Good try on the parade route. Rotations and flips are totally within the realm of possibility, but I have doubt in this instance. It looks like St. Charles street is a big part of the route. Wasn’t the St. Charles Hotel the main reference of the Sarmiento quote?
I liked the Midsummer’s Day/Night connection that may be made from the LotJ, so I took a look into A Midsummer Night’s Dream, compare:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight;
with:
Here is a sovereign people
Who build palaces to shelter
Their heads for a night!
Gnomes admire
Fays delight
I get the feeling there’s some inspiration to be drawn from this play.

Congrats!!!! How ’bout a pic?

Congratulations Chad, a second generation treasure hunter
i was born in oak hill, Fayette County wv
still go back every couple yr, for visits to family, and always take
my metal detectors, plenty of treasure to dig there

fox

I say we head on down to Lafayette Square.   😛

I seriously agree, though I can not travel any time soon.
My first born is only 2 weeks old… too young for us to travel to NewO from WV.
(born on the 15th(ides of march), a boy… Dillon Harris McGarrah, 9lbs, 20 1/4 inches)
Chad McGarrah  (cormac)

Hey, Congratulations Chad.  Welcome to fatherhood!  It is one of the most rewarding times ever.  but….2 weeks old isn’t too young to start hunting for treasure.  Pack the wee one in a car seat, give him a shovel and let the tyke dig!

Image 7 sends a strong message saying “masquerade ball” with the midnight clock and the white mask on a stick held by the hand of a fancy dressed arm.  I asked the question, who is firstly famous for their balls in New Orleans Mardi Gras history?  The answer:  COMUS.
The face of the mask is the likeness of Louis Armstrong.  Perhaps it represents the statue of the man, or it simply represents the man.  The word “PRESERVATION” is written on the clock.  Preservation Hall was a Jazz club formed in 1961.  Louis Armstrong was a great Jazz musician.  I believe Louis Armstrong is being focused upon for the reason that he was selected in 1957 to be the King of the Zulus.  Zulu is known to have a reputation for being the very first Krewe to begin parading on Fat Tuesday.  Considering that Comus is known to be the very last Krewe to parade and then end with a magnificent ball brings things into a definite contrast.  Zulu is known for it’s predominately black cultural embodiment whereas Comus has an entirely anglo-saxon basis, which in fact led to it’s disbanding when Comus was faced with the 1991 city ordinance making it a requirement that the organization may not discriminate based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, in order to obtain parade permits and other public licensure.
This is where it might be interesting to look at each of their historical parade routes.  I researched this for sometime and found the end of the Comus route was essentially in front of the Maison Blanche department store.  This is why I think the boy dressed as a jockey is depicted on the clock’s face.  The boy’s posture looks very similar to that of Mr. Bingles who is depicted as flying on the front of the MB store.  His outstretched hand looks very much like a mitt.  His other arm is not in the same position as Mr. Bingles. Perhaps that’s an indication of some distinctive visual clue drawn within the shape of his torso.  I’ve found that it looks like a hidden image of the old St. Jude church on Basin St.  As it turns out, Basin St. is a major part of the parade route for the Krewe of Zulu.  Along Basin St. from end to end, there are exactly 3 statues standing watch.

fucking hell ive done it!
I was right the whole time!!!
ive finished it, using travis third of the puzzle.
ive figured out how my two thirds and his third line up, it reinforces my location and spot as right!!!!
path through city park reinforces my location via heavily veiled clues, whereas I followed the more direct path.
you go LAP to CBD to FQ to City Park and back to FQ.
hell yes.

I believe this image falls under the following theme:
December (12 o’clock)
Turquoise
Narcissus? Holly? Poinsettia? Paper White?
French Theme (curious – New Orleans connection?)
“Turquoise the Fays of France keep: stone
Rare as a blue midsummer’s day.”

Deuce

…if I should look at Storyland due to the flowers or if that may just be a clue that we’re in the right vicinity. If that’s the case it might be anywhere in City Park or right by the flowers.

This is the predicament, as with all of our ‘solves’
We have many visual confirmers in most of the images; but, without a correctly solved/interpreted verse to guide us, there is no way to know whether these ‘confirmers’ represent a path to follow, are visable from the dig site, outline a general vacinity, or are nothing at all.
The one commonality in the solved verse/image combinations is the verse clearly points at a specific spot to dig. Whether the verse or the image (or some combination) actually outlines a path to take to get there or just describes the area is quite controversial, IMHO.

Kind of a random question… At the sites that have been solved, were all the clues from the images visible from the casque site? Or were some of them just clues to give a general location and only one actually at the site? I’m trying to pinpoint a location from image 7 but the visual clues seem pretty spread out.

I think some solves might have spread out clues and some might have close together ones.  Its going to be hardest to find a single  spot that fits lots of clues, and if you do you might either be really lucky or really unlucky.  The Chicago find had the fence visual nearest.  The rest of the visual clues were spread out but seemed to fit a basic perimeter.

Thanks e. I was just wondering if I should look at Storyland due to the flowers or if that may just be a clue that we’re in the right vicinity. If that’s the case it might be anywhere in City Park or right by the flowers. That isn’t to say your site is wrong but I’m just keeping my options open. Hope you do find it at your site. I know you’ll keep us posted.

Keep the ideas flowing Duece…you are right in thinking they may spark something. And that doesn’t mean your ideas are wrong either.  I am still one of those that believe the casque lays in Lafayette Square….BUT….if it isn’t there, City Park sure is my second location. If you read far enough back, while I was in N.O. with family several years ago, I spent A LOT of time wandering around this beautiful park and actual dug next to a small sundial. This park definitely has all of the earmarkings of a good choice to bury a casque.

I would like to comment on NO. If we can come up with something solid or at least 90% I might be able to make a NO dig when im in Houston again.

fox

BUT….if it isn’t there, City Park sure is my second location

(City Park has the flowers, but Armstrong Park has the face, and there’s that strange “right about St Louis” hint from Preiss. TBH though, I think the New Orleans casque is gone for good.)

Today’s semi-exciting discovery: I’ve been wondering about the winged bells in the upper right corners of the clock face for a while now, and I haven’t seen much discussion of them on here. Did some poking around online and found that there is a French Catholic tradition, “les cloches volantes,” that may be the point of reference. In short, to account for the silence of nearby church bells in the days leading up to Easter, parents sometimes tell their children that all church bells have to fly to Rome for a few days, and that they also bring candy back when they return. (Sort of a parallel to the Easter Bunny, I suppose). More detail at
https://madamebirtwistle.blogspot.com/2 … antes.html
.
How does this impact the search? I guess it depends on whether you think the paintings contain visual references to things you should see from the dig site, or just images that get you to the right city, but it seems like proximity to a Catholic church could be a relevant consideration. Of course, there are Catholic churches near all of the more popular dig sites, especially Jackson Square, but could be some food for thought.

A couple of updates from this afternoon’s reading at the library.
-Well, my hopes that the architecture thesis would shed some light on the old French consulate building in the Garden District were for naught. Rather than an analysis of the existing building, it was a proposal/plan for a new building, with no discussion of the Garden District facility. The only relevant detail was that the deputy consul general told the author in an interview that security was a concern at the (then current) building, which I guess doesn’t completely rule out the idea that BP could have dug a hole on site.
-On a more exciting note, I found something neat in a short pamphlet on
Lee
Circle
/Tivoli Place. Apparently, several streets in that area of town were to receive matching classical names, similar to the streets in the Garden District named after the Muses. To wit: “Yet for the elegant thoroughfare that Monsieur Lafon envisaged, no such plain designation would do. Instead, he elected to name it the Cours des Nayades, walk of the water-spirits. Other streets were to be christened Bacchus, Dryades Walk and Hercules; thoroughfares which crossed the Cours des Nayades as it continued upriver would have the names of the muses, Thalia, Erato, Melpomene, Terpsichore and the others. These muse-streets have lasted to this day, but some of the others were a bit too much even for romantic-minded New Orleanians. Hercules became South Rampart, named for an extension of the old outer boundary of the city; Apollo was altered to Carondelet, the name of an early governor, and as for the convivial Bacchus, the town changed it to the less frolicsome Baronne.”

A couple of updates from this afternoon’s reading at the library.
-Well, my hopes that the architecture thesis would shed some light on the old French consulate building in the Garden District were for naught. Rather than an analysis of the existing building, it was a proposal/plan for a new building, with no discussion of the Garden District facility. The only relevant detail was that the deputy consul general told the author in an interview that security was a concern at the (then current) building, which I guess doesn’t completely rule out the idea that BP could have dug a hole on site.
-On a more exciting note, I found something neat in a short pamphlet on Lee Circle/Tivoli Place. Apparently, several streets in that area of town were to receive matching classical names, similar to the streets in the Garden District named after the Muses. To wit: “Yet for the elegant thoroughfare that Monsieur Lafon envisaged, no such plain designation would do. Instead, he elected to name it the Cours des Nayades, walk of the water-spirits. Other streets were to be christened Bacchus, Dryades Walk and Hercules; thoroughfares which crossed the Cours des Nayades as it continued upriver would have the names of the muses, Thalia, Erato, Melpomene, Terpsichore and the others. These muse-streets have lasted to this day, but some of the others were a bit too much even for romantic-minded New Orleanians. Hercules became South Rampart, named for an extension of the old outer boundary of the city; Apollo was altered to Carondelet, the name of an early governor, and as for the convivial Bacchus, the town changed it to the less frolicsome Baronne.”

Just finished doing an exhaustive stretch of work on this image and V7.  Took me awhile to get a good pic of the Joan of Arc at the original location.
I liked the Twain connection and the way the hand holds the stick with mask Joan style.
Then I drifted for awhile having never looked at a map of New Orleans before.  Got into researching the military career of PGT Beauregard and then I pretty much found most of what White Rabbit had already posted.  Lots of suggestions to Jackson Square, but I’m getting the idea that Congo/Armstrong is somehow a better choice.  Gonna have to sleep on this one for a few.

Well the Armstrong arch in New Orleans looks like the clocks top.

if you look at the image upside down, you can tell either side of the clock is either columns or gates, or i can even picture it as the bottom of the hyams fountain

ck, you aren’t convinced verse 11 goes with image 3?  what with “octave” and “dauntless and inconquerable”?
this stuff will drive me crazy…ier

Sorry Slappybuns but I think picking out some letters to fit your theory won’t work. You will drive yourself mad. I am having a real problem with the jewels abound part. Nothing in N.O. hits me as being this place. The building palaces reference works for n.o. but for me nothing else does. Sorry. Not trying to put a damper as I am frustrated as well.

http://www.fidnet.com/~debbil/TheSecret.html
This building is a block away from Jackson Sq. towards Lafayette Sq. What caught my eye was how bold this banister is compared to most others. Then i found this:
“Courtyard of the Vine, 614 Chartres Street. Turning back into Chartres
Street, one finds, near the corner of Wilkinson, an old building once
owned by John McDonogh. It is not the house, however, that attracts
the visitor, but the great, twisted wistaria vine growing in the courtyard
at the rear of the building. The court is entered through a narrow
passageway, the gates being open at all times. ” from this site:
http://www.archive.org/stream/neworlean … s_djvu.txt
Dont know if it means anything but the courtyard is visible from google earth.

bclews

I keep returning (in my mind) to Storyland in City Park.  I recently found this image which combines 3 pieces of information —
http://www.agilitynut.com/06/3/story3.jpg

I was just digging back through this thread and re-read this post from bclews:
I took the image from the link he posted, and then pasted in (and flipped them horizontally to line them up better) the narcissus flowers from Image 7 to get this:
I think they match quite well (notice the petals closest to the stems).  I had been planning to go to N.O. in January (for other reasons, and to check out Story Land), but that fell through.  Maybe I’ll be able to make it in the spring.

xlurker

http://www.fidnet.com/~debbil/TheSecret.html
This building is a block away from Jackson Sq. towards Lafayette Sq. What caught my eye was how bold this banister is compared to most others. Then i found this:
“Courtyard of the Vine, 614 Chartres Street. Turning back into Chartres
Street, one finds, near the corner of Wilkinson, an old building once
owned by John McDonogh. It is not the house, however, that attracts
the visitor, but the great, twisted wistaria vine growing in the courtyard
at the rear of the building. The court is entered through a narrow
passageway, the gates being open at all times. ” from this site:
http://www.archive.org/stream/neworlean … s_djvu.txt
Dont know if it means anything but the courtyard is visible from google earth.

