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THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB OF LOS ANGELES
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PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE ADVENTURERS CLUB, LOS ANGELES
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1127
706 WEST PICO BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90017
Founded 1921
December 1981
Volume 24:12
The Night of the Lion(ess)
by GERRY PRICE
"I was afraid to make a
sound, which would have
spooked the lioness instantly and then, too, Ihad my
own safety to consider."
It was in 1956 that Bill Cheney, No. 601,
and I took off on our first trip to Africa.
Bill had been a pilot for American Airlines
for many years, having gone through the early
years of transport aviation. Very little was
known about oxygen therapy for altitude except
that at something over 10,000 ft. the pilot was
expected to turn on the valve of the oxygen
tank and suck raw oxygen from a tube held in
his mouth. The system worked on the short
haul but later it was learned that the raw
oxygen had a serious adverse effect on the
nasal membranes and caused snoring far louder
and melodious (?) than normal.
Bill was one of those pilots who was so
perhaps
affected and snore he did, but loud
-
louder than a large saw mill with a steam
locomotive in the background. But he would
never believe it, but then, how could he as he
was never awake when he was snoring in
good form.
We had been on a hunting safari for several
weeks in the Northern Frontier District of
Kenya. At the start of our safari, our white
hunter, Bunny Allen, had arranged with his
wife Murielle, to rendezvous at a campsite, on
a certain lugga (dry wash), on a given day.
She was to drive from Nanyuki, bringing mail,
vegetables, fish, etc. The plan was for her to
arrive in the afternoon and stay overnight, it
being about 125 miles through heavy bush and
almost no roads.
We actually arrived at the rendezvous campsite a day ahead of schedule, but we didn't
the scenery was lovely and the animals
mind
plentiful. Besides, a little rest never hurt
anyone. However, there was one rather unusual
thing about the camp. A pride of lions had
staked out a claim in the general area. On the
first night a couple of lionesses marched into
-
(Continued on page 3)
Page 2
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
THE ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
USPS (389-310)
Published monthly
Editor .........Bob Williams
Reporters - Bill Buchanan, Smokey Storms
John Boden, and others.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE. . . $1.00 per year
Entered as second class postage at the
post office at Los Angeles, California.
CLUB MEETS AT
ADVENTURERS' CLUB ROOM
706 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Phone 749.3537 (Thursday nights only)
1981 OFFICERS
President ......George Manchester
1st Vice President ......Dick Kyle
2nd Vice President . . . Owen O'Callaghan
Secretary ........Roy Roberts
Treasurer ........Charles Ross
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Marvin Rosenberg
John F. Cameron
Peter C. Parfitt
Donald G. Orosz
"Smokey" C. Storms
William L. Carr
Dwayne L. Merry
GRANVILLE JONES REMEMBERS
THE CLUB IN HIS WILL
Word has come to us through DON OROSZ
that the Club has received a bequest from the
estate of GRANVILLE E. JONES in the amount
of $5,000.00 After taxes, the Club will receive
the gift of $4,680.00. This was a fine thing for
Granville to do and will be appreciated by every
member of the Club.
with JOHN BODEN
"The Marcus Device" by lb Melchior, No.
892.
Adventure in the desert! Within a day's
drive of the well-settled area of our daily lives
lie possibilities of dangerous or tragic events.
When the human imagination sets to work to
invent schemes to satisfy the instinct for
supremacy that drives some men, a whole
chain of unexpected mishaps often results.
Science, intrigue and the military weave a
tattered fabric for the lives of a few humans in
that vast desert domain with whose forbidding
aspects we all are familiar. Death Valley, well
known both to tourists and hardy adventurers,
is vast enough to hide strange events unnoticed
by a casual traveler in those presincts, yet they
well can be there. The plot is fiction, so let it
tell you a gripping tale.
NEW OFFICERS ELECTED FOR 1982
PRESIDENT . Douglas MacDonald
1st VICE PRESIDENT - J. Ross Reed
2nd VICE PRESIDENT - Robert H. Mueller
SECRETARY - Owen J. O'Callaghan
TREASURER -Sanford Smith
DIRECTOR - John N. Booth
DIRECTOR - Keith Chase
DIRECTOR - Robert Sechrist
PAST PRESIDENT -George Manchester
Directors whose term of office carries over
for another year include:
DIRECTOR. Marvin Rosenberg
DIRECTOR -Peter C. Parfitt
DIRECTOR -Smokey Storms
Page 3
December 1981
......continued from page 1)
(LIONESS
camp to look things over.
In the morning I sort of mentioned what I
had feared to Bunny. He said, "Oh, yes!
There were a couple of lionesses walking
around camp last night; I heard them too, but
never mind, they were grunting and just curious,
not hunting, and besides, if they were they
would have taken on the boys who were
sleeping around the campfire. They prefer
the Africans rather than the smelly hunters."
Actually there were pug marks where a lioness
stepped over a sleeping African. Lucky for him,
he was sound asleep.
Late in the second afternoon Murielle arrived in a jeep with two Africans from their
ranch. Bill and Ieach had a goodly bundle of
mail, so we went to our tent to check up on
the unlucky part of the world who couldn't be
with us. We had another gourmet dinner that
evening and as we had so much to talk about,
it must have been close to midnight when we
turned in.
