maltedfalcon

so a friend of mine’s, elderly mother, thinks she saw vermeer’s Woman at a virginal at the Milwaukee museum of art in the 70’s or 80s
I haven’t been able to find anything to confirm this story.
Currently the painting is owned by and kept at the London National Gallery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Stand … a_Virginal
how does one find out if it ever toured to milwaukee  or perhaps there is a copy there.

http://books.google.com/books?id=EZxWaNlQKiYC&lpg=PA602&dq=Johannes%20Vermeer%20milwaukee&pg=PA406#v=onepage&q=Virginal%20&f=false
Pg 406 – middle/bottom of second column talks about where the painting has been exhibited and when. i’m not certain that this is comprehensive.

My analysis that leads to the idea of kindergarten is a weak one.  It does echo the German culture and even has some neighboring connection to the Turners, but that’s not a direct support of the idea.
The best fit I’ve found, is to forget Kindergarten and stick with Education and the Turners.  The connection is an ancient Greek word Gymnasium.  In the American standard it is seen as simply a place for physical education but in other cultures it is seen as a place of higher learning such as humanities and languages.  For this hunt the gial of simplification into a primary thematic and cultural bias supported by some ancient Greek or Roman standard for a flair of style.

Unknown

Unknown:
Marietta was born and died in Venice, the eldest daughter of the painter Jacopo Robusti, from whom she inherited her nickname, la Tintoretta (translated as “little dyer girl”, after Jocopo’s father’s occupation as a tintore, or dyer). She is thus variously known as Marietta Robusti, Marietta Tintoretto, and la Tintoretta.

That reference to Marietta has bothered me for some time because she’s of Italian origin.  I think we should stick with the German related or Polish possibilities first, and yet Preiss found it necessary to divert our attention to a variety of streets, three who lived there plus the Italian when we couldve just taken Kenwood directly to Lake Park.
I’ve been thinking of the Grimm tales.  What if Marietta is Little Red (dye is a coloring) Cap (or Hood).  Her job is to take some bread and wine to Granny’s a half a league away and she learns the lesson to not wander off the path in search of pretty flowers.  Our goal might begin with Mitchell Hall but also the notion of “Once upon a time” and we are sppose to stay on the path like in the story.  What if we are to find not one but three significant buildings in honor of Alexander Mitchell?  Start with Mitchell Hall, then the historic Mitchell Building on Michigan street and then the Mitchell Street Bank.
Here’s a large patched together map of the Milwaukee path, download the larger image from the link if you can’t see the small writing,
http://s11.photobucket.com/user/erexere … 0.png.html

It’s a good theory and process. The only issue I have is if Preiss wants to take us on a tour of various Mitchell’s throughout the city, why all the little steps through Lake Park? Why not go from Mitchell Hall to say Lincoln Dr then south? You could skip the whole grand staircase. But this makes us actually back track and use the stairs to reenter the park that we just exited.
Not to blow up your idea. Just some questions as to its validity.

Deuce, as you can see I’ve explored two main areas separated by a long trek down Water and 1st.  I didn’t apply my previous method of recycling lines or taking things out of order either.  Some lines are put down before you actually encounter what they refer to such as the At a distance lines and I think it’s okay given the way they are structured.  At a distance in time / From three who lived there, uses the word ‘from’ to say we’re to expect a distance in time to resolve itself afterwards.
I think the Lake Park area allows us to be fooled and Preiss led us through it in that way for effect.  Lake Park has it all, Northpoint Lighthouse, culverts, bridges, and more.  I think it’s never been made for certain that Lake Park had birch trees.  I believe that some trees which were thought to be birch were later recognized to be not so.  That isn’t to say there weren’t at one time birch trees that have been since removed.  However you look at it, it seems irregular to enter at Locust and curl around the the north park area and then return to the middle after climbing the Grand Stair.  Perhaps that should be seen as a Little Red Cap motif of leaving and returning to the direct route like we encountered with Marietta and Locust interrupting the straight path Kenwood takes to the tip entrance of Lake Park.  I’m really getting behind the Grimm story reference.  I’m not trying to shoehorn it and get the landscape to fit every little piece of the story.  I’m just taking it’s basic essence, “once upon a time…there was a girl who left the path to go look for flowers, which allowed bad things to happen”.
I believe Preiss plays with this Grimm tale and does a fantastic job meeting a rich criteria that includes cultural and architectural bias.  Cleveland is already the easy solution, this one is dyed from a tougher cloth.  Assuming you’ve nearly solved it by cutting your investigations short and searching every nook and cranny of Lake Park is exactly the challenge Preiss set forth.

I understand your reasoning. When I go up there I won’t have a ton of time to try out every single idea. I just want to make sure any theory put forth is a real possibility before I trek around the whole city and waste time. Like I said before, when I go it will be for pictures and probing. Then based on anything found I might set up a dig later. Maybe (hopefully) I will find something and we can set something up.

I see Byron gave a hint about Wisconsin before the book was even out…
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 … 16,3442361

since this verse uses paces,ill post here to
quote author=cw0909 link=topic=729.msg121508#msg121508 date=1338406468]
ive been stuggling with those paces since the 80s,maybe BP meant PACE= 1foot
or what most have said on the net,avg 4.5-5ft = a pace
What is a pace?
A pace is equivalent to, two natural steps. Starting with your right foot as the first step, when your
left foot hits the ground you can count that as one pace
How many feet are in a pace?
The average length in feet of a pace will vary between people and will also vary across different
types of terrain. Most people will have a pace somewhere around 4.5 to 5 feet
http://www.backcountryattitude.com/pacing.html
more pace
pace [1]
a traditional unit of distance equal to the length of a person’s “full” pace, that is, the distance between two successive falls of the same foot. Thus one pace equals two steps. The Romans counted 1000 paces in a mile with each pace being a little over 58 inches (or about 148 centimeters). In English speaking countries, the pace is usually defined to be exactly 5 feet (or 152.4 centimeters); this unit is also called the great pace or geometrical pace. Obviously, a good metric version of the pace is exactly 1.5 meters.
pace [2]
in military use, the term “pace” is often used as an alternate name for the step; see military pace.
military pace
another name for a step. In the U.S. Army, the military pace is defined to be exactly 30 inches (76.2 centimeters) for ordinary “quick time” marching and 36 inches (91.44 centimeters) for double time marching. The same definitions are generally used by marching bands.
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictP.html
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/forestry/pdf/WON/won39.pdf
http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for47/for47.htm

I think one might be uncovered in the next 6 months…. It’s going to take dauntless and inconquerable determination tho.

I was just curious if you walked it more than once that day.

decibalnyc

I was just curious if you walked it more than once that day.

I think I’m missing a joke.

It’s obvious isn’t it? The juggler and the repetition in the verse means you have to go round twice at least, or else the casque doesn’t appear.

Unknown

Unknown:
I think I’m missing a joke.

Pay them no mind FB. Methinks the lack of progress is making everyone just a little bit punchy. Sooner or later we’ll catch a break. Once every 10-15 years isn’t too much to ask, is it?

Goldengate

Bumping this in the interest of preserving the original Milwaukee Verse 8 discussion thread.
There is a wealth of experience and knowledge in here going back to 2003 — new ideas are embraced, but it’s always worth taking advantage of the’ experience and research others have invested and generously contributed by using the search function in this thread!

Are you posting this because someone has dug up the casque?

I think it matters in the grand scheme of things. Either you want the casque, or you want to solve the puzzle.
There are challenges in both.
Skipping ahead in this hunt is like trying to do math when you don’t know what numbers mean.
IMHO

decibalnyc

I think it matters in the grand scheme of things. Either you want the casque, or you want to solve the puzzle.
There are challenges in both.
Skipping ahead in this hunt is like trying to do math when you don’t know what numbers mean.
IMHO

Spot on.

Frisco

Then why not just say “Harp”? Or even leave the name of the instrument out entirely? Or use “H”?
Using the wrong instrument name to point us to something vaguely similar would be like telling us to look for a tuba, but showing us a trumpet. Why bother?

It’s called a puzzle… and context. You’re walking down Wells, you hit Second and Germania, then you hit Light and are looking for a woman with harpsichord… Derp.

decibalnyc

I think it matters in the grand scheme of things. Either you want the casque, or you want to solve the puzzle.
There are challenges in both.
Skipping ahead in this hunt is like trying to do math when you don’t know what numbers mean.
IMHO

30+ years into the hunt, I think wanting to solve every single clue in a puzzle might be a little masochistic. I’m not advocating just skipping to the end and trying to bend the clues to fit the solution, but getting hung up on one in particular just on principle seems like a bad reason not to go search a likely spot.

Unknown

Unknown:
Either you want the casque, or you want to solve the puzzle.

Nonsense. Finding a casque IS solving the puzzle. Until that happens, everything is speculation (to varying degrees) and the only person who knows for sure isn’t in a position to enlighten us any further. So, start the search for the Milwaukee casque at the top of the Grand Staircase (it’s within 300 yards of that spot IMO), or find another “92 steps” that you can ascend closer to downtown. The rest is just verbal gymnastics.

In the alternate reading of the verse, W.WI to 2nd and south continuing across the bridge and passing the Clock Tower, there is a problem with 2nd becoming a dead end. I noticed the street name Orchard and thought of the word HARPSICHORD. If the woman can juggle 7 objects, and 2 of them be plain ordinary balls, while the other 5 objects something special, then 7 letters in the word HARPSICHORD can be special while 4 letters ordinary.
Taking Orchard across to 7th gets us closer to a park with exactly 4 birches on the west side.

I’m not discounting the harp=harpsichord theory, I just don’t think he did it intentionally with the knowledge of both very different instruments unless he counted on all the searchers being too ignorant to know the difference.
I’m personally not entirely ignorant of instruments, but if you had asked me what a harpsichord was before I got into this hunt, I would’ve pointed at a harp before the piano-looking thing it really is.
(Don’t think I’ve ever seen an adult use the word “derp”. My 9yo would like you. 😉 )

Euhirudinea

Nonsense. Finding a casque IS solving the puzzle. Until that happens, everything is speculation (to varying degrees) and the only person who knows for sure isn’t in a position to enlighten us any further. So, start the search for the Milwaukee casque at the top of the Grand Staircase (it’s within 300 yards of that spot IMO), or find another “92 steps” that you can ascend closer to downtown. The rest is just verbal gymnastics.

While I agree completely with you, you and I would never be where we are without deciphering the earlier clues as well. It is integral to understand how the clues are constructed and the types of clues BP uses in order to give weight to the latter clues (or not to). If I were a noob and just started at the park, I would have no idea which of my line solves/locations were plausible in the park. Being able to compare later line solves to the solutions of earlier lines is what allows one to give credence to their plausibility. Understanding this same thing across the puzzles as a whole is what allows one to really hone in on plausible solutions.

Unknown

Unknown:
I’m not advocating just skipping to the end

Unknown

Unknown:
and trying to bend the clues to fit the solution

Neither am I. We have a logical solve that gets us to the base of the Grand Staircase, and beyond. It’s only after we “walk 100 paces SE over rock and soil” that things get murky. Is it because we haven’t fully resolved the last few clues, or could it be that after 33 years, the Treasure Ground has changed so significantly that even Preiss himself would have trouble finding this one? As 421 would say, it’s a puzzle.
That’s Erexere’s domain. I much prefer simple, straightforward associations, preferably with no more than one degree of separation. So, “Mitchell” is Mitchell Hall, “Harpsichord” is um, Harpsichord, “copper” is Lincoln, “nature” is Lake Park, and most importantly, “92 steps” is exactly that. All within a few hundred yards of each other. And within a few hundred yards of that, we find a bridge, a culvert, a compass (North Point), and a place where we can logically walk 100 paces SE over “rocks and soil” without straying. This puzzle works just like Chicago did in 1984. Unfortunately, it might also work like Chicago does today, which is to say that if that one was still in the ground, we would have a hell of a time digging it up. If in fact it was still there to dig up.

I was replying to Decibal, not you, Reno. It wasn’t meant as a slight on your methods. I’m well aware of the steps taken to get to the Grand Staircase, and I think it’s a good theory.

Unknown

Unknown:
Understanding this same thing across the puzzles as a whole is what allows one to really hone in on
plausible
solutions.

The key word here is plausible. I think the Milwaukee casque is (or was) in Lake Park. One solve includes a bunch of clues proximate to Lake Park, including the Lead Pipe (ascend the 92 steps). Another solve includes a bunch of clues that are over 3 miles away. So, IMO, if those clue solves are plausible, then we should be looking for the 92 steps closer to downtown, perhaps in Juneau or Pere Marquette. And to my knowledge, no one has found anything even close to the slam dunk we have in Lake Park in those two locations. And until someone does, that solve is less plausible IMO. YMMV.

Euhirudinea

The key word here is plausible. I think the Milwaukee casque is (or was) in Lake Park. One solve includes a bunch of clues proximate to Lake Park, including the Lead Pipe (ascend the 92 steps). Another solve includes a bunch of clues that are over 3 miles away. So, IMO, if those clue solves are plausible, then we should be looking for the 92 steps closer to downtown, perhaps in Juneau or Pere Marquette. And to my knowledge, no one has found anything even close to the slam dunk we have in Lake Park in those two locations. And until someone does, that solve is less plausible IMO. YMMV.

Yes, and perhaps we should be looking closer to Friends of Octave for dark forest, too. (facepalm) And, yes, I know you have a reason for why it is true in one place and not the other, but fucking rubbish, homie. Either way, you are correct that we both get to the steps. The real conflict between us is that when you discount the solve from the WC downtown, you discount a manner in which BP likely developed his clues. By doing so, you can be working on later clues, or on clues from different images/verses, and you will not be able to find commonality or consistency in construction because you have dismissed the parallel clues in this puzzle.
And, just because there are clues miles away does not mean you should be looking there. As with the verse lines following the steps, the earlier lines lead you on a path as well… One giant path.

