ah P8, that sounds logical.  I have always had that P possibly going to Pheonix AZ.  I do like the things you have pointed out though.  Must start looking for other confirmers.  Thanks for updating me.

Unknown

Unknown:
The pole in the image with the globe top matches up with the light posts of the
top photo.
While these poles in the zoo were not unique, it does inidcate that if you find the
correct ones, you can orientate yourself to the burial spot.

actually, the poles are fairly unique. the wood totems are NOT anywhere else in the zoo at all.  the light poles with the round globes are only in one other place in the zoo, at the concession stand in the middle of the zoo.
there is no other place that matches up besides the CZ, which Preiss confirmed was the correct location.
wilhouse

Man, it’s amazing…it MUST be there, it’s just taunting us now…

Maybe we can work wirh this idea.

Anyone know if/when/why Sam Houston became known as “The lion of Texas?”
One of his many tributes to him is a statute called a “tribute to courage” located on interstate 45 in the Sam Houston national forest.
A wood no lion fears?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tribute_to_Courage

Someone, somewhere, has the answer to the whole thing in a moldy photo album in their garage.

wilhouse
: Any progress on securing blueprints? And what is the timetable for demolition of the CZ?

I have only recently thought about the notion of the last line containing some special relevance to a final piece of the location process. For this Houston location there’s certainly some options, whichever is preferable to a working solution,
A whistle sounds =
A train hint
“High pitched”, indicating a roof or steep slope
An orchestra, a pit, near the proscenium of a theater stage
A mouth, forcing air passed lips to make a whistle sound.
My favorite option here is the diamond shaped hole in the face of the Atropos Key statue, which may be considered a mouth through which wind passes. Its also a four equal sided figure through which one can center their line of sight to the very tip of the theater’s apex (a non-predator apex or point like a horn-tip that nobody need fear).

wilhouse, have you concentrated on the golf course?  12 steps from the 3rd tee? or something like that.  tea spout, tee spot
i think the picture and the first lines of the poem point out the buildings like glassel and all to get you there to the park , the animals are all facing left and the golf course is behind them. have you concentrated on that area?

reg, I like the brainstorming. it might help us stumble onto something.
there are no pipes sticking up per se, but there are sprinklers and hose connections.
no snowflakes. perhaps around christmastime, but I don’t think you can use transitive things like that.
wilhouse

all we gotta do is figure out what the heck SMALL SPLIT THREE WINGED AND SLIGHT obviously these “things” look the same.
-regulus

fox

I soooo wanted to put up a shot of Jessica Alba but I just couldn’t do it.

Oh Fox, I’ve missed you.
wilhouse

Im getting a Jethro Tull vibe here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D4xeRIn … ata_player
Got book.  Smaller than I expected.

In the sky the water veers.
Snowflakes are made of H20.  How about veering snowflakes?  Veer (turn) at Snowflake the Llama?

Unknown

Unknown:
I agree with Erexere about one thing. BP wasn’t nearly as simple-minded as you people seem to think.

Unknown

Unknown:
Snowflakes are made of H20.  How about veering snowflakes?  Veer (turn) at Snowflake the Llama?

Simple SOLUTION does not equate with simple MINDED.
No one on this board thinks Byron Preiss was simple-minded.
The best treasure hunts are those where the solutions are simple and obvious only
after
they are known–and which devil the seekers before.  Had this hunt gotten the publicity and the attention back when it was published instead of 20 years later, it might have been solved a lot sooner–but now there is an added devilment: time’s passage and the changes that entails. That does not mean that there are just layers and layers of meaning assigned to each individual word, or thought, or concept or image. It means that we can’t VERIFY what we know anymore, or at least not easily. The solutions probably ARE simple. The author is not.
It is this sort of conclusion, drawn from the lines of the verse, that drives me Nucking Futs:
Yes, snow is made of H2O. It does not snow in Houston. I’ve been there in winter and it’s damned hot.
Veering
snowflakes
, therefore, cannot exist there.
Veer AT Snowflake
is not the same thing as
veering snowflakes
. It’s not even close. Yet, this is the conclusion that has been suggested. It’s not that the idea is not creative–it is. But creative to the point of absurdity? Creative for Creativity’s sake? This is not helpful or sensible.
I’m not pushing my solution over anyone else’s. However, the solutions that only graze the elements lightly–or need to be “engineered” to fit the image and verse, or that don’t address the whole concept of both together, don’t seem to me feasible. We know the 982 is a train. We know it was there. We know that somehow the zoo fits in, somehow the water fits in. We also know the rules: no casque could be found in a flower bed or public garden. We also know you can’t dig through concrete or stone blocks. In fact, we don’t know only ONE thing about this solution: what “small, split, three winged and slight” means or what it refers to. Stone people? Maybe. Stone lanterns? Perhaps. A type of flower? Possibly. Could be almost anything, actually. Byron Preiss is not a simple-minded person, and was not a simple-minded writer. He was literary, educated, intelligent, and delightfully tricky. And I would bet my retirement fund on the solution, when it is finally known, being as simple and clean as a shiny jewel.

Heres an odd idea.  A big ball in the sky…balloons?  Before the cruciform style of four fins was adopted, zepplins used a three fin design, like the standard shape on a feather arrow.  Zepplins are balloons.  Balloons are often lost by children …they should not let go of the string.  Perspective should not be lost…  Early model zepplins used hydrogen.  Water is two parts hydrogen one part oxygen.  Water veers in the sky…an air balloon filled with Hydrogen turns into water when burned.  Im thinking Hindenburg or Shenandoa (native american word for river).  Interesting connection though i dont like how its made is that Lillian Schnitzer was the daughter of George C. Schnitzer.  Ive found two conflicting articles about him saying that he died in themcrash and the other saying he survived the crash of the Shenandoa in 1923.  He was a naval radio operator.  Im thinking these were two different George C. Schnitzers.  The thing about it that intrigues me is that the skin of the zepplin was made of cow bladder intestine calLed goldbeater hide and now Im back to thinking crash of rhinos is of use as a clue about crashing zepplins.  Sorry…just some brainstormy ideas here, nothing to be upset about.

Besides “take your task to the 982”, there’s only one other line that is a specific order to do something:
small of scale step across.
There’s only two small of scales that I can find in the area
1) the CZ, which is both a small of scale zoo, and a small of scale representation of the world (with areas representing North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa)
2) the small train / train tracks.
Either you go across the CZ, or the bridge in the CZ, which means the casque is in the CZ as there’s no other directions to LEAVE the ears after this line or you step across some part of the train track. If the latter is the case, where you go next is not clear to me.
Keep in mind a couple of points:
1) there’s NO other columns or structures that look like the horizontally divided poles in the image OTHER than the totem poles in the CZ and
2) the djinn’s hat is exactly the elf hat in the CZ.
The verse has to take you somewhere. Preiss wouldn’t have expected you to dig all over the place.  There has to be some lines that, with the image, would tell you where to dig.
wilhouse

The elf
wilhouse

A completely different approach sees the foreground to background order of objects as a trend.  Farthest is the camel on column as Sam Houston, next is Rhino head on column as iron-hide 982, the ball-topped column serves as an overall map and direction association with red stone just below and to the right (south and slightly east), and the djinn is the Elf thanks to Wilhouse’s affection and FB’s appetite for hats.  This and the trend for verse clues to draw us southward could leave us to extrapolate and continue to the Lion-tearing Eye-blinded Samson-esque tower of Irish clovered decent, Dowling, which is just south and slightly east of the CZ.  Didnt someone mention an unlocked gate at that south part of the CZ?  Maybe we are expected to take this beyond where our eyes lead us…
Samson is depicted as raising a donkeys jaw bone as a club against the Philistines.  It is basically a large ball on a stick…similar to the ball-topped tower.

Unknown

Unknown:
There’s only two small of scales that I can find in the area

A third possibility: The aquatunnel held fish. Fish have small scales. But I’m leaning toward the “small scale” train tracks because it is very natural to think of “stepping across” tracks, and ambiguous what to “step across” if “small of scale” refers to fish or to the 4 world regions.

Ball on a stick?
This is a much better match.
Nothing screams children (zoo) more than a lollypop.
Of course I am joking here guys.

well that’s not exactly the biblical proportions of Samsons is it?  Show us a photo of a legendary ass why don’t you?

erexere

Show us a photo of a legendary ass why don’t you?

I soooo wanted to put up a shot of Jessica Alba but I just couldn’t do it.
How bout this one?

Gosh, i always thought it was so much bigger.  That isnt the jewish version is it?

OK, right after you get out of the aqua tunnel, it dumps you in front of a small bridge that spans the center area of the CZ.  When you cross the bridge, it dumps you right in the center of the 4 “lands”, ie, the Center of 4 alike.
Take a look.
wilhouse

erexere

I’ve been considering the ‘Take your task’ line alone and I want to consider what sorts of tasks do we take?

forest_blight

Excellent passage, bigmattyh!

(Cheers Erexere, you neatly summarised my thought process in this post.)
lol, yeah, touché.  😉
But I just wanted to make the point that it’s not about “intellectual feats”; it’s about odd research. Multiplying something by two ain’t “freakin’ rocket science” either.
Consider:
A quote about Sarmiento in
Abroad in America
describing a hotel in New Orleans
A 16th century Venetian painter called Marietta Robusti who played the harpsichord
A decorative lamppost-base outside a club in Montreal
Alexander Hamilton’s childhood in the West Indies
etc etc
This is pretty arcane. It’s not exactly general knowledge.
By comparison, taking a walk round Hermann Park and looking at the handful of main fountains is a pretty obvious thing to do considering all the references in the image and verse to water spouting and veering. Realising that the date on one of the plaques is double the number of the train you’ve been staring at, and seeing a possible pun on “two the number nine eight two”, is simple “boots on the ground” stuff by comparison, though pretty crafty.
Arabia is practically synonymous with mathematics. I’m just throwing it out there as a possibility. These puzzles aren’t going to be solved without some new ideas.

I heard of this but didnt know it was based on the donkey jawbone.  The Vibra-slap patented in 1969.
Notice the large ball end.  It basically rattles a bunch of teeth inside a resonating chamber.  I cant help but pair this with the rattlesnake.

I also posted a detailed map of the zoo at the same yahoo group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/armchair_ … rmannPark/
wilhouse

Is too far fetched to say the word lion sounds like the word line?

What I know of Preiss (and of course it’s very little) I doubt he would have been able to converse on entropy, enthalpy, heat transfer, solids of composition, newtonian physics, semi solid liquids, non-newtonian fluids or faster than light travel.
Though he did publish lots of sci fi
wilhouse

*sigh* this hunt is just a big tease!  How does one cope?

WR, you don’t like my fortress photo?
wilhouse

It’s a possibility, but worth keeping a lookout.

Cold as Glass, seems to fit my entropic silica idea.  Folks don’t seem to understand the concept of Entropy so well, so if you do, then you’ll get it like its clear as day.  Glass is really not the best example of a low entropic solid since its molecules are suspended in a “water” like liquid posing as a solid formation (please know this aas a fact).  Something very similar to Glass, formula-wise is Quartz, which is this amazing compact and ordered super low entropic solid.  The noteworthy thing about this form of Silicon Dioxide is that in crystallography it has been categorized according to a system attributed to Carl Hermann.  He was a distinguished German scientist who was helpful to the Jews during the Holocaust and lived by the principles of the Quakers.  Friendswood, South of Houston, is the headquarters of the Quaker organization for the Houston area.
Glassel is a nice safe word similar correlation, but my coffee-saturated-gut tells me the Carl Hermann connection is 100% on track.  Sorry if it sounds even more obscure than the Melville quote…

I’m really okay with the Glassell School being a marker for something that’s just north of the park, without needing a south marker.

forest_blight

…there is nothing “fortressy” about the Glassell. The building does not look like a fortification, and we don’t go around comparing all buildings to fortresses, do we? Third, why “cold”? What is cold about the Glassell? Or about Houston in general?? The Glassell theory does not seem right to me.

Agreed – I like the railway quote, but it still doesn’t explain the fortress, and having two really obscure quotes in the same verse might be a bit much even for BP.
I previously considered  “melons as cold as glass” from the poem
The Fan
, which also features Arabian winds; but similarly, it’s another obscure quote, it doesn’t connect with “Fortress north” (except via the obscure anagram of Melos N) and it doesn’t actually help. The lines also reminded me of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, but that doesn’t explain the “glass”. I think we’re still looking for the meaning of these lines.

Unknown

Unknown:
I think this has GOT to be a play on words, like a pun.  There is probably a word or phrase with “wood” in the name, that for some reason no lion fears it.  For example, an old riddle is “What room has no walls, no floor, and no door?”  The answer is a mushroom.  Get it?  “The wood no lion fears” is _______wood, or something along those lines.  We just have to solve the riddle.

I found this reading thru back posts….
What about HOLLYwood?
No (MGM) Lion fears Hollywood.
It might be pointing to a theater, a movie house or a film.
So, accordiing to a couple people, this location was confirmed by BP. Why, then, was the casque not found? And why wasn’t the Wiki updated with the confirmation?
Just curious.