Much later I was awakened from sound
slumber to hear a lioness just outside the tent and on my side too. I was certain she wasn't
more than a scant few feet from the tent
But strange things were going on. Bill was
tuned up, in good form and LOUD. Every
time he would shatter the tranquility of the
African night with a mighty ZZZzzzzzzzzzz---the lioness would answer with an equally loud
EYA000000000 ------This was repeated a
number of times when I realized that the lioness
was under Bill's spell, and was, in fact, in love
with him! I was afraid to make a sound, which
would have spooked the lioness instantly and
then, too, I had my own safety to consider.
I recalled what Bunny had said regarding the
lionesses favorite food and hoped that he was
THE SPRaY
by (ENE BABBITT
Regarding the front cover picture on the
Adventurers' Club NEWS for August, 1981, I
am sure all the seafaring members noted it as
being the SPRAY in the Straights of Magellan,
first small boat to circumnavigate the globe
single-handed.
Captain Joshua Slocum sailed out of Fairhaven, Massachusetts in his 36 foot long, 12 ton
displacement yawl for a voyage of 41,000 miles
in 1895 before returning a little over three years
later.
(PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 4)
right. Anyhow I accepted the concept and felt
relieved except, in trying to keep from laughing,
I felt that I had fractured a few ribs.
The affair went on for some minutes, perhaps ten, though it seemed much longer, when
the tent in which Bunny and Murielle were
sleeping (about 50 yards away) suddenly exploded. They too, had been listening and just
couldn't help laughing. Naturally, the disillusioned and love struck lioness broke off the
affair and spooked.
The rest of the night was uneventful.
To this day Bill thinks we were putting him
on, that he was sleeping quietly, like a baby,
and there was no lioness. But it's the truth,
it really did happen. Anyhow - how could
Bill know? He was asleep!
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
Page 4
.....continued from page 3)
(The Spray
His story (Sailing Alone Around the World)
is an epic which I will not go into here except
to relate his encountering heavy seas in the
Straights of Magellan and trouble with the
natives of Tierra del Fuego, his repeatedly
having to turn back but finally reaching the
Pacific after two months.
The Island of Fire gets its name from the
near-naked primitives who kept a fire going
amidships in their canoes on an earthen hearth.
Captain Slocum kept them off the SPRAY only
by strewing carpet tacks on deck at night.
Tierra del Fuego is divided in half between
Argentina and Chile and curiously seems to have
only one kind of thick, scrubby, fir trees on it
which grow bushily and in great profusion.
When Herman Jesson, Dr. Ed Chatwell, Dr.
Dean Moore and I were in Ushuaia, the southernmost port in the world, we were transported
inland to a beautiful alpine lake called Lago
Escondido as I remember it, to visit a chalet
built of native stone and were served lunch and
potent Pisco Sours. The lake seemed ideal for
fishing but seeing no boats determined that
there were no fish here, probably because it
was frozen over about 9 months of the year.
Herman has gone entirely around Tierra del
Fuego by coastal steamer, stopping at farmhouse docks. He reports of many hospitable
Yugoslavians who just mostly raise sheep. The
original natives of Tierra del Fuego have by now
all died off.
Upon the acknowledged achievement of the
first single-handed voyage around the world,
Captain Slocum returned to lecture and write
extensively of his exploits. He put to sea in the
rebuilt SPRAY in 1909 and was never heard of
again.
(ref. Mystic Seaport Museum)
What Sort of
Ship is That?
by Keith Douglas Young
A brief review, by an alumnus of the Royal
Melbourne Yacht Squadron, of four of the basic
types of sailing ships for the benefit of we landlubbers of the Club before we head for the sea.
The depiction of various mammals, including
a whale, on the covers of recent issues of The
Adventurers' Club NEWS is a very nice touch
indeed. And perhaps long overdue. But it is
not without something of a nostalgic twinge
that some of us oldtimers who have been
sailors practically all our lives look back on the
earlier monthly cover illustration of what I
have on several occasions been dismayed to
hear some (perhaps non-sailing) members describe as a full-rigged ship. It wasn't, of course,
but it certainly was a grand sight, boiling along
under a full spread of canvas and impelled by
a right smart breeze.
Just to get the matter of terminology straight
perhaps I may be permitted to explain the
distinctions. And even though I never actually
sailed aboard a full-rigged ship I did, however,
get some sea time aboard a couple of barquentines, the first occasion occurring many years
ago in Australia, and the other, more recently,
down here in San Diego.
Anyway, to put this thing in its proper
perspective, a full-rigged ship is a vessel equipped
with a bowsprit and three masts, a foremast,
mainmast and mizzen, each consisting of a lower
mast, a topmast and a topgallant mast, square-
.....
(To pages • If you please
Page 5
December 1981
(SHIPS.....from across the page)
rigged on all masts.
A Vessel with more than three masts would
be a barque, a barquentine or a schooner, the
difference being that a barque is square-rigged
on all masts except the mizzen which is fore
and aft-rigged, a barquentine is square-rigged on
the foremast only while a schooner, which
could be built with as many as six masts, is fore
and aft-rigged throughout.
Having dealt with the larger stuff it might be
as well if I touch briefly on some of the smaller
boats which make their home-ports in the
marinas along our coasts. The first and most
popular of these would be the:
SLOOP - a fore and aft-rigged boat with
just one mast and a single headsail (jib). Sloops
When I was a cadet member of the Royal
Melbourne Yacht Squadron (almost fifty years
ago now) we youngsters identified yawls as
those vessels having any or all of the sails
described above, but with the steering mechanism —tiller or wheel— forward of the mizzenmast.
