fox

global warning? you have got to be kidding! if you think all of our years, yes years, of research is rubbish then why are you even here? wait, i know why we havent found a casque   (minus the one we did find in cleveland)it is because foxes are bad luck.

all right, take this to another thread!!!
wilhouse

wilhouse, when you go back to visit, could you please find this, i can’t find where it is located:
http://flickr.com/photos/jremigio/72659182/
silent night, it was written by a monk named herman,
and it’s a xmas song (december:)
i am just trying to figure out the last part of the poem.
and then i would be done, i think
i promise
i hope

When I lived in San Antonio, I discovered that the Germans had a HUGE influence on Mexico; it seems like everywhere, especially near the Riverwalk, there is heavy old-world German stuff.  For example, they celebrate Kindelnacht festivals every single December… Interestingly, this is also why Mexican music (mariachi) sound so much like Polka, not to mention why they even have Beer in the first place (Corona, Dos Equis, Tecate, etc.).  The German in that picture reads: “Silent Night, Holy Night, All is calm, all is bright”  The rest of the song goes: “Round young virgin, mother and child, holy infant, so tender so mild, sleep in heavenly peace, slep in havenly peace.”  Is that helpful, Slappy?

I do not believe that that is a permanent exhibit. During Xmas time, there are a lot of temporary exhibits for the Xmas season.
Yes, I recognize the words (2 years of German in HS) as Silent Night in German.
I do not believe it’s anywhere to be found, nor do I believe it was there in 1982…
wilhouse

Sure; Germany left a lot in Texas.  I agree about the monument, it’s probably not old enough.

typler, i knew the song
lol,
but that was interesting about the mexican music and the german influence)
and thank god for the beer! (or the germans, or whoever!)
wilhouse,
it seemed to have all the parts, herman (since he was referenced) and december night. oh, well, maybe it’s just the george h. hermann statue over close to the zoo.
thank you

I didn’t say the research done was rubbish– just that some of the inferences made were too matter-of-fact for my liking when nobody has dug up a casque.  But global warming has had an effect on the weather, one which wasn’t exactly prevalent in the 80’s.  I was merely objecting to scott’s inference that BP would have buried somewhere that was unlikely to be struck by a hurricane, because no one could have known what would happen when Katrian exploded into the Gulf area.  Were there plans on display at the Houston Zoo saying that in 25 years massive amounts of construction work would re-arrange the zoo?

I wish I had more positive evidence regarding the llama names.
wilhouse

really wilhouse….why so?  I remember (vaguely) reading an article long long ago about the flamingo giving birth to 10 baby flamingos.  Only three of them survived {the 2d, 8th, & 9th} so they named them Two, Eight & Nine accordingly.

maybe the marlin was partly the right approach, but when I thought of this superman parallel my jaw dropped,

If the hole in the statue was perfect cut gem shaped I could see that.
but its just a generic diamond,  too much of a leap or even a tall bound for me…

I understand your harder than steel stance when it comes to inexactness but you might make an allowance for certain well inown symbolic elements.  Of course I’m skeptical if its at all needed to  perceive this Superman trivia.

forest_blight

Through the wood
No lion fears
Don’t know about the wood no lion fears

forest_blight

Small of scale
Step across
Perspective should not be lost
Miniature train?

forest_blight

In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
This is our locator for the square yard of dirt. Outside the CZ, “four alike” probably refers to four trees of the same species, but of different shapes – one small, one split into two trunks, one with three trunks, and another small (slight) one.

forest_blight

What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
A reference to
Pierre
, which only serves to draw us to Hermann Park.
Falls gently
In December night
Okay, if this isn’t a reference to something that comes after the quote in
Pierre
, we have to assume it’s a reference to something at or near the casque site. Since this hypothetical location is not in the CZ, what could it refer to? Without oddly-named llamas to distract us, it is obviously snow, or something with snow in its name, or something that is very like snow. Not a leaf (they fall in autumn).