Unknown

Unknown:
Yes, and perhaps we should be looking closer to Friends of Octave for dark forest, too

As far as I can tell, Roanoke is the only Verse where this is true. And that’s only because the Outer Banks are a barren wasteland for landmarks, especially in 1981 when it was a lot less developed than it is now. There is the Wright Memorial, and Jockey’s Ridge, and the latter is a big sand dune. That’s it. So Preiss had a choice. Start at the only commonly recognized landmark for 100 miles and guide us to Fort Raleigh (which he does expertly with only 3, easy to follow clues), or start us right at the park, which he does in St. Augustine, another place with a dearth of landmarks. In the other 11 puzzles (that are not Roanoke), which are all located in medium to large cities with lots and lots of things from which to choose, it’s my opinion that the first Verse Clue (the one that identifies where we are supposed to begin our walk) is no more than a mile (Milwaukee) and frequently a whole lot less from the Treasure Ground. In Chicago and Cleveland, it’s not much more than spitting distance.
Identify the City——->Identify the Park——–>Find the starting point for the search (hint: it’s in the Verse)———->Follow the clues to the Treasure Ground———->Find the Gravestone—–>Dig. Of these, only the third one is somewhat cryptic. But as I’ve said time and time again, the “secret” is not where to stop, it’s where to start.

Euhirudinea

As far as I can tell, Roanoke is the only Verse where this is true. And that’s only because the Outer Banks are a barren wasteland for landmarks, especially in 1981 when it was a lot less developed than it is now. There is the Wright Memorial, and Jockey’s Ridge, and the latter is a big sand dune. That’s it. So Preiss had a choice. Start at the only commonly recognized landmark for 100 miles and guide us to Fort Raleigh (which he does expertly with only 3, easy to follow clues), or start us right at the park, which he does in St. Augustine, another place with a dearth of landmarks. In the other 11 puzzles (that are not Roanoke), which are all located in medium to large cities with lots and lots of things from which to choose, it’s my opinion that the first Verse Clue (the one that identifies where we are supposed to begin our walk) is no more than a mile (Milwaukee) and frequently a whole lot less from the Treasure Ground. In Chicago and Cleveland, it’s not much more than spitting distance.
Identify the City——->Identify the Park——–>Find the starting point for the search (hint: it’s in the Verse)———->Follow the clues to the Treasure Ground———->Find the Gravestone—–>Dig. Of these, only the third one is somewhat cryptic. But as I’ve said time and time again, the “secret” is not where to stop, it’s where to start.

It’s hard for me to believe that you can say Roanoke is an exception cause it works a certain way, and well, FOY is another exception because it works in another certain way, and hey, Milwaukee is not an exception. You are missing my point…
ALL of the puzzles are exceptions… they are ALL unique in the method of getting you to the treasure. Each has it’s own way of doing things. Each has it’s own way of getting you to the treasure ground. That being said, you and I know there is CLEARLY a few commonalities… things which we can reliably guess each image/verse will do. However, even those things seem to be used intermittently, or at least a little differently/uniquely in several puzzles. Don’t take away BP’s creativity from him by trying to force fit the puzzles into what you deem a “most-solvable” construction.
What is consistent is the way BP created clues – their structure, and the type of clues he used. How, why and where he uses those clues and how they “guide” us is what makes each puzzle unique, and thus each “path” unique.

Unknown

Unknown:
It’s hard for me to believe that you can say Roanoke is an exception cause it works a certain way, and well, FOY is another exception because it works in another certain way

Unknown

Unknown:
Milwaukee is not an exception

Unknown

Unknown:
You are missing my point…

Unknown

Unknown:
ALL of the puzzles are exceptions… they are ALL unique in the method of getting you to the treasure.

Roanoke is THE exception, for the reason stated above. FOY works almost exactly like Cleveland IMO. It’s a box puzzle where everything you need can be seen from one spot. Find that spot, find the treasure. For the record, I also think New York and New Orleans are box puzzles.
Milwaukee is a path puzzle (Montreal, San Francisco, and Roanoke are the others). They work differently than the box puzzles, but only in the design of the path we are meant to take. The construct of the clues is exactly the same across all eight puzzles. So, the same in some respects, and different in others. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are unique. They are too similar in construct for that word to apply.
Apparently.
Or maybe not. I see what you are saying. I just don’t agree. Four of the puzzles work more or less the same exact way. Four of the puzzles work in a similar way, the main exception being how far the Verse clues are spaced apart. But all of the Verse Clues are consistent in construct. And once that construct is revealed, you can comfortably proceed from one clue to the next. That’s how directions are supposed to work.

Seriously people, in 1984, a group of kids in Chicago started at the statue of Lincoln (ignoring almost every other clue in the Verse), and dug a hole big enough to hide in before Preiss took pity on them and sent them a picture of the Treasure Ground. You could have done the same thing in Milwaukee by counting the steps on the Grand Staircase, and going from there. I’m actually a bit surprised that no one ever did, at least as far as we know. That is, until this group came along. Unfortunately, we either have the end game wrong (and no longer have Preiss to guide us home like he did in Chicago), or the markers we need to identify the Treasure Ground are dead and gone. Argue all you want about Harps and Harpsichords, but just like in Chicago, it doesn’t matter. At all.

Is anyone still actively searching in Milwaukee? I recently began the search and believe I may have found a promising dig site. I would just like to be more confident in my interpretation of the Wonderstone hearth and letter from the country.

I’m sure you’ll get a lot of support in Milwaukee as long as the weather allows. What’s your opinion on wonder Stones hearthd and letter from the country?

Glossiphoniidae

here’s four to peak your interest…
The Chicago image utilized the Great Lakes Fountain.
The Cleveland image utilized the Man and Horse Armour.
The Charleston image utilized the Persephone Fountain.
The Boston image utilized the Horus Falcon (Horace
).

Consider our interest piqued, but what are you talking about? Is there some work of art called “The Man and Horse Armour”? And how would that tie in with an unarmed centaur?

Oregonian

Consider our interest piqued, but what are you talking about? Is there some work of art called “The Man and Horse Armour”? And how would that tie in with an unarmed centaur?

Look at the art museums… man and horse… centaur… derp.
And thank you for correcting my “peak.”

animal painter

The painting of Marietta with the harpsichord is as good
as it gets…

I’ve always thought the same thing. It just seems to be a totally different type of clue than any one used in either Cleveland or Chicago. The line refers to something completely outside of anything you could find on the ground. But the thing it refers to, in turn, refers to something you could find on the ground. I really don’t like that. It’s made me look for alternate interpretations for the lines. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a decent one. Running into what may be a second instance, IMO, of the exact type of clue in a different verse (where the line only makes sense when knowing the name of a painting, which is featured at a local art museum, which in turn refers to something back on the ground), is odd to me. I’m not sure whether to be happy or sad.

Unknown

Unknown:
How many believe that BP used “woman with harpsichord silently playing” to indicate Marietta?

If you mean Marietta Avenue, then me. But mostly because of how well Marietta Avenue fits into the narrative.
The fact is, of the first seven lines of this verse, the only one that seems sure fire to me is the first one (View the three stories of Mitchell). The rest are subject to research and interpretation (although it can’t be a coincidence how well the next six mesh with the surrounding geography of Mitchell Hall). Preiss wasn’t from the area, so it probably required some research on his part to learn that the streets leading to Lake Park were named after some of Milwaukee’s most prominent citizens (three who lived there). It’s entirely possible that the same source gave him the idea for the Marietta reference (as opposed to thinking that he was familiar with a fairly obscure painting and made the connection himself), it appealed to him, and he ran with it. He might have reasoned that even if no one understood this clue, it wouldn’t prevent them from getting to the treasure ground, and would add a little complexity to a puzzle that he was afraid would be solved in its entirety in a few months, tops.

Glossiphoniidae

(where the line only makes sense when knowing the name of a painting, which is featured at a local art museum, which in turn refers to something back on the ground), is odd to me. I’m not sure whether to be happy or sad.

Well I was considering why he thought they were too easy, so I immediately started looking for patterns, but with only 2 solutions it’s hard to find real patters vs. coincidence. It could be possible that each city has something in common…a visit to a musuem, a visit to a historical landmark, a library etc….
Maybe they all have something in common, but until we find 3 or 4 it may not be that apparent.

decibalnyc

Well I was considering why he thought they were too easy, so I immediately started looking for patterns, but with only 2 solutions it’s hard to find real patters vs. coincidence. It could be possible that each city has something in common…a visit to a musuem, a visit to a historical landmark, a library etc….
Maybe they all have something in common, but until we find 3 or 4 it may not be that apparent.

decibalnyc

Well I was considering why he thought they were too easy, so I immediately started looking for patterns, but with only 2 solutions it’s hard to find real patters vs. coincidence. It could be possible that each city has something in common…a visit to a musuem, a visit to a historical landmark, a library etc….
Maybe they all have something in common, but until we find 3 or 4 it may not be that apparent.

Well, I have also been looking for this because I haven’t been convinced about the Olmsted significance (that dude was everywhere). I’ve been looking at BP making stops at the local art museums, which Chicago seemed to point out, and I’ve had some great success. I haven’t shared this before because I have been working on it’s significance. I’ll let you all find others (I’ll share a couple good ones, IMO), but here’s four to peak your interest…
The Chicago image utilized the Great Lakes Fountain.
The Cleveland image utilized the Man and Horse Armour.
The Charleston image utilized the Persephone Fountain.
The Boston image utilized the Horus Falcon (Horace
).
Interestingly, BP also seemed to rely on a work of art featured in some museums, too.

hmm…cant tell if im more annoyed by your cringe-worthy diction or the fifth-order derivative connections you try to make

Savral

I have basically been living in LP for the last few months. Mostly walking around, counting paces, looking at random stuff, and taking pictures.

I was taking another look at the Google Maps overhead of this place the other day.
What’s your current thinking on this bridge and these lines Savral?
Pass the compass and reach
The foot of the culvert
Below the bridge
Walk 100 paces
Southeast over rock and soil
To the first young birch
Pass three, staying west
You’ll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone’s hearth
On a proud, tall fifth
At its southern foot
The treasure waits.
Starting from under each of these bridges, where exactly does 100 paces southeast get you? Can you describe it, post some pictures of it, put a dot on the map…?
I still like the idea of one of the metal Girl Scout badges on a tree as the marker…
…(though I guess a single letter would be more natural), except for reservations about the practicality of digging a large hole at the base of a tall tree. If you take the simplest interpretation that the “fifth” was a tree, and “it” refers to the same tree, then perhaps there was some other structure or landmark just to the south of it; a wall or something.
I recently came across Walter de la Mare’s fairytale “The Three Mulla-Mulgars”, featuring a wonderstone. I don’t suppose there are any clues in it, but maybe BP had read it. (Apparently it involves a journey “beyond and beyond, forest and river, forest, swamp and river”; they encounter strange and wonderful animals, and the wonderstone gets lost at one point; wheedled away by a water maiden.)

Savral, the Wells Fargo connection is certainly dismissible. I’m uncertain if the idea has any utility yet. Thats really the trick AFAIC. There are several reasons I’ve become interested in the idea.
1. The first line may contain a double meaning. A synonym for the word “stories” is “accounts”. A bank is something which has accounts or also found along a river, suggested by lines about a culvert and bridge. Wells Fargo is a bank.
2. Wells street could implicate a deeper connection for some specific reason. I liked the HG Wells idea because it drew from a populqr literary reference and might laterally compare dwarves to Morlocks, both associated with hidden tunnels. Milwauk-KEY and Mor-LOCK seems momentarily interesting, but the utility of the Time Machine isnt apparent to me. I’ve tried to see the juggling of balls as a metaphor for jumping around from point to point on a map. Hidden tunnels and portals might be a thematic design characteristic to the puzzle.
3. “At a distance”, being repeated in two lines may lend special significance to a connection like “Prospect” as a street name connection or “Go far” as a “Fargo” connection.
4. Wells Fargo was also known for over land transportation of letters and parcels and might be in part the inspiration for the line preceeding the wonderstone’s hearth.
The process of making these associations may only go as deep as 1. Consider the name Wells, 2. Consider a bank named Wells Fargo, 3. Consider going far from some point of origin. When we consider the Cleveland or Chicago puzzles, its already a given that some visual elements are over a mile or two distance away, i.e. Terminal Tower/Historic Water Tower. Its probably a good argument that the casque in Milwaukee is also to be found at least 2 or even 3 miles away from the City Hall building.

I guess I feel like you’re reaching with the whole Wells Fargo thing. While the second line could quite possibly refer to War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, it’s still not 100% certain. For all we know “beating of the world” could mean something else entirely. Wells Fargo was founded in New York and with building changing ownership so often, I would not think he would refer it to that. Just my 2 cents.
On a side note. I have basically been living in LP for the last few months. Mostly walking around, counting paces, looking at random stuff, and taking pictures. Winter is coming and the cold weather will again put us back another year.
On a side note. My email has been blowing up recently the last few days from PBthesecret because of the massive increase in traffic from a new Reddit thread located here :
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/ … ource=link
My hope is that people from there gravitate over here and we can once again get some ideas and dialogue going.

decibalnyc

I don’t know if this is a coincidence or not. Please let me know your thoughts.
At one time I felt this was a Lake Park confirmation. This is a Lawn Bowling segment from 2005…look above the lawn bowlers head and you’ll see a tree. I matched this tree with the arrow in the forehead.
Like I said, it could be a coincidence, and that tree may or may not have been there in 1981, but I thought it was a pretty close match.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbaxym0hsvtmj … g.jpg?dl=0

Heh. I have to admit that tree-top really is the same shape as the arrow on the forehead. But that pretty much has to be no more than a coincidence. The tree wouldn’t even look like that in the winter of the same year the picture was taken, or from any other angle even on the day the picture was take, must less look the same 25 years earlier.

It’s the tallest tree in the park, or one of…The tree also appears to be a birch tree, that’s why it caught my attention, and because of the shape. That tree would have to be 32 years old in this picture for it to be of any consequence, that could be true…just hard to tell.

