From the Webmaster's Desk...

Next week I am picking up a metal detecting buddy (Jeff Herke of Atlanta, Georgia) and we are heading to Virginia for some civil war relic hunting on my uncle's property.  Hopefully, the bullets will be flying out of the ground as fast as they went in.  Over the years I have taken 25+ pounds of lead out of the 14 acres that surround the civil war era home.  The finds have been thinned out a little but maybe with the XLT I can punch down a little further than the old 6000 DI's.  There will definitely be a follow up story on this adventure with pictures of the finds.

Since I brought up the subject of the civil war, I must mention my great-great uncle Corporal George Foor of Company A and F, 40th New York Infantry (Mozart) Regiment.  He enlisted in New York City and was mustered in June 21, 1861 at Yonkers.  I have approximately 20-25 letters that he mailed to his sister, mother and his brother-in-law during his tenure as a soldier.  In some of his letters he paints a very dramatic picture of the battlefield.  His life was cut short as he died of disease on December 22, 1863 in the Regimental Hospital at Brandy Station, Virginia around the age of 23.  Brandy Station is about 3 miles from my uncles home where we will be doing our relic hunting.  Click here to read Corporal George Foor's last letter home.

Last week I was cleaning up my late grand-fathers attic (home built in 1840) and found two old inkwells among other things.  Since I collect old bottles, my mother said to go ahead and add them to your collection.  The one was a typical cone ink, aqua color and probably made by Carter's.  The second one was barrel shaped with the neck and cork top in the center.  On the side is "Opdyke Bros Ink".  The name Opdyke is known around our parts, as the family operates a lumber business across the river in New Jersey.  I did a quick search on the internet and all I could come up with was that they are "scarce".  No price could be found.  Next, I looked in some of my old bottle books and the 1998 price is anywhere from $165 to $310!  Talk about serendipity.

Opdyke Bros Ink
1870-1880

I hope by now you have read "Civil War Relic Hunting...Part II".  While I was down in Virginia my White's original rechargeable battery pack went dead; to the point where I could not recharge it enough to run the detector.  I used AA batteries while I was relic hunting.  When I got home, I went to Radio Shack and bought 8 ni-cad batteries to replace the originals (from 1996).  Cost was $23.  I had to solder copper wires on the batteries to insure that they would always make contact.  This was not easy!  Next, I taped them all together so at least it would look half way professional.  Of course, they now would not fit in the holder so I had to modify the inside to accept the now larger battery pack.  Once it was all put together it looks just like the original.  I charged it up overnight and it seems to be working fine.  Just for the heck of it, I thought I would check Kellyco to see how much money I was saving by doing it myself.  I saved $20.00.  Would I do it again...NO!  Next time I will just call Kellyco.
 

See you in the field!

J.R. Hoff

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