Beautiful!!!!!

no proof of this at all but in the chicago and clevland images there were site confirmers in the picture,
things that you could see from the burial ground. (or right behind it)
I think clock boy is a burial ground confirmer…

The bulge on the lower right corner might just be the large mound upon which sits the McDonogh memorial.

Oh dear.  I don’t really know what to think anymore.  I think I have made a new discovery.  The 19.  Pretty much the only time Mardi Gras happened on the 19th was in February of 1980.  This date and the other two corner numbers 29 and 90 as lat/long puts us in New Orleans on a specific day.  The clock reads 12:00 and the little line that points just a smidge before the III is actually a perfect line of direction for the Sun’s rays at noon, precisely.  I carefully researched this and here is a map.  First, it’s important to consider that the whole image gets rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise such that the Louisiana Superdome matches the position of the full moon on the clock and the center of the clock face is on the McDonogh Statue in Lafayette Park.
Map with Solar position for Feb. 19th, 1980
I took some time to consider what position BP would’ve taken a photo in order to have the specific angle on Clock Boy.  Looks to be just in the background or east and a bit few steps north statue.  The photo here is presented from a west looking east perspective.
Many things about this image point to this specific statue: Clockboy, the circle and inner circle of clockface fits ring surrounding statue, the negative space on each side of clock is a split outline shape that can be wrapped to look like the statue silhouette, the verse has lines that fit also.  It’s basically the BIG focus.  But then other things detour or just might represent area identifiers, like Preservation and Armstrong.  The thing that throws me most is the shape of the hands fitting the layout in the area of the Margaret Haughery statue just a ways south on Camp St as you leave the Lafayette Square.
Giant pole
Giant step
Could this verse be more of a clue suggesting “Giant PULL” as in the Sun’s gravity, and “Giant step” as in jumping to the top of a shadow?
The Sun elevation is 48.53 degrees, and east to west azimuth is 174.73 degrees.  I don’t know how tall the statue is, but as long as it isn’t over 18ft tall then the Sun’s shadow will be cast within the flower plot circle in the ring that extends to 16ft from center.  I don’t like this solution much for the outcome…someone digging up that kind of turf is not going to go over too well.  Grrr.

maltedfalcon

no proof of this at all but in the chicago and clevland images there were site confirmers in the picture,
things that you could see from the burial ground. (or right behind it)
I think clock boy is a burial ground confirmer…

Thank You Mr. Falcon

Giant pole
Giant step
Seems to tie into what Clockboy is doing, he PULLS as the girl below STEPS.

fox

I have also fealt that it is indeed a horse/rook on the squared background-chessboard… which may point to Paul Morphy, one of the all time best chess players.
http://www.academicchess.com/Focus/Morp … ybio.shtml

Fox, you had this idea like 7 years ago…you know the Morphy home became the Current location for Brennan’s Restaraunt in 1954?
At Stonewall’s Door / The air smells sweet
has got be nothing other than a double entendre for Stonewall Jackson and the Stonewall in chess followed by Brennan’s sweet cooking.  Clocks are used in Chess.  The default position is 12:00.  I mentioned Andersson-Kiezeritsky in 1851 as a key motif about immortality involving a Queen sacrifice forcing a black Knight to recapture at white square f6.  It doesn’t carry much weight in this, but I like the ” local color” since most any chess book compilation of greatest games will have that game and many of Morphy’s games.  The style of play in both is hugely similar although Morphy is freakishly better.  He beats Andersson as white in a KGA with ease while then KGA is Anderssons bread and butter.
I feel the McDonogh statue is a Queen and the it is a black Knight on a white square on the lower right bulge in image7.
Reporting this to emphasize the negative space split and it’s shape of the McDonogh,
I’ve probably over researched this.

ok, here is a decent (ok, not so hot) pic of the clock in the lobby of the hotel trainor speaks of.  I suppose it looks like a decent match from this angle but then again, most grandfather clocks look similar.  Would love to see a close up of the clock’s face though.
…look even the floors are checkered…wrong colors though  😛
http://www.quikbook.com/pics/2010_1532_lobby.jpg
here is the hotel’s location in the French Quarters…  there are a few parks quite nearby….our favorite Jackson Sq. being one of them.

Verse 5 makes sense.  If the casque is indeed buried in Jackson Square, I assume that in such a high-profile place one would have to “get permission to dig out.”

The famous hotel is also home to the revolving Carousel Bar :
http://www.resortsgreathotels.com/artic … ne3255.jpg
looks like it could be a likely place to find our P’s “peter pan”..
…?…
& here is the hotel’s homepage with a brief history and a nice little video tour that goes directly past the clock but it is still hard to see.
http://www.hotelmonteleone.com/

just in case it’s in a golf course…………..on p. 16 of city park golf history here you’ll see the #15  with “only” 3 , (par = “just” 3 strokes)  ;D  ;D
http://neworleanscitypark.com/downloads/nocpgolf.pdf

Hey everyone, I don’t post very often, because I typically have little to offer and just enjoy following the hunt.
I hesitated to post this because it’s just a one-off find that might resemble part of the image. I haven’t tied it to any larger solution. But it’s always fun to check out new stuff, so here it goes.
Does this remind you of anything?
Closer look here:
It’s some sort of tribute to Henriette Delille embedded in the sidewalk directly outside the gates of St. Anthony’s Garden (behind St. Louis Cathedral).
The similarities I see are with the bronze square of the clock (minus the arch part at the top). Although the dates have been moved and changed, and not all the corners have an image, it’s still quite similar.
Obviously the biggest difference is the clock. This is the most interesting part to me. If you look up from that square, you can see the clock on the backside of St. Louis Cathedral.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@29.95845,-9 … wD3kJg!2e0
I have no idea how long that square has been there. I can’t find much information on “Place de Henriette Delille”. I’d like to know if anyone else thinks it’s similar or if I’m just seeing things I want to see.
Also, thank you to all the people doing the heavy lifting working on solutions. It’s always interesting reading your ideas.

yes, thank you malted!
guys, i just saw this picture of a Jewish Cemetery in Germany:
and remember that harlequin design i found in the Metaire Cemetery?
and remember whiterabbit mentioned from the book p. 25, that grandfather could mean old man, spirit, cloud, wise man or just memory?
do you think it means something?  i’ll try to find that harlequin design again and repost it here.
scroll down, last pic on right:
http://www.neworleans.com/attractions/a … ourse.html
http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image … e794&gid=3
or maybe it’s just saying history, like a history museum, the cabildo or the historic district
and remember the “spirit of 76” on the allard plantation sign…..spirit….plus a fair folk
and i think there is a “76” on the st. louis cathedral sign too..maybe
what if it is saying “from the place of memories” (metaire cemetery)……go straight  (like the solved ones) for awhile and turn left into city park, or near the allard plantation sign, or pgt beauregard….
i keep wanting to stay around jackson square because of the extended hour hand and it has pirate alley going from one end of the square and washington artillery park on the other end, and it has the visitor center (for friends) and jax brewery (21)   and the 3 spires on the cathedral..
and the pontalba “row” houses
this marker has “21” on it :
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=21859
or near the fountain in jackson square
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawnshoemaker/5114934278/
or maybe the sign for “new orleans”
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=12679
or for “the steamer new orleans”
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=13504

We can all guess that “Preservation” is a New Orleans clue, but why did JJP paint it off-center so that the clock hands bisect the “V”? It has to be deliberate–the center of the word would normally be in between the “R” and the “V”.
(full disclosure: I have my own theory, but I’d like to hear others before I bust out the shovel. Incidentally, anyone here in NOLA?)

This is in City Park. Have you googled St. Louis Cathedral yet? If you do please note that this image along with the other square shape with half circle is to be found on the facade.
As far as the cemeteries being an attraction, I guess you can say that. We just bury our dead. The only cemetery that gets the most attention is St.Louis. This is where Marie Laveau is buried.  No parks or green space. I really don’t think that any cemeteries were used as a place to bury the key. It must be a park or public green space… Lafitte
But the ragged nails REALLY bug me!!!!

Don’t know if this helps or has been said before , but when I first looked at  the hand I saw a 3  on the  Thumbnail.

All I can say is I can’t wait to get my copy of the book. My magnefying glass will be used along with everything else at my disposal.
What about those weird lines on the hand???Lafitte

Lafitte-
I have an idea that struck me like a ton of bricks…
The Image Seven is bathed in a shadow.  It is dominate
in the background as the discolored purple and brown
squares show.
This coupled with the stars and moon made me think of a
“sky scraper”
I reviewed by French Quarter Maps and what did I see…
The Skyscraper House (Dr. Le Monnier House) Four stories built
in 1811.  The photos I saw show that the first three stories
are bathed in shadows (from its location and the surrounding buildings)
Just like the image.  AND ITS PURPLE!
This is on 600 Royle Street (I am fixed on Royal street being the key –
Near ace is high)  Corner of Royal and St Peter.
Whoa… look down St Peter from this corner… I can see Preservation Hall.
Now if I started at Cafe Du Monde (air smells sweet) I would have had to travel
mostly North but first across (to get here!)
I know I know You are all saying you are in the middle of a city block.
But wait… Directly behind me is St Anthony’s GARDEN!
(someone could bury something in here – BP buried something at a
National Park and a Zoo)
Ok… Now I am in the Iron gates of the Garden…. the purple
skyscraper is across the street and just to my left and preservation
hall is directly in front of me a half block away…and just behind me
to my left is William Faulkner’s House (a contemporary of Mark
Twain)
and guess what… people are buried in this garden (
19
Mexican sailors)  This is commemorated with an
Obelisk in the garden (a giant pole))
(A pole for the dead)
A Giant Pole, A Giant Step… to the place the casque is kept!
How about it?

French Sailors…
here is a link for the gardens…and the obelisk.
http://stlouiscathedral.org/VirtualAr.htm#St.Anthony
’sGarden
Looking out toward Royal Street.
Reading the sailors inscription…. look what their ship is called:
Tonnere:  Thunder  (“sounds from the sky”)
This is part of the Cathedral property, (not far away high posts are three)
(The verse walks you from the front of the church to the back of the church)
Also on Royal street is the Supreme Court Buildings (and the cirucit courts)
(Justice for all to see)

According to the website, Jackson Square is near.  (Am I right in thinking this?)  We have proposed Jackson Square, but does this theory involve a verse other than the one Trohn is using?

Well if the casque is buried in St. Anthony’s garden then that would be VERY sacreligious!!!! This is the Cathedrals garden and belongs to the archdioces. Not a public place. My grandparents were married in the Cathedral so you won’t catch me digging there. Even if we could!

Lafitte

Well if the casque is buried in St. Anthony’s garden then that would be VERY sacreligious!!!! This is the Cathedrals garden and belongs to the archdioces. Not a public place. My grandparents were married in the Cathedral so you won’t catch me digging there. Even if we could!

Following the clues on where they lead.
I am not suggesting that you dig there, I am suggesting that you debunk the theory.
Does the Urn on top of the Obelisk (in the garden) resemble the purple sleeve of the image?