I was thinking about various words in the verse and how they might cooperate between the lines.
beating…a heart beats
paces…pacemakers are a medical device that keeps the heart in rhythm
hearth…drop the -h and you have ‘heart’
If Plankington is involved, then the atrium with 92 stair rotunda is connectable to the heart theme since in heart anatomy atriums and ventricles are its chambers.
This reminds me of that old cartoon from the 70’s (60’s?) used in school to demonstrate how the heart and circulartory system works. It uses an analogy of cars (blood cells) driving around the city (blood stream).
Edit: 1957! Hemo the Magnificent.

Euhirudinea

… end up on East Ravine Drive, just north of the staircase. Guess what else is there, just as you come out of the woods? Here’s a hint, courtesy of 421 (
http://tinyurl.com/q7lxz8a
). Look familiar?

I’ve never been a fan of the lighthouse theory, mainly because it’s too far away from the top of the Grand Staircase. Preiss has been leading us step-by-step all the way from Mitchell Hall on the UWM campus, and now he leaves out the bit about “turn south and walk all the way to the lighthouse”? I don’t buy it.
If Preiss really wanted us to climb the 92 steps and then walk to the lighthouse, I think he would have given that move at least a line of its own. (i.e. “After climbing the grand 200 / Take giant steps to the giant pole” or something like that.) The fact that he simply says “After climbing the grand 200 / Pass the compass” suggests to me that the compass was something small and incidental, right near the top of the steps. Maybe it was a sundial. Maybe it was a monument to the Masons. Who knows? It’s probably gone now. But if we were to “Pass the compass and reach / The foot of the culvert / Below the bridge,” then the logical bridge to look at would be the one that’s right there at the top of the stairs: the bridge over Ravine Road.
That bridge has several powerful ties to Image 10 and Verse 8. For starters, it’s the bridge that has those two big circles, just like the two balls the juggler is holding. That’s a really unusual, distinctive design. And the bridge also has a culvert – a REAL culvert, not just a ravine – on the northwest side. And if you “reach / The foot of the culvert / Below the bridge,” you will be on the Locust Street Ravine Trail, which ties in with another aspect of Image 10: the cicada nymph. (And that cicada is definitely hidden in the image for a reason. I’ll never buy into any solution that doesn’t explain the cicada.)
So if we “Pass the compass and reach / The foot of the culvert / Below the bridge / Walk 100 paces / Southeast over rock and soil / To the first young birch” then we are walking down the Locust Street Ravine Trail along Ravine Road. And there are definitely trees there (although I can’t do a tree ID from the images on Google Street View). And if “staying west” means that we don’t cross Lincoln Drive, then we reach our “proud, tall fifth” at the base of Ravine Road. All of which is to say, I think we should take a very, very close look at the spot Renovator was pointing out a few days ago:
Yeah, that does look familiar. And there are only two big trees there. It would be great if someone could get us good, clear photos of the leaves and trunks of each one. I can identify the tree species if I see the leaves. And who knows? Maybe there’s a faint scar on one of the trees from where someone scratched a letter into the bark 30 years ago.
But I would say that the combination of the bridge, the culvert, the two big circles, the locust trail, and the thing that looks like a millstone on the ground all come together very nicely to point us to that exact spot on the ground. The treasure waits?

Unknown

Unknown:
So if we “Pass the compass and reach / The foot of the culvert / Below the bridge / Walk 100 paces / Southeast over rock and soil / To the first young birch” then we are walking down the Locust Street Ravine Trail along Ravine Road. And there are definitely trees there (although I can’t do a tree ID from the images on Google Street View). And if “staying west” means that we don’t cross Lincoln Drive, then we reach our “proud, tall fifth” at the base of Ravine Road. All of which is to say, I think we should take a very, very close look at the spot Renovator was pointing out a few days ago:

In all fairness, I might have pointed it out again, but it was 421 who first brought my attention to it. Credit where credit is due. And I think decibal liked this theory a bit as well. The problem I have with it is we pass this exact spot on our way to the Grand Staircase from LMD. Preiss uses 8 lines of the verse to describe what is essentially one big, well described, but unnecessary circle. On the other hand, he does almost the exact same thing in Chicago, so that alone may not be dispositive. The compass would have been on or very near the Pavillion. It’s the only thing between the top of the staircase and the bridge.
This route takes the golf course out of play, but as many have pointed out, the red balls could represent the circles on the ERB. It also takes the lion bridges out of play as well. I fell the same way about them as Oregonian feels about the cicada. Perhaps this part of the image is just a location confirmer (something that conveys Lake Park) and not necessarily a path confirmer (something that you would expect to find on the path between Point A and Point T).
Probably can’t hurt to take a closer look at the mature trees at or near the northwest corner of LMD and East Ravine Road.

Oregonian

I’ve never been a fan of the lighthouse theory, mainly because it’s too far away from the top of the Grand Staircase. Preiss has been leading us step-by-step all the way from Mitchell Hall on the UWM campus, and now he leaves out the bit about “turn south and walk all the way to the lighthouse”? I don’t buy it.
If Preiss really wanted us to climb the 92 steps and then walk to the lighthouse, I think he would have given that move at least a line of its own. (i.e. “After climbing the grand 200 / Take giant steps to the giant pole” or something like that.) The fact that he simply says “After climbing the grand 200 / Pass the compass” suggests to me that the compass was something small and incidental, right near the top of the steps. Maybe it was a sundial. Maybe it was a monument to the Masons. Who knows? It’s probably gone now. But if we were to “Pass the compass and reach / The foot of the culvert / Below the bridge,” then the logical bridge to look at would be the one that’s right there at the top of the stairs: the bridge over Ravine Road.

I was always a fan of the lighthouse as the metaphoric “compass” in the verse. The North Point Lighthouse just screams “compass” to me. I think this is the type of interpretation that BP used in a lot of the verse clues. Something that says something in another way. Simple.
With that said, at the other bridge, I DO like that manhole/millstone down at the end of Ravine Rd. I’d say it’s definitely worth exploring more. Has anyone probed this area?

Here you go…in 2008 these two trees were still there.
Not sure now…Neither is a birch. I did not see any letters on either one.
The only birch in the area is on the left…very small…probably not there 30 years ago.

animal painter

Here you go…in 2008 these two trees were still there.

Those two trees on the left are the ones that deserve a closer look. If anyone in Milwaukee feels like taking some pictures, I’d be very interested in seeing shots of the leaves, as well as close-ups around all the trunks. I don’t think there’s any reason why the tree in question needs to be a birch. Our “proud, tall fifth” could simply be the fifth tree.

Oregonian,
At some time after October 2011, the larger tree was removed.
It is not there in the 2013 Google map.
Here is a Google-map link that shows the leaves.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0687808 … 6vhVQQ!2e0

Uggh.. Okay, I’ll do Tree-ID-By-Google-Street-View. The big tree (closer to the camera in your shot) is Tree-of-Heaven (
Ailanthus altissima
). The city removed it because it’s a horrible, invasive species. (You can see lots of smaller ones further up Ravine Road.) But the other tree – the one closer to the cement disk – is a locust, probably Black Locust (
Robinia pseudoacacia
). It’s also invasive, but not as bad as Tree-of-Heaven.
So. Is the locust still there? Anyone feel like digging around at its southern foot?

This news piece describes some interesting details about the first US penny. It was a prototype designed by Robert Birch. A man in NY paid $200,000 for it in an auction in 1981.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa … -1.2074980

MrSeabass

I’m basing the location on the starting point, not the finishing. The only true point of reference that cannot be disputed as a specific and deliberate location is the silhouette of City Hall. Also, it’s just City Hall, and not a symbol of anything else whatsoever.
Standing at the corner of Water and State is the closest approximation to that silhouette of City Hall, so let’s just work the verse from that reference and what’s around it,

This is good thinking…BUT, then what do you do??

If my count is correct, treating every occurance of the letter C as a roman numeral for 100 might be a sum code for an important number: (15)C + 92 + 200 + 100 = 1892
View the three stories of Mit
C
hell
As you walk the beating of the world
At a distan
C
e in time
From three who lived there
At a distan
C
e in spa
C
e
From woman, with harpsi
C
hord
Silently playing
Step on nature
C
ast in
C
opper
As
C
end the
92
steps
After
C
limbing the grand
200
Pass the
C
ompass and rea
C
h
The foot of the
C
ulvert
Below the bridge
Walk
100
pa
C
es
Southeast over rock and soil
To the first young bir
C
h
Pass three, staying west
You’ll see a letter from the
C
ountry
Of wonderstone’s hearth
On a proud, tall fifth
At its southern foot
The treasure waits.

I was just looking at image 10 and noticed this similarity:
http://imgur.com/a/IePtW
Also, I may have skimmed over some of the posts in the 87 pages, but what do people think of the significance of the “L” formed by the lines on the 4 trunks (or 3 trunks and a pipe)?

savral — I am always happy to see new people interested in The Secret. But please, don’t pester JJP! Not only does it violate the spirit of the hunt (it’s cheating, actually), but he has repeatedly expressed annoyance at being approached about it. We certainly don’t want to antagonize the man.

Savral

I will have to do this later at night when I have a smaller chance of being caught.

Actually what I am thinking is, Great! somebody digging without permission, to screw it up for the rest of us…

S,
I will let you know this, if you are caught digging in a park without a Rite of Entry permit, the fine can be up to $10,000 and jail time. I would obtain permission before you start digging holes.
(7) Protection of Park Property.
a. No person shall kill, injure or disturb or
attempt to injure or disturb waterfowl,
birds or animals, wild or domestic, within
any park, except as permitted by this
Chapter. No person shall climb any tree
or remove flowers or fruit, wild or cultivated,
or break, cut down, trample upon,
remove or in any manner injure, deface,
write upon or ill use any tree, shrub,
flower, flower bed, turf, soil, sand, fountain,
ornament, building, structure, apparatus,
bench, table, official notice, sign
or other property within any park.

Not to discourage anyone, just be aware that is the consequence. So DON’T CLIMB ANY TREES! Darn Kids!

So I looked through the thread but didn’t see anything about the fact that the letter from the country is most likely a letter with an umlaut (two dots over the letter). It’s identified with Germany and can be found in various names of beers such as “Kolsch”. I surmise that the tree in 1981 had some kind of sign relating to what made Milwaukee famous – perhaps even a “This highway cleaned by ______ brewery” or a sign saying “________ brewery this way”.

Elcid, willkommen! I love that idea. This puzzle surely has something to do with beer.

That is a clever idea, Elcid — I don’t think it has ever been suggested, and it just might be correct.

Thanks to Stercox for the Pabst Theater pattern match to the collar.
It’s right by a bridge on Wells St.
I wonder if West Wells St. read as “W W e l l s” is like WWII ignoring the e and s. (beating of the world) from a Germany vs the world perspective.

West Wells = W Wells = W W_II_. From a German themed perspective “beating of the world” can make sense in connection with WWII. Its not too disimilar from the method of providing a first or last inital to a name. Here its much harder, giving a hint that you’re looking for a street name with “as you walk…” and then having to guessing WWII…and then seeing WWells. Hmm. Its quirky but doable.

Sorry to dispute the Kenwood theory. Its always bothered me from a random perspective, that is what would a kitchen mixer have to do with Milwaukee? Although it hasn’t yet been established that all clues have to be non-associated to the general site or cultural theme. I would like to act as if it is so, and justify my skepticism according to that constraint. Another thing about Ken Wood is its being from Britain, again not a German perspective.
My idea about Wells is difficult to read from the cultural standpoint; WWII has as much to do with Germany as it does with Britain and other countries involved. In the end its not an association to a kitchen appliance, it just takes us to a hangman type puzzle. I really like it. Its a little different from the Chicago street name hint “And to Congress, R is known.” R___________ for Roosevelt. Here its much harder: “…beating of the world” = W W_ll_ for W Wells. A whole step harder in difficulty.
This leads me to think the Wells St. bridge might be of interest…though Im unsure which direction we’re taking on that road.

Euhirudinea

Realistically, at this point, we are probably looking for pieces of ceramic and plexiglass, at best.

The general consensus on this is that from “Under the bridge” no matter what Ravine you take, no matter if you walk by the lighthouse or go the other way to Ravine Rd. when you walk 100 paces you are at or near Lincoln Memorial Drive…either back by the staircase, the old dig site, or just north of the old dig site. This is based on the 3 most logical ravines…the 2 lions bridge ravine’s and Ravine Rd. which if you went to the right (like a good american) at the top of the stairs, you would see the bridge to ravine rd… If there was a compass or sun dial near the top of the stairs or on the lawn of the Bistro or any indicator to continue west towards Ravine Rd. instead of turning south towards the lighthouse, you’d be heading for Ravine Rd. You would be looking for a Compass, and a “Culvert” or ravine with a Bridge…if you did walk to the right, Ravine Rd. is the logical choice. If it’s the other way towards the lighthouse, it’s one of the Lions bridge ravine’s – EITHER WAY, after 100 paces SE you end up by LMD…SO
My question is, because the young birch is most probably gone by now, and we are unsure of the pass 3…could we speculate on both the most logical place to look down on LMD by the track or head of the GS ravine..and also could we speculate on where else he could have been leading us to that point.
We know there is an indicator to either stay west, or pass 3 things staying west…maybe tree’s, maybe something else. We have to assume that the first young birch was either at the end of 100 paces, or in a clear line of sight from there. But then what? Would he lead us into the forest without a path? Maybe but I tend to think by the stipulations in the back of the book that it would have been a footpath and if it was off the footpath, he wouldn’t have us transverse too difficult of a terrain. So we have some options…North westerly, South Westerly (if there are paths) or North or South on the west side of LMD north or south.
We don’t know what Pass 3 means, there have been some educated guesses, but no real solution that everyone has agreed upon. If we head north from the Lion’s bridge ravine’s we come to the GS trail, but it’s not a direct shot, if there were a birch tree to walk to from the end of the N or S ravine, you might be able to see the GS ravine…but what would lead you to it? Why the GS ravine…well this is the crux of the question….
Is the Pass 3 staying West line leading us back into the park somehow? Or are we looking for something on LMD on near the woodline?
Now the awful question of would he have put it by a tree remains. If he did…it was most certainly one of the GS trees with the markers on them.
Still 2 options remain…somehow the culvert is Ravine Rd. and you may be digging by the Stairs. AND If the young birch and pass 3 were leading you back up into the park….well then there are even more difficult options.
EVERYTHING I HAVE STUDIED shows the path going cold at this first young birch…so we have to start using the guidelines of the hunt in the book, the image, and the process of elimination to determine where he wanted us to go from the end of one of the Ravine’s along LMD.
Thoughts?