Fortress north
Cold as glass
The Glassell
Friendship south
Texas, and the Friendship Pavilion
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
The SP982, plus a sly hint at the nearby fountain with its 2 x 982
Through the wood
No lion fears
In the sky the water veers
This fountain, by Wood.
Visual confirmer…
Small of scale
Step across
Perspective should not be lost
Scale of C
Small C (programming language)
Step across the C-shaped parking lot from the fountain.
Visual confirmer:
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
In December night
Quote from Pierre concerning a leaf falling -> the white leaf on the sign seen at this spot…
It’s small, split, three-winged, slight, in the center of four, featuring the word “center”, and a leaf, which is what falls in the Melville quote.
“…what we take to be our strongest tower of delight only stands at the caprice of the minutest event – the falling of a leaf”
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
Looking back at the fountain from the fence.
A whistle sounds.
Probably a train whistle.
More visual confirmers:
The Chicago casque was beside a wire fence…
…and so is this one, at the foot of the 11th post.
Why the 11th…? This is indicated by the row of 11 tiles with an “11” above it.
That’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it. The only way to prove or disprove it is to try digging a hole there.
Is there any other theory which attempts to explain everything in the verse and image, points to a very specific spot, pulls quotations off local signs like the two solved casques, and could be tested tomorrow by a volunteer with a spade?
I rest my case. I will now stand aside and watch patiently as this revelation is buried under piles of nonsense over the coming years, while the casque rests in its leafy bed, awaiting the bright soul who will bring it triumphantly back into the sunlight.  😉

well, there was no small c programming language in 1982.
wilhouse

wilhouse

well, there was no small c programming language in 1982.
wilhouse

there was,but the average joe prob didnt have access,or understanding of the puter
$$$ were prob a factor
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/04/ … computers/
http://library.thinkquest.org/22522/timeline4b_en.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language
forgot that link

Three winged could also refer to a building that has three distinct ‘wings,’ or sections… For example, similar to the Mirage in Las Vegas…  A small hospital maybe?  Like a veterinary clinic?

you’re right typler, i was trying to think of it in a different way than had been mentioned, like the building wings or something with 3 wings.
the step across could also be step over RR crossing.
in the middle of four alke could also be like the four fountains, or four of anything instead of “2”
like this in the sculpture garden:
these sculptures by Matisse are called Back I, Back II, Back III and Back Iv
http://flickr.com/photos/92663783@N00/1 … otostream/
perspective—- 1. a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface.
2.”a visible scene esp. one extending to a distance
3. the facts known to you”,
4. or a child’s view
or does it mean “vision” like dick dowling’s binoculars,

wilhouse
so his wife says she has the jewels but byron said he lost them?

Maybe one tree is small, one is split, one is three winged (or split three ways), and one is slight (thin).
The reason that they are alike is because they are all trees.
What do you guys think?

regulus

Maybe one tree is small, one is split, one is three winged (or split three ways), and one is slight (thin).
The reason that they are alike is because they are all trees.
What do you guys think?

Unknown

Unknown:
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight

I think you keep reading the poem as saying “three-winged” as a single adjective.  It is really two words, and can be interpretted in several ways.
(a) in the center of 4 identical (or similar) things
(b1) these things may be small, and spread apart — separate, not that each is itself a split item
–or (b2) something else is small, now [you are to] split, leave, go, take another path…
(c) three [of the four of them are] winged…
It’s all in the pauses.  Poetry packs an entire paragraph of meaning into a single word, sometimes.

forest_blight

wilhouse directing his crew in Hermann Park:
Just kidding! But I wonder if these guys encountered any mysterious plastic cubes while laying pipes…

What about an ad in the local paper.  You never know.  If a construction worker did find it one day many years ago, and happens to see the ad (or perhaps someone who he told about it), you may get a call.  “Hey, I did find something back in ’91.  I still have it.”

“Through the wood
No lion fears”
I have seen many references (media/map/guides) that
describe the zoo as a ‘jungle’  (Saturday night in the jungle)
If the lion is ‘king of the jungle’, he would have no fear.
(As one is at the ‘982’ train, ‘through the wood’
(or to the jungle) would seem a very obvious next step.
“Perspective should not be lost”
I haven’t seen anyone else explain this phrasing so I will
reinterate my thoughts.
After passing by the lion exhibit, one is directed to:
(1) water veers, (2) small of scale, (3) step across
making the assumptions of the
(1) aqua tunnel (2) children’s zoo (3) bridge
The ‘perspective’ that we are now in is that of a child.
(a small zoo in a larger zoo)
At this pharse, the closest buidling (past the bridge)
should be the ‘find you lost child/security’ building.
(next to the often mentioned ‘party building)
So if one literally ‘loses one’s perspetive’
then they would find them at the lost and found center.
This phrase more than anything else confirms this
present location.  (and we are back with Wilhouse
and his present theory)
Also, keep in mind, the 1981 location of
Brownie the Elf fountain/wishing pond.

A few observations:
1. Egbert, I am not the one going to Houston this weekend, but one of us is.
2. Everyone should check out this map and its links:
www.houstonmuseumdistrict.org/map.htm
3. As shown by the map in the above link, immediately north of Hermann Park is the Museum of Fine Arts, which includes the Glassell School of Art; “Fortress north / Cold as glass”
(Ok, a reach.  No reason to call it a “fortress,” and I wonder if some kind of “ice” is implied by these lines).
4. The website for the Museum of Natural Science, close to Hermann Park, notes that this museum has a huge granite globe revolving in a fountain.  Picture 8 includes a large globe on top of one of the columns.  Also, someone mentioned what looks like the number 95 in the tree, and the museum district map link shows that highway 59 runs through (OK, probably another attempt to force the clues to fit).
–Johann

Here is a site with maps and info about the park.  The site has outdated links to many of the attractions we’d like to see, though:
http://www.hermannpark.org/maps.htm
Here’s another site with a map link:
http://www.houstonzoo.org/Index.asp?Page_ID=25
The archery reference sounds good.  However, would a verse really refer to archery targets which can be easily moved?  Maybe there are statues near the archery range?  I would love to see 4 statues of arrows — one small, one split, one with 3 fletchings, and one slight.  Or how about trees?  A split tree is possible.  Johann, if you get to the miniature train, look for 4 of something — even trees — and walk through the middle of them.
I’ve been racking my brain about what would “fall gently in December night.”  Snow?  hmmmm.

sorry, no snow in Houston
how about a waterfall?
by the way, leaves do fall in December in Houston, especially Oak tree leaves.  If you look at pic 8 (zoo animals, water spout, train track on the ground) you will notice a tree that looks suspiciously like an oak tree.  I believe it is the only pic with a tree.
ok, when Melville talks about our Strongest Tower of Delight, he is talking about his father and the loss of idealism he has for his father.
but he is also talking about anything we hold dear.  symbolically, “falls gently in December night” could mean the old year falling away or the holidays falling away. so perhaps there is some holiday item that is removed at the end of the year.  it being January, it would already be gone though.  Just ruminating to see if anyone has a thread to explore on this item.

Unknown

Unknown:
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight

Hey excellent link on the park Willhouse…. I was just reading thru in the info and something caught my eye,
I’m an Archer from way back… these few verses may be references to the archery range that is also in that park..
In the center of four alike (a target)
Small, Split, (some targets have split rings)
Three winged and slight (arrows all have 3 fletchings/they could certainly be referred to as slight)
Something to think about!
Anyone have a map layout of the park?

I want to post my current thoughts on the verse both to get them down, and in the hopes it might spark a conversation on what the unknown parts might be:
Fortress north
-both the gorilla house and aquarium are north of the children’s zoo and are fortress-like
Cold as glass
– could be cold, like you’re cold so go south, or the aquarium is made of glass
Friendship south
– Friendship woods, garden, lantern, lots of friendships in the south end of the children’s zoo
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
– train
Through the wood
No lion fears
– through the zoo, past the lions?
In the sky the water veers
– the fountain in the lake, which is 30′ high, or the aqua tunnel in the CZ, which has water going over your head
Small of scale
– the dwarf cattle or goats
Step across
– go over the bridge
Perspective should not be lost
– you’re now in the middle of the CZ, which looks like a zoo in miniature
In the center of four alike
– you’re now in the center of the 4 petting zoos
Small, split,
– ?? could be dwarf animals for small, ??
Three winged and slight
– two hawks in the NA compound, one with a missing wing??slight??
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
– Herman (Melville) and Pierre, the llama in the CZ
Falls gently
In December night
– Snowflake, the llama, from Pierre
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
– Brownie the Elf fountain, or return line in the aqua tunnel (spout is a pipe), or perhaps drinking fountains in the CZ
A whistle sounds.
– Nabisco cookie factory down the street had a whistle at noon and 5pm. also, trainers used whistles. and traffice cops outside zoo used them
Now, matching this with P8
Columns with camel and rhino are the entrance columns in CZ to various areas.  Pole with globe looks like light poles with globe lights in CZ.  Hat on Djinn looks like hat on Brownie the Elf.  Berms in back are similar to berms near gorilla house, just north of CZ.
30 and 95 in tree is Lat/Long of Houston. Also potenial “zoo” spelled out in tree. Star in sky looks like layout of 4 petting compounds and walkways.
Unknowns are poles in background, platform, raised bricks by camel, modern art looking piece (though that looks similar to gorilla house outline).  Possible partial Texas map on floor near Djinn.
that’s all I can think of.  I feel like I’m one clue away from figuring this out…
wilhouse

I marked on the map where the elf was in 1982. It is not in the CZ anymore.
wilhouse

Then the trouble with the elf
is he is not where you would look back from the treasure ground
unless your path takes you past him he wouldn’t be looking back
his location would be forward.
So that either means the spout is the aqua tunnel
or your path is wrong.

Falcon, I have a bunch of photos of the fountain posted. It is about 1/2 mile north of the zoo, the Meecom fountain.  You actually have to pass two other fountains to get there.
Fenix, how can you be in the center of 4 different places? But surely they all had some winged animals.  If the center of four alike is not the center of the 4 compounds, I have no idea where it is.
wilhouse

None of the compounds have towers in them.
I have been thinking.  What if delight is a play on words:
de-light, the light.
Falls gently in december night. December, 12, noon, north.  North of a light?  There are only two globe lights near dirt, and only one with dirt north of the globe light.
I’m going to dig there tomorrow.
wilhouse

Cool Good luck
I am going to go dig tomorrow too!
Here is the picture you updated.
So from the area you plan to dig, You can turn around and see the spout, right?

is that where the elf is now, or where the elf was in 1982?

Unknown

Unknown:
I have been thinking.  What if delight is a play on words:
de-light, the light.

That makes sense to me – BP did it in verse 7
With “first accross”
if you are following the path Before you get to highway one
you first come to A cross.

Its been a long time since Ive been here but good to see people are still in the hunt.
I managed to get a copy of the secret for about £6 and will needto have to read all the post here to see what ideas are out there. I did a quick search to see if anyone posted this before and nothing came up.In the verse “friendship south” could that just mean Texas as that its motto?
Also the park has the brownie statue and in the book page 174 has werner von brownie and a picture of a space shuttle which makes me think of houson. The brownies  are likely named after Wernher von Braun said to be the father of United States space program. The picture on page 175 could also be argued to have a area of water though it could be a patch of lighter earth than the bronies are on. My thinking is thats it looks Reflection Pool in the park which has changed a lot recently see 2nd picture down
http://www.hermannpark.org/gallery.htm
. I dont know what we are allowed to scan from the book but hopfully most of you will have a copy.
Now the problem with these sort of puzzles is that its very easy to go way of track  or see things you want to see. So perhaps rest of the book has nothing to do with the hunt. I saw some other things in the book but will try to post it tomorrow as its too late tonight.
One last thing I dont tihnk anyones mentioned is using
http://maps.live.com/
as you can get some nice over head view of the park.  I dont know how recent the picture is. There have some areas of Scotland on it which are around 4 years old. The first thing that jumped out at me when I looka t the park is what I think is the sam houston mounument  just right of museum of national science. It has 4 trees(?) around it . Yet any other picture I have of the area does not have them and the mounument even looks different. Perhaps someone who knows the area can have a look on live maps and see what they think.

Of course!!! You must be right about “friendship,” geist – good call!

Doing a lot of brainstorming, and looking at old pictures, the verse could be taking us essentially around the CZ.  If we keep going through the center area to the west side, and you look around, what you see is a pen for dwarf donkeys (small) a split pen for llamas, a pen for birds. No telling what slight is unless it’s a real play on words and means light, which is there too.  If you look north, you look at the concession stand, which looks like a cylinder, or a tower.
So, OK, what if the concession stand is the tower of delight?  We know the two lines “What we take to be Our strongest tower of delight” is a quote, so we can’t take it completely in context.  What if the tower of delight is ALSO the tower of the (d) lights – the globe lights, as the concession stand had the globe lights.
Ok, that takes you to the concession stand, where you can look “back” and see the spout of the aqua tunnel.
So, what are some thoughts on the next line: “Falls gently
In December night”?  We know that Preiss used the months sometimes to designate the tone of the verse, so what if it is just “falls gently in night”? or “falls gently in 12 night?”
darkness, stars, snow (for december), the new year, fog, light, being awake
any takers?
wilhouse

At Herman Park, between Fannin and San Jacinto is a structure that is between three “wings”. Looking at it from San Jacinto in streetview, there’s a water duct: “There’s the spout!”.