Trohn

Lafitte-
The Skyscraper House (Dr. Le Monnier House) Four stories built
in 1811.  The photos I saw show that the first three stories
are bathed in shadows (from its location and the surrounding buildings)
Just like the image.  AND ITS PURPLE!
This is on 600 Royle Street (I am fixed on Royal street being the key –
Near ace is high)  Corner of Royal and St Peter.
Whoa… look down St Peter from this corner… I can see Preservation Hall.
But wait… Directly behind me is St Anthony’s GARDEN!
(someone could bury something in here – BP buried something at a
National Park and a Zoo)
Ok… Now I am in the Iron gates of the Garden…. the purple
skyscraper is across the street and just to my left and preservation
hall is directly in front of me a half block away…and just behind me
to my left is William Faulkner’s House (a contemporary of Mark
Twain)
and guess what… people are buried in this garden (
19
Mexican sailors)  This is commemorated with an
Obelisk in the garden (a giant pole))
(A pole for the dead)
A Giant Pole, A Giant Step… to the place the casque is kept!
How about it?

Well you did say that something could be buried there. Get ready because I’m going to debunk away… First of all Le Monnier house is at 640 Royal st. It is on the corner of St.Peter.It is NOT purple.
Second directly behind you is NOT St. Anthonys garden. This is on Royal And Orleans. Preservation hall is not visible on this corner.
Third, where did you read that Mexicans are buried here? Members of the French Navy are interred here.
Fourth, this pole is diminutive.
I understand your excitement and encourage it but please, check your facts… Lafitte

cryptenigma

Also, he mentions flowerbeds–the two discovered casques (esp Cleveland) were both relatively close to flowerbeds or planted areas,

Chicago, is no where near a flower bed.
it is considered a planted area, as it was basically a grassy area that got mowed on occasion.
While some people have suggested casques cant be under sod, the chicago casque proves they can,
we must also remember, what might have been bare ground in 1981 could be lush growth now.

Byron Preiss, RIP

Very impressive work esp since the book is 20 years old.
I think you deserve to know that you are correct about st. Louid [sic],but not correct about the location.thanks for all your excellent work.

Byron Preiss, RIP

(a) any life-threatening location, such as a dangerous highway embankment, a contaminated area or active railway track
(b) any cemetery
(c) any public or private flower bed
(d) any property owned by the contributors to the book, their families or friends.”

edit: I really hate to interrupt the revival, but I wanted to talk about treasure for a minute
It’s been a couple years now since I’ve done a thorough post by post read of this thread, but I did skim through all the pages, and didn’t see this specifically addressed, so I thought I’d mention it. Apologies in advance if it’s old news. It seems like it is something that would have been brought up.
I’ve seen some pictures of a tomb at the St. Louis Cemetery #1 in New Orleans that has an arch design similar to the arches at the top of the grandfather clock in Image 7. I know I may be bleeding this thread with some Methodology Discussion thread, but Preiss is known to have said
I’ll explore some of those points in the Methodology Discussion thread, I suppose. Someone remind me
Fact is, there are 3 of them, named “St. Louis Cemetery #1, #2, and #3.”. Not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence with this, but I always try to err on the side of giving some information for people who may not realize this could potentially be an important point. I have no idea how many people know what Preiss said or know there are three St Louis Cemeteries in New Orleans. Obviously those of you who have been there or live there do, but some people don’t. so I’m sharing for their benefit.
It certainly looks like a better match to me for the clock arches than some of the other ones I’ve seen proposed. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to post this because I don’t even know what this solves, or does to help, if anything. I’m certainly not trying to shoehorn an angle here, or call this a “Polaroid Match”tm but there are a few questions it raises, if this is even a legitimate clue.
-Does this look like a legit clue to anyone else? Do we have any boots on the ground in the Big Easy that can quickly confirm or deny this as a decent idea?
-Is this a common design on tombs throughout the cemetery, or is this one important? There is some history in this cemetery that I would be happy to discuss in length for anyone interested, but long story short, this tomb is very close to the most famous one in the cemetery. That would be the tomb of Marie Laveau, which has been mentioned in this thread before, She was the “voodoo queen” of New Orleans. Apparently, it’s not certain whether or not she’s actually buried in that tomb, but that’s largely irrelevant for our purposes. I know the Laveau angle has been mentioned before in connection with voodoo and the creepy hand in Image 7.
Maybe Preiss was thinking “You go to check it out, you see these arches on a nearby tomb which lets you know you’re in the right place to start”
-If you like Laveau as a clue, as far as my internet reckoning goes, know this. If you are facing the front of the Laveau tomb, turn right, go down the aisle a few feet and you’ll be looking directly at the arches of the tomb I posted above.
-This brings up an interesting point. I always wondered, why of all the things to tell us to avoid, Preiss goes out of his way to specifically tell us the cask isn’t buried in a cemetery?
Here are the rules:
Certainly, it would be in poor taste, and he wants to make sure nobody gets killed or disturbs hallowed ground, but he only lists a small number of very specific types of places. In this case, cemeteries. Unless he knew he was flirting with some clues that put you in a cemetery and he didn’t want people being complete idiots so he felt he needed to spell that out specifically. He doesn’t give us similar warnings about putting greens or finely groomed fairways on golf courses. He never specifically says that he didn’t bury it at Churchill Downs. Why does he specifically gives us that when it seems so clearly off limits?
(Pay no attention to the cask buried on Ellis Island).
-I know it’s all in the same area as the other conventional solves, so I don’t know how this “match” if we even agree it is one, helps with the New Orleans hunt. Im 100% sold on the John McDonogh Monument match with Image 7.
I’m going to end the post at this point as it relates to this thread. Maybe if anyone thinks it’s worth discussing we can continue over at “Methodology”. I think it raises some more, “meta” points, so I thought I’d put together a post for the Methodology Discussion thread at some point, if this is even of interest. I don’t want any double secret probation for straying from the point here in the Image 7 thread.
Sorry again if all of this is old news.
–

Well, he may have had that rule in mind even before JJP painted this image. Not digging in cemeteries is a pretty good one to lay out. But this image does, with the werewolf arm thrust up, evoke thoughts of a cemetery. He might have been trying to steer us away for just this particular image.
Hard to guess which is the actual reason. Personally, I think trying to guess what BP was thinking is a crap shoot.

Frisco

Well, he may have had that rule in mind even before JJP painted this image. Not digging in cemeteries is a pretty good one to lay out. But this image does, with the werewolf arm thrust up, evoke thoughts of a cemetery. He might have been trying to steer us away for just this particular image.
Hard to guess which is the actual reason. Personally, I think trying to guess what BP was thinking is a crap shoot.

But the clock being a match for a tomb in the cemetery is rubbish?
I am painfully aware of how much of Images 4 and 5 are pure filler. Look at how much symbolism and importance we try to put into every little detail of every little image. We know how much of both Images 4 and 5 are Irrelevant. We know, conservatively based on conflicting stories that the majority of the centaur in image 4 doesn’t matter. Just go back in this very forum and read some of the things about Image 4 that ended up being irrelevant or completely wrong. Hard to say

Merlot Brougham,
Thank you for reposting the email from BP to user Johann about St. Louis being right, but not the right location.
Assuming this was a real email (and there’s no real reason to doubt it), I am surprised that it does not get more attention, as it is one of the few solid clues we have from BP. I don’t think he would deliberately mislead.
So, assuming this is a valid (and thus important) clue from BP, I think that people should focus on what he meant by “St. Louis”. (Okay, St. LouiD)
Either:
(a) he meant to say that the searcher was correct, it is in the city of St. Louis — in which case we should work backwards, and look at images 7 and 9 (and connected verses) in the context of looking for iconic images or other clues associated with that city, or;
(b) he meant to say that the searcher was correct about it being near “St. Louis”, but he has the wrong location as in city, and it is near St. Louis Cathedral in NO, St. Louis Cemetery, or one of the other St. Louis–named places in New Orleans (or possibly Montreal) and we should continue looking at images 7 and 9 with those locations in mind.
I also think your comment about one of the few rules being about cemeteries being a stand-out has logical merit. Why not mention churches or places of worship? Also, he mentions flowerbeds–the two discovered casques (esp Cleveland) were both relatively close to flowerbeds or planted areas, as are some of the suggested locations. So maybe he said this because he buried it near a cemetery, as you point out. The St. Louis Cemeteries are close enough to a target area that includes Louis Armstrong park, Preservation Hall, St. Louis Cathedral, etc. to make this relevant.
C.
PS I have been wanting to start a thread about the St. Louis clue but even after wading through hundreds or thousands of posts I still am unsure what has been said.

Unknown

Unknown:
But the clock being a match for a tomb in the cemetery is rubbish?

Unknown

Unknown:
I am painfully aware of how much of Images 4 and 5 are pure filler. Look at how much symbolism and importance we try to put into every little detail of every little image. We know how much of both Images 4 and 5 are Irrelevant. We know, conservatively based on conflicting stories that the majority of the centaur in image 4 doesn’t matter. Just go back in this very forum and read some of the things about Image 4 that ended up being irrelevant or completely wrong. Hard to say

I didn’t say anything about that. But I do think that’s a pretty common shape. Walked around NOLA a lot today and saw a lot of arches like that in various places.
They may have had filler, or we may not have figured it all out, or the world changed before we got too look at the solve. Regardless, Image 7 is so sparse that I doubt there’s much that’s irrelevant.

http://www.fidnet.com/~debbil/TheSecret.html
(top pic)
I know.. too much time on my hands….

see the hat, face and arrow,
the hand not so much, lines that might be fingers, but cant make out a hand per se…
the other stuff is plain though especially the arrow.
if there is a character in story town that matches this I would say definitely.

I am still finding odd confirmations of locations from the images. This one is not so obvious but if you invert the outline of Louisiana it matches these squiggles:
– part of the southern coast matches the shape of the flying boy in the clock.
– Also the fingers of the lower hand are the meanders of the Mississippi.
– The other river Sabine that creates a border with Texas can be seen where the checkerboard background is warped just to the right of the clock.
– the curve of the mask is a boundary inside Louisiana.
– the straight line on the clock frame is Louisiana border with Mississippi.
The position of New Orleans in this context only shows as a possible scratch in the wood on the left of the clock.

forest_blight

That’s a pretty good match, FB.  Close enough to make me look at Jackson Square some more.

While we are at jackson Square for a moment, I had another
interpretation of the verse (7)….
If we are standing at Cafe Du Monde (Southern Gate of Jackson Square)
(the air smells sweet) and we are looking directly through the Square
(towards the orientation shown above)  and seeing the
cathedral (high posts are three) – all mentioned before –
“Running north but first across, Is an object of twain’s attention”
What we see from the current spot, (turning around and looking south)
is the Canal Street Ferry.
So if this ferry extends Canal Street, then it (running from Algiers to New Orleans)
runs mostly North but first across!
and Twain (in its original meaning) is a measure of the tide(depth)
as the boat navagates….  I think this meaning is suggested by the us of
‘attention’ (as opposed to an alternative possible choice as ‘affection’)
So the verse directs on to ‘Canal Street’ (in this interpretation)

If you are standing at Cafe Du Monde you are looking down St Ann st. At the corner of the square. The Canal St. ferry is not visible from this corner. Or any for that matter.
If you were standing atop the military park by the cannon, however, you would see up and downriver.And Jackson’s horse from the angle depicted in the painting. Lafitte

I should add that this is officially called Washington Artillary Park… Lafitte
Giant pole could be the flagpole in the square but the giant step still puzzles me.