My thought has always been that a young birch tree is a bad clue in the first place, and that “young birch” has to mean something else in some way, we just haven’t figured it out.
I offer no proof, just the feeling that a young tree is a bad marker – in a few years it certainly wouldn’t be young looking anymore, young trees die or get uprooted all the time in weather events, etc. I always assumed we’re looking for a depiction of a young tree, a well established birch that is named or planted for someone named “Young”, idk – just always struck me as not literally a youthful birch tree plant.
While Preiss expected them to be solved quickly he had to be aware that they might not, or not for a few years at least. I’m no tree surgeon, but I imagine the difference between a young birch and a birch TREE is enough to completely ruin the riddle, and it may only take what 2-5 years to get there?

I feel the reason he thought they would be solved, and I hope I am close because this theory offers more hope…but we must be objective.
BP thinks up the plan, recruits people for the project, picks the spots and makes it all happen. Then he gets done with it and makes a stark realization the the places he chose all have many things in common, and that when a few are found people will see the pattern and figure them all out too easily.
This is why I don’t think the Milwaukee casque was placed in the woods…it may have been placed near a tree though…tree roots grow outward and rarely disrupt things 3′ down…as they get older they grow outward in the topsoil as it’s easier penetrated than growing down into the more dense soil. BP put it just at the bottom of this nice topsoil. My guess is he dug till he hit the hard clay and that was the depth…no more than 3 – 3.5 feet. There is no way he is going to waste time digging into permafrost or hard clay, he scouted locations, figured out if there was at least 2.5 feet of good topsoil, and made a decision. In Cleveland he could have gone deeper as it wouldn’t impede his time by that much.
Also if there is a pattern…both places were “in wooded area’s” but not in the woods.
There were many more Birch Trees in 1980. Just keep looking at a birch tree and ask yourself, why would he use this kind of tree for a marker.
Maybe you are right, if we can look back to Cleveland and see what he meant by Birch there…if it was a tree or something else, it may give another clue. Because of visual evidence I’ve seen personally, I believe there is at least 1 actual birch tree involved in this hunt.

I have no argument and admit that part of it (as I think I’ve said elsewhere) is knowing that trees are so hard to identify/find 30 years later, I sort of want it to be true that he didn’t use real trees.
If anyone is on the right track in Boston though it doesn’t appear to be a wooded or tree-ish area, so there’s hope. Of course that one could also be way off base.

Euhirudinea

The second is that unlike some of the others, this verse is a literal road map from Point A (Mitchell Hall) to Point T (the proud tall fifth) with plenty of confirmation along the way.
For the record, I feel the same way about the Roanoke solve (that is, solved, just not recovered-yet). Which gives anyone who agrees with this line of reasoning four solid solutions to use to prove or disprove the methodology of the remaining eight puzzles.

Great posts renovator. I like the thought process. As far as the “proud tall fifth”, I do think it’s probably a tree with the Girl Scout marker on it. Wasn’t/Isn’t there more than one tree with a “G” on it? Is the one down on Lincoln still there? There was a big organized dig down by a tree down there I believe…was there a “G” on that tree?
I’m with you. I think there are about four locations that are as good as solved-just covered over, broken into pieces, or, (my favorite) missed when digging.

Again…
PROPOSED DIG SPOTS FOR MILWAUKEE CASQUE
Let’s hear from Forest, Digger, Siskel, WR, WK, Stercox’s, and everyone involved with the old dig and the new theories (based off of the Lake Park solution.)
If you could dig somewhere on LMD where and why, and if you think he was taking us somewhere else…where and why and where would you dig?

I thought the Lake Park theory was void once people confirmed that the Grand Stair didnt make sense as a candidate for 92 steps.

There are 92 stairs on the grand staircase, you don’t count the 3 steps and the landing that approaches it, just the main staircase itself. It’s 92.

Can you clarify? How defined is the separation between main staircase and the landing and which three stairs are being dismissed and why?
I remain skeptical because of the alternative of exactly 92 steps at the wishing well of the Plankington Arcade off 200 Grand Ave. Thise steps are in four equal parts of 23 steps around a circle. Im skepti al of that too because its not a case of one primary ascending, its more like ascend, decend, ascend again, etc.

Erexere,
In light of the way things have been going on here lately, I have decided to extend an olive branch.
I will be examining proposed spots in the future…right now, just compiling everyone’s idea’s…
I won’t have time to produce a rite of entry for every and any park so I have to keep the location within Lake Park for now…if we can examine several spots, and rule them out, we are making progress. I have boots on the ground here. This would be a good opportunity for all of you to take advantage of this, and if we all work together as one, maybe we can find this thing.
I intend to search several locations in Lake Park, including the old dig site. I have a list of my theories, now I want to hear your best thoughts on LAKE PARK, and if we rule it out, we can move to Juneau Park and Kozy, and Pierre Marquette or whatever makes sense. Lets all work together and take a scientific approach to solving a 32 year old mystery. We can start by finding the best locations in Lake Park and near LMD and rule them out 1 by 1…at least we are making some kind of progress.

erexere

Can you clarify? How defined is the separation between main staircase and the landing and which three stairs are being dismissed and why?

I am not dismissing anything at this point, nor am I confirming, I am only taking a scientific approach as it is one way of making some progress.

I think its great that you’re working hard on the puzzle. I dont see any reason for an olive branch since I dont see anything to be upset about. You have to exclude somethings and most of my theory doesnt work with the mainstream anyway. So its cool.
I think Im doing very well in developing my theory, and while Im doing so, I’m still interested in alternatives. I know the Lake Park theory very well, so when it was made clear that the Grand Stair had some issue with the step count, I looked at alternatives. When there are other Mitchells to consider, I’m taking some time and having fun developing any theory which resembles anything thematic or reasonable based on Cleveland and Chicago workings.
I hope to get further clarification on the Grand Stair. Maybe just a reminder of a post that I mustve missed that does a really good job solidifying that idea.

Unknown

Unknown:
Ravine Rd. which if you went to the right (like a good american) at the top of the stairs, you would see the bridge to ravine rd…

Unknown

Unknown:
My question is, because the young birch is most probably gone by now, and we are unsure of the pass 3…could we speculate on both the most logical place to look down on LMD by the track or head of the GS ravine

Well I would like to think of myself as a good American, but going right at the top of the Grand Staircase never occurred to me for three reasons:
1) You are going back the way you came and basically traveling in a small, uninteresting circle (staircase, around Bistro, over bridge, down to LMD) Why not just turn left at the base of Ravine Road and proceed north on LMD, focusing on the clues over there instead? I suppose that you could make the same argument against going right on LMD at the end of Ravine Road, past the staircase and to the treasure ground (a more direct route). But to me, this is less likely. Those stairs just demand to be climbed. My sense is that Preiss was probably surprised to find himself back on LMD (still circular but a much more interesting walk with good landmarks), so just went with what he had once he found himself back near the Grand Staircase.
2) If you go to the right, you pretty much miss the golf course all together. The red balls suggest to me that the golf course (as opposed to the lawn bowling courts-which you also miss but not by as much) figure into the hunt somehow.
3) I think that the “compass” is the North Point Lighthouse. It’s a rock solid clue with almost no ambiguity. And one of the most prominent features of Lake Park. Again, if you go right, you miss this all together.
I will allow that I have no good explanation for “after climbing the grand 200” so if someone could somehow connect this line to the Lake Park Bistro or the lawn bowling courts, I might be more inclined to rework my theory. But for now, I’m still mostly convinced that the treasure ground is within a few hundred yards of the base of the NLB Ravine.
We could speculate, or we could try to identify the “proud tall fifth”, if in fact it is still standing. As I said before, I have an idea but before I put it out there for everyone, I would like to know that you or Animal Painter, or any one of the others who have put in time on the ground in Milwaukee has first crack to evaluate its merit. I’m not asking for anything in return. I’m just trying to use what I know, and what I’ve learned from the good people here to get one of these out of the ground. It’s possible that with that last statement, I’ve insulted some of the lurkers who use the information here for their own gain, but as a former lurker, that is of little concern to me now.

Unknown

Unknown:
Sorry to dispute the Kenwood theory. Its always bothered me from a random perspective, that is what would a kitchen mixer have to do with Milwaukee?

If you are referring to my (really our) theory (which I think is the prevailing theory so far, which only means it is the theory that is being pursued until a better one comes along), then dispute away. But please keep in mind that to convince me, you are not only going to have to come up with a better explanation for Kenwood (stereo receivers, not mixers), but every clue between “3 stories of Mitchell” and “first young birch”. I’ll spot you Kenwood and Marietta (up to a point) and give you “climbing the grand 200” altogether. I have no idea what that could mean and haven’t seen any explanation that I like even a little bit. The only thing that I can say for certain about that clue is that if the protocols that I am following for this verse hold true, then “climbing the grand 200” refers to something that is within a few hundred yards of the Grand Staircase.

In the context of the grand stair, its shape as a C and backwards C, together ate thought to be Roman Numeral CC or 200.

Euhirudinea

Well I would like to think of myself as a good American, but going right at the top of the Grand Staircase never occurred to me for three reasons:
1) You are going back the way you came and basically traveling in a small, uninteresting circle (staircase, around Bistro, over bridge, down to LMD) Why not just turn left at the base of Ravine Road and proceed north on LMD, focusing on the clues over there instead? I suppose that you could make the same argument against going right on LMD at the end of Ravine Road, past the staircase and to the treasure ground (a more direct route). But to me, this is less likely. Those stairs just demand to be climbed. My sense is that Preiss was probably surprised to find himself back on LMD (still circular but a much more interesting walk with good landmarks), so just went with what he had once he found himself back near the Grand Staircase.
2) If you go to the right, you pretty much miss the golf course all together. The red balls suggest to me that the golf course (as opposed to the lawn bowling courts-which you also miss but not by as much) figure into the hunt somehow.
3) I think that the “compass” is the North Point Lighthouse. It’s a rock solid clue with almost no ambiguity. And one of the most prominent features of Lake Park. Again, if you go right, you miss this all together.
I will allow that I have no good explanation for “after climbing the grand 200” so if someone could somehow connect this line to the Lake Park Bistro or the lawn bowling courts, I might be more inclined to rework my theory. But for now, I’m still mostly convinced that the treasure ground is within a few hundred yards of the base of the NLB Ravine.
We could speculate, or we could try to identify the “proud tall fifth”, if in fact it is still standing. As I said before, I have an idea but before I put it out there for everyone, I would like to know that you or Animal Painter, or any one of the others who have put in time on the ground in Milwaukee has first crack to evaluate its merit. I’m not asking for anything in return. I’m just trying to use what I know, and what I’ve learned from the good people here to get one of these out of the ground. It’s possible that with that last statement, I’ve insulted some of the lurkers who use the information here for their own gain, but as a former lurker, that is of little concern to me now.

Ok so you are saying that the Golf Course would be the visual indicator to walk left, even though you might come up on the right side. Ok, so then you would walk left and eventually see the Lighthouse, so you would pass the compass on it’s south side as that is where the footpath leads you to the beginning of the ravine trail, and if you continue to walk south, you would still pass it, but then the clues end there…so we take the south ravine. Then we come out by the first dig site where we can assume there was a birch tree. Then you propose we would walk North staying West along the Woodline, possibly passing 3 more Birch trees, all plausible…Then we come upon the Girl Scout Tree so you would propose the southern foot of the Girl Scout tree as a location? I like that.
As far as walking the route…there is an easier way to get to everything on this one…so he defiantly wanted us to walk a specific route….
Let’s mark it down
1. Old GS tree location.
What else…

Unknown

Unknown:
Great posts renovator. I like the thought process. As far as the “proud tall fifth”, I do think it’s probably a tree with the Girl Scout marker on it. Wasn’t/Isn’t there more than one tree with a “G” on it? Is the one down on Lincoln still there? There was a big organized dig down by a tree down there I believe…was there a “G” on that tree?

Thank you.
I’ll let those that actually dug by that tree discuss this more fully if they care to, but the thing that always bothered me about that particular tree is that from the looks of things, it’s the first one you come to at the base of the South Lion Bridge Ravine. My theory holds that the “first young birch” would have been a small tree, probably freshly planted, that you would see once you came out of the woods. You would go to that tree, as it would be the only landmark in the area, and from there you would notice a line of freshly planted trees, maybe even on both sides of LMD, which would explain both the “pass three” and “staying west” clues (follow the line, but disregard the trees on the other side of the street). At the fourth tree, you would be within sight of the “proud tall fifth”, which you would confirm when you saw the “letter from the country” (Girl Scout marker is what I like best, but it could have been initials carved into the bark). No need to go into the woods, and no need to know your trees. Just find the marker, figure out which way is south (hint: Lake Michigan is east of Milwaukee), and dig.
I know I can’t prove any of what I have written above (yet), and I’m with everyone else who think that burying something at the base of a tree (big or small) is a lousy idea in the long run. But if you are in an open field, trees might be all you have.

All we can do is start ruling them out one by one…if we find it, bonus, but at least we can narrow it down.

Agree. The name of the game with any hypothesis is trying to falsify it. There’s no harm in testing it out.