CUTTER
KETCH - A fore and aft-rigged boat similar
to a yawl but with a larger mizzen and with the
mizzenmast stepped further forward.
SLOOP
comprise the overwhelming majority of small
sailboats racing and cruising today.
CUTTER - the same as a sloop —that is to
say, single-masted— but having in addition one
extra headsail (or, technically, a forestaysail).
This rig, however, generally demanded a bowsprit from which ajib could be hoisted.
YAWL - a fore and aft-rigged sailboat
carrying a mainsail and one or more jibs
(headsails) and with a mizzenmast far aft.
KETCH
There's no necessity in this short piece to go
into such exotic and seldom-seen rigs as lateen,
lug and so forth. The above is all you really
need to know before you accept that invitation
for a short cruise to Catalina and back.
Happy sailing.
Page 6
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
A RECORDING OF HISTORY
THE WEEKLY CLUB MEETINGS (Our Thursday Night Safaris)
September 3, 1981
ON SAFARI AROUND 706
with "SMOKEY" STORMS
Eight bells were rung and President GEORGE
MANCHESTER convened the meeting. The
members remained standing while One Bell was
rung for member KARL A. REARDON, No.
841, gone on before us on The Great Adventure. GEORGE ROSS gave a short eulogy.
Many guests were introduced, indicating the
interest in amateur radio and our guest speaker.
TRAVELERS— SANFORD SMITH is back
from another jaunt - this time visiting several
countries in S.E. Asia. Sanford added 4 new
countries to the 247 that he had alreadLv-isited
and now has 58 to go to have set foot in all the
countries of the world as we know it today. He
caught "the bug" and lost 25 lbs. (16 lbs. in
one week) and when you are as slender as
Sanford is, that is a lot! (Your reporter could
well stand the loss but not in that manner.)
Sanford met Hillary on the trip and as they
discussed the American assault on the east face
of Mt. Everest the latter considers the attempt
an insane one.
Visitor Ralph White reported on the salvage
work on. the Andrea 'Doria in 250' of water and
of the upcoming research dives on a ship lost
years ago in one of the early tries for the
Northwest passage. Ralph reported this to have
been the warmest year recorded in the Arctic.
DAVE REED just returned from his gold
prospecting in the "far north" where he stopped
off on his way back from the North Pole with
his father ROSS REED. Dave was carrying a
leather "poke" of small gold nuggets and
showed pictures of their placer mining operation, including a 37 ounce nugget they recovered.
A nice paperweight if I ever saw one!
NIGHT OF HIGH ADVENTURE
BOB SILVER reported on the death of our
guest, Lowell Thomas, who was to be presented
with an Honorary Membership. Bob showed
pin of some old Concourse d'Elegance cars.
COBB HARMS - still telling his jokes.
1st VP "DICK" KYLE just back from
England. Yes, you are right - Dick was over
for a bicycle race. He showed slides of the race
and of his host who manufactures the "velocipedes" on the grounds of his baronial residence.
LON deCOURSEY, who admits to have
celebrated his 39th birthday 32 times, showed
slides from the years 1974, '75, '76 and '80
from the PERCY CHASE collection.
PROGRAM
"CLIPPER TON EXPEDITION"
by Guest Don Bostrom
2nd VP OWEN O'CALLAGHAN introduced
DAVE MORGAN who introduced our speaker
Don Bostrom. Dave told of the failures of the
first expedition in 1959 and of the second
failure in 1967 to establish a "Ham" station on
the island of Clipperton and make contact with
"hams" in all parts of the world. In 1978
a Frenchman made a successful trip but Dave
did not make radio contact with him. The
December 1981
French own the island and are very sticky about
anyone landing on the island but with a
Frenchman making the arrangements and as
a part of the expedition, permission was granted
for them to land and set up the radio station.
After a given number of days they were forced
to leave (orders of the French) regardless of
the success.
The expedition departed from California and
sailed down the West coast to Clipperton
Island. The island has no deep water anchorage
inshore so all of the equipment had to be
ferried ashore in dingys. There were the
remains of some old buildings on the islands
left over from W.W. II outposts in which the
operations were set up.
The operators worked in relays with three
teams of two working, calling "hams" all over
the world. The desire of all ham operators is to
make contact in all parts of the world (every
country to be specific). Mr. Bostrom compared
his desires to that of Sanford Smith - the
difference is that Sanford goes in person.
Dave Morgan had tried without success to
make contact in the last two trips and had
failed this time up to the last minute when he
radioed that no contact was made and that he
was signing off the air. Don made Dave's day
by coming right back with a "Hello, Dave!"
A different and interesting program as evidenced by the large turnout for the dinner and
program. Thanks Don, Dave, Owen and Dick.
(Reported by Smokey Storms)
September 10, 1981
ON SAFARI AROUND 706
with BILL BUCHANAN
EARL COLGAN writes from his old home-
Page 7
town Niagara Falls where he is visiting friends.
DAVE REED has just returned from two
months in the Yukon Territory where he was
prospecting, placer mining and in general having
a good time. The town of Atlin is about
110 miles south of White Horse which is the
nearest town. The people Dave was staying
with lived across the lake from Atlin where
they had homesteaded for the past ten years.