I have thought that “Giant Step”
was a makred off distance from the pole…
Reference:  ‘Mother May I?”
“Mother, may I take a giant step?”
This distance would be in the same mold as
“hop” or “pace”.
This clue should not be considered as being
interpretted in a similar manner as the proposed
Boston verse…. “five steps”

Well the only Giant Pole in the area is the flagpole in the square. The casque can’t be buried there. Across the street is the artillary park I’m leaning towards. This is making me crazy. Lafitte

Any potential (out of the way) spot
in Woldenberg park (at the end closest to
Jackson Square)?

Not really. In the 80’s  Woldenberg Park was all warehouses. I think the Artillery park is it. But only if verse #7 is the match. Lafitte

Let me add that there are 2 cannons. The one on the upper level and one on the St Peter st corner. St Peter and Decatur. There is a plaque there and I have to get into town to read it and take pix. my husband has the truck until Mon. so I’ll try to go then… Lafitte

I noticed these lines connecting the numbers in the box look like line segments.  I wonder if they fit together to form a triangle.

Renovator, Guardian, Mister EZ, whoever else:
Who dug in the small plot of grass next to the stairs at Gallier Hall? I see mentions of this over the last few pages but no comprehensive writeup. I love that as a dig spot and want more info from or about the digger.
Thank you all!

lobster411

Renovator, Guardian, Mister EZ, whoever else:
Who dug in the small plot of grass next to the stairs at Gallier Hall? I see mentions of this over the last few pages but no comprehensive writeup. I love that as a dig spot and want more info from or about the digger.
Thank you all!

That was George Ward (Burnstyle) one of the podcast guys.

maltedfalcon

That was George Ward (Burnstyle) one of the podcast guys.

Yup.

Also, if you take the P and overlay the clock so the center is at the Mcdonogh statue and the big hand is at the “FIFTH” Circuit Court of Appeals bldg. it matches up with the “V” in preservation. If you then follow the small hand it is exactly over a path going south from the statue with a small circle that appears to be concrete and matches the hand perfectly. There are also 15 rows on the front of the Court bldg. and stars on a shield above the 2 end arched doors.

Egbert

I believe if you turn the boy upside down, the dark area that is his pants is a pretty good outline of the New Orleans area.  Perhaps someone with better graphic skills than I, can do a side-by-side posting, or even an overlay.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=726+St+Peter+St,+New+Orleans,+LA&hl=en≪=29.951365,-90.096817&spn=0.321863,0.676346&sll=27.698638,-83.804601&sspn=10.512921,21.643066&oq=726+st.+peter,+new&t=h&hnear=726+St+Peter+St,+New+Orleans,+Louisiana+70116&z=11
The “buttocks” side of his pants is the Mississippi River, and the other side is the land outline that borders Lake Pontchartrain.  Not sure if it is an exact much, but it appears that it could be close.

I am not good at doing graphics, but here is my attempt at what I am talking about:

Egbert, that’s an attractive option.  Do you think there’s more to consider or is that just for the purpose to draw us into a river/canal centric approach?  What about the line from the figure’s lower hand connecting to his thigh?  It seems there’s something more to found there.
Also, what do you think of the “jockey” outfit?  That’s definately a horse jockey minus the horse and it does look like the McDonough statue boy.  Using my trusty dictionary approach, I looked up the word ‘jockey’ and found it has a plain definition of “to trick or cheat”.  I wonder if that’s not a clue about Halloween, which pairs well with my ideas concerning festive holidays and that the white mask is portrayed as “coming off” at midnight.

I’ve checked out the Mardi Gras Fountain area too mostly because I haven’t been able to get past the idea of the jewel street area being the place “where jewels abound.” Also, from above, the fountain, taken together with the park across Lakeshore Dr., resembles the rough outline of the mask. I just haven’t been able to make any of the other clues match.
It looks like there are considerably more than 21 tiles, though we don’t know what it looked like pre-renovation.
Since the tiles represent Mardi Gras krewes, it’s not unreasonable to imagine there might have been krewes named after gnomes or fairies or just mythical creatures in general. That’s the best I can do to make another match. Has anyone else been able to find anything that matches this area?

I thought it was already established that the jewel neighborhood was too far north to be a match to the lat/long from the image. Maybe I missed something.
Also, the sleeve from the arm holding the mask is a match to the Mississsippi River. Doubt it would be in the image twice.

Interesting find…I like that 1929 plaque. Renovations as usual…
http://www.dei-engr.com/projects/mardi-gras-fountain/

That’s a good point especially since the clock in the lobby at the Monteleone looks like the clock in the picture:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/659 … a95c_b.jpg
However, those poles with horse heads on them are alllll over the city. My grandmother had them in front of her house to keep people from parking on the lawn. Not super unique to the hotel.

I don’t think that it has to be unique to the hotel, just a visual confirmer for the area/city.

Right, but since they’re everywhere, it’d be hard to say it confirms any specific area.

It would confirm New Orleans

clock boy gets us to park…  which is french,  seems armstrong is not french
and something else in P,,,,,,,,,,maybe a horse head near wall we cant see
or something to do with the stars and moon
just thought of something for stars and moon, sailors can fig the lat and long
by the stars, then we have the marker of lat and long that cormac posted here
http://thesecretatreasurehunt.shutterfly.com/neworleans
arrg geeezzzzzzzzzzz….the star moon could also just be saying the cresent city
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lamarstyle … 770480@N01
nothing like blowing your own idea out of the water

Personally, I don’t believe it’s “IN” Lafayette Square.
But I do believe it’s very close to that park…
I would guess within one or two blocks.
The namesakes meeting
NEAR    this site.

Unknown

Unknown:
But Armstrong is a decent candidate, because it’s actually big enough to dig in. You guys are killing me with all these arguments for 1-acre “parks” which are no more than empty lots in a neighborhood. Also, the correct park has to be feasible to dig in without being conspicuous.

Actually, I don’t think Lafayette is
that
conspicuous. It’s sort of quiet there, except for a few days every year…but it’s SUCH a great candidate because of the statue! I can’t think of another, better confirmer. And we must remember that these things were hidden nearly 30 years ago when things were a lot different. And it’s known that he dressed up as a city worker, or maintentance guy–or maybe something else–while he buried them. I think there’s plenty of reason to go with Lafayette, and not Armstrong. I would like to have believed that it was Armstrong earlier, but the only confirmatin is the (maybe) mask, and the arch. That’s really it.

Inconspicuous?? It’s in front a government building! Please, have at it.

Forrest

…have at it.

I just don’t get it guys.
We have a V that contains the Sarmiento quote leading us directly to N.O., more specifically the St. Charles Hotel.  We have a park {Lafayette} in N.O. which is: ON St Charles St; just down the street from the original St Charles Hotel; and directly adjacent to the new St Charles Hotel.  In said park is a very interesting statue.  Sure, there ‘may’ be another legeater besides the one found in Montreal but I challenge you to find our clock boy in Armstrong Park, City Park or for that matter, anywhere else in N.O.
and now you want to start searching parks halfway across town?
Why?
Had I known about this statue when my family and I were in N.O. last summer (OR) if I was within a reasonable driving distance to (OR) if you are willing to fly me out there… I WILL
…government building or not…
Once again, I must concur with the lovely shecrab.
We finally have very solid confirmers…let’s nail this thing down and dig this thing up!

Fox, remember an image in the picture does not indicate proximity to the casque
The water tower in chicago and the skyscraper in cleveland for example
both way across town….
I will be amazed, happily amazed but still amazed if the casque is actually in lafayette park,
a lone man with a shovel would be too conspicous.  I cant see him digging a hole in the lafayette park lawn
and BP himself ruled out flowerbeds…

maltedfalcon

Fox, remember an image in the picture does not indicate proximity to the casque
The water tower in chicago and the skyscraper in cleveland for example
both way across town….

True but likewise not true.  The Chicago Water Tower got us to Chicago…Bowman got us to Grant Park and low and behold, right at the sight…the fence and fixture.  Cleveland skyscraper got us to Cleveland…perhaps the greek theme of P got us to the Greek Cultural Gardens and low and behold, right at the sight…the wall.
Mardis Gras mask gets us to N.O….clock boy gets us to park…and something else in P is at sight.  The last 2 items in that string could very well be reversed…  It all fits tooooo darn nicely to shrug off.  Like I said before…get me there and I will dig.

slappybuns

reading the posts after Giant Squids post about Lafayette Park , Forrest, he posted a picture of the lamp posts at armstrong park.   i count 7 lampposts with 3 lights on top of each.  that would make 21 lights. are there only 7 lamp posts like that?  if there are only 7, is there anything that makes you think of the verse in the middle lamp posts?
here’s the picture again:
http://flickr.com/photos/92702940@N00/7 … otostream/
this one made me think of “only 3 stand watch”
http://flickr.com/photos/emcrawford/2052660263/

There is nothing in the verse, and no, there are more than 7 lampposts. But look at the clock hands in the image – now look at the lamp post. (Another observation by Giant Squid, actually.)
Armstrong looks pretty good with the image – we have:
the mask and the statue in Armstrong
the arch over the armstrong park entrance with what could be moons – moons and stars in the arch on the clock face
the bridge that could be a match for the top of the clock
the lamp posts that look like the clock hands
The problem is, Armstrong didn’t have much obvious connection to the verse. I think the most important part of finding the casque in NO is a good fit for the first line.
But Armstrong is a decent candidate, because it’s actually big enough to dig in. You guys are killing me with all these arguments for 1-acre “parks” which are no more than empty lots in a neighborhood. Also, the correct park has to be feasible to dig in without being conspicuous. That means either City Park or Armstrong Park to me – there’s no way you’re going to be able to dig in Lafayette square or Jackson square. It’s absurd. There is also NO WAY it was buried in Storyland. I’d love to hear how anyone explained away a shovel and a large plexiglass box they were carrying when they bought their ticket to get in. I know people get all excited when they see the storyland images, but please, enough is enough.
Also, I have to agree about it being unlikely there is anything left of the casque if it was buried in City Park. But I also don’t think any solution offered so far is feasible. Maybe we can at least find a convincing solution before giving up on N.O..

And I, the Lovely Shecrab (!) Will Help!!!
I will even bring my own shovel.

What’s the most iconic part of this image?  The Superdome, the Armstrong Arch, the Louis Mask?

Hard to say. Who says that’s what they are?

Preservation Jazz Hall

Man, I hope you do dig it up so I can put this sudden obsession to bed! Ha! Honestly, I could give 2 squirts of piss about personally solving this thing. I just want someone to do it so I can get it out of my head! Ha!

Hi folks…its been a while since ive posted. Just checking in on the New Orleans search.

why not Lee Circle?
look at the streetcar lines on this map:
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=29.9433387&lo … 18&l=0&m=b
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: … ram02b.jpg
http://www.inetours.com/New_Orleans/Pho … tatue.html
could be the flagpole i thought i could see on the right side of the image.
looks like about
15
steps down to the ground
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/4550858972/
on this map, counting beginning and end , there would be
“21”
stops.   lee circle is at “
3″
-only 3 stand watch (stand, stop)
http://www.trekexchange.com/files/NO_St … ur_Map.pdf
or maybe the giant urns on tripod legs could be the
“3”
see that big roman numeral
“I”
underneath him……….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/455 … otostream/

Yep… those theories kinda sum it up… yet no one will put a shovel in the ground.

i know cormac
……..we need hunters
what is your theory?
lafitte r u still out there?  are you listening to all our ramblings and getting any ideas?

Those are all good ideas but you seem to be excluding the most important part of the V which directly ties in with Hermann.  If that was all that ‘possibly’ lead us to Houston, then yes…I may be willing to consider your ideas….but, low and behold, smack dab in the middle of Hermann Park is a very well known locomotive, engine #982.  Using this part of the V got us {wilhouse
} to the park and everything else falls into place.