I think this has GOT to be a play on words, like a pun.  There is probably a word or phrase with “wood” in the name, that for some reason no lion fears it.  For example, an old riddle is “What room has no walls, no floor, and no door?”  The answer is a mushroom.  Get it?  “The wood no lion fears” is _______wood, or something along those lines.  We just have to solve the riddle.
I do not see how “small of scale” could be anything but the miniature train.  It is right there in the zoo, and BP would have to somehow reference it.
Wilhouse, sorry for the dumb questions, but can you again explain how far it is (or rather, was) from the 982 train to the miniature train?  Also, what was in between?  Is there anything you pass that has the word “wood” in its name?
Yes, this is indeed the treasure spot.  I would think that “slight” or “three winged” would be a rather odd way to describe a tree.  I thought the statues found in the park held a lot of promise on this.  Sorry again, Wilhouse, but did you dig where the statues were?
Those 2 llamas named Snowflake and Pierre, if they did exist, fit this verse exactly.
So Wilhouse (and anyone joining him), what is the CZ dig status at this point?

Here are some train links for those not helping Wilhouse dig….
http://www.trainweather.com/hermannparkrailroad.html
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti … id=3221943
The ‘982’ and the start of the minature train (station) are at the
entrance to the Zoo.  Along with the Image representations
of the animal totems, I can not see how we would be led
anywhere outside of the zoo.
The ‘no lion fears’ while cryptic, also firmly establishes us within the zoo.
‘No line fears’ could (for what ever reason) be a referecne to the Cowardly Lion
of the Wizard of oz (he did use a baum referecne in another verse)
So, why did the cowardly lion become couragous?

Trohn – Playing devil’s advocate, I can read the entire verse and never set foot in a zoo, children’s or otherwise. We have just as much evidence that the lines
Through the wood / No lion fears
take us into the zoo as into somewhere else in Hermann Park.
The poles’ presence in P8 doesn’t necessarily mean the casque is there with them. JJP used architectural details from the Chicago water tower even though it was several blocks away from where the casque was buried.

Another “out there” suggestion. If
December night
is a reference to Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night
, then we should ask what falls gently in it.
Orsino: “
For women are as roses, whose fair flower
Being once display’d, doth fall that very hour.
“
Are / were there prominent rose displays in Hermann Park?

ahhh, love that line of thought FB.  Leave it to you to gleen that one…great!

Here is a link to the architecture firm that designed the park
for a large part of the ast century.
http://www.asla.org/awards/2005/05winne … y_556.html
If you click the second link down left,
you can see the whole park as it existed in 1950.
Here also is a history of the development and when it took place…
http://www.hermannpark.org/documents/st … rticle.htm
http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/ … rmann.html

through the wood no lion fears:
My brother lived in King(s)wood, a suburb of Houston.
I do not know if this is relevant, but it is an idea.

Fenix, I agree with you. Fortunately, the grassy areas are limited in area, so will be fairly easy to search them all.  That is assuming that the area right by the fence and the street is not the place to look because there’s a lot of space there. I think that’s too open though.
I also think I need to look a bit away from the CZ just for the reasons you said.
wilhouse

Here’s a link to train 982 in houston
http://www.rypn.org/TRPA/http://www.ci. … tory3.html
I’m going to try to take a drive out there this weekend.
Picture 8 seems to hold promise – animals (zoo) waterspout
also, on the stones, by the waterspout, could the crosshatching be rail road tracks?
In the tree, on the left side, there looks like a number 8.  In the tree, there is clearly a 95.  in the right side, there looks like a 9 and maybe a 6 (96) or 9E.  at the top of the tree, there is a space that looks like an N or S or Z or 2.  Or maybe I am just seeing things.
wilhouse