Their Catpillar tractor was barged down 80
miles from Carcross. With it they built an
8-mile trail 2,000 feet up to the mine site.
They constructed a dam, made a flume down
to a 20-foot sluice box. The Cat could handle
100 to 150 yards a day but when the Cat broke
down and the work had to be done by hand you
could get only about 7 yards a day. At $40
a yard this did not pay too well. The best
nugget weighed 10 ounces. So they closed
down the mine, did some prospecting, fishing
and acted as guides for tourists. Their best
fish was a 34-pound trout. Dave's companion,
Bruce Johnson, raises and trains dogs in the
summer and acts as wilderness guide the rest of
the time. Sounds like a real adventurous way
to spend two months, especially since they hit
pay dirt.
JERRY PRICE has returned from a goose
hunting trip with JERRY NILSSON, who took
his 14-year old son who almost never missed
his shots. They were at Churchill and were
shooting the geese which were threatening the
farmers' grain crops. About thirty miles away
in Hudson Bay Jerry Nilsson found a bottle
floating with a note in it. It had evidently been
in the water a long time and the note said
something like "My name is Tiki . . . my
address is . . - Churchill, Manitoba, and I crave
loving, and lots of it." It just happened that
two of the guides knew Tiki and knew he had
Page 8
just gotten married. So they brought the note
back to Los Angeles and gave it to Jenny Lee
Harrison who is writing Tiki and claiming to
have found the bottle on the beach at Santa
Monica. To authenticate the find she is sending
his note and all her love, etc. Now how will
Tiki explain this to his wife! It is entirely
possible that the whole thing may give some
oceanographers a problem trying to solve the
riddle of how the bottle got to Santa Monica
Bay from Hudson Bay.
OWEN O'CALLAGHAN decided to go to
Yuma, Arizona for a rodeo on his four-day
vacation. But there were no rooms available
in Yuma so he decided to go on south into
Mexico. He crossed over into San Luis where
he found a great many Chinese, whose greatgrandparents came over to Mexico after building the railroad through Yuma about a hundred
years ago. He decided to go to Punta Penasco
but found the road would require almost three
hundred miles more travelling as the short road
was no longer passable. Ending up in Santa
Clara, he went into a bar where there were
numerous paper plates attached to the ceiling,
each signed by a person or a club. To his
astonishment he found a plate from a member
of The Adventurers' Club of New York. He
must have been lost too.
DICK KYLE went to England for a streamlined bicycle meet. An American won the
$10,000 prize hitting 47 m.p.h. Not all bicycles
were so well made. An English postman with
an investment of $100 and spare parts came in
fourth. Dick was entertained by Alex Moulton
who manufactures a 24-pound bicycle in his
factory, a converted carriage house on his large
estate. His estate was built in the sixteenth
century, has a large country home with a
tremendous 3-acre lawn and numerous small
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
buildings. Mr. Moulton considers himself a neofeudalist and has the respect of all his employees
and manages his estate and business in an
autocratic manner. He also makes parts for
several manufacturers of European cars. He
also has his own two-stage steam engine which
runs on coal at Bradford-on-Avon near Bath.
He has redesigned the steam engine to get 16%
efficiency rather than the usual 4% efficiency,
and the cost per mile is the same as the Diesel
engine. He even has a coat of arms above the
door of his factory.
PROGRAM
"A Brazilian Amazon Expedition"
by Guest David Minor
David Minor is a professional writer and
photographer and has studied filming at U.S.C.
He has photographed grant expeditions in
Hawaii and Brazil. In the summer of 1980 he
accompanied the L.A. Museum of Natural
History Expedition to the Amazon to chronicle
the trip for the museum. This expedition also
had members of other governments cooperating
in the exploration. With Indian guides they
went by canoe through the dense parts of the
black water tropical rain forest and on land
through the thick jungle to accomplish their
goal.
About half-way up from its source the
Amazon is joined by the Rio Negro and a few
miles upstream, where it is four miles wide, the
burgeoning industrial city of Manaus is located
on the bank of the Rio Negro. This was at one
time the center of the rubber industry but with
the exportation of rubber trees to other countries it lost its monopoly around 1912. Manaus
was the Paris of Brazil and was proud of its 19th
December 1981
century opera house which was restored in
1974. Itis built along the lines of the great
European operahouses. Due to the current
mining of bauxite, Manaus is having another
boom with a population of over 750,000. Due
to difficulty in scheduling the proper boat the
expedition spent two weeks waiting in Manaus.
During this waiting period the expedition
went on collecting trips out of Oriximina to
find botanical specimens for the museums all
over the world. The people in this area lived
on boats and were quite poor. Their diet was
mostly fish. But when the expedition members
went to a restaurant and ordered fish they were
served chicken and beef. The reason being that
since everyone caught fish every day, no one
would want to order them in a restaurant.
The American team consisted of Don Reynolds whose specialty was fungi, Chris Davidson
for higher plants and David Minor as documentarian. Also Vera Bononi was the interpreter
and botanist. The waters were dangerous and
there were pirana all along the river. Several
times they saw the Victoria water lily which has
leaves five feet across and can support the
weight of a child. Inland there were many
lizards that would jump into the streams as
they were approached. Luckily there were no
mosquitoes as they do not breed in the stagnant
tea-colored water. At night when the boat
stopped there were many bugs but no mosquitoes.