I realize that, fox. I am just not looking away from any possibilities until a casque is in hand. Things seem to be getting tied together by literary references that may have a wider scope or none at all. I dunno.. just throwing out ideas..

If V1 were to go with this P and the pic itself simply leads us to NO.
(Here is a big what if.)
WHAT IF:
We start at the fortress north (Spanish Fort just north of Wisner Blvd.).
Then we go southerly to the first Friendship (Friendship Gardens in City Park).
(#12 in the link below)
http://neworleanscitypark.com/mapofpark.html
Then we go through the wood (a few trees) and across a parking lot or 2 looking for a lion.
We find the lion at the Peristyle (#2 in the link) but here we are stuck looking at the water in a lagoon.
Soooo we have to veer off course to get around the water.
Now without losing our perspective we go around to City Park Ave. This part of City Park Ave. is appx the 700-1200 blocks.
Now, I am not sure if there is a house numbered 982 but if you use your google earth and go to 982 City Park Ave. there is a crosswalk right into city park.
(appx. #1 in the link)
Then if you walk straight toward the peristyle there is bridge across a small of scale leg of the lagoon that looks just like the top of the clock (as mentioned before).
This bridge leads to a little island in the lagoon across from the peristyle and we still have our perspective.
Now i don’t know what is on this island.. looks to be a statue/tower or 2 there and some trees but anywhere you would dig on this island and look back toward the lion you will be looking straight at the entrance of Storyland and i know it has a train.
Still looking for that darn spout tho.
I will buy a picnic lunch for anybody that will go take pics.

Sorry for the double posts but i found a good pic of the bridge and the lion/peristyle.
Go to #26 of 69.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= … n%26sa%3DN

I’m looking at aspects of the image as they might suggest street names or general areas in New Orleans.  I’m chewing on the idea of the arm being a clue about ‘lower’ since it is raised up it indicates there is someone below.  It’s pointing at the clock face in the general direction of the IX or 9.  Is this a clue about lower ninth?  I’m still looking at the 19 29 and 90 numbers, and so I’ve been sifting through ideas a based on the date 1929 (I understand that the 29 is best as a lat. #, but I wonder if it is being shared between the 19 and 90.
In 1929 the Pope Pius XI beatified Claude La Colombiere.  St. Claude is part of the lower 9th ward.  Are the larger more familiar of the visual clues, places like Preservation Hall and the Arch, indicators of where we start or closer to where we end while looking for the casque?

Back to the numbers 19 29 90, we are confident 29/90 are lat/long, but the 19?  How about the Armstrong Elementary School atg 5909 St. Claude Street (McDonogh #19 school)?  We have a lot of Armstrong stuff here…arch, mask, school 19.

Unknown

Unknown:
Zombie=Immortality

Zombies aren’t immortal. They can be destroyed easily enough. They aren’t even
alive
. Immortality would preclude that something had already died, even once.

I like it. Can’t ignore that mask.
There’s been talk about how BP confirmed there was a casque in St Louis, but I wonder what he actually said exactly. If you want a casque in St Louis, which of our other locations are you going to abandon…?

Yes. They prefer to be called “Undead Americans”, rather than “Immortals”, for scientific accuracy, as well as to distinguish themselves from Vampires.

WhiteRabbit

There’s been talk about how BP confirmed there was a casque in St Louis, but I wonder what he actually said exactly.

http://www.quest4treasure.co.uk/forum/h … 487#p85487

…well, we should at least see if there is any zombie activity in Armstrong Park.
Perhaps the idea was to go with antithesis.  Clock = Time vs Timeless, Hand = Undead vs Everliving?  Maybe a kind of Miller Analogy Test?
Preservation is often applied to the dead, esp. the Ancient Egyptians with the belief that you should look your best and have lots of bling in the afterlife.
So what is that bulge in the lower right corner?  Is it a mound, a rampart, a loaf of rising bread or what?

Thanks jimerson.
“Very impressive work esp since the book is 20 years old.  I think you deserve to know that you are correct about St. Louis, but not correct about the location. Thanks for all your excellent work.”
Possible confirmation from a puzzle-setter for a trail that starts at St Louis cathedral then.
Just heard back from Robin Riley, the architect behind the Louis Armstrong arch and park. He’s indicated that he’s happy to help, and has already made some interesting observations…
“The masque held in front of the clock is a Mardi Gras masque—so, maybe there’s a connection there. Not many people know I named the arch the “Mardi Gras” arch because floats (caravans with revilers) traveling to the Municipal Auditorium, in the park, would pass through the arch. There is a moon on the clock face. A connection to “Moon” Landrieu, the mayor who initiated the park project?”

That Morphy idea is a good point.  But why must we keep insisting that that is Peter Pan?  He is wearing a baseball-like cap and seems more of a jockey with those socks and capri-style pants, or perhaps he is wearing an old baseball uniform.

Unknown

Unknown:
I am still convinced the checkered background as well as the horse head are simply referring to Morphy:

I thought the horse head was just a map of Louisianna.

Just an idea: could the Monument to the Immigrant have any relevance?
www.phototour.com/echtml/immigrant_1621.html

that’s the same fountain that is in audubon park (both audubon and city park)…..i didn’t find it……..think someone else found it years ago..but this was just the best picture i had seen of it that really showed the shape.
i like “to the
little
children”……
little
people (fairies) lol
wow, you are good whiterabbit!
abound and audubon!
pretty cool!……..maybe that #11 shelter after all……close to st. charles avenue!!
that could be significant!
c’mon guys what do you think?

cinderella had to leave by midnight…..hour on the clock……….and wasn’t it a grandfather clock that chimed?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zPzveb_czZk/S … lpture.jpg
shape is good, and has the XI  V that the hour hand is pointing to

In the Disney movie as well as many others it was a clock tower that tolled midnight
not a grandfather clock

It’s a cute fountain – “Another part of the inscription says
By bequest Mrs. Chapman H. Hyams left her jewels to Audubon and City Parks
“.
http://www.saveaudubonpark.org/web/saparchive/p4047.htm
Jewels and Audubon is pretty close to Jewels Abound – just an extra U to worry about. And much as I disapprove of finding random locations and trying to make them fit (
) I like the XIV idea. (The MCM which precedes it also fits the 19.)
I can’t work out where it is though…? Somewhere near, or on, Magazine St. and the zoo, apparently, but can’t find it in Google Street View. Seems she donated two; one to City Park (Carousel Gardens) and the other to Audubon Park; not sure if they’re both still there, or whether they’re both the same.
More here:
http://old-new-orleans.com/NO_wading_pools
I got my hopes up when I saw: “Sara Lavinia Hyams Fountain, 1929”, but that just seems to be the date the pic was taken.
Mr & Mrs Chapman H Hyams seem to have been fairly notable New Orleans characters. (He was connected with the St Charles Hotel, as well as a jockey club.)
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/ … id=1255321
(Cool memorial actually. I wouldn’t mind something like that. Eventually.)

Current status of the hunt (using Image 7 for visual cues).
After finding the Sarmiento quote last year, I was pretty sure that I had the casque in hand, and I spent way too much time wearing out the soles of my shoes and getting run off by NOPD. And, then, for one reason or another, the forum engaged in St. Louis-mania. Some of my friends who helped me case some parks just told me to drop it and revisit it later. ‘The other Forrest’ managed to pull me back in.
I’m working off a handful of assumptions about Preiss’ work:
1. There should be 3-4 forms of good visual confirmation in the image for the city
2. There should be at least one non-park landmark referenced
3. There should be at least two visual clues for the items in the vicinity of the site
4. There should be at least two visual clues for items directly visible from the site
So, evaluation of visual clues on a per-park basis (ranked by my experience):
Armstrong Park
– I love the fact that the clock face looks so much like the Armstrong Park gate. Similarly, the Ball Mask evokes a very African-looking face, a la Louis Armstrong or Sidney Bechet. Coupled with the fact that Preservation Hall is what, 4 blocks away from the south entrance of Armstrong? The other Forrest also suggests (as have others) that the top of the clock evokes a bridge, and the background’s distortion can be likened to diffraction under water. I don’t feel that it’s too much a stretch, and there are a couple of bridges in Armstrong that evoke the top of the clock. More of a stretch is the fact that the clock dial evokes the three-bulb streetlamps which can
only
be found on Rampart Street and in Armstrong Park (nowhere else in the whole city).
Most problematic, however, is that a solid 1/4th of Armstrong is off-limits to the public, courtesy of Hurricane Katrina’s damage to the Nation Park Service’s Jazz Center. There are four very historic and important buildings that are completely inaccessible (ten-foot-tall fences covered with razorwire prevent entry). Perhaps our missing visual confirmers are tucked away there.
City Park
– The tulip/narcissus definitely
does
look like the one in Storyland, and there are two iconic bridges in the lower half of City Park that evoke the top of the clock. There is also some architectural detailing at the corners of the Peristyle that evokes a detail on the wood/body of the clock.
There are two giant problems with City Park, the first being that it’s been through five or so major remodels in the past 25 years, with new things being added almost continuously (or destroyed, as most recently, the Irby Pool disappeared from existence). The second being that each remodel puts up new fences and gates around attractions, making it increasingly difficult to get in there. Storyland – Fenced off. Botanical Garden – Fenced off. Playland – Fenced off. Hyams Fountain – Fenced off. Only accessible during the day, each one separate from the other, and each one requires separate admission.
Audubon Park
– No visual confirmers here, The Other Forrest and I have walked every inch of this park north of Magazine Street. We’re going to try south of Magazine Street soon.
Lafayette Square
– There is the boy who does bear more than a passing resemblance to the Harlequin, there’s some cuteness with the verse as well. Unfortunately, beyond the McDonogh statue, I just can’t seem to find anything else in the square that matches. Roughly 1/5 of the buildings surrounding the square were have been built post-1982, which makes things quite a bit trickier as well. And, there’s my general feeling that Preiss liked to bury stuff where he could sort of ‘hide’ from the general public and go relatively unnoticed while he dug – perhaps Egbert can attest to this. If I could get more visual confirmation elsewhere in the square from the image (not just the verse), I’d be more inclined to give the ‘okay’ on it.
Coliseum Square
– I enjoy the potential matches to the verse, but nothing in the image.
Harlequin Park
– A long shot, but absolutely no matches.
Mardi Gras Fountain
– No visual matches at all.

The Giant Squid

Current status of the hunt (using Image 7 for visual cues).
And, there’s my general feeling that Preiss liked to bury stuff where he could sort of ‘hide’ from the general public and go relatively unnoticed while he dug

Thanks for this Very accurate/succinct summary of the New Orleans hunt. Everything you said makes sense to me. The problems with current access to areas, cannot be considered detrimental to possible locations, because BP would not have had those problems. So for the purpose of the hunt locations would have to be considered disregarding current fencing…
or more importantly, it seems he wasnt burying things where the diggers would be noticed or bothered by authorities, (except in one specific case where he indicated you need to get permission to dig things out.)

