nashville, TN brought a replica of
Buckminster Fuller’s 1933 Dymaxion. Some have described this vehicle as the first minivan. It had
a three-frame chassis with the engine in the middle. Lane also showed a 1961 Von Dutch Rocket
Car. This oddity was built from a 120 gallon belly tank of a USAF
F-86 jet fighter.
To this writer one of the most interesting features of the
Ault Park event is the youth judging. Boys and girls from the ages
of eight to fifteen are eligible to be judges. A small number of cars
is pre-selected for the youth judging. They can talk with the car
owners and they inspect each car. The youth judges have the
privilege of presenting awards to their top three cars. The program is sponsored by Hagerty Insurance. The program helps
expand youth interest in cars, an interest which may lead many
into the car collecting hobby. Jack Hall, grandson of Tom and
Nancy Hall, and Matthew Klein, grandson of John and Elaine Klein
were youth judges. It would be beneficial to the car collecting
hobby if other auto shows adopted this youth judging program.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 17
Limestone Country tour
By George Maley
At the end of June, the Indiana Region of the CCCA travelled back in time to the “Land of
Limestone” in southern Indiana. The quarries supplied the finest limestone in our country to
such magnificent buildings as the Empire State Building, Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Walforf Astoria Hotel, and New York’s Grand Central Station. Father Cliff Vogelsang
mapped out the two day tour with a variety of stops including the Elliot Limestone Company,
the Gus Grissom Memorial, the Gus Grissom Boyhood home, and several cemeteries where
the carved stone monuments are in abundance. The evening stop-over at the Spring Mill
State Park allowed members to see the beauty of Southern Indiana hardwoods and to tour a
pioneer village dating back to 1826. Members attending were Dick & Marsha Clapper and
their guests Bill & Giesela Toller; John & Elaine Klein; George & B.J. Maley; Dave & Connie
Moeschberger; Dan & Susan Phenicie; and Cliff Vogelsang.
The group left Indianapolis early Thursday morning in a driving rainstorm. Travelling
south through Bloomington, the group of non-Classics stopped first in Bedford to visit the Elliot Limestone Company. Formed in 1957 by Korean War
vet Dave Elliot, the enterprise started on 500 acres with
prime limestone resting forty to fifty feet below the surface. Although Mr. Elliot died three years ago, his wife
Judy gave very nice presentation. Because the heavy overburden is costly to remove, he got the land for a rockbottom price. Without any engineering training, Mr. Elliot
visualized a solution to the problem. By removing the
overburden to the limestone in a typical quarry fashion,
he would excavate the quality limestone downward. After quarrying the limestone down about sixty feet, he had
three vertical walls around the work area. Tunneling into Above: Limestone is carved deep underground…
Below: ..sliced and then stacked neatly for sale.
one side of the vertical walls, crews removed large cubes
of limestone using a special machine of his own design.
The result was a cavern deep below the overburden, leaving the material above undisturbed. Over the years, he
perfected the technique, making bigger saws for cutting
into the rock. Computerization allowed for the streamlining of the process, reducing the workforce required from
300 people down to thirty. The cutting saws and other
equipment involved in bringing the stone topside are valued at $45 million.
Each of the huge limestone blocks cut out of the
cavern walls weigh 15 tons each. They are then brought
out of the cavern by a huge Caterpillar bulldozer. Once on the surface, each block is cut into
slabs of various sizes. The cutting saws’ blades are embedded with tiny diamonds, and must
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 18
be replaced monthly at a cost of
$30,000 each. A constant stream of
water is sprayed into the cutting
block process to keep the heat
down. The saws run all weekend
with only two maintenance men to
troubleshoot any problems that
might arise.
Following the tour, there was
a quick stop at the Lawrence County
Museum, which gave a reflection
of the local history over the past two
centuries. The group then travelled
to the former Limestone Quarry Association building that is now being
leased to Ivy Tech. Following Lunch,
local guides took the group on a
back-road trip to Spring Mill State
Park. My now, the weather was
warm and sunny. Before entering
the park, the group stopped at the
Gus Grissom Memorial which highlighted his life in the United States
Air Force. Grissom flew 100 missions
during the Korean War as an F-86
pilot. He became a test pilot studying at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base in Fairborn, Ohio. Being the
gifted pilot that he was, he was selected as a Mercury astronaut in
1959. Tragically, he was killed along
with astronauts White and Chaffee
in the Apollo 1 fire on January 27,
1967.
Top:
The mill at Spring Mill State Park in
southern Indiana.
Middle:
The millstone from the pioneer village grist mill
Bottom:
A Project Mercury capsule- state-ofthe-art in space exploration in 1961.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 19
Leaving the Grissom Memorial, the
group entered Spring Mill Park to visit the
Pioneer Village. An operating grist mill
demonstrated the milling technology of the
1820s. The original stones were brought
over from France at a cost of $16,000.
That evening, the group gathered together in the Inn’s dining room to celebrate
the 44th anniversary one day early of Dan
and Susan Phenicie. B.J. Maley had brought
a personalized wedding anniversary cake
complete with candles, to the delight of all.
The following morning, the group left
for the Gus Grissom boyhood home in
Mitchell, Indiana. It was quite ordinary having been built in the early 20th century. After a brief stop, the group visited two cemeteries to view a variety of stone sculptures
at grave sites. Probably the most unique
tomb sculpture was done for a stonecutter
who died suddenly at age 37. It was replica
of his workbench as he left it on the day of
his death. Stan, out cemetery guide, then
demonstrated the phenomenon of divining
by using two 1/8inch copper rods to find unmarked graves. If the rod swung right, the
deceased was male, and if it went left, it
was female. The divining technique worked
every time. No explanation of how it works.
The technique is also used in finding underground water. Both John Klein and George
Maley tried the technique and it worked for
both of them.
After the tour of the two cemeteries,
the group travelled to a quaint restaurant
called Smokey Joe’s BBQ. At 2:15 PM Friday, it was time to depart because of storm
warnings. So ended a great two-day tour
put together by region director Cliff VogelTop: A final tribute to a stonemason.
Middle: George tries his hand at divining.
Bottom: Speaking of divine….a late lunch at
Smokey Joe’s BBQ could be described just like
that.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 20
Tech talk
This tidbit was sent in by Dr. John Klein. This version was printed in the January 1990 CCCA Bulletin, but was originally published in the Hoosier
Horn in the late 1980s.-Ed.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
Page 21
2015 CLC Grand National Scrapbook
By Jeff Shively
The 2015 CLC Grand National boasted a 200 car
showfield. A number of those cars were Full Classics®. Here a just a few of the later Classics.
Top left: 1940 Cadillac Series 60 Special featuring dual sidemounts.
Middle left: 1941 Cadillac Series 75 not painted
black or dark blue.
Bottom left: 1941 Cadillac Series 62 convertible
sedan. This 40-year-old restoration could be had
for $55,000, not a bad price for the last of the prewar convertible sedans.
Top right:1941 Cadillac Series 62 convertible
coupe, one of the most desirable and stylish prewar Cadillacs.
Bottom right: 1942 Cadillac Series 62 convertible
coupe, one of a handful known to exist.
Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
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Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
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Hoosier Horn Volume 43 Issue 4 July August 2015
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