Some thoughts from one who has not been involved for very long….
First, congratulations to wilhouse for getting into the zoo and digging — a major accomplishment all by itself.
Second, the following may not be helpful, but occurred to me:
1.  The verbiage in the verse seems to imply that once you’re “In the center of four alike”, you’re where you need to be.  Previous lines kept you moving (“Take…to…through…step…”)  Now you’re “In”, and the directions can be interpreted as lacking further walking directions.  So, by this theory, once you’re at the brick circle, you’re pretty much done walking.
2.  Now you have to figure out which direction to face.  From wilhouse’s pictures, there seems to be a sort-of crescent shaped dirt area between the intersection and the fence at each corner.  Three items on this one:
a. First, “Perspective should not be lost / In the center…” might be telling us to use the perspective in the Image to determine the direction to face.  Some of the columns in the Image very definitely appear to be aligned when you look at it in perspective, and the line drawings over on page 9 of this thread have lots of unidentified dots in and about the fenced enclosures, some of which line up pretty nicely.  If they are of any substance, do any of their positions match the columns in the Image?
b. Second, “Falls gently / In December night” seemed to me at first glance not about snow (you’re in Houston), but the Nativity.  Look at the star in the Image.  Matthew 2:2 says “…We saw His star in the east…”  If you’re standing in the center and the left edge of the image is E, then the remainder of the image is generally ESE, which is the Asia compound.  By this theory you should dig in the crescent of dirt between the crossing and the corner of the Asia fence.
c. To be tricky though, the Magi might have meant “We saw his star {while we were in} the east”, which would put the star of Bethlehem in the west.  That is the direction they travelled, after all.  Image star to west means LA corner instead of Asia, but I like Asia best — it seems to fit the ordinary Nativity interpretation better and the image looks more Asian that American.
3.  From the Melville quote, “What we take to be / Our strongest tower of delight” might just mean “the casque”.  That’s roughly how Melville uses it, to refer to what you hold the most dear.  Maybe these lines don’t refer to anything else at all (towers, snow cones, etc.)
Happy Hunting.

Pine, you’ve given me reason to hope. I will test out your theory next week.
I too have often wondered if there was more of a connection to the Asia exhibit.
wilhouse

I didn’t expect to find myself thinking about Verse 1 today. I re-read it, and I have some thoughts. Below I present my thoughts along with the verse, line by line. Hopefully this will revive discussion of this verse/pic combo.
Fortress north / Cold as glass
Why
glass
? When I cast about for nouns to help me illustrate the concept of “cold,” glass is not at the top of my list. It works, but there are much better alternatives, and it doesn’t even rhyme properly with
task
. Is this choice significant?
In Houston, immediately north of Hermann Park is the Museum of Fine Arts, which includes the
Glass
ell School of Art. But why would this be described as
cold
or a
fortress
? What is it about the gorilla house and aquarium that make them “fortress-like”?
Friendship south
I find it unlikely that
Friendship
refers to something literally called “friendship,” just as
compass
in Verse 8 refers to neither a literal compass nor something with “compass” in its name.
wilhouse, on the other hand, notes that the woody area across the street from the zoo was once known as “Friendship Woods.” How do you know, and do you have any documentation? Would BP have known this?
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
Pretty certain this refers to the locomotive #982 (until recently) on display in Hermann Park. No further discussion necessary.
Through the wood
No lion fears
I am still not satisfied with the theories on these lines. If the verse leads us on a trail to the treasure, then the phrase could refer to anything physically between the 982 and the aquatunnel.
In the sky the water veers
Small of scale
We also
know
that
In the sky the water veers
is a reference to the aquatunnel. I strongly believe
Small of scale
is BP cleverly referring to the fish there (fish have small scales — thanks, Fenix).

Step across
Probably a reference to one of the bridges, either between the Africa and Asia enclosures or between the North America and Latin America enclosures.
Perspective should not be lost
What perspective? That of a child? This is a children’s zoo, after all. And why is it important to retain the perspective of a child?
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
In the CZ, the most obvious candidate for
four alike
is the set of four enclosures (North America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia).
I can’t shake the notion that
In the center of four alike / Small, split / Three-winged and slight
should be taken as a unit. In other words, the
four alike
, whatever they are, might be described by the four adjectives
Small, split / Three winged and slight
. Alternatively,
Small
and
split
may be two separate adjectives whereas
Three winged and slight
may be taken as a unit, referring to the statues. Alternatively still,
Small
and
split
may be interpreted as a unit (the dwarf goats mentioned by wilhouse would certainly be
small
and would have
split
, or cloven, hooves) while
Three winged and slight
could be either one or two (or even three) descriptors.
What do the adjectives refer to? There are many possibilities. They could refer to the statues. The wooden cut-out animals seen in some of the photographs of the CZ fences show hawks and goats, so these descriptors might apply to those as well. Finally, they could describe North America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. But this section of the verse makes less sense if the adjectives are meant to apply to the continents themselves. While Latin America may be described as
split
by the Panama Canal, the other adjectives are difficult to pair with the remaining continents. And what is the difference between “small” and “slight,” anyway?
BP would not want us to dig up an entire park, and thus his clues must point us to a specific square yard or so in which to dig. What about this verse precisely locates the treasure? The only real candidate is the word
center
, as it denotes an indisputable exact location to dig. If
center
is where “X marks the spot,” so to speak, then the whole question hinges on what
four alike
refers to, and nothing else.

Unknown

Unknown:
Judge, then, how all-desolating and withering the blast, that for Pierre, in one night, stripped his holiest shrine of all overlaid bloom, and buried the mild statue of the saint beneath the prostrated ruins of the soul’s temple itself. As the vine flourishes, and the grape empurples close up to the very walls and muzzles of cannoned Ehrenbreitstein; so do the sweetest joys of life grow in the very jaws of its perils. But is life, indeed, a thing for all infidel levities, and we, its misdeemed beneficiaries, so utterly fools and infatuate, that
what we take to be our strongest tower of delight
, only stands at the caprice of the minutest event–
the falling of a leaf
, the hearing of a voice, or the receipt of one little bit of paper scratched over with a few small characters by a sharpened feather?

Unknown

Unknown:
Are we so entirely insecure, that that casket, wherein we have placed our holiest and most final joy, and which we have secured by a lock of infinite deftness; can that casket be picked and desecrated at the merest stranger’s touch, when we think that we alone hold the only and chosen key?

What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
In December night
Clearly a reference to Herman Melville’s novel
Pierre
, Chapter 2 (well, clear in hindsight; thank you Egbert!). The relevant passage is:
What
falls gently
in this excerpt from Pierre? A leaf, but only figuratively, and I think BP intends more than that. Wilhouse’s revelation that the CZ kept two llamas named Pierre and Snowflake indicates that this passage serves multiple purposes. Pierre may refer to Herman Melville and hence Hermann Park, and that which
falls gently
may be Pierre’s pal Snowflake. Or, it could be a reference to the Japanese lantern. Light
falls gently
, and the lantern is arguably a
tower of delight
(
de light
, as wilhouse pointed out). I like the thermometer theory, too.
My favorite part about the
Pierre
find, however, is that the passage quoted above continues, thus:
BP’s sense of humor was wonderful.
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds.
If the thing in the center of the enclosures is the
treasure ground
, then looking back, you would see the spout (Brownie). Besides Brownie being literally a fountain (spout), note that in Image 8, the djinn is sitting atop a water spout!
…and if the djinn refers to Brownie the elf (note the hat), then
spout
also refers to Brownie the elf.

The time for wilhouse to dig up the CZ is rapidly approaching. Let’s do what we can to narrow down the search to a square foot of property for him.
wilhouse – did you ever get those blueprints from Seattle? The reason I ask is that there is still some confusion over what precisely that hole-filled concrete thingy is, smack in the center of the CZ enclosures. Was it built expressly for the Japanese lantern, and if so, were the holes around it for flowers or for lights? The blueprints might shed light. I know you dug there, but are we certain that the bricks were laid prior to when BP buried the casques? If it was just a grass spot at the time, it would have been a great place to bury treasure. You said, “The central hole is not a hole, it is concrete, and always was,” but it seems strange to make a hole and fill it with concrete for no particular reason. Can you provide a timeline?
We need more old photos of the CZ. The more, the better. How much would it cost to place an ad in the local classifieds? I would pitch in!

forest_blight

did you ever get those blueprints from Seattle? The reason I ask is that there is still some confusion over what precisely that hole-filled concrete thingy is, smack in the center of the CZ enclosures. Was it built expressly for the Japanese lantern, and if so, were the holes around it for flowers or for lights? The blueprints might shed light. I know you dug there, but are we certain that the bricks were laid prior to when BP buried the casques? If it was just a grass spot at the time, it would have been a great place to bury treasure. You said, “The central hole is not a hole, it is concrete, and always was,” but it seems strange to make a hole and fill it with concrete for no particular reason. Can you provide a timeline?
We need more old photos of the CZ. The more, the better. How much would it cost to place an ad in the local classifieds? I would pitch in!

no, I never got the blueprints, but when I next get to the zoo I’ll ask again.  I have a photo, I think I posted it, clearly showing the lantern and the tiles around it.  nothing is in the holes.  The photo is from Dec 1978, see below. The reason the central hole is full of concrete is because it’s where the lantern was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Azy5IRIdzc&t=15s
from 1985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfJWLk1R7E4
– lion fountain has a block that matches the outline of the fountain in section J/K 9/10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTSXQor87OY
= the childrens zoo in the 1980s
heres another
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq_8bSkTVpA
= 34 seconds is the fountain

and ironically where it was in the early 80’s was not where it was in the 90’s, so it’s moving is almost irrelevant.
wilhouse

I haven’t had time to do research like I’d hoped, but eventually I will. I’m going “troving” in a state park this weekend, and hopefully I’ll have time after that.
One thing, though, while I’m thinking of it. At the time the casque was buried, were animals in the enclosures? Did they stay in the pens overnight or were they taken elsewhere in the zoo? If the animals slept right there in the enclosures, that might eliminate the enclosure interiors from consideration.

Jam, good one (golden bear reference)
I don’t know when the japanese garden was built, but it was dedicated in 1984. That probably means it wasn’t there in 82.  Also, there is no way he could have buried it IN the garden. It is all sculpted and such and there would be no where to bury it without digging up the garden.  I too liked that spot and looked all around it.  there is some bare areas around the garden, but a lot of it was renovated so if it was there it’s gone.  that’s why I gave up on the park itself, if it was there, it’s gone now.
wilhouse

Any chance this could be dug up on April 13th, exactly three years since this thread began?

no, more like august 13 or september 13.  by april 13, it will have been paved over and lost forever.
for those who don’t know, catherwood started me on this specific trail with her post 3 years ago, though I have been looking for over 20 years.
wilhouse

Awesome work (and great site) Mr Tex. Can I request some photos of the area in front of Herman Park Dr, directly in front of the Miller theater? Facing what used to be the picnic area where the star was. I was just there last year and it looks like a different park altogether.

Rookhunter,
I posted some pictures at the bottom of my website for you that I took from outside the Garden Center along with a short video. I think you can tell how much it has changed from them. Lots of trees were removed and lots of dirt hauled in plus lots of concrete curbs and sidewalks installed.

wilhouse

I guess in my mind, when he told me “it would not be a waste of time to dig there”, that was all the credit I needed.
wilhouse

How do these words specifically apply to that area among the pillars in the CZ and yet BP also said “you have the right location, but wrong area” (not sure of his exact words)? I mean WTF was that about? What critical step in the solution was wilhouse missing that Preiss didnt just say “close enough, here ya go” and ship him the ruby?

it might be there…it would not be a waste of time to dig there, but I cannot make any
guarantees whatsoever
Ellipsis.
Waste.
Time.
Lachesis, one of the three fates, her task is to determin how much time a persons life may have.
I think Preiss gave Wilhouse a serious clue.

I believe Preiss utilized a commonality or theme to set the Houston casque.  “The end of the line” is the reference made my the 982 train.  The scissors of Atropos represent the “end of the line” that is a persons lifethread.

IN THE CENTER OF FOUR ALIKE SMALL SPLIT THREE WINGED AND SLIGHT          FOUR ALIKE = FOUR TREES
SMALL = SMALL TREE
SPLIT = SPLIT TREE
THREE WINGED = TRI TRUNKED TREE
SLIGHT = THIN TREE
THESE TREES PROBABLE MAKE A PERFECT SQUARE!
WILHOUSE!  LOOK AROUND AND FIND THAT SQUARE AND WE WILL HAVE (what is left of it) ANOTHER CASQUE!!!!!!!!!

forest_blight

Reg-
feel free to point out the spot…

forest_blight

I can’t remember if this occurred to us before. But could “There’s the spout” be a reference to Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”?
“There she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick!”

I think this was a really great observation. I recently watched the Heart of the Sea film which reminded me of the exclamation, “theres the spout!,” and “a whistle blows.”

“In the center of four alike”
As quoted from Cat’s link about the park:
“Begin any visit to Hermann Park at the entrance off the traffic circle that combines Main, Fannin, Montrose, and Hermann streets. ”     could these be our 4 alike?