Eventually the promised boat was furnished
and fitted out for a scientific expedition. It
had room for fourteen persons, holding tanks,
space for plant dryers, presses and all other
equipment used in plant collecting. The crew
was Brazilian and knew the area well. Ants and
snakes were everywhere. The expedition was
anxious to collect and classify as many of the
Page 9
plants in this area as they could before the
loggers could clean off the land, hundreds of
acres at a time. In so doing they could entirely
eleminate some of the rare plants which grew in
one small Locality before that plant could be
discovered and classified. There are about
250,000 plants in the world and only about
a third of them have been discovered and
classified.
Plants which grow high up in the trees are
usually shot down with a shotgun but this
injures them. If the tree is very high a chain
saw is used to cut down the tree. If there are
many limbs on the tree the native guide can
sometimes climb the tree and collect the plant
but you have to be on the lookout for snakes.
There were also howling monkeys though
these were frequently heard but seldom seen.
A large bauxite operation was started in
1979 at Puerto Trombetas. Here much land
has been cleared by the slash and burn method.
The soil along the Rio Trombetas is not of
much use for agriculture.
The expedition was very academic and
everyone was busy either collecting plants or
classifying and preserving them. The collection
will be divided between museums in Manaus,
Rio de Janeiro, Paris, London, Los Angeles
County, and other museums throughout the
world. The Brazilians were more interested
from the standpoint of wood samples and
collecting plants which would be extinct within
a few years. There was one idea firmly
impressed on the expedition members and that
is that they were seeing something for the first
time. In a few years, if they were to come back,
the wilderness would be gone. it could never
again be the same.
(Reported by Bill Buchanan)
Page 10
September 17, 1981
ON SAFARI AROUND 706
with BILL BUCHANAN
PHIL CALHOUN reports that JOHN BOOTH
has been given a special award for literary
achievement by the president of Magic Castle.
John is a very well known magician and has
written several authoritative books on magic.
After a career as a magician he returned to
college to study for the ministry. Since 1962
he has been writing his autobiography which
will be a thick volume containing his interviews
of rn.any of the world's famous people and
reports of his varied travels in the Orient,
Pacific, South America and Africa.
GERHARD BAKKER has just returned from
the Arctic where he visited the northernmost
town in the world, Nyallesund, Spitsbergen.
He also visited Sertsey and Heimaey, the two
most recently formed volcanic islands and the
Shetlands. He saw no polar bears nor walruss
and found the land much more barren 'than
Antarctica. He is planning his next trip to
Alaska where there are more animals.
HENRY KEHLER has returned from a
series of trips to Mexico, to San Miguel by
boat, to Seattle by motorhome and then by
42-foot ketch to Princess Louisa Inlet and
Desolation Sound. Because of the deep water
it was difficult to anchor. He collected some
fine oysters only to find that they were
forbidden because of poison. The red tide
caused the salmon to change their migration
habits, starting upstream without spending the
usual time in the ocean at the mouth of the
stream, thus they are in good shape for swimming upstream.
PAUL CRAMER reports on the oil drilling
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
problems 300 miles NE of Edmonton on the
Athabasca River at Ft. McMurray, the rail
terminal and a very large oil field area.
JERRY PRICE reports on an event which
happened a week ago in the San Luis dam area
near Los Banos which was given almost no
space in the newspapers, but which will greatly
affect our water supply. There was no seismic
activity but the outlet structure of the dam
moved involving over 400,000 yards of earth.
This will make less water available to the
southern half of the state. It will take from
six months to a year to repair the damage.
DICK KYLE announced a service in England
offered by a corporation called Finders Limited.
They can locate anything you need, for a price,
such as an electric chair or king penguins.
PROGRAM
"In Africa with Joy Adamson
and the Wild Leopard Penny"
by Guest Paul Strickland
Paul Strickland attended Principia College
where he met ornithologist Dr. John Wana maker
who took him to Kenya. Here he met Joy
Adamson and worked for her for a period of
a year. During this time he was assigned the
leopard Penny to study in the wild and to
follow by means of a radio signal she emitted.
Little is known of the habits of the leopard
and it was his duty to find out as much as he
possibly could in the year of intensive study.
Thrice married Joy Adamson, seventy years old,
is best remembered for her work with the
lioness Elsa and her book "Born Free," though
she wrote five other books. She was a devoted
worker but unfortunately had the colonial
outlook, which made it difficult to work with
December 1981
her. Her death later was at the hands of an
employee she had fired. She had been very
strict and had difficulty tetaining employees,
but her work with lions enhanced man's knowledge greatly. Paul has also studied in Alaska
and has worked as a member of the fishing
fleet there.
Kenya received its independence in 1963
and there have been many changes as a result.
Of the 220,000 square miles only one-third is
fertile. It is in this part that most of the
population of 14 million can be found. Joy
Adamson had worked in the bush with lions
for forty years and she assigned Paul to live in
the bush with the leopardess Penny, following
her and observing every move insofar as possible.
It was hoped that she would mate and raise
a family in the wild, and though this was the
plan it did not work out exactly according to
script. This was to be a behavior study but it
was difficult to separate the scientific from the
subjective, and as Joy Adamson was selffinanced she could dictate the course of inquiry
as she liked.
