A locker key found on the body of Titanic steward Sidney Sedunary was auctioned off on Saturday for $104,000 reports Fox News. The key was sold by auctioneer Henry Aldridge & Son.
Source: Locker key from the Titanic sells at auction for $104,000 (Fox News,23 Oct 2016)
*Fox News reports that a rare Titanic key with a brass tag stamped “Locker 14 D Deck” is up for sale. It was found in the body of Titanic Third Class Steward Sidney Sedunary. A direct descendant of Sedunary has put it up for auction with well known Titanic memorabilia auctioneer Henry Aldridge & Son. It is valued at somewhere between $36,640-$61.070. It will be auctioned off on 22 Oct 2016.
*Premier Exhibitions has inked a deal with Infinity Filmed Entertainment Group and Partners in Motion to allow them exclusive access to Titanic artifacts for a new television series. The series titled Titanic: Stories from the Deep will explore the stories behind the artifacts. The series is expected to move into production in 2017. (Titanic Artifacts To Be Examined In New Series, TVReal.ws 14Oct2016)
*I never knew there were people that collected mourning covers sent via the mail. There were many printed after the Titanic disaster for people to mail to friends or others indicating their sadness at the tragedy. A writer for Linn’s Stamp News looked recently at two such but unmailed covers. What caught his attention was not the cover itself (which he said was typical of the period)but the words inside:
“She struck where the white and fleecy waves,
Looked soft as carded wool,
But the cruel rocks, they gored her side,
Like the horns of an angry bull.
Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice,
With the masts went by the board,
Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank,
Ho! Ho! The breakers roared.”
(Titanic Memorabilia Goes Beyond Mailed Covers,Linn’s Stamp News,7 Oct 2016)
The Equity Committee, along with the Unsecured Creditors Committee has set up a website so that Premier’s equity holders can have access to important information about the case. The website is http://www.upshotservices.com/premiercommittees. A recent letter to shareholders issued by the Equity Committee can be found here: http://www.upshotservices.com/rms%20titanic%20inc/equity%20committee%20website%20letter.pdf
1. Premier Exhibitions Asks Court For More Time To File Reorganization Plan (Bankruptcy Court News, 3 Oct 2016)
Premier Exhibitions has petitioned the court to allow it to extend the period to file a reorganization plan under Chapter 11 to 17 Jan 2017. “Under the circumstances of these cases, a premature termination of exclusivity would deny the Debtors a meaningful opportunity to negotiate and propose a confirmable plan and would be antithetical to the paramount objectives of Chapter 11. Termination of exclusivity at this point in time could have the undesirable effect of encouraging the development of competing multiple plans that could lead to unwarranted confrontations, litigation, and administrative expenses.” To cut to the chase of all the fancy legal wording, it means if they do not get the extended time other plans may emerge. Which sort of hints that there might be some other plan out there they want to head off.
2. For those on the Netflix service, your long wait has ended. James Cameron’s Titanic is coming to Netflix this month. At least for those in the U.S. Of course you could purchase it and never have to worry when it shows up on one of the online streaming services.
3. It is officially Halloween season here at Titanic News Channel. Our staff is up for the occasion. The mummy has come out its sleeping chamber to render some scares to kids in the area. Our old friend Headless is planning his usual evening strolls with pumpkin in hand looking for someone’s head. A few fluttering ghosts have been seen as well. We have classic zombies (not the Romero version) wandering about as well and quite possibly Frankenstein and Count Dracula as well. The stores are well stocked with Halloween candy to the rafters. Sadly Halloween is on a Monday this year. And with all the political correctness nonsense, even saying Happy Halloween in some schools is not only discouraged but banned. All the more reason for many parents to band together, invite the little kids over, and have their own Halloween event.
1.Memorial plaque to regional editor who died on Titanic vandalised(holdthefrontpage.co.uk,20 Sep 2016)
The plaque in memory of the Northern Echo editor WT Stead has been removed by Darlington Borough Council from outside the town’s library after it was daubed with felt-tip by vandals and is now being cleaned.
2.Just Cool Cars: This 1911 Benz has a Titanic link(USA Today, 17 Sep 2016)
Gerhard and Adrienne Schnuerer of Huntington Beach, Calif., are owners of this one-of-a-kind 1911 Benz, rare because of its German heritage and New York coachwork.The car was ordered by Charles Hayes, a railroad tycoon from Chicago who went down with the Titanic after she struck an iceberg. Part of his legacy becomes the car he left behind — although he never saw it. It was still being built when he died.
3.Keys From Titanic Among Items Auctioned By Jersey Collector(ITV,15 Sep 2016)
A set of keys from the Titanic, which were previously owned by a Jersey collector, has sold for twice the estimate at auction. David Gainsborough Roberts put the set of four up for auction at Christies in London. The keys, which are thought to have belonged to Samuel Ernest Hemming, the lamp trimmer on board the ship, sold for £20,000 yesterday evening.
4. Exploring The Britannic Wreck, Titanic’s Sister Ship (Engineering and Technology, 12 Sep 2016)
To get around this huge wreck in the limited time – only 45 minutes – that the divers have at depth, they use underwater scooters. Even with rigorous safety measures in place, the sea is still unpredictable, especially at these depths. Britannic claimed the life of world-renowned technical diver Carl Spencer in 2013 and Kovacs says that it’s not uncommon to hear the explosions of illegal fishermen nearby.Kovacs’ holy grail for this wreck is a rivet-accurate blended acoustic and optical model of the entire exterior yielding a hugely accurate picture of the bulkheads. What this means in practice is a 3D volumetric model. The acoustic images have been taken with multibeam and side-scan sonar from the Perseo ROV and these will be overlaid with the optical results from the divers.