Thanks, Squid. I appreciate your summary, also. I like how it adds in everything without denying connections or matches.
I dont’ know if I agree with your list of assumptions, but I don’t DISagree with them either–so if they turn out to be accurate in other solutions, then agreement isn’t the issue anyway.
I’m convinced that this thing is very close to Lafayette Square if not IN it. For one, thinking logically, it’s big enough. And there are enough trees and other structures. And there are 3 statues (only 3 stand watch), one of which has that match with the clock boy. Other things in the verse also point this way for me. I tend to see the mask as more an allusion to the music and jazz, for which the city is famous, than an actual “marker” of some sort–as some do. As for the Armstrong park matches: When I saw this P., I immediately thought “Armstrong Park” even though I’ve never even
been
to NO.  To me, that would be enough of a reason
not
to go with Armstrong as the location–because it’s almost as much of an iconic image of the city as the Mardi Gras parade is.
And as someone has pointed out, it might not even BE in a park–but the buildings around Lafayette are not conducive to burial (but not because of their age, I wouldn’t think–more because this is a downtown street. After all, Gallier Hall was definitely there in 1981.)
I think that the streetcar line may yield some other places. If the whole thing is pointing to the St. Charles connection–
hotel, streetcar, Sarmeinto quote, actual street and the Park ON that street
–then perhaps we need to explore the line itself. Explore some other stops maybe?

k, i’m still thinking about the “passing fancies” , and thinking more of the museums, because this is where they are, especially contemporary art….or elf nouveau  (p. 108 )
, and that love sculpture being contemporary art and being in the picture in the book.
http://www.neworleanspast.com/art/id102.html

eljayo

Check your pic and tell me what you think (perhaps this is my drunker’s purple elephant?
)
In fact, the whale isn’t the only one, each square on this purple checker seems to have something (gnomes included)

I drank two glasses of absinthe and still couldn’t see it. Sorry.

Forrest

Hey guys, just wanted to point a few more things in the image I haven’t seen mentioned:
The outline of the clock doesn’t look symmetrical to me. From the outlined things in other images, I would take this as a clear indication there is an outline on one side or the other. It’s clearest at the level of the mask’s mouth.
There are 2 white dots in with the stars in the arch. I see a lot of other tiny dots but I’m not sure how many are significant. If you raise the contrast with a photo editor some are more obvious than others.

I’ve also noticed that the clock doesn’t look symmetrical.  If you look at the section even with the mouth of the mask, the left end looks more curved and the right end looks more squared or angled.  Also if you look at the same section and compare how far it hangs over the section below it on each side, it appears the right end hangs over more than the left end.  If I had to guess, the left side is the outline of whatever, because the sleeve is thrown in there on that side to add more shape to the outline.  If you take a closer look at the area where the sleeve is, it even looks like the checkerboard pattern is almost molded around the sleeve as opposed to looking like the sleeve is simply in front of it.
As for the 2 white dots, I hadn’t really noticed them before and figured they were probably marks made during the printing process.  However, after taking a closer look they do appear to be an intended part of the picture.  Whether or not they are of any significance beats the heck out of me.

Some of the dots do not appear in my copy of
The Secret
. The two bright white ones in the online version (straight up from the P in PRESERVATION) are not in the book. However, two other ones (straight up from the 9 in 19 and from the top-right narcissus) do appear in both.

We know some of the pics contain longitudes and latitudes (thanks Fox!). N.O. is in the box described by latitudes 29 and 30, and longitudes 90 and 91. in P7 we have 90 and 29, and 91 is backwards as 19 (that backwards trick was used in P4 as well), but what of 30? So I looked for a 30, and sure enough, there are 30 stars. Forgive me if this has already been pointed out.

The Giant Squid

I drank two glasses of absinthe and still couldn’t see it. Sorry.

yes… I know
This kind of shadow drawings is so subjective…

Hey guys, just wanted to point a few more things in the image I haven’t seen mentioned:
The outline of the clock doesn’t look symmetrical to me. From the outlined things in other images, I would take this as a clear indication there is an outline on one side or the other. It’s clearest at the level of the mask’s mouth.
There are 2 white dots in with the stars in the arch. I see a lot of other tiny dots but I’m not sure how many are significant. If you raise the contrast with a photo editor some are more obvious than others.

This is pretty cool. SHIFT and CTRL to zoom in and out, click to move around:
http://photographicvr.com/cityparkperistyle.htm

Looking more closely at the man on the clock face…
At first I thought he had on Argyle socks…but then
it struck me that he may be the character Harlequin,
(a popular New Orleans character at Mardi Gras)
Notice the “ballet slippers they each wear…and the cap.

There is no question in my mind that he is a harlequin, I’ve said it before but it the group consensus was baseball player or peter pan, neither of which fits.
interesting to note in the area where the streets are named after jewels., there is a harlequin park….

We decided a long time ago that the figure was a harlequin. Back somewhere in this thread.
I also at one time thought it was an old-fashioned baseball player.
But that was when I was thinking this pic might actually be the St. Louis location. (St. Louis has a reputation for hosting vintage baseball teams and games–they’re quite well known for it.)
Those carriages have been around for a long time–I believe they were indeed there in 1981.
Harlequin Park is almost empty of features. There is pretty much nothing there that would be a marker or landmark or any sort of identifyer to hide the casque.

By the way, the top of that clock hand does INDEED look like an anchor. And underneath it, between the J’s it looks like an 8. So when you put these together you get
anchorate
—which is word that means “anchor shaped.”
Interesting–the only “anchor-shaped’ things I know of in NOLA is the park where the Mardi Gras Krewes are honored. It’s right on the shore of L. Ponchartrain north of the Jewel Neighborhood…..hmmm……

forest_blight

Now tell me that doesn’t look like a bike!

Does it have to be a bike?  These things are ALWAYS present at Jackson Sq

Both parks in the neighborhood are almost featureless
now
What were they like in 1981 and multiple hurricanes ago…
anyway, there is featureless and featureless.
15 rows down to the ground.
sounds like steps or stripes.  although in cleveland when he meant steps he said steps…
perhaps something like painted stripes on a seawall or levy  or ridges of cement….
In the middle of 21 could be something as simple as light posts on the highway or 21 no parking signs…
3 stand watch is going to be the final spot.
I see this as
near 15 rows of something (flowers, paint, lines on a wall)
next the the 11th thing in a row of 21 things.
in the middle of three identical things.
dig.
altogether possible for the area around harlequin park or even right along the water north of the park.

Malted,
Once again we could use some “historic” photos to help us see
the area in question, 26 years earlier….
AP

maltedfalcon

There is no question in my mind that he is a harlequin, I’ve said it before but it the group consensus was baseball player or peter pan, neither of which fits.

It could be as simple as a baseball playing Peter Pan dressed as a harlequin for halloween…has anybody thought of that?

eljayo

Egbert, maybe this JS in yellow -mirrored in red- is what are you looking for…

Yes, that’s the JS I am talking about, for Jackson Square.  I see how it could also be a bicycle, but it would be a distorted one, which doesn’t seem to fit with hidden drawings in the other Images.  Also, JJP did not hide his initials in any other Image, so I doubt it could be that either.
As for our little man, he certainly looks more like an old-time baseball player or bicycle rider than a harlequin, since a harlequin has colorful outfits with elaborate designs on them.  The upper part of his outfit does not appear to have any design on it.  That’s too bad, because I do like the Harlequin Park idea.  Hmmm.

Hmm, yes, that’s certainly true. Were they around in 1981 or is it a recent thing?

maltedfalcon

There is no question in my mind that he is a harlequin

fox

It could be as simple as a baseball playing Peter Pan dressed as a harlequin for halloween…has anybody thought of that?

I agree with egbert – the only thing harlequinny about our guy is the design on his socks. From the butt up, I’m just not seeing it. And did anyone notice that huge tumor on his rear end? And the fact that one of his socks goes all the way up but the other one stops at the knee?
Of course!! There’s a statue of one of those in downtown Salt Lake City, next to the white stone fountain at the Ponce de Leon racing track!

forest_blight

And did anyone notice that huge tumor on his rear end? And the fact that one of his socks goes all the way up but the other one stops at the knee?

Nice observation MF!  Now that I look at it more closely, there is definitely something weird with the right leg and that “tumor,” almost as if that part of the man is not attached to the rest of the body.  I think what this could be is a hidden image taken from the treasure site, but blended into the man’s pic.  In other words, part of the man could be seen from the treasure site, such as the leg and “tumor” (maybe a sign from a sock shop or a harlequin store?).
There appear to be a ton of clues in this clock, from the shaded dashes around the face, to hidden message(s) in the hands of the clock, to the pieces of our little man.

Speaking of clocks….
This was from earlier in this thread. It’s the Hotel Monteleone, at the corner of Royal and Iberville Sts. Note the CLOCK FACE—the arch above the face, and the ornate hands.
Why was this forgotten? This hotel could be very significant.
Also—it was founded by a Sicilian immigrant–wasn’t Sarmiento a Sicilian–or at least Italian? There is a Carousel bar in the lobby–that revolves every 10 minutes. Maybe our little fellow on the clock face is the harlequin (or the jockey!) from that carousel?

Many, perhaps most, grandfather clocks have an arch over the clock face – search Google image and you’ll see. Also, this particular clock has Arabic numerals, not Roman numerals.
Sarmiento was from Argentina.

maybe its simpler than that,
maybe the clock hands pointing up simply mean up or north
the northern part of new orleans…
Like the area where all the streets are named after jewels

I’m sure that someone has mentioned the numbers
in the corners of the clock face…19…29…and has
made some sense of them….right??
AP

Latitude and longitude. The 19 is there merely to make it look like a date. The numbers for NOLA are 29 and 90.

shecrab

Speaking of clocks….
This was from earlier in this thread. It’s the Hotel Monteleone, at the corner of Royal and Iberville Sts. Note the CLOCK FACE—the arch above the face, and the ornate hands.
Why was this forgotten? This hotel could be very significant.
Also—it was founded by a Sicilian immigrant–wasn’t Sarmiento a Sicilian–or at least Italian? There is a Carousel bar in the lobby–that revolves every 10 minutes. Maybe our little fellow on the clock face is the harlequin (or the jockey!) from that carousel?

Thanks CK for bringing back an old discovery of mine.
I thought it was an interesting find.

Me too. Did anyone ever go explore this area of town? I know Lafitte just joined right about the time this was put on the thread.

I interpret the 19 as a backwards 91 (bounding longitude for New Orleans). They pulled the same trick in P4.

I think I know what’s coming, post-wise….someone is about to bring up New Orleans city Park as a possible casque site. Well, before you do, please view the pics and the report at the following link:
http://neworleanscitypark.com/katrina.html
This explains in vivid pictures the kind of damage that was done by Katrina. If there was a casque buried in that park, it will likely
never
be recovered. Parts of this park were under 10 feet of water for weeks. This would include Ted Gormley stadium, which has been suggested as a place where “end to end” might be pertinent. There is a particularly good picture of that stadium on the link above, full of water up to the horizontal bars on the goalposts.
Also, the levees in the neighborhood don’t have “rows” of anything. They aren’t brick walls, but sloped earth banks.

Shecrab,
I’m not sure what your suggesting.
So the entire area of city park was underwater and parts of it have been remodeled. Are you suggesting we all just give up on New Orleans?
If it is located in City park, why not keep working at the solution until we have a best guess or most likely possibility?
The area where I am suggesting near harlequin park, was also flooded and is undoubtedly different then it was in 1981.
Its been almost 3 decades, Things have changed dramatically, so what, that just makes it more challenging.
Lastly some thoughts about levys
I work in Sacramento, CA, a city surrounded by levys. Your comment about Levys indicates an unfamiliarity with them.
Where the roads pass through levys there are indeed walls, gates, made of brick, cinderblock and cement. These can be painted or decorated. There is such a gate in the levy due east from harlequin park, Im sure there are more.. Also notice there is a road on the outside of the levy and houses on the inside. Quite often people whose house face the blank wall of a levy tend to go out and decorate the levy with stones, plants etc.
this is frowned upon, and probably illegal but still done.
While the levys look featureless today, what did they look like in 1981?
some levys are terraced in small increments , what might look like a smooth slope from above could look like 15 levels when viewed from below.
Also the levy along crystal st is topped by a wall.

maltedfalcon

So the entire area of city park was underwater and parts of it have been remodeled. Are you suggesting we all just give up on New Orleans?
If it is located in City park, why not keep working at the solution until we have a best guess or most likely possibility?