Here is the first part off of wilhouse’s link:
“Bulb Garden (our orb?), a Fragrant Garden, a Perennial Garden, a Camellia Garden (camel?), a Friendship Pavilion (friendship south) and the International Sculpture Garden.

hmmmm, looks like plants/flowers are my thing all of a sudden.  When doing a google search for (“three winged” split slight) I got this:
—————————————————–
The Families of Flowering Plants – Trigoniaceae Endl.
… Free hypanthium present (slight), or absent … long or short staminal tube split posticously);
1 … capsule (usually), or a samara (three winged, in Humbertiodendron …
biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/angio/www/trigonia.htm – 7k – Cached – Similar pages
——————————————————–
this entry came 2nd in finds after The Secret
let us look to yet another garden…….

I want to throw something out just to see what people’s thoughts are.
While I do agree that Image 8 should be Houston mostly because of the lat/long, I still have some minor doubts about verse 1, simply because I can not find any part of it in Hermann Park, the only zoo in houston.
Ok, try this.  Our 982 train, which, yes is in Hermann park, was once part of the Texas and New Orleans railroad.  Right now we think that Image 7 is NO, but we have no verse.
Note that there is a place called Hermann-Grima house in the french quarter
http://www.neworleansonline.com/tours-a … grima.html
There is also a Friendship, La in southern La.
In the city park that Fox talked about, there are miniature trains and fountains.
I know this is a wrench, but I want to make sure all our eyes are open on things we don’t know.
wilhouse

hey wilhouse,
It is a good thing to not get stuck in a rut with an idea (take it from an expert…4Corners, what was I thinking?  ::) ) but, I think that more than just the 982 fits.
Fortress north
Cold as glass
………………Glassell School of Art
Friendship south
……………….Friendship Pavillion
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
………………. our infamous engine # 982
———————————————
Through the wood
No lion fears
In the sky the water veers
Small of scale
Step across
Perspective should not be lost
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
………. not yet deciphered
———————————————
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
…………. Quote from Pierre by Herman Melville
Falls gently
In December night
………… not sure but it could be referencing the continuation of the above quote: “only stands at the caprice of the minutest event-the fallling of a leaf.”
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds.
…………………is debateable.
So you see, there are quite a few solid confirmers here…especially the quote by HERMAN & the 982.  I think we have this V pegged.  If anything, I am still kind of leary with the P.

Could “through the wood no lion fears” mean go through the zoo?
wilhouse

veering water?  could this be it?
http://www.sixflags.com/parks/astroworl … water.html
It is only 4.2 miles from Hermann Park but whether you could see it or not…..?…who knows.  The Astrodome may be blocking it.  But what better place to have water veering in the sky than on giant waterslides?

you definately can’t see any part of astroworld from Hermann Park.  There are plenty of big fountains in the park that fit it.
Funny how I thinkt he pic is more solid – the 30 / 95 in the pic, the placement of the camel and rhino matching the placement in the zoo; the cross hatched line at the bottom matches the cross hatching on the zoo map that gives the route of the miniature train.
we’ll keep forging ahead.
wilhouse

lets put this one in the “plan b” kinda realm….but to me….and remember this is my first week here….that “fortress north cold as glass, friendship south take your task”.. looks like the fortress may be fort sumter….the home-plate shaped fort in image 2…..and if you go north from there, you’ll be “cold”….so take your task south…..south from ft sumter……
Now looking at aerial photos from the place…..dosent seem too very likely….but i thought id throw a plan b for ya to think about if you burn out on houston…..
your treasure guy from indiana

we do have confirmation that one treasure is in Houston.
wilhouse

Water can veer in the sky by way of a watertower.
–Johann

This hill was here (green dot) in 1981. Sadly the hill received some renovations in 1996.  The Atropos Key continues to sit on top, but the incline was steepened.  I don’t know if that means more soil was added or some was taken away.
I noticed that you could probably see the 982 from this hill but not over the top of the Miller Outdoor Theater roof, however you could see it to the side of the roof line.  You could aslo see the mini train in it’s smaller, old setting.  I still think it’s important to see the Sam Houston statue.  This hill makes it all happen.  If my theory holds, a closer investigation of the hill on the slope away from the theater might give us some clues.

Unknown

Unknown:
‘That’s good.—Help me, man; I wish to stand. So, so, I see him! there! there! going to leeward still; what a leaping spout!—Hands off from me! The eternal sap runs up in Ahab’s bones again! Set the sail; out oars; the helm!’

I think there’s a perspective on the ground which starts on a hill top where you can see the 982 train in the far distance and you can see the mini train as it passes closer on it’s tracks near the Pioneer Memorial.  You can see the Sam Houston statue in the center of four alike as well.  The 982 is south and the Sam Houston is north.  Walk north slowly and you looking back you’ll see the mini train disappear below the obstructing hilltop, continue to walk further down and then the 982 will also disappear.  That is the point where you could consider the analogy to Moby Dick swimming below the surface of the ocean.  It is also at that point where should a jet of steam erupt from the train, it would be just as if you’ve spotted the whale as Ahab does on Page 826 just before claiming the doubloon for himself,
Is there a hill anywhere in that area with shaded green?  The blue outline is a section based on establishing a view on both the 982 and minitrain.  The yellow triangle is based on a view of the Miller Outdoor Theater roof and stone pier blocks.

The park has been heavily modified. that area you are shading used to be full of trees like a forest, now its paved and many of the trees were removed. This is the biggest problem with this treasure. The aerial photos of the time were not good enough for us to get a good look at the ground.
I am contacting several leads in Houston to get old photos of the park. I wont be limiting myself to any one area, anything from the 80s in Herman Park. I am also looking for old schematics, plans or tree diagrams. Some where out there I should find some government record with clues as to how the park looked in the 80s. Like in forensic science I will attempt a reconstuction of the park.

Here’s the 1981 vs the 1944, agreed, lots of missing trees but also some new ones.
I liked this shot too.

Hey Wilhouse,
Any digging plans, now that the weather is moderating?
Pine

well, I was thinking of picking it up again next week. I have had a cold all week, so it depends on my recovery.
I have been a bit anxious to get back at it.
wilhouse

Yes & we too have been a bit anxious for you to get back out digging.  All together now “Find That Casque, Find That Casque, Find That Casque!!!”

Something to think about: looking back from treasure ground. Imagine laying on your back on the far side of the Miller Hill so your head is pointing in the direction of Atropos Key. Now tilt your head back and your eyes will shift from looking skyward to looking at the Atropos and that line will be perfect for lining up the tip point of the MOT roof in the center of the diamond shape face. Your head will then be directly above the digsite.

I want to review some notes for The Secret A Treasure Hunt book starting with page 16…where the line starts….
“Now, in the eternal whirlwinds above Persia’s
Mountains of Kaf
, appeared a caravan of magic-wrought carpets, and upon them rode the banished elder spirits of Araby: monsterous
Deevs
, desert-born giants; the
Peri
, bright and beautiful as starlight; and the wish-granting
Djinn
, formed of smokeless fire, at last free from Man’s lamps and bottles”
1. Mountains of Kaf: (definition of Kaf) – “the camel’s hump” or “the hand”. (Arabic)
NOTE: In image 8 there is a camel on top of one of the pillars. This gives us the visual reference.
2. Website link:
http://www.temehu.com/Cities_sites/kaf-ajnoun.htm
Kaf Ajnoun (Cave of the Jinn)
Mountain of Ghost: Devil’s Hill
The haunted natural rock
fortress
of Idinen, also known as the legendary “Fortress of Ghosts”, or Cave of the Jinn, is located in the southern region of Libya.
.
.
These images of the Kaf Aljnoun, also known as The Devils hill, the genies castle, the mountain of ghost or the jinn city…looks like the hill in the background of image 8.
3. (Book) Paradise Revisited: The Roots of Civilization (by Michael A. Cahill)
Asia –
The Peri
The
Peri
are the fairy people of Persia, where they represent the beings of forest and rivers. Like other fairies, they can be either friendly to human beings or else act as a hinderance to them. They were believed to emanate from a demon, but it was discovered that the
Deevs
(giants) had abducted and imprisoned them in iron cages like birds and hung at the tops of trees. These imprisoned Peri were kept alive by their companions, who brought them nourishment in the form of perfumes that they ate.. It is believed that the Peri were fallen angels that had repented to late to be accepted into heaven. The Peris are thought to represent the light and good forces of nature that are constantly at forces with the dark evil forces call Deevs. The fairies were invisible spirits that inhabited the subterranean earth. They were said to have powers that could influence and corrupt humans as well as take any shape or form, such as animals or even humans.
NOTE: In image 8, i believe the giant columns represent the Deevs, the north star represents the Peri, and the jinn (genie) represents the captured Peri that has been bottle up inside Man’s lamp.
IN CONCLUSION: (verse 1)
1.
The importance of the very first line FORTRESS NORTH..i think refers to the “Mountains of kaf” as stated above
. The legends of the Deev and Peri seems to be what Byron Preiss based his Persian theme in image 8. The photograph of the mountains looks similar to the background hill in image 8. Kaf meaning camels hump is represented in the column with the camel. The Sam Houston statue at hermann park has the same type column base that the camel/horse sits on. The capturing of the Peri and putting them in iron cages and having companions feed theme perfumes to eat…hints to the
houston zoo
.

Fenix, I am sometimes amazed at how our thought processes coincide.
The zoo director and I have been discussing those cinder block guys.  They were actually concreted into the ground, and they are at strategic locations around the children’s zoo.  They were at every corner of the contact areas.  The three you are looking at, looking at the asia exhibit, were turned into a garden called the Friendship Garden (Friendship South?). I am unsure of when, but we believe it was around 1982.  Were they there when Preiss was there? I don’t know. A sign for “future location of the friendship garden” may have been there too.
These guys are actually still in the CZ, over in another corner. I have looked at them.  One is small; one is thin (slight?); all three appear to have “wings”. Spooky.  And they were located right next to Asia.
When I get back to the zoo, I am going to investigate that area.  That and the dirt areas right outside the Asia fences are now my high priority areas.
I am trying to locate the engineering plans to the CZ which showed where the cinder block guys were.
As to the flag, I never asked what was flown, but I bet it was the Texas flag.
By the way, could the center of four alike be the “place” of four alike?  IE., the children’s zoo?
wilhouse

maltedfalcon

Why not just use here, as opposed to creating multiple locations and making it really confusing for anybody new who wants to join in
its seems to me you are just making it more difficult for new searchers.

I will do my best to post images and info here on the Q4T forums too. I agree its good practice to let others read and critique my work. Many members here have spent years and decades posting their opinions and insites. I know mark(wilhouse) now through facebook. I hope i can make any small contributes to the forums.
A newbie houston hunter,
-Dave

Johann, that is my thought.  Look at reply number 134, on page 9 of this thread. You will see where the small bridges are.  They are in between the Asia and Africa areas and between North and Latin America.  The each go from the  center outward.
wilhouse

OK, I see now.  Sorry, Wilhouse.

wilhouse,
looking at the map (assuming north up, south down)
You start way in the north and you follow the verse and it starts way out in the park and generally flows south
into the childrens zoo, and takes you over bridges past the landmarks in the picture through the center of all four quads.
to the elf being the most southern on the map…
what if you past him and went a little farther south to where you could only turn around and look back along your path.
the V of fence at the very bottom of the zoo.
whats in that location, could it be buried there?

Well, we’ve been dissecting this verse to death, haven’t we?  Is there any way we can get an updated map with everything on it, including which way is North?  Maltedfalcon did an excellent map before, but it didn’t have the friendship garden, the trains, or the tracks (where they were in 1982).
The “small of scale” line to me certainly seemed to refer to the mini train, not the bridge, but that’s just a guess like everyone else.  Also, we have not focused much on the “perspective should not be lost” clue.  That would seem to be important.
As for the Melville quote, it sounds like BP is referring to the llamas, Pierre and Snowflake.  He probably walked around the zoo, noticed the name “Pierre,” realized that Herman Melville wrote Pierre, and tied it in (along with the other llama).  I know that it would be strange for him to pick a live clue, but he probably only expected the hunt to take a couple of years.

from an artistic point of view
the fenceline at the bottom of the zoo is a diagram of perspective
the two lines of the fence forming a vanishing point and
running away to the “northeast” and “Northwest” to infinity…

The southern tip of the CZ is where the old entrance gate used to be.  If you note the big circle just north of that tip, that’s the auditorium.  You can not see anything but the auditorium from the gate. There’s no way to see either the elf fountain or the aqua tunnel.  The tip is really the street, not the CZ. The fence is really rounded.
If you are in the middle of the 4 areas in the CZ, it is a rather confusing view.  You are surrounded by contact areas, with plants everywhere and bridges.  I can understand his point of “perspective lost”.  It looks like you are in a zoo, but there’s no cages, and everything is miniature.
As for small of scale being the miniature train, what does that mean?  You can’t step over a train. You can’t step over the train station. You can only step over train tracks.  But you step OVER tracks, not ACROSS. Even if you stepped across the tracks, then what? There’s nothing in the Image that gives any clues out in the park.
Here’s a link to the current zoo map:
http://www.houstonzoo.org/Visit_the_Zoo … ctions.aqf
if you open this map, up is east, so north is left, by the entrance. The train is just north of the entrance.  At the right is the “future home of the African Rainforest”. That’s the old CZ.
The map we did in post 134 is accurate of the CZ in 1982. North is up.
Right below this is two pics that Falcon posted (THANKS!). The color map is from 81. The other one, from 79 or 80, I forget which.  I added the notes for north and the 982 train.
wilhouse

neither are cats. It’s just a common belief…a myth. The words “through the wood” in this old and familiar lyric might be Preiss’ way of connecting us to an idea involving a river crossing.
Let me say, my outdoor cat, Yoohoo von Voodoo is definitely not happy when it’s raining. He perches himself anywhere that’s dry and when I open the garage door he howls and tries to come in (this happens only when it’s raining). He tends to be a scared little furball in general, so maybe not the best example. The point or fact is that the idea of “cats being afraid of water” had been a widely propagated idea. Where the idea came from, and whether it’s actually true is beside the point. The speedbump in the process here is that the lions vs water aren’t typically correlated in the fear of water idea, whereas thecats vs water is common. Although a lion is a type of cat, I expect people typically think of a housecat and not a lion in most cases they see the word ‘cat’.