Unknown

Unknown:
As far as walking the route…there is an easier way to get to everything on this one…so he defiantly wanted us to walk a specific route….

Unknown

Unknown:
What else…

No doubt, since instead of climbing the Grand Staircase, he could have just kept walking south on LMD and ended up at the same place with much less trouble. But it would have been a lot less interesting and would have required him to just walk past the GS (which unless you are disabled, is an invitation and not an obstacle). My guess is that he probably wanted to bury the casque in North Point Park (at the base of one of the lion statues would have been good), but for whatever reason (too many people, too tired to go back and get the shovel and retrace his steps), decided to bury it at the base of the ravine near where he parked his car. Once again, I am speculating but part of the fun with these puzzles is to put myself in Preiss’s boots and try to imagine his thought process as he engineered the puzzle.
Well, there is one more thing. But you are going to need a metal detector, but not in the way you would think.

Here is something i haven’t liked about the grand staircase: It’s very obvious, and theoretically allows anyone to pick up the hunt in the middle, or shoot, toward the end.
What’s the point of the beginning part of the riddle if even a casual tourist will be able to go “Oh, it’s that” and start in the middle? Just a thought, nothing concrete. Maybe it only seems obvious to me because I’ve heard it in so many theories, but whenever someone new comes to the hunt via BoingBoing, Reddit, SA, etc. they IMMEDIATELY go “The Grand Staircase in Lake Park” to this line.

If you are talking about electrical wires…that location is already on the list

Unknown

Unknown:
In the context of the grand stair, its shape as a C and backwards C, together ate thought to be Roman Numeral CC or 200

Yeah, not a fan. “Ascend the 92 steps” is precise and unambiguous. It stands on it’s own with no need for further clarification. Why the redundancy? IMO, it has to refer to something between the top of the staircase and the North Point Light House since there is a decision point that needs to be made before you can get from one to the other, namely which direction to go. Ultimately though, since I can pick up the trail again after the golf course ,and we have a visual confirmer for the golf course, I’m willing to jump this clue for now. Although if someone could tie the Wolcott Statue to this line, that would be great.

If you consider the Chicago casque, the clue L sits, is a big indicator…if you spotted the bowman on the picture and knew where that was, you would immediately get “L sits” and that is in the middle as well. Again, maybe there is 1 big thing that ties each one of these to a solution…The Greek Gardens, Lincoln Sitting, and the Grand Staircase…they all get you close, I feel it’s right in line with the rest of them.

I’m not sure every single Cleveland resident would go “The Greek Cultural Gardens!” when presented with “Socrates, Pindar, Apelles” as a clue. Same with Grant Park. It’s definitely possible that this one is just an obvious clue – it sure hasn’t gotten us a casque no matter how “obvious” it feels!
I do know what you mean though, I have a pet theory about Montreal that literally is just solving the last bit of the verse, I have no idea what the rest of it means. I have an idea of what the final marker could be and then that’s it. *shrug* With Google maps it does make it a bit easier to try to “jump in.”

Well for right now, lets just concentrate on locations in Lake Park to rule out…there’s
1. Old dig site
2. Old GS tree
3. ??

Unknown

Unknown:
We’ve covered proper glassware and its importance to fully enjoying beer before. What we didn’t cover is some of the more unusual vessels out there for drinking beer, vessels like the glass boot. The 2006 comedy movie Beerfest brought some attention to this odd drinking cup, but didn’t really explain its history.
The exact origins of the glass boot are unknown, but there are several theories commonly proposed. The first and most popular theory suggests that the glass boot came to be about a hundred years ago. A German general promised his troops that he would drink from a shoe if they won a tough upcoming battle. To his surprise they did, but instead of sipping beer from his actual boot the general had a glass boot made just for him so he could honor his promise without the beer smelling like old socks. After that the practice caught on with soldiers throughout Germany and eventually the rest of the beer drinking world.
There are several other theories that suggest that drinking beer from a leather boot was a test of courage and/or a hazing ritual for men and soldiers dating back anywhere from 500 to 50 years ago. Although we may never know for sure when the boot came to be, the where was probably Germany, where the glass is known as a “bierstiefel.”
Today the boot is popular mostly among younger beer drinkers, especially those in college, who use the boot for various drinking games. Drinking very quickly from a bierstiefel with the toe of the boot pointing down creates a vacuum pocket which will eventually shoot the beer out of the glass. The challenge for these young revelers is to continue finishing the beer without letting the inevitable beer splash slow them down. Although we here at Beeriety don’t support most drinking games, we do support the celebration of ages old beer drinking tradition.
Glass boots come in many different shapes and sizes and are available at some finer beer bars and restaurants. The next time you’re out be sure to ask your server if they have any beer boots for you to try.

Das Boot Theory
in Milwaukee
I have a very strong impression that the Imperial Standard of Measure for a League, that is 3 miles or distance walked in an hours time, is the device used to get us from important point A to important point B in this puzzle.
At this time, I’m hoping point B is the Kozy memorial, but is a result achieved without proper explanation of the verse or the image for that matter. I’ve outlined some ideas that get me there and nothing has been completely proven by any unique piece of evidence. (this is actually the case with just about anyone’s theories for any of the other casques…whether they admit it or not…unless they’re holding back some delicate details).
I have two ideas in mind for point A:
A1: visually, the exact shape of the spires of the City Hall can be matched while standing to the north at a spot in the city like E. State Street, this then might lead to or lead from A2
A2: View the three stories of Mitchell, I think it’s one of four spots: Mitchell Hall, Mitchell Domes, Mitchell Street Bank, or the Wisconsin Club.
The second line of verse helps compel our view of A2, and it has to be something you walk, likely a path or street or maybe a bridge or something more diverse like a theater stage.
I call this the Das Boot Theory, because I’m trying to maintain a German perspective and I find the the general theme to be something related to walking, taking steps, ascending, climbing, and possibly even drinking. Take a look at this little bit of text I lifted from someone’s blog on the history of drinking from a boot:

Forest, a couple of years ago you posted the following. I’m wondering if anything ever came of it.
I suggest we turn our attention to finding old photos. Some suggestions:
1. Many newspapers keep a photo archive. This might include photos of the beach area during summers or celebrations, or marathons, or parades, with LMD forming the backdrop. Most photo archives contain photos never used in published articles.
2. As morbid as it sounds, automobile insurance agencies would keep photos of road accidents, so finding a record of auto accidents along LMD from that era might turn up photos of that stretch of road. The police and highway patrol also might routinely keep photos as evidence (these might be difficult to acquire).
3. Contact Milwaukee’s public works and find the companies to which they contracted both the initial construction work and repair work on Lincoln Memorial Drive. Surely they took surveying photos all along the drive.
4. Park service. This might already have been done, but try contacting the folks in charge of the park, and see if they kept photos in their archives.
5. Tourist photos. We could pool our funds and publish an appeal in the local paper for vacation photos from the 1970s and 1980s taken in and around LMD and Lake Park.

Elcid,
I’ve done all of that research, including a trip to the historical society. I urge you to do it as well, it’s like a mini treasure hunt.

decibalnyc

OK but city hall is on the other side of Kilbourn, you’re starting point A from Starbucks on that map. That’s a good 70-100 yards away.

I’m actually suggesting a spot about 200 yards away where you stand up on the top level of the parking structure across from the Marcus Center and you take a photo of city hall. The point is to match the exact outline of city hall to that of the painting. I can only approximate based on google’s fancy car camera and hope that the curvature of the angle hasn’t thrown me off the perspective.
If I lived in Milwaukee, I’d have this fact figured out first. It’s a unique landmark, we all seem to agree that it’s city hall, yet nobody has bothered to identify the exact position one must stand to have a match. Probably because it might cost them $5.00 to use the garage…

Considering you can see the front doorway arch in the picture, it would have been taken from just in front of the BMO bank aiming north if that helps.

I’m not seeing the doorway arch you’re talking about. When I took a look from the BMO entrance, it gave me a view looking north at city hall which had a dominant view of the clock spire.

I really like this view from the corner of the Marcus Center looking south, which shows both spires in level alignment and it looks like the view might be perfect if taken from a vantage point a 10-20 yards west. Because that would make the Marcus Center itself an obstruction, I’m proposing that we take a view from higher up, across the street from the parking structure.

As you can see, pictures taken from a spot about 100 yards closer and 20 yards to the east show the spires in a much different position because of parallax.

This is going to sound nutzo, but I read the field guide entry for the Pre-Revolutionary Warlock for the first time today and it really compels me to consider there is more going on than we’ve been led to believe.
If you’ve been following my recent ideas about Image 10/Verse 8, then you’ll know I’m pushing for some connections based on a small variety of considerations, namely things to do with: waiters, footmen, beer, boots, cobbling, chambermaids, seven dwarfs, units of measuring distance and time, draft compasses, dividers, tumbling, polishing, HG Wells and time traveling.
So I take a moment to read the p100 entry followed by two photo pages. I catch the use of the word ‘cobblers’ and ‘chamber pots’ and ‘beer’. I notice the picture has the number 7 in a couple places and also the initials HG might be extracted from the upper right corner. The second page talks about polishing a canon for auction.
Perhaps Warlock is a good nudge for the word Morlock, the creatures from HG Wells’ story the Time Machine.
It looks to me like someone who knew the inner workings of the puzzle had a little fun with this particular entry.

Erex,
The shot you showed from the BMO bank has the front door archway in it!!
…and if you move east on the sidwalk of water st. going towards the bank entrance, which I have done when using that bank many times, both spires comes into view and it puts the entrance arch in the right place…next time I am downtown I will try to stop there and snap a picture for you.
If you look from wells st. east of water, it makes more sense as that doorway arch is on the south side of the corner as well as the east side of the corner and the west….a shot from the west is impossible it makes everything the wrong perspective…from dead south, you would have the doorway, but the spires would be uneven. Only a shot from the southeast would give that perspective, still including the archway…but the spires would be different height’s. This is the correct position…but there is more…
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0410771 … GfajUg!2e0
Because of the perspective I can tell you that the polaroid was most likely snapped from the Sky lounge on top of the Pfister hotel…likely that if Preiss stayed the night, he would have stayed at the Pfister. It’s illustrated as an upwards shot from the north west…that would make the spires correct in height because you would be shooting from the side of the short north spire making it the same size as the taller southern spire…more logically, BP took a shot from the southeast from ABOVE creating the proper perspective for the spires and allowing for the prominent doorway arch to be represented. There are half arches around the building, but the doorway arch stands out big time. I have been to the Sky bar many times doing gigs, I’ve seen that perspective and it’s a pretty good match.

After closer examination of the image, I have to conclude that your shot from the northwest by the PAC does seem to be the right perspective…the doorway arch must have been an “artistic license” on JJP…it certainly does match up better from the northwest…the spires would be reversed from the Pfister sky bar shot…good work…he probably passed the Pabst theater on the way and snapped a picture of the doors which have the neck design on it.
Good work

But there’s not, there is just a 3 story building in front of you, blocking your view of everything.
We know we are supposed to be right here…but now what? Some people think (in a backwards sort of way) that the compass refers to the masonic compass on the light post at the top of the stairs…it’s only on one of them, the one to the south. I highly doubt this is what he is referring to but maybe…
When I was at the top of the stairs I looked at a compass and you know which way the left path was? I’ll give you 1 guess…

Lets say we are right about taking Lincoln Memorial Drive to the Grand Staircase at Lake Park, and we walk up the 92 stairs….well when you get to the top, there’s a big building in your way…so you need to make a decision right there to go one way or another. How do you make that decision? You wouldn’t be able to see a compass to speak of, or even the lighthouse which you wouldn’t know the name of until you got up to it anyways, so what do you do at the top of the stairs, and what in the verse or image tells you to do that?
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be heading towards the lighthouse, I’m just asking…why do we go that way and how do we know that’s correct?

decibalnyc

…so what do you do at the top of the stairs, and what in the verse or image tells you to do that?

Unknown

Unknown:
Ascend the 92 steps
After climbing the grand 200
Pass the compass and reach

I always assumed that there would have been a compass within view from that location, something which is no longer there.

k, guys getting back into the hunt and skimming  all 30 some pages of this, just a few thoughts before i go back to reading:
bp does play with words, and it’s been mentioned several times about birch just might mean tree.
but since the “g” tree didn’t have the cask….
still could be on the fifth lion……but wanted to add these thoughts, even if it leads us around the park ( i thought of this b4 in this thread but no one commented on it
)
“to the first YOUNG birch”————–NEW (young) BERRY road (new fruit tree)
“pass three”………………LOCUST (tree), LINWOOD (wood, tree), KENWOOD (wood, tree)———or maybe three of the markers on the lake park map, or the 3rd tee on golf course, or 3 something
staying west………..
“you’ll see a letter from the country of wonderstone’s hearth”…….is the other girl scout marker up on this end of the park?
on a proud, tall ………..would we be back on lincoln drive?…….lincoln, tall and proud …….(if it’s not the lions  ;D  🙂
at it’s southern foot the treasure awaits………..got me (no Idea)………foot of lincoln drive?  kenwood drive?   lion’s paw?

Could Wells Fargo be part of this puzzle?
E: This is an idea based on a few different ideas. Long before I thought of Wells street, I thought about a hidden meaning in the use of the words “three stories”, as meaning an “account” or a hint for “three things in a row” which also meets the defintion of a “bank”. Wells Fargo is a bank and it has a commonality with the street name. Intriguing is the name “Fargo” or “go far”, as in “at a distance”. Lastely, there’s the “you’ll see a letter from the country” line, which could be born out of wanting to use a Postal reference, like the Pony Express. Wells Fargo was very involved with early mail/freight service. Beyond that, there’s that “Goodness First” point in finding the casques, and I always thought there was some attempt in all the puzzles to find “firsts”. Was Wells Fargo the first national or oldest bank in the country?
Maybe the idea of finding an equestrian statue is the goal of making subtle references to banking and the postal .

the opening sentence of this V seems to give us a general location.  3 stories of Mitchell seems to try to make us think of an author named Mitchell……one Margaret Mitchell perhaps?  But 3 stories?  She was famous for Gone With The Wind but did she have 2 other famous works?  Not really.  So, with a little investigation, I located the house she did most of her writing in in Atlanta GA.  Yup, you guessed it, it is a 3 story house… and it is on the Historical Registry.  I am still trying to figure out the rest ( last part becoming very precise in locating the casque)…we may just have to be there to follow these steps.  Are you up for it Egg?  I’m leaning towards a large park near the house called Peidmont Park.  This, however; is just a gut feeling.