Kenya has many aspects: a quality of
spaciousness. boldness, fertility, beauty, detailed
patterns, some comedy, much tradition, and
compassionate brotherliness. Joy Adamson
had a great depth of creativity and a determination to preserve the wildlife of Africa. She was
also an artist and has painted the 102 different
tribes of Kenya on canvas as well as many of
the flowering plants. These are all on display in
the museum at Nairobi. Beside Elsa the lioness
she also worked with Pippa the cheetah. The
camp was about 100 miles north of Mt. Kenya
in the very hot, dry bush. Joy, Paul and three
Africans all lived in a tent camp.
When this project started in 1978, Penny was
a beautiful, playful two-year-old leopard weigh-
Page 11
ing about 85 pounds. During the day Paul and
Penny would go for three-hour walks. Paul
would stroke her and play with her to get used
to her environment. The government required
a ranger to accompany Paul at all times. Along
the way were ostriches, as many as 300 baboons
and an occasional lion or rhino. Also there
were many of the 700 species of birds; cranes,
spoonbills, cattle egrets, vultures, pale chanting
goshawks, and owls. When Penny was young
she was quite interested in small animals. But
as she matured she would climb up in trees and
look around for larger prey. Hippos are
frequent in the river and this was a good
watering place, so Penny focused her attention
on the rivers.
There was a swamp near camp and at one
time there were eleven lions which spent some
time there. Jackals chased after the lions
hoping to find leftover food. Shooting for food
was forbidden so all food supplies for camp
were brought in from the nearby town called
Isiolo. Wild dogs were seen only once and they
are quite fierce.
George Adamson, Joy's husband, is now 75
years old and was at one time a game warden.
He has tried to return the lions to their natural
way of life. He reminds you of a real-life
Tarzan. George and Joy lived separate lives and
quite a distance apart. They never had any
children but the bond with their animals was as
strong as a bond they would have had for
children.
Penny had a radio collar which was useful in
tracking her up to five miles distance. Several
times she removed her collar and we had to
hunt it, but she would always wander back into
camp. She had what Joy called her own
"animality" (an animal personality). She exhibited some strange habits and seemed, to
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
Page 12
some extent, to understand people. She would
paw playfully but when she opened her mouth
wide, you kept your distance.
Paul left at the end of the year and several
weeks later Penny had her cubs. This was
a disappointment as to see her cubs was part of
the goal of the project. During the entire year
Paul saw only four males, and then for only
a minute or so at a time. Penny seemed to
recognize her name and came when she was
called. They soon found out she could swim.
She was constantly fed kennel meat so she
September 24, 1981
ON SAFARI AROUND 706
with BILL BUCHANAN
President GEORGE MANCHESTER, who
so regularly calls our meetings to order, was
missed tonight and it was announced that he
was in the hospital. He now has a pacemaker
always looked toward Paul for food. The only
time she responded aggressively was one day
when Paul woke her up from a snooze. Penny
tensed up and Paul backed away. No harm was
done. Penny's story is told in Joy Adamson's
last book, "The Queen of Shaba". Paul plans
to return to Kenya in January 1982 on safari
and he just might happen upon Penny again.
He hopes that after all this time she will
recognize him.
(Reported by Bill Buchanan)
implanted and is recovering. We wish him an
early recovery. Vice President DICK KYLE
presided in the absence of the President.
HOWARD GEE visited the club after a long
absence. He is now living on an island near
Seattle. This summer he had two vacations to
Alaska and Canada and caught a one-hundred
pound halibut. He also advised everyone to
take camper trips in New Zealand and Australia.
December 1981
He made the presentation of the book "Straight
Up" by James Ramsey Ullman. It was given to
the Library by JOHN BOOTH. It told about
the life of the mountaineer John Harlin. Both
John and Howard knew the author who had
sailed with Howard years ago in the South
Pacific.
BILL ROBERTS reports that, at the Reno
Air Races, he saw a spectacular stunt executed
by three small biplanes 30 feet off the ground
doing simultaneous snap rolls in tight formation.
BOB SANDWICK will soon be skippering
a 39-footer to the island of San Lucia and to
the Grenadines.
BILL O'NEAL has just returned from a
luxury tour of Egypt and Greece and loved
every minute of it. While aboard ship he fell
in love with a beautiful woman but later found
out that she was already married.
GERRY EVANS writes from Johannesburg
where he found the airport closed by snow.
He later attended the orchid show at Durban,
then on to Victoria Falls.
BILL BUCHANAN showed slides of the
Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in which
over four hundred balloons participated.
KEN BROCK is preparing his gyrocopter for
a new high altitude record.
DAVE MORGAN reports that HAROLD
WARD sailed on the Royal Viking Sea north to
Alaska arriving safely at Glacier Bay. Dave
was able to contact their radio officer from his
own station K6DDO.
KELLY CARR has recently retired from the
Navy and expects to be able to attend some
meetings again soon. He writes from Washington, D.C.
HENRY VON SEYFRIED has just returned
from three weeks in Germany.
Page 13
PROGRAM
"Adventures of a
Seasick Sea Surgeon"
by BOB SEAMAN
Dr. BOB SEAMAN has been on assignment
as a surgeon in places the ordinary man never
sees and has made a life of adventire through
his profession. His program was complete with
music, humor and sound effects!! It included
ocean research, short trips, picking barnacles
off whales, sailing through the Straits of
Magellan, recording the sound of musical flowers and sailing in the largest yacht ever built.