WhiteRabbit

I’ve probably said this before, but I wonder if the centre of four alike might have been a group of five trees in a curving line at the lake’s edge, reflected in the water, represented by this:
The continuation of the Pierre quote points at falling leaves, which might indicate trees, though the December night is hard to factor in.

I think you’re almost certainly right about the five trees. My interpretation is that four of the trees are evergreens (probably pines), but in the middle of those four there will be a smaller deciduous tree. That’s why the verse includes the bit right there about leaves falling in the December night. The casque is buried at the base of the deciduous tree. The final bit about “looking back” is telling us what we should see when we look back from the tree (to confirm which side of the tree we should be on).

Hello everyone,
It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Oregonian I was recommended to get into contact with you as you’re still actively researching the potential Houston cask. Please PM me if you’re interested in working together!
WhiteRabbit and I had been going back and forth via e-mail, and I figured I would post a recent response I received from JJP as I don’t see it having been posted already (not sure if this is the best thread, so please advise):
==============QUESTION================
On Oct 30, 2014, at 5:20 PM, Matthew Jenkins wrote:
Hello,
I was looking to get into contact with John regarding the artwork he created for Byron Preiss’ book “The Secret”. Despite his death, it has been recently brought to our attention that the treasure is still available and his wife will be accommodating future winners.
I am currently located in Houston, which was confirmed by Preiss prior to his death to be one of the definite locations of the treasure. Many believe it to be linked to image 8 and verse 1, but this was never confirmed or denied. As you may know Houston has been undergoing some rapid growth in these past few years, and construction has begun in many places (including our parks). The longer this casket goes unclaimed the smaller our chances are of finding it. Even in the 80s and early 2000s many of the clues and imagery were not arranged in the manner they were originally portrayed.
If there’s anything you can tell me, or offer as assistance it would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to working with you.
You can reach me at (713)882-5533, or reply via e-mail if preferred.
Thanks,
– Matthew
===============================RESPONSE======================================
Subject: Re: The Secret – Byron Preiss
From:
[email protected]
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 17:44:54 -0400
To:
[email protected]
To Whom it may concern – The information you have is false and woefully incorrect. Mrs. Priess is not honoring any treasure finds. She no longer owns the intellectual property rights. Byron Preiss Visual Publication contracts and copyrights etc… were sold in a bankruptcy sale years ago. The book is out of print. Should the new owners of the intellectual property rights resurrect this book, it will be their decision.
I cannot and will not help anyone find any treasures. I don’t know where they are. So please let the treasure finding community know this fact! Let it also be know that I will not respond to any future email messages or phone calls regarding “The Secret ” treasures.
Sincerely-
John Jude Palencar
www.johnjudepalencar.com

Just came across another 982 at Hermann..
http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/artinpar … phant.html
Friendship south
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
Through the wood
Also has “2”, Friends” and “Through”. Probably nothing, and not especially helpful; just thought I’d mention it anyway.
I’ve probably said this before, but I wonder if the centre of four alike might have been a group of five trees in a curving line at the lake’s edge, reflected in the water, represented by this:
The continuation of the Pierre quote points at falling leaves, which might indicate trees, though the December night is hard to factor in.
The McGovern lake might relate to “looking back” (reflection), the spout, maybe even the “mountains of Kaf” (Cafe).
I can’t help thinking that the lines
Small of scale / Step across / Perspective should not be lost
go together, and may relate to map scale; eg, crossing over the reflecting pool represented by the main pillar. Although stepping across the miniature railway is more obvious, that makes it difficult to find an interpretation for the “perspective” part.

A falling father?

In 1982, without the internet, was it BP’s objective for one who can figure out this part of the verse, to have read
Pierre
first?
Or was it the review by Hermann?
Edit:  I can see if the location was found first, Hermann, and stumbling onto Pierre, that would be fair enough.  Which seems to be the case here anyway.  Never mind…

erexere

Just a quick thought with the line “Looking back from treasure ground”, I think the word ‘ground’ may be a clue to look for something that uses electricity.

Shhhhhhhhh
jk

The weather is finally starting to cool down in Houston. Looking forward to doing some more digging as we get closer to Octotober. If there is anyone in Houston who would like to get together for a visit to Hermann Park or want to discuss my ideas and theories on Verse 1/image 8….just message me. I can text you my phone number if you would like to talk.

guys, what has happened? life has happened.  Katrina put the fear of weather into us, and Rita scared us to death.
heat – Houston set a record temperature yesterday for September, 102F, with heat index up to 108F.  If you guys think I’m gonna dig in that kind of heat you’re nuts.
When the weather turns, the shovels will come out in Houston.
wilhouse

Sounds reasonable enough House of Wil.  Just dont wait until the ground freezes over..ok?

Verse 1
Fortress north
Cold as glass
Friendship south
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
Through the wood
No lion fears
In the sky the water veers
Small of scale
Step across
Perspective should not be lost
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
In December night
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds.
(My prediction is that this is describing sights in the children’s zoo in Hermann Park, Houston, Texas)

Is this just a gut feeling Cat or do you have confirmers?  Nothing against you but I sure am hoping you are incorrect  8)

rfox, not sure if you want me to say this in the open forum, but I think your approach to the verses has missed the point.  For example, that one with “long palm’s shadow” is most certainly going to be anything BUT a palm tree.  That’s just how I would write a clue if I wanted to make a challenging treasure hunt.  It’s the same reason people mistook the verse for Chicago as pointing to Washington, D.C.: the word ‘congress’ was put in there specifically to throw people off.
So, how can we use the verses to find a location?  First of all remember, the images are what lead to the general location, while the verses are the specific instructions to follow once you get there.  If you interpret a verse to lead to a state, how will those clues also tell you where to dig?
As for verse 1, I found the number 982 to be a train which was retired to this zoo.  In the zoo is also a miniature train ride and trails, and most likely a lion and a fountain.  I am imagining myself walking thru the park and seeing the sights and sounds as *suggested* by the verse.  Of course, I cannot confirm any of this until someone goes there, but that’s my line of thought.
Of course, none of this will pan out unless one of the images can be mated to the state of Texas.  I am still hoping to order the book this week.  I think I am missing a lot of the details with just the online scans.

I remember someone else saying that this particular verse led to Yellowstone National Park, where Old Faithful the water geyser was…
‘There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds’

Fortress north  [Sculpture: The Alamo was taken by Santa Ana on March 6, 1836.  Sam Houston captured Santa Ana on April 21st, 1836.  Sam Houston’s statue is north of casque]
Cold as glass  [Sculpture: Atropos Key is in front of the Miller Outdoor Theater and is polished, tooled-surface, cast bronze -Anthem, a story by Ayn Rand wherein she describes polished metal as “smooth and cold as glass”]
Friendship south [Wild Guess: friend + ship = steward]
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two  [Historic steam locomotive No. 982]
Through the wood  [Plaque on Sculpture: Woodward, Patricia S. donated sculpture]
No lion fears  [Architectural: apex predator, subtract out that which is feared, “no predator” = apex]
In the sky the water veers  [Architectural: rain veers when it comes in contact with a roof]
Small of scale [Using a small unit to represent something larger: 1inch = 1 mile for example]
Step across
Perspective should not be lost [Maintain a straight path]
In the center of four alike  [Sculpture: the face of Atropos Key has four sides of equal length]
Small, split,  [Word: proportioned]
Three winged and slight  [Sculpture: Atropos is of the three who lot, measure, and cut the threads of life.  Atropos Key is skeletal with rib cage showing and showing no arms but has winged elbows or sides]
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight 
Falls gently
In December night [Wild Guess: Twelfth Night, the play, to indicate the setting of being next to the outdoor theater.  Shakespeare uses gender ambiguity.  Malvolio is a steward.]
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout! [Word: spout, to vocalize as one would orate in a play]
A whistle sounds.

Starting from the alamo, which was not a fortress, by the way it was a church.
and is not anywhere nearby.
If you take away Lion from “no Lion Fears, you would be left with Fears, Your leap to apex predator doesn’t make logical sense, why not jump to mane (mane) or a similar lion associated word.
seems much more likely when you are in a park where there are actually lions it has something to do with them rather than a forced leap in vocabulary.
once water hits a roof it veers, thats true, but it by definition is no longer in the sky. (so that just doesn’t make sense.)
When you read Wilhouse’s solutions  I go “Oh, yeah that makes sense!”
This just leaves me scratching my head.

Alamo.  Yes it was a church.  It seems odd to say a building fortified with soldiers and ensuing battle of great historic importance doesn make the Alamo a defacto fortress.  It isn’t a fort, but in the strictest sense it is the focal point of a defensive stand.  Etymologically and context wise it totaly makes sense.  Given that the Alamo isn’t nearby isn’t important to considering the context of Sam Huston.
Maybe I couldve rephrased my lion argument.  It makes sense to say a lion is an apex predator.  It then follows logic wise to say “no to predator and yes to apex”.  Nobody would fear an apex but everyone would fear a predator.

jayheedan1

Anyone know if/when/why Sam Houston became known as “The lion of Texas?”
One of his many tributes to him is a statute called a “tribute to courage” located on interstate 45 in the Sam Houston national forest.
A wood no lion fears?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tribute_to_Courage

Jay, this is cool to hear, I’ve never heard the lion reference before.
I believe the wood no lion fears is a reference to Atropos Key being donated by Patricia “Wood”ward and Sam Houston’s horse Leo. Which also ties into the Spout….you can see Sam Houston on his horse Leo spouting an order while pointing in the direction of his attack.
Sam Houston was a total bad ass.
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds.

As promised elsewhere, I am posting the results of my recent zoo expedition, mostly for historical purposes.
I was able, through appropriate begging, to procure the use of a ground penetrating radar unit (GPR) for the weekend.  The zoo is interested in finding some underground utilities. Y’all know what I am interested in.
I just got back from a meeting with the owner of the unit who helped me interpret the findings.  Using the unit is fairly straightforward. Figuring out what it says is not.
The bottom line is that there are several places, including the one place I have submitted as a solution to Preiss which is covered with concrete, that could hold the cask.  One other possible place is the one that pine tree suggested, by the Asia exhibit in the crescent shaped area near the center of the 4 exhibits.
So what does this mean? I need to find a way to efficiently dig in the rock hard Houston soil.  I will be investigating that in the near future.  Also, I have to convince the zoo director to let us investigate under the concrete.
More to come.  If anyone gets to the point that they think this might be helpful to them, let me know and I can give you a brain dump of  all I learned.
wilhouse

Ok, one week later I’ll jump in again.
Is it possible in your mind that the word “slight” is a little creative word play by BP? What if the word slight is actually two words? As in stop light….. “S”top””light???
Could “Three winged and slight” be referring to the actual location of the casque? The stop lights at the intersections (in the center of four alike) near the Mecom-Rockwell Colonnade are 3-winged (covers over each light). The ruby in Image 8 has the ruby (red light) with a shadow that appears to be a “hood or cover” like a traffic light.
Thoughts? Oh, and it’s my world Ren,…what do you think my friend?

Unknown

Unknown:
what do you think my friend

Well since you asked so nicely, I’ll tell you what I have told every other single person with a theory who has approached me with it. Sure, why not? Now what? I’ll suggest to you, my friend, (as has been suggested to me, and as I have suggested to others) that once you can answer that question intelligently, you will stop going down personal rabbit holes.

Go, Wilhouse!  (But be safe.)

Yeah, maybe you could find a doctor or something whom you could convince to hang out there with you while you dig…

so you believe the casque will be buried somewhere in this pic Wilhouse?  If I were a betting man (oooh, hey I am) I would say either right next to the tree with many forks in center of pic or behind the picket fence barely visible just past said tree.  Good luck… and quit waiting for cooler weather.  Get out there and dig man…dig.