5.Titanic Floats While Some Sink At Annual United Way Cardboard Boat Race(Mlive.com,9 Sep 2016)
It was a replica of the most famous sinking ship in history. Made with cardboard and deliberately cracked at its center, the vessel defied its design and the notorious fate of its predecessor. It floated. “We can’t even sink the Titanic,” designer and builder Dave Turk said Friday as he loaded the too-successful boat into the back of a pickup truck at the close of the United Way’s cardboard boat race.
Titanic not only sank but now the wreck itself will be mostly gone in 14 years according to a scientific study. The study done by experts from Institut Laue-Langevin, the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and the Institut de Biologie Structurale has determined “extremophile bacteria” will eat away the ship by 2030.
Source:Titanic wreck ‘will dissolve in 14 years’(Belfast Telegraph,9 Sep 16)
Southampton has a very strong connection to Titanic. Yet as a writer for Daily Echo points out, the city elders did not capitalize their connection as strongly as Belfast did. Titanic Belfast is a major tourist attraction for Belfast yet Southampton’s Sea City Museum only draws modest numbers. Sea City overlooks the area where Titanic docked but since the area is still a major working port, expansion is not as easy as Belfast had. Others agree more should be done to promote Southampton.
Source:Has Southampton missed the boat with Titanic museum? (Daily Echo,11 Sept 2016)
Premier Exhibitions has gone forward with the adversary proceeding against France to attain clear title to the French Collection. Premier tried to get the bankruptcy court to allow the sale arguing they had clear title. However the court found that under federal law, the must first conduct an adversary proceeding. As part of the filing on 17 August, Premier argues they were given clear and unambiguous title. What happens next is that France will have to respond through their American lawyers as to what their position in the matter is. The documents attached to the filing appear to support their claim.
Source: Adversary Proceeding, In Re: RMS Titanic, Inc: U.S. Bankruptcy Court,Middle District Florida, 17 Aug 2016
Clive Palmer’s plan to build Titanic II appears dead but a Chinese full size replica is on course to be built. According to China.org.cn a full size replica will be assembled at the end of this year. The replica will be the exact size of the original Titanic and will cost 1 billion yuan. Everything from door knobs to menus will look as if it was on the original Titanic (except some modern necessities as needed of course). The replica will also employ the use of a Titanic Sinking Simulator so that visitors will experience what it was like to be aboard when the ship was sinking. The replica will be permanently docked at a theme park in the Qi River in Daying County, Sichuan. It is scheduled to open in 2018.
Source:Life-Size Replica Of Titanic To Be Assembled Late This Year(China.org.cn,17 Aug 2016)
Titanic Belfast just celebrated its three millionth visitor recently. Since it opened in 2012, Titanic Belfast has seen a steady stream of tourists from all over the world. They recently had their busiest day when 4,200 people came through the doors beating down previous numbers. Titanic Belfast chief executive Tim Husbands notes “We have spent over £1m refurbishing and refreshing three or four of the galleries because obviously Titanic is a story that can be told in so many different facets.”
Source: Titanic Belfast Welcomes Its Three Millionth Visitor(Irish Times,15 Aug 2016)
August is now the eighth month of the year under the current calendar but was originally the sixth month under the old Roman calendar. When January and February were added to the calendar in 753 BC, it became the eighth month. Julius Caesar added two days making it 31 days in 45 BC for the new Julian calendar. In 8 BC it was named for the Roman emperor Augustus and has remained so ever since. The gladiolus or poppy is the flower associated with this month.
August is also National Sandwich Month in the United States. John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, is often credited with being is namesake. During a card game, it is claimed, he wanted something to eat so he did not have to leave the game. Meat between two slices of bread fit the bill and it has forever more been known in England and the West as a sandwich. In it simplest form it is a portable meal. Such ways of eating food have been around for a long time and many cultures going back to ancient times had versions of what we call a sandwich. Stemming perhaps from a legal decision about whether burritos or quesadillas count as sandwiches, a sandwich is defined as two slices of bread with meat or other items of food between. Hot items on breads are almost never called sandwiches such as hamburgers or hot dogs. American sandwiches tend to be full size when European and British tend to be smaller and sometimes used for fancy parties. The English butty is a type of sandwich with butter and meat but is rarely cut. Often one slice of bread is used that is folded over rather than sliced.
The Titanic in Photographs exhibit has opened up at RVP in Tunbridge Wells, UK. This exhibit is based upon a book of the same name by Daniel Klistorner. The exhibit contains items from various Titanic auctions around the world. It is quite a remarkable collection to view. It also simulates through the use of various memorabilia what it looked like aboard Titanic. The exhibit is free but guides are available for £5.
Belfast Titanic is adding jobs this summer to cope with expected heavy crowds. The weather over there right now is not too bad. Temperatures for the coming week look to be in the mid-60’s during the day and mid 50’s at night. And yes some rain is expected during the week. As always pack with that in mind when visiting Ireland.
Sometimes people forget to remove things from items before donating to charity. And such was the case when a rare Titanic postcard slipped out of a book donated to Books For Amnesty in Bristol, UK. The card, which shows Titanic docked in Southampton before its maiden voyage, is dated to 1912. And was done by a local photographer.
Colin Richardson, a volunteer at the store and has an interest in postcards himself, was astonished at the remarkable find. The card has been put up for sale on Ebay and could fetch close to £99 ($130).