This was E.F. Hutton's 314-foot four masted
schooner, "The Sea Cloud", now owned by a
group of West German businessmen. With dual
projection, pulse sync narration and music, the
program was fully automated.
Bob Seaman boarded the oceanographic
vessel Glomar Challenger in Panama and was
Ship's Surgeon for the tour. This vessel is
capable of probing ocean depths up to four
miles to obtain core samples from the bottom
of the sea. The first samples were taken in the
Galapagos area. In order to relocate a previously drilled hole a method called Dynamic Positioning was used. Willard Bascom pioneered in
the perfecting of this very precise method.
Ship scientists met daily to review progress. At
one time a Russian spy ship circled for 24 hours.
Bob kept in touch with the crew of Alvin, the
deep sea submersible, on their many dives
serving as medical consultant on their many
problems. A stop was made at Valparaiso.
The weather was quite stormy as they
approached the Straits of Magellan but once
inside the passage it was calm. After the ship
Page 14
rounded Cape Horn he Left the ship and took
the bus north through Patagonia. A talking
"Llama Turner" welcomed him to Patagonia
and the snow-capped mountains. He then
journeyed north by plane to Santiago, then by
bus through the desert to Peru where he took
a train to Lake Titicaca. He attended a festival
on a barren mountaintop which was attended
by thousands of natives in their brightly colored
costumes. A rare treat indeed. There was much
flute and drum music. He saw the reed boat
makers who built their boats in about a week
and sailed them for about a year before they
became water-logged. His next stop was Cuzco.
The town looked reddish-brown from the air
because of the many tile roofs. From there he
went up to Machu Pichu where some young
llamas were enjoying the heights. Next to
Quito Ecuador. Some of the Colorado Indians
in Santo Domingo were wandering around town
with their typical red clay coiffures.
Few people see the Pacific coast of Baja
California as Bob did as Ship's Surgeon for the
Cetacean Society. The island of San Bonito is
famous for its herds of elephant seals. it was
mating season and the females were lined up
side by side waiting to be serviced by the large
male. But tiring easily, the master of the harem
soon gave over his duties to a younger male.
San Ignacio Lagoon is 400 miles south of the
border and is a safe anchorage. It is also the
destination of the southern migration of the
grey whale. Here their young are born in the
warm water. Several small boats were launched
from the ship and soon a few whales were seen.
They were friendly, though wild, and communicated by long crying sounds similar to moaning.
Over a period of time several whales came
alongside the small boats and allowed their
heads to be patted by hand. Several came up
beneath the boat just to rub their backs. The
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
visit there lasted two days.
The Sea Cloud is a four-masted schooner
able to fly over thirty sails at a time. It is
314 feet long, the longest ever built. It was
quite spacious, the master cabin being as large
as the bedroom in a palace. The dining room
covered a large area. Decorated in a sybaritic
manner, it even had entertainment by a concert
pianist in the evenings. There was a crew of
thirty. Bob was Ship's Surgeon on this working
ship. There were many ports of call where
local dance groups came aboard and lectures by
university professors. There were many sights
to see between Martinique and Grenada. There
is no ship so luxurious in the Caribbean as the
Sea Cloud as it moves majestically among the
Leeward and Windward Islands.
(Reported by Bill Buchanan)
For some unexplained reasons the report of the program for June 2, 1981 was omitted from a recent issue.
Apologies go to BOB SANDWICK who was our guest
reporter for this program. The report, in lull, Is carried
herewith. Ed.
June 25, 1981
ON SAFARI AROUND 706
with BOB SANDWICK
After the sounding of eight bells, President
GEORGE MANCHESTER called the meeting
to order and promptly recited the "silent toast".
Several guests, as usual, were introduced. Greetings were read from Dr. LOUIS 1-IIGGER who
was "adventuring" in Zimbabwe with members
JOHN DAVIDSON and Dr. JERRY NILSSON,
According to Higger:
"Game all over the place but grass is tail.
I collected a big bull sable yesterday. Have
bait out for a big lion. John Davidson feeling
great and acting 20 years younger. Going to
December 1981
Chobe for a couple of days and then back
to the ranch. This is the place for your next
Safari."
President George read another postcard from
EARL COLGAN who was in Alaska. Along
with greetings to President George and all, Earl
sent this message:
"Great trip so far. We are now on the
Kenai Peninsula catching silversides. No
King Solomon yet. Saw grizzlies, mountain
sheep, moose and many caribou yesterday.
So much better than New Zealand trip and
perfect weather."
As usual, the writer beat the card back, so
Earl took the podium and elaborated about his
adventure in Alaska. Five to twelve pound
"reds" were plentiful in the Russian River, and
Earl got his share. He also reported that fishing
for Greylings was great.
COBB HARMS, with his devilish grin on his
face, commented that 'Where else would you
catch "reds" but in the Russian River."
GENE BABBITT, just back from Tahiti,
Moorea and Bora Bora, did not want this
recorded for two reason: (Tough luck, Gene,
the recorder catches all.)
1. It was a business trip,
2. HERMAN JESSON wouldn't like it.
Gene expounded on the prices in "paradise"
such as hotels from 80 to 160 dollars per night
sans food which is also outrageous. On top of
that everyone spoke French which makes communication difficult. However, he finally got
to Tahiti, after two almosts:
1. Almost went out on a 100' schooner 50
years ago.