Unknown

Unknown:
I have seen only one comment that works to explain the three stripes, a photo by forestblight showing “red white and blue”, but the picture I’m studying shows the second strip is yellow.  Which is it, white or yellow?

Welcome, Erexere!
In my book it’s more white than yellow. I never thought it was a yellow stripe.

Also, I’m fairly certain that exact stripe pattern was found on a sign at the park where this casque is supposed to be.

If you invert the image, the bluish area on top left of the hook in the cape appears to be a profile of Lincoln.

Im trying to see it, but I dont.
Heres the Laureate shape hiding in the woman’s hair.

Says I can’t attach it M-K, 9-10. Upside down.

I hesitate to mention this as I know the consensus on verse 8 seems to revolve around lake park etc…
Three stories of Mitchell…
Margaret Mitchell did write 3 stories. and she is buried in Atlanta.
As you walk the beating of the world…
A cemetery could represent the beating of the world.
At a distance in time from three who lived there…
Three civil war generals are buried here (Oakland cemetery).  Also several people lived in the cemetery that are buried here.
Nature cast in bronze…
Could be bronze sculpture of flowers, trees, animals, etc…
I will make a field trip to look for the woman with harpsichord, but there are certainly lots of steps here.  The hill this is built on was where Johnston defended Atlanta during the War of Northern Aggression…
Just thought I would mention it…

Oh also, can you play a “c” chord on a harp?  Would this be a harpsichord?

I had found myself going down that path some time ago Jshelnutt.  Pretty sure MM penned more than 3 stories tho….but…. this is how I interpreted it.
The Margaret Mitchell House…..all 3 stories of it.  I kept finding myself in Piedmont Park but stalling out there.  Are you in Atlanta?  If so, P Park may be worth reconning and taking some pix of.

well hopefully this post will actually go out as my others have seemed to disappear in moderation limbo…
I went to Milwaukee this weekend and scouted around a bit and think I might have some new information on the interpretation of this verse.
View the three stories of Mitchell
There have been some new theories in regards to what this relates to. One of the most promising I have seen has to do with the Wisconsin Club, it is the old 3 story mansion which used to be the residence of Alexander Mitchell before it was turned into the social club that it is today.
As you walk the beating of the world
Just south of the Wisconsin Club is the Court of Honor (
https://www.google.com/maps/search/goog … iMC9iA!2e0
)
In this median area lie a number of statues. Including a statue in remembrance of the veterans of the Spanish American war as well as a statue of George Washington. Both signify victories by America against “the world” (Spain, England). So the beating of the world fits. Also along this Court of Honor is a statue dedicated to the union troops of the civil war. (
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.038629, … 39OeLw!2e0
) it depicts 4 Union soldiers, one dying, from the union, hence
At a distance in time From three who lived there
a distance in time (since the war was in the past), from three who lived there (lived as in survived, not resided).
At a distance in space
From woman, with harpsichord
Silently playing
You pass along the Milwaukee Public Library as well as the Milwaukee Public Museum, I’m assuming this is more of a time sensitive clue about an exhibit or display from the early 80s. I am still researching this one.
Step on nature
Cast in copper
This one is the stretch, mainly because the area that this refers to no longer exists and has been changed quite a bit. My theory for this is that it means the Plankinton Arcade. Step on nature could mean a design pattern which originally existed in the arcade but was changed with the renovations over the years. Particularly in the early 80s as the arcade was converted into the Grand Ave Mall. This is also where the theory takes a a little liberty on the play on words. Cast in copper may not mean actually created in copper but instead it may mean throw in copper, as in a wishing well or fountain/water feature, which used to grace the plankinton arcade before it was removed due to people stealing the change and bathing in it.
Ascend the 92 steps
After climbing the grand 200
Pass the compass
All of this is reference to the plankinton arcade as well. The rotunda which houses a statue of plankinton has 4 staircases, each with 23 steps or 92 steps. After climbing the grand 200 could be in reference to the fact that the arcade sits on the 200 block of Wisconsin Ave which, back in the day, was called Grand Ave. So ascending the 92 steps after climbing the grand 200 could mean the rotunda steps after getting to the arcade. The base of the statue in the rotunda is surrounded by a compass rose. you can see all of that in this picture:
http://www.milwaukeecomedy.com/site/wp- … ington.jpg
As I am still trying to make sense of this first part and have found evidence that can support nearly everything up to this point, I have yet to clarify where to go next as I want to make sure I am going in the right direction before making too many other leaps and finding myself in completely the wrong area.
I have also found that the task may become more difficult as I proceed due to the sheer number of changes to the landscape due to the construction of the Milwaukee Riverwalk.

But “a letter” is still singular, not plural; you would choose one letter from several.

unless it is a correspondence letter rather than an alphabet letter

its implied there are more than one option to choose from. otherwise he would have put the instead of a.

no. dude the and a would be reversed if it applied to one. it would mean either one of the letters within the word (lowercase) or a multi word country using the beginning capitals. we KNOW from what i explained above, its the latter. but you can think whatever dumb shit you want, i dont care…

maltedfalcon

unless it is a correspondence letter rather than an alphabet letter

An unstamped letter in a rural letterbox?
A young birch?

Glossiphoniidae

An unstamped letter in a rural letterbox?
A young birch?

it is a correspondence letter…on its own…like the one on the monument outside george washington park.

JoshCornell

no. dude the and a would be reversed if it applied to one. it would mean either one of the letters within the word (lowercase) or a multi word country using the beginning capitals. we KNOW from what i explained above, its the latter. but you can think whatever dumb shit you want, i dont care…

I actually have no theory for milwaukee.
I just was noting, that linquistically this, “a correspondence ” is a valid interpretation
not multiple correspondence, a single correspondence, also known as a letter.

at washington park theres a german equestrian statue with two full letters on plaques…it’s taking us there…one is from washington (representative of the usa). i didnt see any similar things in lp, but i could have missed something.

slappybuns

the only other thing i’ve thought about is in the cloak, that could be the lighthouse on the far right, not sure what that dark indention is meant to portray….but now boogieman has me seeing letters in the cloak like in image 12   ;D

Hey, don’t blame me!!  JJP is the one who painted them.

HI all,,
If i am following the thread rite the milwaukee connection is still viable .. so i am feeling spry . i am going to go up to wisc. tomarrow…will give a after actions report tomarrow nite..
be safe

otteriffic

Step on nature
Cast in copper
This one is the stretch, mainly because the area that this refers to no longer exists and has been changed quite a bit. My theory for this is that it means the Plankinton Arcade. Step on nature could mean a design pattern which originally existed in the arcade but was changed with the renovations over the years. Particularly in the early 80s as the arcade was converted into the Grand Ave Mall. This is also where the theory takes a a little liberty on the play on words. Cast in copper may not mean actually created in copper but instead it may mean throw in copper, as in a wishing well or fountain/water feature, which used to grace the plankinton arcade before it was removed due to people stealing the change and bathing in it.
Ascend the 92 steps
After climbing the grand 200
Pass the compass
All of this is reference to the plankinton arcade as well. The rotunda which houses a statue of plankinton has 4 staircases, each with 23 steps or 92 steps. After climbing the grand 200 could be in reference to the fact that the arcade sits on the 200 block of Wisconsin Ave which, back in the day, was called Grand Ave. So ascending the 92 steps after climbing the grand 200 could mean the rotunda steps after getting to the arcade. The base of the statue in the rotunda is surrounded by a compass rose. you can see all of that in this picture:
http://www.milwaukeecomedy.com/site/wp- … ington.jpg

Very nice connections, here. I love the “cast in copper” as a wishing fountain. I can’t believe that no one thought of that before.
The photo you posted seems to show that this is indoors. Is that correct? Not sure BP would have us go indoors for clues. Does that “compass rose” have any letters or numbers on it? If not, it may just be a decorative circle which looks like a compass rose.

Wow! I really like your interpretation of the first four lines. Very simplistically thought out, and very plausible!!

forest_blight

It comes from an obscure web page listing an obscure candle-lighting ceremony from a synagogue in Westport, CN:

emphasis on obscure

hi ap
is this the same ravine you are looking in or near
Waterfall Ravine Restoration…….
http://www.lakeparkfriends.org/

cw0909,
The Waterfall Ravine is the one near the soccer field
by the other Girl Scout Tree.  The other end of it is
directly off the parking lot up by golf course/pavilion.
AP

Obscure to me, Im not Jewish,
but it makes total sense to me now.
Thanks for clearing up one of the more frustrating(for me) clues in the book.
I always figured that one would make sense, if you were on the ground looking…

forest_blight

Wikipedia:
“The only painting that can be conclusively attributed to Marietta Robusti is her Self Portrait (c. 1580; Uffizi Gallery, Florence). This portrait depicts
Marietta posed before a harpsichord
, holding a musical text that has been identified as a madrigal by Philippe Verdelot, ‘Madonna per voi ardo’.”

This is excellent work FB, but can we link this Marietta to Milwaukee somehow?

I think the link to the candle-lighting ceremony is extremely tenuous. First, there is the fact that the wording is of indeterminate age (maybe post-1981), and appears in only one online source, associated with a single synagogue far, far away from Milwaukee. Then there is the problem that the verse says
As you
walk
the beating of the world
. I don’t see how walking down the street in front of a building associated with Judaism qualifies as “walking the beating of the world.” If the street itself somehow fit the clue, fine — but it doesn’t.
I have no evidence for this, but I suspect it is more word-play along the lines of
Cast in copper
and
compass
.
As for the Marietta link, we don’t need to link her to Milwaukee. It suffices that there is a Marietta Ave. between Mitchell Hall and Lake Park.

digger7

As you walk the beating of the world
A reference to the synagogue that was across the street from Mitchell Hall.

I really like your ideas on these clues,
but could you clarify for me this reference, how is a synagogue like the beating of the world?
I do like your street references that makes sense to me…

It comes from an obscure web page listing an obscure candle-lighting ceremony from a synagogue in Westport, CN:
http://www.humanisticjews.org/Shabbat_files/community_shabbat_welcome_2.htm

true it is tenuous, but so far is the best explanation I have heard
perhaps it is more obvious if you are jewish, is it possibly a common jewish idiom?
perhaps we need to speak with a rabbi…

I believe the solution for the Chicago treasure did incorporate trees.

I’ve been somewhat enthusiastic about adapting a ballet perspective to this puzzle. Remembering the historic Turners of Milwuakee organization as being relevant to a thematic view of “things which turn or tumble” such as the millstone (also stones may be polished by tumbling) or the key (think lock tumblers) and of course the juggler is turning the objects in a circular pattern whilst her head is turned and each object has it’s turn as it is caught and released. A compass may turn as it draws a circle. In ballet there are terms which are used to describe different positions such as: first, fifth, grand plie, and after reaching the leg, envelope as in the case when doing a turn. Here’s a youtube link that demonstrates envelope:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B63XQ0BEFo
I’m seriously thinking “see a letter from the country” is an instruction to look for a leg that is in the envelope position.

Dude.

I like the linear perception as well.  Where to start is the big wildcard.
Its a wild theory to say we start in Lake Park and end up in Kozy Park.  Looking at the nearest possible route to connect to Lincoln Ave from Lake Park and the Oakleaf trail puts me on 1st street.  I can’t see anything in the verse or image that suggest “No.1” or “first” save for an even more wild idea with the two lines that basically read “..in time / From three” might be construed as the standard unit of time, a second, converted to the homonym of “2nd” and then meant as “two from three = 1”.  Not an approach I’m proud of.

The Turner organization apparently had a commemorative 3-cent stamp in 1948.  Interesting points are their primarilyvGerman heritage and their support of Abe.  They were like secret service during his inauguration and funeral.  I mention this as the verse has German and Lincoln context.
The image10 has a woman juggling. Balls and props being passed in a circular patter seems like a simple way to represent “turning” likeba wheel but also lends a performance aspect.  Turners were gymnastic performers as well as other things.  Very active polically and unionwise.
Turner Hall isn’t far from City Hall so I don’t think its a strong point of focus.  That it exists and is another “Hall” such as Mitchell Hall kind of draws my attention…but then my attention does wander…
Just some thoughts.  What if Preiss drew his inspiration from stamp collecting?  That would be a Secret…

View the three stories of Mitchell
As you walk the beating of the world
At a distance in time
From three who lived there
At a distance in space
From woman, with harpsichord
Silently playing
“At a distance in time
from three who lived there….”
refers to the three street names
of Downer, Hackett and Shepard
(historic Milwaukee resident names)
which you pass along Kenwood Blvd.
“At a distance in space
From woman, with harpsichord
Silently playing”…
refers to Marietta Ave…
Marietta is the name of another
street as you pass along Kenwood Blvd.
BP had to find some way to
use
Marietta
as a clue. He probably looked
for a famous woman named Marietta and
came up with a painter,Marietta Robusto Tintorreto.
Her only existing painting is a self-portrait of
herself in front of a harpsichord.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qijUItx-tsQ/S … retto-.jpg
Just retracing the steps…

I like that breakdown very much but my instincts wont let me accept that.  I keep asking myself why the number three comes up so much.  I’m still very enthusiastic about the “stamp” of the horse statue as a letter from the country…that line was just so cryptic.  Perhaps there’s a 3-cent stamp that would serve as a clue.  Is there a philatelist in the house?