To reply to myself, Dave, I found another version of the map in 1981 and it shows the tracks in much the same place as they are shown in the 1980 map.
So, what I wanted to add to the discussion is the following in the form of questions that maybe reflect the order we are to do things from verse 1 and see if most or any of you agree:
1. After identifying “fortress north and friendship south” (whatever they might be) do we end up in Hermann Park in Houston?
2. Then next, do we take our task to the “982” train in Hermann park in 1980?
3. Now do we go “Through the wood No lion fears”?
4. Do we then pass a fountain or something where “In the sky the water veers”?
5. And then do we find “Small of scale” and then “Step across”?
6. Next do we now find something “In the center of four alike”?
7. If we found it, is it “Small, split, Three winged and slight”?
8. Now that we are here, do we ponder the meaning of “Our strongest tower of delight Falls gently In December night”?
9. And next, do we find ourselves “Looking back from treasure ground”?
10. If “There’s the spout” is next, do we see it?
11. And finally, while standing here if “A whistle sounds” do we hear it?
Does my line of questioning make sense as to what I am getting at? I am trying to visualize if there is an order to be followed from the clues in the verse.
TexWriter

Can I just say that I picked a lousy week to get sick and not check the board? You guys rock–I think you’ve gotta be on the right track. No train pun intended.
Did I help at all?

Well, I spent about 4 hours in the park today. Very tiring looking for treasure. I am sorry to say I have nothing definite to report.  I took a bunch of pictures, and will pull them onto my computer this week and figure out a way to post them.
I can not definitely say what fortress north or friendship south means.  there are buildings north of the park that look like fortresses.  There is a Friendswood Texas south of the Park,
http://www.apartmentsclearlakegalveston … dswood.htm
, that was started in 1895 (note the 8, and 95 in pic
, but I have no idea if that is related to the Friendship south line.
When you start out at the train 982, you go south to go into the zoo.  North is a “Forresty” area, certainly a woods no lion would fear.  If you go through the woods, you pass a fountain, and then you get to the miniature train tracks.  If you step across them, you are right in front of the Sam Houston statue.  Around the statue are four trees, alike.  The statue is in the center of the four trees.  From the statue, you see another fountain (Meecom fountain) right behind it.  From the statue, as the miniature train passed by it sounded it’s whistle.  At the complete other end of the park is a statue of Hermann.  I did not do a complete survey of that area, so perhaps that is for another week. I am not sure you could see the fountain from there though.
I have no idea what the small, split, 3 winged and slight means.
However, I was not able to get to the statue.  It was roped off.  It is under construction (adding sidewalks and such) and won’t be open till April.  If there is something Small, split, three winged and slight up there I could not see it from below.  Frankly, if the treasure is up by the monument, I do not see how to get to it.  You would be stopped before you could dig more than 5 minutes.
In the zoo were camels and rhinos.  If you look at pic 8, the way the layout of the animals are is very similar to the park: the east side of the park houses the rhinos, while the west side of the park houses the camels.  At the west entrance, the drivers lane is boarded by huge concrete spheres, at about the same relationship as in pic 8. I notice in the back of pic 8, there are 4 posts. Perhaps these are representations of the 4 alike.  If so, their relative position to the park is right for the statue of Sam Houston and the 4 trees. I did not see a fountain which would be where the water sprite is, but I did not spend that much time in that direction.
I do not know what the December reference is to either, but there is a snow cone vendor that works right by the 982 train.
Any suggestions would be welcome, including a place to post a bunch of digital pictures.
wilhouse

Hats off to Willhouse!  You surely did have much “definite” to report.  Now we have a much more clear visualization of the scenario.  That is the nitty-gritty of this hunt.  What it comes down to is such on-site exploration, and I firmly believe that multiple recon visits are going to prove necessary.  First, we had ideas and internet-“telescopes” from an internet-edited distance.  Now we have been there virtually, and physically in Willhouse’s case.  “Every time that wheel turns round, you’re bound to cover just a little more ground,” as said by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia.
–Johann

Thanks Johann, I needed a nice word after a long day.
Most of the fountains were off when I was there. they are doing lots of construction and my biggest fear is that they have destroyed the box or buried it under concrete.
I noticed in one of the descriptions that they called the Meecom fountain a 3 tiered fountain.  it looks like a V, with the big fountain in the middle and a smaller one to each side and behind. Is it possible that that is 3 wings (tiers)?  If the phrase is: In the center of four alike, Small, split, Three winged and slight, could this be referring to 4 fountains?  If so, there is a very old, very small fountain in the plaza next to Meecom.  That could be small.  I don’t know what split and slight are, but if the fountains were all on, maybe I could tell.  I still wouldn’t know where to dig though.
It feels like it’s so close.
wilhouse

I still like the arrow for three winged… oh well!
here is an interesting reference to a plant (grows in Texas), uses the term “three-winged”?
http://www.nps.gov/bibe/teachers/factsheets/plants.htm
Sotol
Sotol, Dasylirion species, is composed of a cluster of numerous linear, flattened leaves that have hooked teeth along the margins of the leaf. The leaf bases are spoon-like. A tall flower stalk is produced each spring that has light colored, nondescript flowers clustered together. The fruit is three- winged and triangular. Twenty species occur in southwestern U.S. and Northern Mexico.
Sotol was an important source of materials for basket making. The young flower stalks were eaten, as were the seeds. The heart of the plant was cooked along with agave hearts in a stone-lined pit for several days and then eaten. The stalks were used to make temporary shelters, porches, roofs, corrals and walking sticks. When the sap is fermented it produces the alcoholic beverage also called sotol.

oops! here’s a pic of the plant
http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/desertecology/sotol.htm

Here’s some more crazy ideas for you. Three-winged…a triplane. Like the
Sopwith Triplane
. Sopwith Camel? Or maybe the Cactus Kitten, converted from the Texas Wildcat, the only design in history to go from a monoplane to biplane to triplane configuration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplane

WhiteRabbit

Here’s some more crazy ideas for you. Three-winged…a triplane. Like the
Sopwith Triplane
. Sopwith Camel? Or maybe the Cactus Kitten, converted from the Texas Wildcat, the only design in history to go from a monoplane to biplane to triplane configuration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplane

“Zepplin Killers”!!  Ooh i like that.  Thanks, lets add that to the caravan of ideas.

erexere

Thanks, lets add that to the caravan of ideas.

That caravan of ideas keeps getting longer and longer….

Here’s a random thought:
one use of the word wing I haven’t seen mentioned in this thread is a wing of a building (i.e. “the north wing of the hospital”).  Any buildings or animal pens in the CZ have 3 distinct sections that could be called wings?

yes, the llama pen.
sigh
wilhouse

Why does Preiss use the words “take your task”?

but guys, don’t you think the djinn is wearing a medical mask? and we have the museum of health and medical there and the cancer survivor place.
did the Brownie elf have a mask? ( i know this should be in the image thread
)
thank you for those pictures forest blight, they help a lot!
but i’m not convinced it’s in the zoo part ..( /me hides)

If the location image and verse were already confirmed by Preiss, then why is this going to provide any more “insight” than if the casque were found? If it had been there and found, then wouldn’t that be just as much information?
I vote yes. Contact him.
Let’s look at this realistically:
this hunt is 26 years old. Only two casques were ever found, both while Preiss was still alive. Nothing has been found since, we don’t know if the solutions are even extant–whether or not his estate would even honor a claim. No one really expects to get a jewel if they manage to dig one up. We’re all in this only for the puzzles–not the prizes. The books aren’t even in print any more. Why not use the information already gathered, and see if we can’t find out if it’s at least accurate?  In the case of the Houston casque, at least, where you have a definite confirmation, I don’t see that it will hurt anything. New insights are
exactly
what are needed here.

thank you for those pictures wilhouse! and thank you for answering all those questions!  i was way out of date with stuff.
i haven’t had time to read everything (again) in this thread yet so i’m not quite up with all your findings. i start looking up  things as i read, and it takes so much time!
i will try to find that picture again of the kids playing in the fountains.
would you mind giving a quick breakdown of what you thought everything in the poem to be? like:
Friendship south—–friendship pavillion
the way i’m reading it……and everyone interprets it differently…and tormorrow i’ll read it an entirely different way…but right now it seems to say: through the wood no lion fears……. the zoo….(you thought that too, right?)……but to me it is saying:,  go on through (or past)  the zoo
so…it could still be there …somewhere waiting for you
about asking anyone about the casques……see, all this is still new to me, and i’m still finding out stuff you’ve all found long time ago…somehow, being given the answer isn’t the same…….i think i’d rather they be hidden forever
but then, i’ve always loved mysteries

If the group wants me to contact JJP I will do so. I had thought, from Egbert, that he didn’t know much, so I didn’t think he’d be much help. I’d need an email address though.
Some more responses:
“in the center of four alike”  could mean the totem pole as
sen in the image.
there were not 4 of them. I wish there were.  Even so, the “center” of three of them is where I dug
“small, split” could be that three in the center of the photo
and if the spout – elf is as you have it super imposed,
your back would be to it if ou dug at that middle tree.
it’s really hard to tell, but most of that area is really ashphalt. the middle tree had a concrete bench by it. I tried to dig in there but the roots won’t let you get down.  I have to go back and see if that was a tree they kept or got rid of. If they got rid of it, that might be a good place to check, if they’ll let me back in, which they didn’t last time I asked.
OK, the poem.
Fortress north
-Turns out there’s a  cathedral exactly north of the zoo that looks like a fortress, see photos here
http://www.quest4treasure.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=732.270
Cold as glass
– The Glassell School of Art is made of tiles that look like ice. see image above, also north of zoo
Friendship south
– Friendship park just south of the children’s zoo
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
– train
Through the wood
No lion fears
– through the zoo, past the lions
In the sky the water veers
– the aqua tunnel in the CZ, which has water going over your head and veers left and right
Small of scale
– the children’s zoo is a “miniature zoo in miniature continents”
Step across
– go over the bridge or across the CZ
Perspective should not be lost
– you’re now in the middle of the CZ, which looks like a zoo in miniature
In the center of four alike
– the phrase and the next one will be engraved on my tombstone,
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
–
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
– Herman (Melville) and Pierre
Falls gently
In December night
– I don’t know for sure.
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout
! – the return line in the aqua tunnel (spout is a pipe)
A whistle sounds
. – Nabisco cookie factory down the street had a whistle at noon and 5pm. also, trainers used whistles. and traffic cops outside zoo used them
Now, matching this with P8
Columns with camel and rhino are the entrance columns in CZ to various areas.  BTW, the columns are exact matches to the totem poles in the CZ, with horizontal type divisions.  This was really the first indicator to me that this was the right spot, because it’s so definitive.  Pole with globe both looks like light poles with globe lights in CZ or if you stand right, there are globes around some of the building with appear to be on top of poles also around the building.  Hat on Djinn looks like hat on Brownie the Elf.  Berms in back are almost an exact replica of berms near gorilla house, just north of CZ.
30 and 95 in tree is Lat/Long of Houston. Also potenial “zoo” spelled out in tree. Star in sky looks like layout of 4 petting compounds and walkways.  Texas is outlined in the flagstones.  Cross hatching looks like railroad tracks, which looks similar to rails around the auditorium.
Unknowns are poles in background, platform, raised bricks by camel, modern art looking piece (though that looks similar to gorilla house outline).
There you go.
wilhouse

wilhouse – I agree with everything except:
1.
Friendship
I think is just the motto of Texas.
2. I think
small of scale
is a reference to fish (which have small scales) in the aqua tunnel.
3. There are poles in the background so that they total 7 (this is the July casque).

In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
Regarding these most tormenting lines of V1, we can read them as a unit in four ways:
1. All 4 are small, split, three winged, and slight.
2. One is small, one is split, one is three winged, and one is slight.
3. One is small and split, and the other three are winged and slight.
4. All are small and split, but three are
in addition
winged and slight.
So whatever “they” are, they are superficially “alike” (i.e., all 4 are* statues, trees, enclosures, or whatever), but are distinguishable on the basis of the next two lines.
* or rather, “were.” Curses!

Wilhouse –
Thanks again for reliving your nightmares…..
Perspective should not be lost
I believe (with its placement in the verse) references
the building used as the ‘lost children center’
It confirms that where you are standing, at that buiding
of the CZ is within feet of the casque.

I went back through all the pictures I could find of the CZ and took out ones featuring cinderblock statues. I counted at least 11 separate statues, located in clusters of 1, 2, or 3 (maybe more). Here they are, along with a map of my best guesses for where they were located (red dots). Please correct me if I’m wrong about those or left out any photos.

fox

which brings us back to the suggestion of contacting JJP.  since wilhouse has the photos and knowledge of this excavation, perhaps he should be our spokesman. at least JJP may let us know that we had the right pairing. he might even explain the clues. lets all decide on this before JJP gets a slew of annoying email from various hunters.

I vote no
I am unclear as to how explicit BP was in confirming that Image 8 was paired with Verse 1 but it seems that in most of his correspondence he was usually cryptic.  So unless he explicitly confirmed this pairing I don’t think it would be right for JJP to confirm it for us if he even in fact knows the correct pairing.  Part of the puzzle is to pair the image with the verse so even if the Houston casque is unrecoverable JJP confirming this pairing would necessarily help us by narrowing the possibilities for the other ones.  And I don’t think that would be fair.
Even if BP did explicitly confirm this pairing how would JJP know this.  I am not questioning wilhouse’s integrity I am just trying to look at it from JJP’s perspective.  Unless BP called him and told him that he had done this I don’t think that JJP would be comfortable in making this confirmation.
Even if JJP knew that the casque was buried in the CZ he most likely doesn’t know the exact spot and thus cannot make a determination as to whether or not the casque is still recoverable.
Again, I vote no, but it’s a free country do what you like.