2. Almost bought a 42 footer, 49 years ago.
Dr. TOM SECHRIST, just back from South
America, reported about three classes of people
in Lima, Peru, "dean, dirty and aristocrats." Or
Page 15
if you prefer, low, middle and high class. The
finance situation is changing rapidly particularly
with the high class people who are literally
starving. He also visited several other countries
in South America.
BILL ROBERTS commented about seeing
a naked man in broad daylight in Lima, Peru a
few years back. However, the consensus of the
club seemed to show more interest in the naked
women that Gene Babbitt might have seen in
Tahiti but would not report when asked.
JERRY PRICE shared with the dub further
reports from Davidson, Higger and Nilsson who
were not in Africa, but in Australia at that
time. It seems that after several nights with
John sitting in a blind waiting for a male blackmaned lion to take the bait, they went out
hunting for the beast. While they were out,
a male black-massed lion made a kill right in
front of John Davidson's tent. With that, John
said "Let's go to Australia, the roos are more
cooperative."
Jerry went on co report that he spent time
with Captain KELLY CARR back east. Kelly
sends his regards to all. A friend of many
members of the club, but never a member,
Captain Lloyd Ruth now resides in Virginia
also, sends his regards to the club via Jerry.
Member STAN COOLEY was just back from
two weeks in intensive care for his heart. While
there he visited PERCY CHASE, obviously
just before Percy's passing away. He also
chatted with member RUDI THURAU who was
painting near the hospital. It seems that Rudi's
balloon is on the fritz by burning out the
entire top and he's grounded until his balloon
is fixed.
DAVE MORGAN reported of his conversation with Tom Christian, a sixth generation
descendant of Fletcher Christian who led the
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
Page 16
famous "Mutiny on the Bounty". He visited
our club in 1968 and when Dave asked when he
plans to return, he reported that with 4 girls
and a fifth on the way, it will be some time
before he can return to the U.S.
DICK KYLE, Program Chairman, started
off by reminiscing about surfing, drinking,
palm fronds and 15 foot waves in Peru in 1964.
Sounded good. He then introduced STU
BRUCE who introduced the members of the
Explorers Club who were in attendance.
PROGRAM
"RIVERS OF THE WORLD'
by Guest Richard Bangs
Stu went on to introduce Richard Bangs
who he first met on a raft trip down the
Colorado in 1972. Richard has met most of
the major rivers of the world that can be
considered adventurous.
Stu had the opportunity to ride down the
Ono River in Ethiopia with Richard Bangs
a few years ago. He was impressed with the
cargo of rocks that Richard brought along. It
seems they later warded off crocodiles by
throwing rocks at them.
Richard Bangs, owner of Sobek Raft Trips,
described many rivers of the world that he has
experienced by rafting with such notables as
Stu Bruce and Lowell Thomas (not necessarily
in that order).
Richard displayed excellent color slides beautifully illustrating many of the wild rivers in
the world including:
Colorado - U.S.A.
Bio Bio - Chile (the wildest)
Blue Nile - Africa (complete with crocs)
Ganges - India
Orno - Ethiopia, Africa
Lador - India (over 12,000' elevation) -
Euphrates - Turkey
Copper - Alaska
The list goes on for over 100 rivers in 20
countries in the world. His favorites are the
Orno and the Rio Bio. When questioned as to
cost, he quickly replied that $1700 to $2000
per passenger for 4, including guide and raft,
will become an outstanding, white-knuckle,
adventure for 14 to 20 days.
After an outstanding presentation by Richard Bangs, Dick Kyle announced the next
several weeks programs. President George
officially closed another excellent Adventurers'
Club meeting.
(Reported by Bob Sandwich)
October 1, 1981
ON SAFARI AROUND 706
with BILL BUCHANAN
AL ADAMS was flying up to San Francisco
and when they had to pull out of a dive, he hit
the ceiling and crushed a vertebrae. We wish
him an early recovery.
BILL CARR, in an Adventurer of the Week
presentation, took us from Catalina to the
Amazon in ten slides. Bill, his son, and Dr. ED
CHATWELL flew to a Catalina landing at the
mountaintop airport at 1,400 ft. elevation. The
object was to fly around the island at 100 ft.
so at the takeoff they dropped 1,300 ft. below
the runway and circumnavigated the island.
Vice President DICK KYLE presided over
the scheduled business meeting in the absence
of President GEORGE MANCHESTER, who is
now recuperating at home. There was no
program given due to lack of time.
(Reported by Bill Buchanan)
The Adventurers' Club, Los A ngeh's
706 West Pica Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90015
Entered as Second Class Postage
at the Post Office at
Los Angeles, California
POSTMASTER:
Address Correction Requested
Return Postage Guaranteed
IN THIS ISSUE
* THE NIGHT OF THE LION(ESS) by Gerry Price
* THE SPRAY by Gene Babbitt
* WHAT SORT OF SHIP IS THAT? by Keith Young
* CLIPPERTON EXPEDITION with Don Bostrom
* A BRAZILLIAN AMAZON EXPEDITION with David Minor
* IN AFRICA WITH JOY ADAMSON AND
THE WILD LEOPARD PENNY with Paul Strickland
* ADVENTURES OF A SEASICK SEA SURGEON with Bob Seaman
* RIVERS OF THE WORLD with Richard Bangs
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