It may be a bit crowded there this weekend because of the Super Bowl — good luck, though!  Please take digital pics if you can.  I’ve been searching for pics of the park, and they are very difficult to find.  Apparently, there is a statue of Sam Houston (which actually reminds me of the Centaur Arch picture, but never mind), a reflecting pool, and a kids’ train that goes around the park.  Unfortunately, I have also read that Train 982 is going to be MOVED to a museum soon!
http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:gyKKJUvWbDYJ:www.steamlocomotive.com/lists/TX.html+982+Hermann+Park&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

this is too weird.  I checked the web site you sent me, and saw that one of the guys in charge of the train restoration works at parsons.  my company has a joint venture with parsons and I checked and yes, he sits on the floor above me. I just got off the phone with him and he says that the train will be in hermann park for another couple of months. and get this, the train sits across from the miniature locamotives.  note in verse 1 it says Small of scale
Step across Perspective should not be lost.  Perhaps that is a reference to the small scale train!!

Unknown

Unknown:
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
In December night
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds.

Bingo!  Take a look at this review of a book by Herman Melville, “Pierre.”
“Pierre ” is more than a masterpiece., February 25, 1999
Reviewer: An Amazon.com Customer
“Pierre,” (written shortly after “Moby Dick”) is called “The Book that ruined Melville.” In fact, he never wrote another novel after “Pierre,” but spent his last 40 years either unemployed or working as a customs official. But by the end of the 20th century a new generation of readers and critics had rediscovered him, and today his reputation is at the front rank of American authors. “Pierre” is a superbly controlled exploration of the deepest psychological motivations which underlie all human beha vior. If it is ambiguous, it is meant to be so, not in the sense of vagueness, but in the sense of many meanings. Melville, like Thomas Hardy is a master at depicting country life. And the conflicts in the novel are very much tied to country versus city living. The novel is Freudian, in its questing after the deepest reasons for human behaviors. Like most of us at some point in life, Pierre sees the father he had idolized as human and capable of error. His own values are put into question by the receipt of a note from his long-lost sister. Melville points out that we all walk “on a razor’s edge of security…..that what we take to be our strongest tower of delight, only stands at the caprice of the minutest event-the fallling of a leaf, the hearing of a voice, or the receipt of one little bit of paper scratched over with a few small characters by a sharpened feather.” Melville does not spare Pierre from disillusion but continues to open him up0 with an “electrical insight” into the character of his mother. He sees how she has been molded by the culture and how her love for him is not unconditional, but based upon his outward beauty and docile behavior. Melville deals with nature versus nurture as he contrasts the honesty of natural growing things with the subtlety of cultural influences. The author is at his best with descriptions like this: “The sounds seemed waltzing in the room; the sounds hung pendulous like glittering icicles from the corners of the room; and fell upon him with a ringing silveryness; and were drawn up again to the ceiling, and hung pendulous again, and dropt down upon him again with the ringing silveryness. Fireflies seemed buzzing in the sounds, summer-lightnings seemed vividly yet softly audible in the sounds. And still the wild girl played on the guitar; and her long dark shower of curls fell over it and vailed it; and still, out from the vail came the swarming sweetness, and the utter unintelligibleness, but the infinite significancies of the sounds of the guitar. The novel ends with a “Romeo and Juliet ” death scene worthy of the original…”And from the fingers of Isabel dropped an empty vial-as it had been a run-out sand glass-and shivered upon the floor; and her whole form sloped sideways, and she fell upon Pierre’s heart, and her long hair ran over him, and arbored him in ebon vines.” The black hair of Isabel which enchanted Pierre at the beginning of the novel, covers his dead body at the end of the story. The ambiguities which began the narrative are unresolved at the end. All of us have many contradictions in our lives and most of us will not solve them. Like the genius that he was, Melville knows this. He digs deeply into the soul of Pierre trying to unravel the threads of his existence. We learn much about Pierre , and ourselves, and how we are the cause of what sometimes is our own destruction. We also learn about fate and the little that we can do to change our destinies. We learn about choices, and how the slightest incident can twist our parths toward other directions. Like Moby Dick, Pierre is Melville, calling out to us to read him. Like “Moby Dick” “Pierre” has been unread for generations. Perhaps this generation will embrace him and have the enriching experience only Melville can give. –This text refers to the Paperback edition
I left the whole review in, as it may help us figure out to what the Verse is referring.  A leaf?  Security?  hmmm.