1.
Friendship
I think is just the motto of Texas.
ok, that works
2. I think
small of scale
is a reference to fish (which have small scales) in the aqua tunnel.
agree, very possible
3. There are poles in the background so that they total 7 (this is the July casque).
ah, so the background poles are a hint to july? interesting.
this is my personal favorite:  2. One is small, one is split, one is three winged, and one is slight.
If this is it, then I believe they are the small cinderblock creatures planted around the CZ (you can see them in the old photos I posted), in which case that is a confirmer of where I was digging…
wilhouse

fox

.  . which brings us back to the suggestion of contacting JJP.  since wilhouse has the photos and knowledge of this excavation, perhaps he should be our spokesman. at least JJP may let us know that we had the right pairing. he might even explain the clues. lets all decide on this before JJP gets a slew of annoying email from various hunters.

I say that we do ask. BP already “sort of”confirmed the area. Even if JJP can’t or doesn’t want to offer a lot of details, it would be nice to know that the puzzle was as solved as much as it could be and that we can cross the verse/ image off the list. As Shecrab pointed out, 26 years is a long time….

I’m not sure I agree with you on many fronts Digger.
-Let’s suppose that Wilhouse did indeed one day unearth the Houston casque…this would lead us to cross off that I/V pairing and move on to the next location.  I honestly believe that Wilhouse (with the help of so many others on this board) has found THE location for this casque.  If not right on top of it…than pretty darn close.  In my book, that casque is found…unfortunately, just not able to be retrieved.  There would be nothing wrong with JJP confirming this.  If, after opening Wilhouse’s expansive email containing every imagineable pic of the area, JJP sees we have the wrong place..I am not expecting him to say “Nope…but try digging about 238 miles northwest.”  If we are wrong, we are wrong.  But, if we have it right, I see nothing wrong with a confirmation.
-You said “Even if JJP knew that the casque was buried in the CZ he most likely doesn’t know the exact spot and thus cannot make a determination as to whether or not the casque is still recoverable.”  He may not know the precise spot, within an inch or so, but I believe he knows pretty much were each casque is.  During his interview in the Cleaveland Plain Dealer after Sir Egg’s find,  JJP said “Then he’d {BP} Fed-Ex me these dossiers with obscure photos and notes.” when describing how BP traveled the country looking for places to bury his casques.  He could easily compare our notes and photos with the notes and photos sent by BP.

Unknown

Unknown:
He could easily compare our notes and photos with the notes and photos sent by BP.

If he still has them. Do I remember reading that he destroyed that material?

wilhouse

If this is it, then I believe they are the small cinderblock creatures planted around the CZ (you can see them in the old photos I posted), in which case that is a confirmer of where I was digging…

I like that idea, too. But how could they be described as small, split, etc.? Those seem like strange adjectives to use for the statues. One had 4 “arms” on each side. I guess they might be described as wings, but there were 4 or 8 of them, depending on how you count – not 3.
Here’s a thought. Those cinderblock thingies were made by somebody, and despite the fact that they were cinderblock, might whoever made them be an artist / sculptor commissioned for the job? If so, I’m thinking a Native American artist local to the Houston area.
Artists almost *always* keep photos of their sold works.
I would like to gather together all of our photographs of those cinderblock sculptures, and then try to locate the artist and find better pictures (and placement) of the complete set.

forest_blight

If he still has them. Do I remember reading that he destroyed that material?

Yes, he was contracted to destroy the documents/scraps/photos/notes
once he used them for the paintings.
Questioning him would be asking him to use his recall of events twenty-five years earlier.
He wasn’t given the thought process that BP used, he was just given a task to do –
(much like Michangelo with thhe church)

forest_blight

On another thread, wilhouse said (almost a year ago to the day), “Here’s something interesting I just found out from the zoo director at the hermann park children’s zoo. There used to be statues in the childrens zoo. Two of them were statues of hawks. One of the hawks had a wing broken off. He’s trying to find out when.”

wilhouse

I forgot all about that. I need to find some pictures and find out where they were.

I just went back and read all of the V1/P8 posts out of desperation. A June, 2005 exchange between me and wilhouse:
Did anything ever come of that? Am I the only one who thinks this sounds extremely promising (or would have, had the CZ not been leveled)?

I was daydreaming about the line in verse 1 the other day:
Falls gently in December night
and I heard the weatherman on the news channel say:  the temperature will fall gently tonight.
Ok, what if it is the temperature that falls gently in december night?  Temperature meaning thermometer?
I asked John Donahoe if there were outside thermometers in the CZ, and he confirmed that several of the buildings had them.
Perhaps that is the clue – the treasure is buried below an outside thermometer. Would BP choose something like that which could be moved as a landmark?
wilhouse

here’s another circle for you.  i was looking up more about the “what we take to be our strongest…” with melville and all……….and found he lived in new york, and that one of his poems about guiseppe gibraldi was hidden under the gariibaldi’  statue in washington square park and what caught my attention was everytime i read about gibraldi it had……1814-1871  and 14 and 71 are on image 11, the italian image, i know, i know it messes everything up, but still you never know, don’t kill me, just researching
http://alh.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/9/3/425
1st paragraph, 1st sentence
http://books.google.com/books?id=J9I9R_ … rk&f=false

slappybuns

and that one of his poems about guiseppe gibraldi was hidden under the gibraldi’  statue in washington square park

re-read your data, I think it says that a tribute to gibraldi was “buried” in one of melvilles poems (hidden in the words)  not hidden under the statue.

fox

Correctomundo reg.  i suppose you could discount the 982, but there is no way around the quote from herman

ok… just playing devil’s advocate here…
Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819
Melville died at his home in New York City early on the morning of September 28, 1891.
From searching wiki
“Pierre”
It tells the story of Pierre Glendinning, junior, the 21-year-old heir of the manor at Saddle Meadows in upstate New York.
…
He and Isabel then depart for New York City
Come on… I had to… after reading 31 pages of posts
I think I’m going crosseyed and my brain hurts

I’m aware of the remodels and additions to the science museum.  The fish is confirmed by an article in this
Smithsonian link
.

Again, I dont think we need to find what it is that falls gently blah blah blah.  I am convinced that this line “only” was used for us to find the author who penned that line which lead us to Hermann Park.  Similar to the “dauntless and inconquerable” (forgive me, I dont have my book at hand) line which lead us to the Wright Memorial plaque stating that.

Well, okay… but the
geyser
, fox, the
geyser
. There’s the spout!

Unknown

Unknown:
For any of you who are still following along, I want to bounce a theory off you. Egbert, especially you.
The book says that the casque is not buried in a planter.  I have problems with defining what a planter is.  I have to believe that BP wouldn’t want his treasure seekers digging up flower beds and bushes.  Almost all of the dirt areas in the CZ were flower beds. My mistake has been looking at it the way it is now, not the way it was. I contacted John D., the old CZ director and he confirmed that only 3 areas were not beds.  All three areas were grassy areas.  To find dirt only areas I have to go behind some buildings outside of the CZ where I haven’t really looked before.
Do any of you think that BP would bury these casques in a grassy area, where we would have to dig up the grass? Keep in mind that when he buried them, he’d have to disturb the grass. I’m not sure how long it was between burying and publication, but it is possible that he didn’t want to bury it in grass which is easy to see if it was disturbed.
If I eliminate all flower beds and all grass areas, I need to find other places to dig. That doesn’t leave much.  WHICH IS GOOD!!
wilhouse

Well, as far as I know, BP doesn’t know much about gardening, so he may not know how to dig up a grassy area and then replace it so it looks undisturbed.  My guess is that he buried it in dirt, not under grass.  The Cleveland treasure was in a rectangular plot of dirt, with bushes in the front.  But BP didn’t have to disturb the bushes to bury it.
Not sure about the Chicago location.

Egbert, if you check the topic called chicago pictures,  you’ll see that the chicago area was in grass, but the grass was spotty, kind of an abanded area. I find it hard to believe he’d bury one in a nice grassy area.
BTW, I’ve been meaning to ask. How deep would you say you had to dig before hitting the plastic box?
wilhouse

It turned out that it wasn’t deep at all — maybe 1 1/2 feet.  However, BP probably wanted to dig deeper but couldn’t, because he hit the foundation of the wall.  If he moved 1 foot further away from the wall, he could have gone much deeper (like I did!).  He probably figured “what the heck,” he had already dug the hole, so he may as well bury it there.

I am amazed that after all the posts stating JJP did not want to be bothered or questioned.
someone decided to bother and question him.
Makes the whole community look great!

Unknown

Unknown:
Makes the whole community look great!

Ultimately, we are each responsible for our own actions. I doubt many of the people familiar with this forum and how it works will bother to contact JJP any further. If not out of respect, then because he has made it clear that he will not talk about his collaborations with Preiss any longer. Personally, I think that’s a shame, not because I think he could help solve some of these puzzles, but because I think it would be a fascinating story that those of us who are interested in the puzzle as a whole would be interested to hear. Maybe James Renner convinced him to open up a little and agree to be interviewed for the documentary, but given Palencar’s general reticence, and his most recent statements, I’ll put that in the category of wishful thinking, along with the time machine, and final resolution of the line “after climbing the grand 200”.
Speaking of the documentary…

If the podcast is correct and we should see certain landmarks in the picture that coorespond to the the verse, what landmarks do we see that match the Glasswell Art School and the Friendship Pavillion? Are we just meant to stand at the place where the school and fortress is North and the Friendship Pavillion is south of you? If so, is that the SH Statue? Is the Miller Outdoor Theater the location clues or is there something else?
In both the Chicago (fence and wall) and Cleveland (planter/wall box) pictures, you can see a landmark in the painting at the dig site so until another one is found, perhaps the dig site is in all of the paintings, we just haven’t figured them out yet.
One more thing that has bugged me: On the rhino pole, the tree branch is SO thin compared to the other branches above it. It connects directly to the column and goes over it sort of like the hands in the cement on the Hollywood Walk of fame. Is/was there a place where hands are in cement somewhere in either the zoo or Hermann Park?

Focusing on the last line: A whistle sounds.
A whistle tends to have a higher pitch than other instruments. A steep rooftop may be said to have a “high pitch”. A whistle may be accomplished by a person as they force air past their pursed lips. I believe Priess combines two instances in one in his design which uses the diamond shaped opening in the face of the Atropos Key statue, an anthropomorphic case where one could imagine the statue is whistling, and the high peak point of the Theater roof just to the south of the statue. So in both instances, there is the occurance of “high pitched”.
This conclusion would be practically impossible to arrive at it if weren’t for the other lines of verse,
Through the wood = find a direction “wood-ward” or through the sculpture designed by a person named Woodward
No lion fears = subtract predator from apex predator giving apex or highest point of a rooftop
It’s very difficult spotting the objects or events of concurrence as it takes the right context and the ability to rule out many possibilities inorder to find a unique fit and a method for pointing to an exact spot.

I can’t remember if this occurred to us before. But could “There’s the spout” be a reference to Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”?
“There she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick!”

Sounds rhymes with ground where blows is implied to fit the Moby Dick reference, yeah.  Why two Melville references?
A group of giraffes is called a tower.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/animals/names.htm
Was BP using the Pierre quote to refer to the giraffes?

Fortress north / Cold as glass / Friendship south / Take your task
To the number / Nine eight two
START
Through the wood
this line pairs with the next line, but think of it separately as well
No lion fears
(A) Have no fear when drinking from the lions mouth fountain at entrance to CZ
In the sky the water veers
in the Aqua Tunnel
Small of scale
(C) miniature railroad path
Step across / Perspective should not be lost
(D) walk through the Sam Houston statue arch, staying north in a straight line
In the center of four alike
Sam Houston’s four trees
Small, split,
(E) treasure ground is a small split median of ground with a couple trees
Three winged and slight
is the shape of Starbuck and Apollo’s Viper in Battlestar Galactica, (the shape of the Sam Houston circle and offshoots)
What we take to be / Our strongest tower of delight
(B) after the children’s zoo, take the exit that goes past the giraffes
Falls gently / In December night
The curtain at the Miller Outdoor Theater
Looking back from treasure ground / There’s the spout!
Mecom Fountain
A whistle sounds.
People whistling at a concert for an encore.
I feel that the 982 train is the best and most significant feature to start with after putting together the general sense of Melville and Zoo clues to get Hermann Park. Next walk through the forest to the childrens zoo, drink from the lion’s head, walk through the aqua tunnel, then leave the CZ and head to the giraffes and then follow the little train tracks all the way around back towards the northern entrance of the park, find the perspective where everything lines up straight north and south and then step across the circle through the Sam Houston archway to the other side, and find the small split between the Fannin on the west side of the north-south line, then gain a perspective on the Sam Houston statue that matches the camel’s position (yellow line) in the image from a centered south facing perspective, look back and see the Mecom fountain (blue line).  The gray line is a colonnade that might be the inspiration for using columns to define a triangle perspective that is turned slightly to represent the angle of view on the Miller Outdoor Theater which is mostly obscured by foliage except maybe in winter.
-edit: I made a tiny error in the lower image by not flipping the column perspective on the theater, but that’s just a matter of convention in this mixed perspective from overhead to ground…just use your imagination and see it in your minds eye.  I have verified that you can follow the mintracks around the park.  I havent for sure pinpointed the 1980-81 location of the giraffes (tower).  Anyone able to verify?

forest_blight

I can’t remember if this occurred to us before. But could “There’s the spout” be a reference to Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”?
“There she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick!”