I have to agree with MF here.  Katrina was 5 years ago…City Park, as well as most of N.O., does not look anything like the picture you linked to.  I was there…I strolled through the park & it is beautiful…I think, if City Park is the resting place, I may have dug right around where it may have been.  I will try my best to get a link up and running by tonight of my City Park pics as well as my Jackson Sq pics.

Ok, we have a clock face with a guy that appears to be traveling/flying around it.  What if the guy isnt “supposed” to be a harlequin, or a jockey, or a baseball player, or a bicyclist, or even Peter Pan?  What if the guy is just that…?…a guy.  Or better yet, a boy?  We have a boy going around a clock.  That boy has to be someone’s son…so now we have a son going around a time piece.  hmmm, a sun going around a time piece…sounds like a sundial to me.  The second hand on our clock could be the extended arm of the sundial in City Park.  And believe it or not, as will be shown in the pics I hope to get up tonight….at the sundial site:  there is only 1 small post adjacent to the sundial and it is in the same relationship as the boy is to the clock’s second hand.  It is not seen in this photo of the sundial I found online…
Matching up some of the rest of the V may be another question though…

xlurker

http://www.fidnet.com/~debbil/TheSecret.html
I just posted the top 2 pics. This is Popp Fountain in City Park. It looks a lot like the clock face with 3 entrances (possibly being the gray marks on the rim of the clock face). I did a search and didn’t see where this was brought up before.

i think their are whales in the st lawreance but farther up the river, who knows whales swim where they want

Those are older pics for image 9… i was just talking about the top 2 for this image. Guess i should seperate them.

Egbert

That is a nice bit of clue gathering Four21Thrasher….

Thanks for the feedback, Egbert. I understand the doubt, and I have quite a bit myself. However, like I said, I really think people would rather make some of the connections themselves, and then make their own decision. When I blither away, its easy to not cover or explain relations. I felt like if I just served some vegetables, people might be tempted to look around themselves to discover the meat. The Nicholls Street Wharf is next door to the mint, and the sign can easily be found on Google Images. Gnome’s telephone number is on the web, along with their store hours.

That is a nice bit of clue gathering Four21Thrasher.  However, IMHO, the clues don’t quite match exactly.  I doubt that the Image leads to an object (the coin) rather than a site directly.  Also, the number 8 on the clock is slightly more elongated than the 8 on the coin.  I would like to see the anchor you mention, to see if it matches the clock.  Also, a mint does not make jewels, nor does it contain jewels.  The Gnome sign is exciting, but not sure if it was there in 1980 (or the word “jewelry” for that matter).
Please don’t think I am trying to “shoot down” your idea – I think you did a great job.  This bulletin board is designed for people to bounce ideas off of it, to see what others think.  If the internet was around for the first 3 years of me picking up this book, I would not have spent every week for 3 years walking the streets of downtown Philadelphia trying to find a casque with the Cleveland Image.

Glossiphoniidae

OK, so I have something for you to chew on:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2bmxhnvu46ynp … 0coin.docx

Unknown

Unknown:
I stumbled on a coin, which very much resembled the clock face’s 3 hour mark (i.e., III). The III was on the flipside and in the middle of 21 letters (United States of America), and had the O and the mysterious 8 from the clock hands.
{image}
The coin is the only 3-cent piece minted in the US, and it was minted in New Orleans. So, I looked for the New Orleans Mint (A) and found it to be just down the street from Jackson Square, and it has been since turned into a museum (1981). It was built on the grounds of Fort St. Charles, which was torn down to construct the mint.
On the northwest corner of the mint building, on the sidewalk across the street (where Decatur St. meets Esplanade Ave.), there is a pattern of tiles inset in the sidewalk:
{image of the word ‘Jewelry’ on a ceramic tile}
This certainly seems like a place where jewels abound – the mint makes money and jewelry is stamped in the sidewalk.
So, I look around for something to count. To the left of the jewelry tiles, surrounding the Mint, is a fence. It’s an irregular shape, but the side of the mint pictured has 21 fencing sections. If you walk straight up the sidewalk from the jewelry tiles and count out 21, you will be stopping at the next street corner, where you would find this:
{image of sign on building which says ‘GNOME’}
So, I go back to the middle of the 21 fence sections, look towards the mint, and find:
{image}
The mint is just adjacent to the Port of New Orleans, Nicholls Wharf. The logo on the wharf is an anchor, just like the top of the clock hand above the mysterious 8. The first steamboat to come into port at New Orleans was the New Orleans. The famous reception of the steamboat to its namesake city occurred on January 10, 1812.
Interestingly, on the opposite side of the building, there are 20 trees planted in 5 rows of 4 (3 vertical and 1 horizontal). In the middle of these is the only segment of fencing with 15 rungs around the entire mint. Directly in front of that segment, and in the middle of the 20 trees, are 3 flag poles (however, there is no place to dig):
{image}

For those without the newer version of WORD (which the .docx format requires), I’ll post the text here.  The full file has images as well.
(My copy-paste service here does not indicate any endorsement or agreement with its contents.)  Personally I was lost at step one, because I don’t see “the mysterious 8 from the clock hands” anywhere on the coin.

catherwood

(My copy-paste service here does not indicate any endorsement or agreement with its contents.)  Personally I was lost at step one, because I don’t see “the mysterious 8 from the clock hands” anywhere on the coin.

I would be excited bybthe numismatic prospect as well, but I’m not seeing the puzzle go that way.  I see the LotJ as a sharp kick in the right direction.  We have to glean some meaning from those words directly.  “Keep” is synonomous with “preservation or lodging”.  When you buy groceries you hope they keep while you stop at the bar on your way home to play a few games of pool.  The man worked on the farm to earn his keep since he had no money to pay room and board.  I like the idea that “rare as a blue…” means “once in a blue moon”.  I also like the Solstice reference in Midsummers Day since most solstice days are on the 21st day of their month.
I also want to consider Preiss’ hint “st.louid is right”.  I think he wants us to find some context that involves St. Louis directly and has a “right angle” type solution.  Big visual hints to that effect are in the image.  See the Louis mask and the hands at 12 and 3 making a right angle.
I see beginning and ending along with in the middle clues, but I don’t see a strong connection to the mint.  I think we need to use a rooftop and involve a reference to sovereigns such as the Krewe of Rex.

Great thread. Slowly working through these.
The namesakes meeting
Near this site
…reminded me that: “Basin Street is the street where the elite always meet”.
Basin Street Blues
, recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1929 (the date on the clock). Runs into Louis Armstrong Park. There seem to be different versions of the lyrics floating around; one mentions the St Louis Cemetary.
http://www.e-chords.com/chords/louis-ar … reet-blues
http://www.lyricsbay.com/basin_street_b … trong.html
In the middle of twenty-one
…on the clock…? The letter V…?
Fifteen rows down to the ground
…perhaps referring to rows on the chequered design.
* * * * *
I don’t trust the Field Guide as a reliable source of information, but it’s usually possible to find something with a visual connection to an image which can spark off some ideas.
I was wondering about playing cards, which led me to page 112 which mentions slam-dunking. (This entry also talks about 1929, the Mississippi, and death by drowning, a-la Narcissus. The demon bears a faint resemblance to the mask.)
I think of the shapes in the starry region at the top of the clock as n(ew) and o(rleans). Could the “n” with the “moon” and “Peter Pan” suggest a basketball connection…? (a net and ball viewed from above, with a slam-dunker. Maybe got to work out where clock-boy put the ball or something. The position could be calculated by laying out the location like a
basketball court
(eg 15m wide). Or as a chessboard, like the statue in Dali’s Narcissus.
I like the observation that one of Louis Armstrong’s nicknames was “Dipper”. Could refer to the
Big Dipper
, or Plough. The “bike-like” object in the centre of the clockface might also hint at a plough, or digging.
Lafayette Square
looks like a pretty good spot. I was pleased to see Benjamin Franklin there, since he seems to crop up in other parts of the book. In the Field Guide, for instance, I think he’s represented by the “Postmonster General”, having been Postmaster General. The “Whereabouts” guide on 221/222 locates him in Louisiana – the only entry for that state. Perhaps this is why.
I was also reading up on
The Grand Lafayette
, a famous illusionist. (Mask? I’m interested in that his “signature act” was The Lion’s Bride, which he died in the middle of – reminds me of the Lion mask.)
I like:
1911 RIP, the year Lafayette died. The tricky bit is finding the X…
(If you’ve read my ramblings on image 11, y’all are going to start thinking I’m morbid.  😉 )

OK…ok…. back to the topic…

Sorry……. couldn’t resist

a real treasure! congratulations!

Cormac

OK…ok…. back to the topic…

Nice!  One comment however…it looks like you may need a manicure Chad, and that purple blouse does not work on you

poke around the 12 and the 3
…….”3 stand watch”

This is fox’s wife….dug around the sundial and found nothing….go to verse 7 for further discussion…..

hi vixen (female fox
) , i’m glad fox got you involved!  hope you all had fun hunting! and thanks for keeping us informed on your ideas!

The Audubon connection with FLO was just a bonus.
What led me to there was the verse…
Three high posts
Education and Law for all to see
I am in the University business and that
one spot houses three Universities-
including one top five law school
and one top five education school.
The Audubon Park is at the exact point where
the Mississippi travels north (but here mostly east)
And with the Twain reference, this can be a sure
reference as only a river, connections to Twain,
can travel in simultaneous directions.
And from what I remember, the Mississippi travels
North and the Missouri does not.
The Image gets you close, the verse helps direct you.
I have found no Giant Poles and no Giant Steps,
only Giant Oaks, a Pavillion, and a few statues.  Nothing
historical, permanent, and photogenic.
The Garden District was spared damage from the hurricanes
so the casque, if here, should be unscathed.

Trohn
–what a great connection with FLO.  When I saw that he had a connection to Audubon Park in New Orleans–it really caught my attention.  One of my theories of where it may be in New Orleans was Audubon Park near the Audubon Zoo.  The pictures has always reminded me of werewolf lore.  The full moon, the not quite so human hand, the small wolf head down in the right lower side on the checker board pattern, and the picture of a werewolf in the front part of the book on page 13 wearing a similar shirt as that pictured in P7.
“From France came the sturdy seafaring Korreds of Brittany; the nomadic, shape-shifting Lutins of Normandy….Loups Garoux from the forests.” pg 13
Werewolf legends of France were brought with settlers into Louisianna.  Historically (and somewhat whimsically), the Audubon Zoo has on display, a large stuffed Le Loup Garou in their swamp exhibit there.  However, I don’t know if it still exists, but I believe it to have been present back in the 80’s.  I was always intrigue that this may be a starting place.  Curious.    Really nice find though.

Place de France Statue
The hand holding the mask pole, looks like the hand holding the flag pole on the Place de France statue.
http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=1f1332c6-cc86-4876-a912-1790ee95da32&gid=3

A few other random thoughts/questions/observations from my first couple of months searching, since it appears there are several people participating in this thread again. In no particular order:
1. Has anyone discovered any convincing literary connections/references for the “sound of friends” phrase? I found the following in Sinclair Lewis’s book
Elmer Gantry
a while back: “I am not a Cause–I am only a friend. I have loved you and the work, the sound of friends singing together, the happiness of meeting on leisurely Sunday mornings.” The speaker here is referring to congregants singing at church, which would make sense for any Jackson Square hypotheses and for my own Garden District site. However, I can’t find any link between Lewis and New Orleans, and I’m thinking that Lewis’s use of the phrase may just be coincidental.
2. Are there any proposed solutions that make use of the old Cave bar at the Grunewald Hotel for “gnomes admire” or of the Commander’s Palace for “palaces to shelter their heads for a night”? Each site has stood out to me for the obvious reasons, but I haven’t yet found a way to fit either into a larger solution.
3. I’m not sure if this is still the case, but at least at some point in the past, the crowns for the monarchs of the five major krewes/organizations were displayed in the windows/storefronts of shops on Canal Street in the days leading up to their parades.
4. According to the New Orleans Pictorial History, the 1894 fire burned down fifteen buildings from the old St. Charles Hotel to Lafayette square.
5. Has anyone looked into solves related to the “Garden of the Americas” project in the middle of Basin stretching between Canal and St. Louis? There are statues for three prominent Latin American figures (Simon Bolivar, Francisco Morazon, Benito Juarez) in the green space, and the whole project was meant to symbolize the connections between New Orleans and Latin American countries.
That’s all that comes to mind now–hopefully something will be useful to someone or will at least spark some more conversations on here!