Reading more about harpsichords, I learned there are the Spinet type.  The word ‘spinet’ also makes me think of ‘turner’ or should I say “spin”=”turn”?
reviewing my thoughts on these two lines,
From woman, with harpsichord
Silently playing
What’s automatic?  Identifying a woman with a harpsichord is automatic.  Marietta is a great solution here.
In terms of economic exchange, that is using as few words as possible to label something without putting forth the most common choice of words, what might be the acceptable alternatives?
From woman.  What is “from woman”?  A baby.
With harpsichord.  What goes “with” a harpsichord? A player? Hands/fingers? Music? A composer? Bach? A bench? A person sitting on the bench? A person standing with their hands outstretched in the position of playing an imaginary harpsichord?
Allowing for a borrowed term from another line, “Ascend the Grand 200”, reminds me of a type of piano.  A harpsichord is very similar to a piano.  There is a Grand piano and then there is a smaller version, the Baby Grand.  I wonder if “From woman” is intended to resonate with that idea.  Another musical idea might work with the word “three” being used three times.  A group of three notes may be considered a chord.  Perhaps our task is to decide which three notes…perhaps to match them to a person’s initials? (I dread such a solution personally…I wouldn’t know which three notes to pick)
I like the idea of a “baby bench”.  Perhaps there is a place with several benches and just one among them is a slightly smaller bench or there’s a bench memorial to a baby.
Silently.  Without words.
Playing.  Horsing around.
Horses don’t speak words.  Could be “Silently playing” is a clue about a Horse statue.

Okay, I’m not satisfied with the idea that we must find an actual harpsichord.  It simply doesn’t play nice.  As if we’re going to find a harpsichord in Lake Park…
The Marietta street name based on the name of the self-portrait involving a harpsichord is pretty good, but it bothers me on a few levels.  How is it any different that many of the ideas I’ve put forth and been criticized for being too layered?
I like the street name idea, but I wish to pursue an even more direct connection.  Let’s just presume that “From woman,” is one part of the line and it is a place we are in a position to move away from and heading towards “with harpsichord”.  I think we should frame our perspective like this, “What NAME of a piece of music is played with a harpsichord?”.  I’m driving for something by J.S. Bach.  I don’t know how long the list is, but perhaps someone can help see if ANY of the compositions for harpsichord share a name with a street near Lake Park.

Here’s a line of thinking, (have fun counting the layers…*sigh*),
Alexander von Humboldt, since there is a Humboldt Street I’m looking for a connection.  He wrote a book called Kosmos.  The term Cosmos has a lot to do with space and time, the world, and also woman’s make-up, cosmetics.
From Humboldt- Cosmos,
From Woman – 1980, sales women brought Avon beauty products to our front doors.
with harpsichord – Brandenburg Concertos by Bach are played with harpsichord
From Brandenburg – Humboldt.
1981, first American translation of Humboldt’s book Kosmos (by a woman translator).

Pass the compass and reach
I get the North Point part, but “reach” for what?  The hand with the bell shape…reach for a bell tower?  (I know Bellview Pl. is a good fit if I want to connect from Lake Park to Prospect Ave.)

malted, I’m still thinking on how to answer your question, but I had something else to discuss.
Those blue police call boxes…
They are made of cast iron.  “Cast in copper” seems a good fit for a Lincoln connection, but let’s take a moment to reconsider, since a term for a policeman is also “copper”.
I’m not sure why policemen are called “cops”, I’ve seen a few different takes on the etymology.  My best guess is that it has to do with taking or seizing a criminal.  An element of irony there being that copping also means ‘to steal’.  Perhaps playing with the juggling theme of the image, cop or ‘to catch’ might work.  There is also that line “
pass
the compass and
reach
” where those words might be used with playing ball or juggling.
fb, I like how you focused on that police box in your selection of images.  I’d like to know more of the history on those boxes.  There’s one near the Kozciuszko statue on the corner of Lincoln and 10th.  I feel like it’s at least an option if there’s an intersecting point to be made between the stamping horse hoof and the cast iron “copper” call box.
You’ll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone’s hearth
On
a proud, tall fifth
At its southern foot
These four lines seem to go together to focus on one thing especially.  The letter is ON the thing which is proud which is also OF a German or perhaps Polish origin.
Now about ‘letter’ and whether ‘stamp’ should be an appropriate premise.  I have considered some of those options suggested by maltedfalcon, including the possibility of Franklin as a distant hope, but only does ‘stamp’ feed my hunger for a sweet riddle.  Also, I have considered a stretch of a homonym where ‘letter’ could be ‘leader’, in which case I again like the Brigadier General, which is a decorated (proud) Polish (wonderstone’s hearth) leader (letter).  I’m probably wrong about the latter where letter is leader, but it’s part of a stream where I hesitate to become too focused on just one idea.
Back to the Ken Wood Chef’s mixer.  If Preiss figured out that cryptic relation to clue us in on the street name, then I think it’s possible he knew Ken Wood established his workings in WOKING (Surrey, England).  Woking seems suspiciously like a homonym for ‘walking’.  Which is a partial fit for the rebus ‘Mill-Walk-Key’ and brings about thematic concerns.
Another issue to consider and one critical of my own perspective is how to explain the huge deviation from Lake Park to Ksciuszko Park.  Obviously a couple portions (40% of verse?) Puts us near Mitchell Hall and Kenwood and then Lake Parks’ Grand Stair and Light Station.  The only ideas I have to make a significant leap of nealy 3 miles southwest is the two lnes that say ‘At a distance’  twicely makes me suspicious.  What is the aim of focusing on ‘time and space’?  Its like the Twilight Zone…
I now think JUGGLING is thematic of mixing (ken wood) and anything related to catching and passing as if turning in a circular pattern shown in the image is the key to this.

I’m not ready to abandon the observation that ‘cast in copper’ isn’t intended to draw our focus to a coin.  It may be helpful connecting us to Lincoln highway AND Lincoln Village.  There isn’t anything saying it is only one and not the other except for a nearness of the highway only to Lake Park.
The coin idea leads me to ask about minting or coining.  There are different modes of production of coins.  They can be cast, stamped, or milled.  The word ‘coin’ would also fit a colloquialism such as calling the Kenwood Chef a ‘beater’ or a Policeman a ‘copper’.  Start wrapping your heads around thematic content and you’ll see some justification for what you might be referring to as shoehorning.

wasnt the statue of lincoln (that has been moved since 1981)
cast out of pennys that children donated?

Yes, Malted.
It was back in the 1930s that the children collected pennies for
the War Memorial statue of Lincoln.
AP
http://www.warmemorialcenter.org/visito … rials/#abe

decibalnyc

At a distance in space – From woman – With harpsichord silently playing
After this the instructions start to become more direct.
So WHAT IF, the above line about the woman is narrowing the area down a little bit more. The best and really the ONLY idea’s anyone has had about this line so far are citing a possible painting hanging in the Hotel Wisconsin, and Marietta Robusti as a very obscure reference to Marietta St. near lake park. I thought as the Pabst Theater was known as “The Grand Old Lady” and had a Lire (resembling a harp) on top, it was also a contender. None of these idea’s, even my own, seems correct. Does anyone have any thoughts on this line other than what has been discussed previously? It could allude to an area of town, a street, landmark, or anything else. It seems to be the last of the vague clues on this verse, and no one has really had anything solid on it for 10 years.
So any idea’s about that line?

I don’t think it could be just a name, like Marietta. If it was, then the words “silently playing” become meaningless. I think you actually have to see a women playing a harpsichord. To me, that would be a painting or a sculpture. A painting doesn’t hang outside, though, so if it was a painting, it would have to be something that was somewhat permanently placed inside glass or a window. A sculpture seems more likely, but we have gone many years without finding any photo or reference to such a sculpture. Very strange. I have searched on Google many times for a woman with harpsichord, both paintings and sculptures, but I have found nothing showing one in Milwaukee (other than a passing art exhibit).

Egbert

I have searched on Google many times for a woman with harpsichord, both paintings and sculptures, but I have found nothing showing one in Milwaukee (other than a passing art exhibit).

Eg,
I have done the same. Also growing up here, and living here for more than half my life, I can’t seem to put it together either. This is what keeps leading me to believe we could be in the wrong area. Preiss seems fairly direct with his analogies…Beneath two countries – To Congress R is known – Seven steps up you can hop From the bottom level – etc… so I would have to think “From woman, with harpsichord – Silently playing” must be something visualy apparent. I just can’t think of an analogy for that line that makes sense, where as I can see the logic of “As you walk the beating of the world” being a reference to a street.
Also the way he uses the word FROM in that line “From Woman,” makes me think that you find this Woman, whatever she may be, as you walk “The beating of the world” and then the “Step on nature” would be obvious from there. Also Woman is capitalized, does this mean something?
The problem is, even if we start at Mitchell Hall, or The Wisconsin Club, OR The Vieux Monument at the Mitchell Gardens, this Woman never really becomes apparent…it just makes me think that the line about Mitchell might only be to signify a tie to Milwaukee to be able to place it with the image.
Lake Park is a fit because of the Grand Staircase and because you can somewhat follow a path from point a to point b, but there are other staircases outdoors, and bridges all over Milwaukee.
Also the lines “At a distance in time – From three who lived there” always bothered me as its a reference to the 3 founders of the city. But what is he saying in the line…is it a location? The meeting point of the 3 areas? or what? If he just meant it to reference Milwaukee, why not put it first instead of the line about Mitchell and the beating of the world?
I think the key to finding where to start on this, is going to be finding out what and where this “Woman, with Harpsichord” is..

Maybe the woman with harpsichord is a character in some piece of literature and knowing the author or title of the book might help make sense of something.

Yes you would have to really know there was something down there and convince the park of it. Before you did anything that would get rid of the $1000.00 citation. The first thing you would have to do is find someone that did ground radar that was willing to volenteer their services to radar the area.
Useing ground radar may be more necessary then we think at some of these other sites.

decibalnyc

Here are the photos of the light posts at the top of the Grand Staircase and the items around Ravine Rd and the base of the Locust St. Trail.
You’ll notice the light post on the South side of the staircase is the one with the Masonic G and Square and Compass.

Yay! Photos from Lake Park!
I know Milwaukee is a little bit colder than where I am right now, so thanks for going out there and doing that.
Three thoughts come immediately to mind:
That panel on the north lamp at the top of the staircase is
obviously
a replacement. We can say that with certainty because A) the lamps would have been all the same when they were installed, and B) the panel that’s there now is bright, shiny, and new. You can keep exterior metal shiny for 30 years if it’s constantly being rubbed (like a stairway handrail), but a panel at the base of a lamppost? No way. That’s a replacement panel that’s been installed in the past 10 years. I think we can safely assume that the post still had the original masonic compass in 1982.
I know several people are reluctant to turn right at the top of the stairs because they like the idea of the red juggling balls being the tee markers on the golf course. But you don’t need to abandon that interpretation when you follow the Locust Trail route. Remember that circular design from the Chicago puzzle? It turned out to be an architectural detail from a building several blocks away from the treasure spot. Preiss wasn’t saying that we needed to go past that store or even see that store on our route. He was just throwing in an interesting feature from the general area. And the tee markers on the Lake Park golf course can still be a nearby feature even if you turn right at the top of the staircase and go over the bridge.
We still haven’t seen the most important clue for our puzzle: the birch stumps along East Ravine Drive. I keep pushing for people to look for the stumps
now
, in the dead of winter, because this is the only time we’ll see them. During spring, summer, and fall, that stretch of road is just a thicket of
Ailanthus
and any stumps are hidden away. I don’t know if Decibalnyc is up for going back out in the cold, but it would be great if someone could get us photos of the crucial area. Go to the base of the Locust Street Trail, where East Ravine Road meets Lincoln Memorial Drive, and then start walking up East Ravine Road,
photographing the strip of land between the trail and the road
. I want to see the north edge of the road all the way from the “millstone” to the footbridge with the two circles. There are only two birches that Preiss would possibly know: Paper Birch (
Betula papyrifera
) or European White Birch (
Betula pendula
). Either way, you’re looking for a stump showing white bark marked with horizontal black lines (lenticels). Good luck!

Here are the photos of the light posts at the top of the Grand Staircase and the items around Ravine Rd and the base of the Locust St. Trail.
You’ll notice the light post on the South side of the staircase is the one with the Masonic G and Square and Compass.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9sl1wptp2zri … HS3Ma?dl=0

From woman, with harpsichord
Silently playing
I’ve never felt comfortable with these words. Nobody else has either. We’ve had many attempts to associate something with the harpsichord, and few or none really satisfy the first portion of the line by combining it with a woman. Any bastardization of harpsichord to say Preiss was really talking about a harp or a piano is just a slippery slope. Any attempt at a woman reference is then followed by a shabby and imaginative stretch to make a harpsichord fit that is just plain dismal.
I feel these two lines go together and those lines before and after are relating to different subjects, so let’s hold off on “At a distance in space” and “Step on nature” and see what happens.
I also want to guess at what object might generate these words. If I were looking at a painting or sculpture of a baby or the intent were to find a place or street with the name “Young”, then it’s conceivable that those things which come from a “mother” are things which are “from woman”. At one time I attempted this association for some statue called the “immigrant mother”, by Ivan Meštrović , whom by the way also crafted the Spearman and Bowman statues which are 100%, the image based clues in Chicago’s P5. Unfortunately this woman has no harpsichord and that’s that. I’ve been considering the idea that Kosciuszko wrote a piece for harpsichord, but he is no woman either…though he surely had a mother, and so he “from woman” might work. I still don’t like that, despite my predispositions.
As for what could be “silently playing,” it just occurred to me, and the reason why I’m posting this brief note, that this could be a reference to a silent film. The thing about silent films is they would typically have music accompaniment, likely a piano. It’s possible a harpsichord was used for some films, but this is quickly getting to obscure. For 1982, I’m sure silent film era memories had all but faded from memory, so if it were a silent film with a woman and harpsichord, if it were obvious then, it should be as obvious now. Honestly, and I’m not trying to sound like a film buff, the only silent film I have ever sat down to watch was The Sheik with Rudy Valentino. …not sure where I’m going with this thought, but I guess I’m wondering if there isn’t a famous silent film title which may fit the name of some place or thing in Milwaukee. Oh yes, I had another possibility in mind, relating to “from woman” as if to say “a child is birthed from woman”, and that is the silent film “Birth of a Nation”. Meta-thinking here on how Preiss chose some obscure quote from Sarmiento in the book Abroad in America, I felt like something like Birth of a Nation was right up his alley. Does anyone think “Birth of a Nation” applies in some strange way to something in Milwaukee? Was harpsichord even used in that film? Looking at the score, I’m not seeing any strong reference to harpsichord, so…I have to say this is looking remote. Good time for a break.