Unknown

Unknown:
This midnight-spout
had almost grown a forgotten thing, when, some days after, lo! at the same silent hour, it was again announced: again it was descried by all; but upon making sail to overtake it, once more it disappeared as if it had never been. And so it served us night after night, till no one heeded it but to wonder at it.
Mysteriously jetted into the clear moonlight, or starlight

Unknown

Unknown:
“What makes you a coward?” asked Dorothy, looking at the great beast in wonder, for he was as big as a small horse.
“It’s a mystery,” replied the Lion. “I suppose I was born that way. All the other animals in the forest naturally expect me to be brave.”

Falls gently
In December night
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
This is what Erexere has been saying, but it could be a clue for starlight as easily as snow. From Chapter 51, “The Spirit Spout”…
The pic shows starlight in the shape of a cross. (Nativity reference -> December night.)
In the center of four alike
Given the preponderance of columns in the image, maybe the “center of four alike” is the garden center with its four columns and “spout” candidate. The “small, split, three-winged” etc could be referring to something else; perhaps a plant as shecrab suggests, or words from signs in the center.
If you were standing slightly to the right of the point of view in this pic, the genie would appear as below; the veiled face above the water spout with the columns behind, and the surrounding brickwork.
Wilhouse says the genie has a close match in the zoo, which it may do, but this one also has a lot going for it. One doesn’t rule out the other. I see these pictures as composites, compiled from multiple reference photos. Eg, several different types of columns in the pic, several different types of columns in the park (including the Mecom colonnade, raided from the original Miller theatre).
All these images I’ve posted, the spout, the star, the genie square, the sandy bunkers of the golf course, are all right next to each other, near the friendship pavilion. It’s a no-brainer.
Through the wood
No lion fears
In the sky the water veers
It’s the 1964
Lillian Schnitzer Fountain
by John Worrington
Wood
. (The dedication plaque has a quote from Wordsworth – “A spirit still and bright with something of an angel light”.)
This is “the Wood” (sculpture by Wood) through which the water gushes/veers.
No lion fears it because it isn’t the forest type of wood, which they tend to be more afraid of. Eg, see
The Wizard of Oz
.

A photo of Hermann Park from 1980…notice no fountains surrounding the obelisk….just bushes and a tree.

Here’s the answer from John Donaho:
The berms are directly north of the CZ.  The only thing between at that time was a small ditch that ran roughly west to east.
I’d have to see a compass overlay, but directly north of the berms would have probably gone between the gorilla habitat and the rhinos.  Directly south of the berm is the CZ
wilhouse

On Friday, Mrs. Wilhouse and I spent a few hours in the CZ. I dug up the area to the right of the right globe light, with no success. I really wanted to dig up the area to the left of the left globe light – image 8 shows the cask between the globe and the fountain, which would be to the left of the left globe. Unfortunately, in the late 80’s they put in an ADA ramp and asphalted over the area.  Could it be there?
Here are some pics I took of the zoo.  Note that the left globe light curiously came on while I was standing there. It was the only one that was lit.
http://share-dell.shutterfly.com/osi.js … mbdmzaNmED
wilhouse

posted for Willhouse

hey wilhouse,
you may want to drop BP an email describing why you believe a newly added ramp may be covering where you think a casque could be.  I think the masses have waited long enough in asking if their locations are correct and I’m sure BP would reasonably confirm or deny this locale.

And there lies the problem too many changes over the years. I still like the theory of the oak tree with the burl ( could be and probably is gone now), and all those oak leaves in the image . Then there is that “L” and diamond shape by the waist of the image that fits the general location I mentioned above. Oh well back to the drawing board!

Asian pavilion? Taiwan gave Houston the friendship pavilion which used to be directly east of the Miller lite Theater
The obelisk was moved and the new base with fountains was installed In 1982 it did not have the surrounding 4 fountains
The 982 was a real life locomotive that was located at the north of the zoo entrance.
Your small of scale ? The bridge that is there now (if you are talking about the one on north east corner of lake) was not there in 1982
THe area around the obelisk is covered by crushed granite. In 1982 there were no tiles. There was no boundary of reflecting pool. Grass grew up to the edge.
I have posted after several of my Herman park digs. In December most of the leaves are still on the trees. Look at my past post and you can see which type of tree still had leaves. A few trees were just beginning to lose leaves in late December. Most of the trees in the wooded area north east of lake were pines. The were felled by a hurricane in 2001
Most of the area has been replanted so it is quite easy to tell which trees are over 30 years old. there are not many of them still in the park

This coming from someone who has spent more time
at a closed Children’s zoo  in the past twp years than
David Carr and is volunteering his time to help
dispose of obsolete concrete.
On a more constructive note, I love all
the photos from the trips over the last few years.
Preiss has choosen burial spots within his
locations which are half obscured from open site
(behind a wall, under a bridge, etc….)
It seems that the spot you have dug in
(next to that rock) is very much on a main
walkiing path in the zoo.
Other observations that may or may not have been said…
In choosing bwteen a left and right fork..
“No lion fear”  would indicate that the fork to choose
is NOT the one that leads to the lion area.
Also, “Perspective should not be lost”
This is the point from the aquatunnel  where the
Children’s Zoo directional arrow is…
so do you know where the “pick up lost children building”
was?
Good luck…. ‘Through the wood’ to me simply confirms
the walk through the park.

man, there’s no way I’d stick my head in that thing…
wilhouse

In comparing the 1982 (1975) zoo map
with the current layout from the CZ site,
I note that there is one exhibit of interest that
does not appear to have moved.
Noting this may change your path enough
to provide you with a different perspective
and a few feet may matter…
“Through the wood
No lion fears.”
Beyond the entrance, after visiting the engine 982,
before you past the reflecting pool, you get to an
exhibit that is fronted by landscaping (tall shrubs and trees)
This is the back of the sea lion exhibit (no lion fears).
With this being a reference, you do not have to go deep into
the zoo to find the lions den (cats),
and therefore, you may be able to enter the children’s zoo from
the north as opposed to the south.  (if you choose to go west)
“Small of scale”  May not mean the children’s zoo but may refer to
a reptile exhibit.  I may be wrong, but the rhinos and the camel’s
do not appear to be near old children’s zoo  (unless one or both of them switch
sides between the years)
“Perspective should not be lost” I like the idea of this
being a park map.
Were the llamas on the east, across from the rhinos,
before the camels??  (This is now called hoofed exhibits)

In the prior post,
I believe I referenced the reflection pool
when I meant to reference the aquatunnel.

Unknown

Unknown:
” on June 3rd, 2004, 10:57pm, fox wrote:
Ok, using this appx distance from Preservation Hall, you come to Jackson Square.
www.civilwaralbum.com/louisiana/neworleans.htm
“
probably completely random, and flying in the face of all the work done on P8/V1, but the statue in the upper left image (the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial at Chalmette Cemetery) seems to have three things slight (and winged?) in the center of 4 alike (cannons)

just posted this to the image 7 thread – again, not to be taken too seriously but maybe as an example of 3 things inside of 4, it’s useful

Okay, I’ve got most of the pictures (the ones I think might be the most helpful) saved locally. I have plenty more thoughts. I apologize for the length of this one; I’ve been saving up.
If pictures lead us to the city, whereas the verses (coupled with visual cues from the pictures) lead us to the treasure ground… what is it about P8 that led you to Houston? Latitude and longitude?
I doubt ‘Friendship south’ refers to Friendswood. It’s just too far away, and is southeast of Hermann Park, not south.
maltedfalcon (7/8/04) wrote: “
The hunts as I have seen them use the picture for locating the state, city and  general area. Then the verse takes you on a walk leading directly to the treasure. meaning each stanza of the verse takes you on a narrowing path culminating at an exact spot
.” In 1982, the order in which one would have encountered items mentioned in the verse is:
1. The 982
2. The wood no lion fears
3. The sky where water veers
4. The thing we must step across
5. Four alike
Still pretty sure that ‘wood no lion fears’ refers to something physically between the 982 and the aquatunnel. Wilhouse noted that the entrance gate to the CZ was wooden. Do we have pictures?? If there was something on or around this gate that would make the line ‘No lion fears’ make sense, you’ve got it nailed for sure. Surely there is a photograph somewhere!
An alternative interpretation of the wood no lion fears: ‘Through the wood’ could mean, “Go through the wooden gate. Now you are in a children’s zoo, so you needn’t have any lion fears. They’re llamas, for pete’s sake” (based on a note from wilhouse, 6/8/04).
I had been thinking the 982 was much closer to the CZ than it really was. The 982 was at the main Zoo entrance, not the entrance to the CZ. That means there is a lot of ground between the 982 and the CZ.
Earlier I referred to the importance of finding something in the verse that gives us a precise location. I mentioned ‘center’ as one possibility. Another possibility is the line ‘Perspective should not be lost.’ If we take the author at face value, then perhaps he is helping us establish a line of sight, if we keep the perspective the same as in P8 as we enter the CZ to the south of the berms. Would the berms have been visible from within the CZ in 1982 (through the gate)? To refresh your memory, the berms are in pic 64:
http://share-dell.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EeEMmbdmzaNnqQ&open=1&sm=1&sl=1
wilhouse’s message about hawks (‘three-winged’) and dwarf goats (‘small of scale’) (7/8/04) was exciting. And goats do have cloven (‘split’) hooves, do they not?
What are the bridges “over”? Water?
I believe it is still important to find out what flag flew over the CZ.
Regarding the center bricked-in area in the middle of the fours compounds… I know you dug there, but are we absolutely certain that the bricks were laid prior to when BP buried the treasures? When was the Japanese lamp put there? If it was just a grass spot at the time, it would have been a great place to bury treasure.
Why on earth is a large rock sitting on one of the holes in the center? And why just one?
Is the white thing in the center hole the base of the Japanese lantern?
What were the holes for? Trees? Ground lamps for the lantern? Suppose there was nothing but dirt in the central hole in 1982 (perhaps a tree had been there and had recently died, so no one would notice dirt disturbed overnight). A determined individual with a post-hole digger could maybe dig down a couple of feet and deposite the casque.
And finally (whew!)… where’s that backhoe!

Wow, that gives me something to look for. I’ll check some of the old pics I have, I don’t remember seeing anything that looks like that. I could easily be dead by now – the park has been closed since 2000 and is in disrepair.
I agree that part has always bugged me about the verse.  Mrs. Wilhouse says that it stand for the snow cone carts that are all around the park.
wilhouse

My brother, several times a resdient of Houston (especially the suburb of Kingswood), told me that Houstan has the tallest building west of the Mississippi.  Is it near the location?
–Johann

no, it is downtown, a good 5 miles away, maybe more.
wilhouse

Diceycat

This is my solve for verse 1:
Fortress north cold as glass = Asian pavilion , looks like a fortress to me and cold as glass could refer to a diamond ( ice), building is kind of diamond shaped and cold could be for isolated like cold war
Friendship south take your task = Ronald McDonald house ( 1st one built was in Houston)
So he is standing at the south end entrance of Hermann Park and starts to proceed north bound
To the number nine eight two = the little train that runs around the park, so towards the train station
Through the wood no lion fear = goes north through the Zoo
In the sky the water veers = The water that shot up out of lake McGovern
Small of scale Step across = Cross the small bridge by the train depot heading north
Perspective should not be lost = the long reflection pool north of the obelisk
In the center of four alike = the pioneer obelisk the four alike are the fountains around the obelisk
Small split three winged and slight = each of the fountains that surround the obelisk have 3 not so tall streams of water
What we take to be our strongest tower of delight falls gently = the fountain at the SW corner of the obelisk has the tallest stream of water
In December night= He seems to be doing his digging late in the day and in December I would expect the leaves to be gone
Looking back from the treasure ground there’s the spout a whistle sounds = So he is standing looking at the spot where the treasure lays and behind him the first thing he mentions is the spout which is again the fountain at the SW corner of the obelisk and the next thing is the sound of the train . I can’t say for certain but I think most trains would make a sound if they were to warn people by the obelisk as they go over the bridge
So what is he looking at is the big question.
I believe he is standing there looking at an oak tree ( lots of symbols of that in the image) and not just any oak tree but the oak tree with the burl on the trunk located on the south edge of the pathway that goes east from the obelisk. If you were facing the spot to dig ( which would be the west side of the tree) then the obelisks fountain would be directly behind you along with the train track and train.
If you stand on that pathway by the burled oak and you look towards the obelisk you can see that “L” outline and that diamond shape in the image by the genies waist , this is made by the concrete slabs on the north edge of the pathway closer to the obelisk.
To me the genies head gear represents the burl and the fact that there is a twisting in the body represents the twisting of the wood in the burl.

*smacks head*