Kang

Thanks jmyoung15!

Ended up having a little bit of time to poke around at the library; however, I didn’t find anything helpful. We do actually have a book on Mardi Gras balls, but there is little on the parades for any of the krewes and nothing at all on Hermes in particular. If I come across anything, though, I’ll be sure to let you know!

http://musicrising.tulane.edu/uploads/original/congo-1341847854.jpeg
I always that this was the sound of friend fill the afternoon air. It is where jazz was created. It could totally be wrong.
your #5. I do know someone who was looking in that area. We had messaged a few times on fb. I think he posts on here.

Jmyoung15,
RE:5. Has anyone looked into solves related to the “Garden of the Americas” project in the middle of Basin stretching between Canal and St. Louis? There are statues for three prominent Latin American figures (Simon Bolivar, Francisco Morazon, Benito Juarez) in the green space, and the whole project was meant to symbolize the connections between New Orleans and Latin American countries.
My response: Yes, I have done a deep deep deep analysis into the “Garden of the Americas” and there is a solid case to be made for that area. Line by line from the poem as well as several things in the painting that seem to act as vectors. I made six trips to NOLA last year working on that theory. I don’t however believe it is there. The revelation of the clues DIG and JAX in clock boys socks convinced me that its buried in that vicinity.

Kaowheat10

http://musicrising.tulane.edu/uploads/original/congo-1341847854.jpeg
I always that this was the sound of friend fill the afternoon air. It is where jazz was created. It could totally be wrong.
your #5. I do know someone who was looking in that area. We had messaged a few times on fb. I think he posts on here.

Thanks for the info on #5! And I do think Congo Square fits well with “as the sound of friends fills the afternoon hours,” especially since local law, not just custom, restricted slave gatherings at the square to Sunday afternoons in particular (i.e., not any other time or any other day).

BrandonH

Jmyoung15,
RE:5. Has anyone looked into solves related to the “Garden of the Americas” project in the middle of Basin stretching between Canal and St. Louis? There are statues for three prominent Latin American figures (Simon Bolivar, Francisco Morazon, Benito Juarez) in the green space, and the whole project was meant to symbolize the connections between New Orleans and Latin American countries.
My response: Yes, I have done a deep deep deep analysis into the “Garden of the Americas” and there is a solid case to be made for that area. Line by line from the poem as well as several things in the painting that seem to act as vectors. I made six trips to NOLA last year working on that theory. I don’t however believe it is there. The revelation of the clues DIG and JAX in clock boys socks convinced me that its buried in that vicinity.

Very interesting! I may have to look into that possibility a little more, then. It would certainly be a good choice/fit with the book from a thematic standpoint.

I think it’s been removed, but at the other site, they had an argument about who stole whose reporter….as if the article wouldn’t be big enough for both of ’em.

Mister EZ

I think it’s been removed, but at the other site, they had an argument about who stole whose reporter….as if the article wouldn’t be big enough for both of ’em.

Good news, I examined the reporter, and it turns out there are dozens of reporters hidden in their clothing.

Unknown

Unknown:
they had an argument about who stole whose reporter

One of them should have held out for a reporter who can get the basic facts straight.

Dambala

Is that a reporter in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

sort of just skimming everything whiterabbit, but i do kindof  like trying verse seven with this………..except…  verse 2  has the quote about the st. charles hotel (“here is a sovereign people who build palaces to shelter their heads for a night”  (talking about new orleans)……………………..
but verse 7 does have:
“giant step”  armstrong park  (neil armstrong)
jackson square–(stone wall’s door)
the air smells sweet……?
high posts are 3……..several possiblities there.
near ace is high?
an object of twain’s attention-mississippi river
not sure if you said this, but why not just at the arch to armstrong park?  the jewel is in the arch area in the image………..

Thanks for the feedback Slappy. I thought I’d repost this without any of the other stuff, as a simple visual match; verse-independent. I’d just like people to look at that image comparison, and the comments, and see what they think of it. I’m often reminded to look for the obvious, and with a sign saying “Preservation” just down the road from that one, it’s about as obvious as I can get.  😉

Let me try this just one more time.  😉
I’m trying to find visual matches for things in the images a-la Chicago. Apart from the general form of the golden arch with two golden flowers just below at either side, facing inwards, there are small details here like the way the left flower has three petals, and the slight bulge in the golden dividing line below the centre of the crown, and the crown’s narrow border, and the vertical division of the clock hand. And all just down the road from Preservation Hall.
So, I’m just curious…do people think this is not a good match, or do they think it does match but the casque is somewhere else anyway…?

but the flowers, stick, big bad wolf hand, little girl dress cuff  =storyland………
and i would think the blue sky and stars = storyland,  (from the sign in the park)
peter pan guy = lafayette park i think……….
the mask= louis armstrong park
Preservation=-preservation hall
or it could mean history or protecting, saving, support?

Hey Steve,
Egbert is correct in stating that V12 was once thought to be located in DC because of the “governmental” sound of the V.  It has since been connected with P5 and Grant Park, Chicago.

There were 2 laws known as “Preservation” Acts passed in 1929.  One was an abortion law, and the other was an act to preserve copyrights.  But both relate to the United Kingdom.  Hmmm.  I guess the 2 obvious clues here don’t seem to relate to each other.
The mask reminds me of Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

I too get the feeling of New Orleans from the mask and arm.  I believe that is where the Preservation Jazz Hall is location.  The online picture looks very dark and flat, but is there any fine detail in the wood of the clock?

Hang on – isn’t this the picture that goes with a verse that relates to Washington? I read somewhere that the mask in the picture relates to the J.F.K School for the performing arts.
I’m getting more confused than ever now!

There is the JFK Center for the Performing Arts, but not a School.  But I didn’t read that anywhere before.  The verse that supposedly relates to Washington was the one for Grant Park, Chicago — the reference to Lincoln and Congress.
The link below is the front of Preservation Hall in New Orleans — the door looks similar to the top of the grandfather clock in Image 7, doesn’t it?  Or are we just trying to “make it fit”?
http://neworleans.citysearch.com/profile/4428931/

I found some “X”s last night quite near jackson square/artillery park/cafe du monde/moon walk. Anybody still looking in this area? Or are you all more set on the area being the starting place of a path?
3 days later… Chirp, chirp
… well i’ll just throw this out there then regardless… if you go down 15 rows, there are 21 of these; any interest?

New Orleans native who still lives here. I’ve been following this since 2014 and have a renewed interest. So, if anyone wants photos or confirmation on anything, I can provide.

Jambone

So I did some virtual browsing of parks in New Orleans (flickr and webshots again).  I like the possibilities of City Park….

Looking for Jambone’s flowers in local live (City Park) I found a close match with clock’s shape…
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=29.987544~-90.098186&style=a&lvl=19&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=2712051&encType=1
I think it’s name ‘Specimen Gardens’ or/and ‘The Louisiana Purchase Garden’ in Botanical Garden (
http://www.pbase.com/septembermorn/city_park_after_hurricane_katrina
)
and then (looking for more), saw the carousel ‘Flying Horses’ with horses like the one in P7 (with open snouts) near this garden.
… and then… found the miss muffet’s dress seems like the sleeve in P7.
All of this items (Jambone’s flower/miss muffet’s dress, carousell with horses) are very close to gardens…
Looking for more…

erexere

The 1977 plaque on the wall of the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 titled “Oven Vaults” has a lot of fitting characteristics. For starters the prototypical shape for oven vaults are shaped exactly like the half circle shape of the turqoise. The words “PRESERVATION”, and “IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TWENTIETH” on it seem like good indicators. A vault is the sort of thing “jewels” would be kept in right?
Sarmiento is South American. The Gardens of the Americas adjacent to the plaque are specifically a tribute to South and Central America.
Didnt four21thrasher already point this plaque out?

I must have missed the point about the plaque. I’m not terribly sold on this. I wouldn’t say the oven vaults themselves are “exactly” like the half circle. Just for reference:

erexere

The 1977 plaque on the wall of the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 titled “Oven Vaults” has a lot of fitting characteristics. For starters the prototypical shape for oven vaults are shaped exactly like the half
circle
shape of the turqoise. The words “PRESERVATION”, and “IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TWENTIETH” on it seem like good indicators. A vault is the sort of thing “jewels” would be kept in right?
Sarmiento is South American. The Gardens of the Americas adjacent to the plaque are specifically a tribute to South and Central America.
Didnt four21thrasher already point this plaque out?

I must have missed the point about the plaque. I’m not terribly sold on this. I wouldn’t say the oven vaults themselves are “exactly” like the half
circle
. Just for reference:

I think it’s good fit
These are the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Oven Vaults,
or these catecombs in Rome might serve as the prototypical format,

Hey Toasty, don’t know if you have any flex in your schedule, but I’ll be in NOLA over MLK weekend, and would love to help/document your dig if you’re up for it.
Also, I don’t think anyone has brought up (I searched, it’s a lot
) that Louis Armstrong Park was opened on July 4, 1976.

1976? Seriously?!

Unknown

Unknown:
“In 1972, there was a public announcement revealing the plan to create a fifty-acre “Louis Armstrong Memorial Park” along North Rampart Street in the Treme neighborhood, adjacent to the French Quarter. Despite much controversy and delay, the park was officially opened by Mayor Landrieu on July 4, 1976 — the nation’s bicentennial.”

http://books.google.com/books?id=4XSOAw … rk&f=false
Yep

Xieish

Hey Toasty, don’t know if you have any flex in your schedule, but I’ll be in NOLA over MLK weekend, and would love to help/document your dig if you’re up for it.
Also, I don’t think anyone has brought up (I searched, it’s a lot
) that Louis Armstrong Park was opened on July 4, 1976.

And Frederick Olmstead was also born on July 4, 1822,

I gave it a try with P7, but not sure about the right configuration. From the hyptothetical point of view that the casque might be buried on Basin street, I compared the slope of the line shared between that point and the Superdome with the moon in the clock and the dragon on the mound to the crescent of the mouth. I dunno, not the best match.

Back on the subject of plaques, I think that if we’re looking for one, it won’t be like that one from the oven vault. There’s a better
common plaque style
that we can look for. But who’s to say how many of these plaques have been removed due to changes in an area or replaced with one of the more modern styles due to damage? And how close to the dig site would we assume it to be? In the absence of NOLA landmarks in the image, a common sight (plaques) and an iconic location name (Preservation Hall) may just be replacements.
That said, I noticed one across the street from Louis Armstrong Park while I was there last month. And there’s one at the Confederate Museum near Lee Circle. And one at the Gallier House (not Gallier Hall) on Royal St. and Gov. Nicholls.
Royal St. is starting to look like a nice spot. It has a plaque like on the clock face, and down the street a bit is the Hotel Monteleone that has their famous grandfather clock in the lobby. And Royal turns into St. Charles on the other side of Canal St. to lead us by the old St. Charles Hotel. Before we got there, we’d be within throwing distance of Preservation Hall and would pass across St. Louis St., former home of the Saint Louis hotel. Lots of palaces for sovereign people on Royal St.