Another year has passed, and Lake Park still keeps the hidden casque in a “Secret” place!
There is a lot of construction going on with the roads leading into Milwaukee.
I may wait a while before trying to get downtown again.
(What I’m really waiting for is a dream that shows me exactly where to dig!)
AP

fsab = fort sumter association building, formerly the fort sumter hotel where jfk got honeypotted by that dutch chick…

Euhirudinea

What world is that? Certainly not one recognized by Google, where the most common hit is for Fort Sumter National Monument, the name it has gone by since 1948. In all fairness to Josh, his Charleston solve leads him to a patch of ground in front of the Fort Sumter Association House (FSAH), which is directly to the west of White Point Garden. He has never suggested that the casque was buried in or on the grounds of Fort Sumter as far as I know.
I don’t know what fsab is, but I’d imagine the “b” was a typo.

I will reiterate, “in my world” that’s what it meant when I saw it. I had no idea what the abbreviation meant in JC’s world.

I’m making progress…filling up my desktops recycle bin.
As you walk the beating of the world
If you think about it, the unit of distance it takes to walk in one hour fits this line.  The event of the world being beat might be called its “final hour”.  As you walk an hour = a league.
I don’t know if that necessarily dissuades us from the Ken Wood theory but it may be our best hint at how to regard the deceptive assumption that Lake Park is the destination…rather than just a stopping point on the journey.

Just compiling a few bits of leg related items,
Line 2, walk
Line 7, [tennis shoes?]
Line 8, step, step on [toes?]
Line 9, cast, used to mend a broken leg
Line 10, steps
Line 11, climbing = c_limb_ing = limb = leg
Line 13, foot
Line 15, walk
Line 22, foot
This journey of legs begins at Alexander Mitchell’s Hall.  Does it end at the legs of Kosciuszko’s steed, standing on three legs?
Funky reverse rebus idea: All Legs And Tour = Alexander.  Does that echo the Mill Walkingstick Key rebus?

animal painter

Why couldn’t BP have chosen to bury the casque near a “hardscape” instead of a tree?

+1 for hardscaping. I’d still like to get some pics around here.  😉

… but it is also
Should we hit the supermarket isle? Probably not.

Unknown

Unknown:
which is a pearl, we would have to find where pearls are predominately found and then there would be a letter/plaque etc from that location near the casque?   Maybe a large P  nearby..?…

Sorry, I missed this, are you saying an actual physical sign near a casque?  was there something like this in Clevland or Chicago?   Also could we expect signs to still be there unchanged after 22 years?  explain this thought to me a little more.

dan, so what you are saying is that if this V goes with…say.. P1 (just an example) which is a pearl, we would have to find where pearls are predominately found and then there would be a letter/plaque etc from that location near the casque?  That does make sense…and once again, the V seems to be “leading” hunters to the obvious when it is the opposite we need.
also, just a thought….maybe all that is located near the site is a “letter” as in A, B, C, D, etc…instead of a letter-correspondence.  Maybe a large P (for above mentioned pearl) nearby..?…

Animal Painter,  The Image10 tree looks like it hides the jewel underneath it.  Trying to find out how long a fallen tree lasts before it rots completely, I found this:
Old-growth forests have four main structures.
– Big trees–The huge trees are the main “factories” of the old-growth forest, because the trees bring energy into the forest through photosynthesis. The trees are also storehouses. Each tree stores many tons of organic material and nutrients, which are eventually recycled back into the ecosystem. The big trees are also the source of the next two structures.
– Large snags (standing dead trees)–The big trees die from tree diseases such as heart rot and root rot, or are killed by lightning strikes or insect damage, or their tops are broken off in a windstorm or snowstorm. Snags are used by many different kinds of wildlife, including pileated woodpeckers and spotted owls.
– Large fallen trees on the forest floor–Fallen trees decay on the forest floor.
It takes many decades for a fallen tree to decay completely
. As the fallen trees decay, they become homes for many living creatures, including carpenter ants, folding-door spiders, centipedes, salamanders, and shrews. Mushrooms and other fungi grow on the rotting trees, and eventually the rotten trees turn into nurse logs, as young trees grow on top of them.
Another question- How many little bridges can you pass in that revine?  Were there more in 82′?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/overboard/2279850960/
How long is the felled tree.  Is it lying north to south (southern foot)?
edit:  my apologies.  you said there was only a trunk of a felled tree and not a full tree.  still think the Image10 tree has a jewel hidden under it though.

I braved the wicked-cold wind chills (below zero) after work today
to get more photos.  New photos have been added to the
D-tree album on webshots at:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/56 … good-times
I was looking for “3 things to pass”.  There are 3 manhole covers
on the sidewalk as you go North from the Ravine trail outlet to the
multi-trunk tree.
(photos included on webshots)
There are also 3 lampposts…They are replacement poles…put up
after 1982, when the Lincoln Memorial Drive was reconstructed in
about 2000.)
On the way to Lake Park,  by  the Lighthouse, I saw a life-sized
Grecian statue of a woman…in the front yard of a house on the
corner of Wahl and Bradford.  (The Lighthouse is on Wahl)
I did not stop to see if she was playing a “harp”.
There is other statuary in the yards of the nearby  mansions/houses.
What do you think?
AP

I posted this on my summation of Verse 8, I thought it would bump up the post but obviously I was wrong so I will post it again here where it will get seen.
Just to recap, these are the things that I believe we still need to find
the woman and the harpsichord
the first young birch
the three things you need to pass
the letter from the country of wonderstones hearth
the proud tall fifth
AP may have found the letter from wonderstones hearth.  Could you give us some more details about where the tree is located?  Does it look like the tree in the fold of the woman’s cape?  Does it have a southern foot?  Also, what program did you use to put the circle and the words on your pics?

fox

oops, should have said smite MASTER himself. my brain was working faster than my fingers.

There are TOO many jokes in the short sentence to choose one to highlight.
I’ll leave it to the individual’s dirty mind.

Digger,
The D tree is West of the multi-trunk tree…inside the woods line…not on the edge.
I have to leave for work in minutes, but will post more photos of the tree later.
The tree is indeed very tall, but it does not strike me as being exactly the same
shape as the cape.
I can’t imagine why I did not see that gaping hole shaped like a D before!
As I said, if you look through the “V” of the multi-trunk tree, you can see the D tree.
(Depending on where you stand, you can see other trees, too. But I tried to stand
in front of the multi-trunk tree to see it in the same perspective as in image 10.
(Looking closely at image 10, I thought I saw a fifth tree trunk in the center of the
multi-trunk tree image.)
The program I used was Adobe Photoshop.
AP

All it takes is a cunning linguist.  There, I said it.

and a master debater.
……………………………

animal painter

I can’t imagine why I did not see that gaping hole shaped like a D before!

I’ve been right where you are referring to and I didn’t see it either.  Great work.  BTW, no need to leave me a note this time.  I work in Saudi Arabia so it would be kind of a long commute for me.  Like everyone else I will just have to rely on your pics and descriptions.
Excellent work

If anyone digs and finds reg’s body, please tell his parents.

Classic!

digger7

I posted this on my summation of Verse 8, I thought it would bump up the post but obviously I was wrong so I will post it again here where it will get seen.
Just to recap, these are the things that I believe we still need to find
the woman and the harpsichord
the first young birch
the three things you need to pass
the letter from the country of wonderstones hearth
the proud tall fifth
AP may have found the letter from wonderstones hearth.  Could you give us some more details about where the tree is located?  Does it look like the tree in the fold of the woman’s cape?  Does it have a southern foot?  Also, what program did you use to put the circle and the words on your pics?

This may be self serving and looking for things to fit our beliefs, but as I have always wondered
why a tree would be called ‘proud’
only if he needed you to look at the
fifth tall letter
of that word for a clue….

glad my secret indescretions could bring so much joy to these boards.

Glad mine didn’t….

slappybuns

please animal painter check out the lion bridge!  the “proud” could be “pride” , like pride of lions,ok?
please!

I like the bridge too.
Staying west
.  Take the bridge as the center, on a map, draw a circle with a 100
pace
radius and see where the verse will take you.

digger, i always thought the woman with harpsichord was for marietta road. i recall reading where someone had seen the picture of “marietta playing a harpsichord” that was in someone’s house  there around city hall, and since “three who lived there” were roads, i liked that idea.
that’s a neat play on the words, trohn.
but if it’s not around the tree w/ a D, dig around the lions

Milwaukee itself was also divided into three separate towns when it was founded: Juneautown, where Lake Park is more or less situated, Kilbournetown, which was the western side, and Walker’s Point, in the Southern area.  Of course, this would make it seem that Preiss was saying to leave the city after walking through it’s heart. I liked to think that Woman with Harpsichord Silently playing was the picture of Sarah Allis playing her piano, which is perched atop the steinway in her house (the Allis Art Museum)…

Last year,I called the Allis Art Museum and asked if they had any artwork
which included any woman playing any keyboard instrument.  They said
they did not.  I guess I should go and look for myself.
AP

This has a UWM connection – but I don’t think we can find if it had any significant precence
in 1981 – just food for thought.
Adelaide Banaszynski School for Piano Studies, The Saint Mary’s Academy
3195 S. Superior St.
Milwaukee 53207-3099

We also had the “Columbia/St Mary’s” hospital at a distance from the
Lake Park…but not too far…

There is a technique called “clover leafing” used when a point whose location you don’t know is near another point which you are starting at… Basically, you go out from the point at a given radius, like Boogie said, but then you turn left or right, go another set distance, and then return to the start.  You do this four or five times, and what you end up doing is covering ground like wheel spokes.  Incidentally, a compass would work famously because of the degree increments around the dial… The numbers could as easily be Long/Lat as any point that is less than a 90 degree angle… I noticed that some of the numbers were reversed from the way they were depicted, and that none of them go above 90 if reversed or read in the correct order…  Azimuths, in other words….

rookhunter

Does anyone have these pics?
I noticed some of these older ones are starting to disappear. I don’t mind storing pics in my personal hard drives or we could make a community Flickr account, I hear they give a TB now.

No idea if you’re still interested, but I still have all of my pictures on my computer. Looking back now, the quality is really terrible. If only iPhones had been around back then…
Edit: I also see that there’s been a lot of discussion about step counting over the years.
Makes me want to go back and take better pictures. The one post in this thread that has a supposed count of 92 has one issue for me. Some of the steps are numbered using the front of the steps and some are numbered using the tops of the steps. Specifically, steps 1, 2 and 3 are numbered on the top. If they were numbered on the fronts like the rest of the staircase, you’d only have two steps there.

What if , when you walk the
100 paces
and come
out on to LMD…you see the
first young birch
(“a young tree”)
and then see
three
(“a group of three more trees”) to the
Southwest…you
pass
them keep
staying West
up the South Ravine
to the
Proud Tall Fifth
(bridge).  All that is lacking, is the
letter from the country of the wonderstone’s hearth
.
When the ice melts from the ravines, I am going to search for
a letter on the bridge.
As for the blue amethyst…BP refers to it in the “litany of jewels”
Dwarves’ treasure: purple amethyst, Imperial star of Germany
As far as I can see, there are no purple jewels in any of the images.
If you have to choose a country for Milwaukee, It HAS to be Germany!
That settles it for me.

Sorry I haven’t been as active as before, everyone, I just got a new job whose hours are insane.  Anyway: AP if you are completely and totally serious about digging smewhere, and are planning to take a day to do so, then I have a spot I would like you to check for me: 150 feet southeast of the eastern end of the concrete footbridge.  If you are not at the corner of Ravine and LMD, you’ve either come up short, or gone too far.  The spot in question is on the park side of a giant bush, where two sidewalks come to a point.  If this pic is any good, it will give you the exact area I am referring to.  You don’t have to dig if you don’t want to, but this is definitely a sweet spot (you don’t have to trust my judgement, but I think I found some definites for this location).  Incidentally, all of the other spots discussed on the forum are well within a mile of each other.

Sorry, forgot to attach this:

That’s an awfully big area to dig. Is there something in the verse or painting to narrow it down to a square yard or so?

give animal painter some specifics and i would be willing to bet she would dig. could this be treasure number three, i sure hope so

I think I have found the tree-in-the-cape!!
I spent my lunch hour at Lake Park today…
taking along my steel rod and a hammer.
Everything is still covered in inches of ice
and snow…But I was able to navigate
using the rod as a hiking stick…and not
falling too many times…
When I saw the “tree”…I had this absolute,
positive, 100% sure gut feeling of certainty…
But even with my hammer and rod, I could
not begin to penetrate the ice and frozen
ground that covers all of the area.
I did go to the Lake Park Office and get
written permission to dig…when the ice melts
and the ground thaws out.
There is still the need to pinpoint the spot
where BP buried the casque, but I am most
absolutely certain that the Milwaukee casque
will be unearthed in 2008!
AP
Notice that the top left limb is sawn off.

This is the ravine trail today…

As for the
letter from the country of the wonderstone’s hearth
on the
proud tall fifth
…
I took a page from Shecrab’s book and looked at the puzzle with
extreme “obviousness”.
“m” from Germany.
(not really convinced of this being the letter..)
AP