have you located the exact spot and orientation of the train as it was in 1982, where does that fit on the map.
The hunts as I have seen them use the picture for locating the state, city and  general area.
Then the verse takes you on a walk leading directly to the treasure. meaning each stanza of the verse takes you on a narrowing path culminating at an exact spot.
Your task being to recognize the landmark each verse points at, without the exact starting spot it becomes impossible to narrow it down.
So have you plotted your walk out on a map? noting each verse?
Also The woods no lion fears,
In the Wizard of Oz they feared the woods because of Lions and Tigers and Bears.
So the wood no lions fears would not have lions and tigers and bears.
Is this an direction along the path to turn away from the lions and tigers and bears?

Great old photos!

By now y’all have figured out that I did not find the cask on Monday.  Doc Love and I dug out the elf fountain. Turns out it was only about 1 1/2 feet deep, but we turned over all the dirt anyways just to make sure.
The zoo director let us take shots and scan some old pictures.  I have posted them here:
http://share-dell.shutterfly.com/osi.js … mbdmzaNnzw
There are some interesting things to note:
CZ002, 79 and 82 show the building with the globe lights. This is the only other building besides the auditorium with these lights.  74 and CZ001 show views of the elf fountain, one 1975 with water the other later with grass.
81 which is the same as 64 talked about above, is the most interesting. As noted elsewhere, these berms and trees fit VERY well the backdrop of picture 8.
88 and 89 are shots of the elf fountain in his current location, from the right side. The lighting wasn’t great, but the hat still is a good match to the djinn hat in Pic 8.
90 and 91 show a flagpole and it’s ball on top in the Africa compound.  The ball is smaller and not the best match to the globe in Pic 8, but who knows.
I think if it is not in the center area that is bricked in, that it is most likely near a globe light, as shown in pic 8.
wilhouse

I hope that’s really not true, because there is no way for me to get to the cask in the location I have identified.  Although, since the children’ts zoo is going to be demolished in 2007, I guess the worst case scenario is that it sits there until a bulldozer crushes it.
He has not specifically told me that he would not answer my question, and I know that he doesn’t like people asking him questions.  I will let you know if I find out anything.
After 22 years, he has to recognize the fact that some casks are not going to be reachable, and he should stick to the rules of the game if someone has a credible solution.
wilhouse

Well if nothing else with 3 yeas head start
you should be able to arrange to be in there the day before the bulldozers and dig up anything you want.

Ironically, the Pioneer Fountain was one of the very first places I looked for the casque. I even took photos of the area and asked Price if I was close.
His response:
Don’t dig there.
That was easy to follow, it’s all concrete, there’s not a spot you could dig. Also, the columns are typical greek columns with vertical flutes. The only columns with horizontal flutes are in the CZ.
wilhouse

The object of course is to get the verse to point to a place to dig.
That spot as we have seen from the found verses, must resolve to a location about 1-3 foot square.
If it doesn’t you are likely to miss the casque, even if you are right next to it.
If your proposed solution resolves to a general area or “Somewhere near…”, Then most likely you have not found the solution.
The two found casques were resolved to a square foot. Although in Cleveland Frost heave had broken and moved the casque pieces.
In Chicago they actually had BP there and they almost missed the spot

I agree with Malted Falcon that the verse has to get you to a specific spot.
But I am not in Houston to look for the spout and whistle.
That does not change the fact that I think my input was still a big step forward by
identifying where to go to be in the center of 4 things that are the same and 3-winged.
We are a lot closer. So if Wilhouse wants to scope out that site, maybe the last 3 lines will
resolve themselves. I made one suggestion, but it would be more clear in person.

DocZ,
You definitely have found a location that fits, a section of Verse 1
I even like that the small train goes right by the location.
which gives you small of scale
step across,
which most likely indicates step over the small train tracks.
The trouble with “ride the train for a while” is it doesn’t stop ,its a loop that takes you back to the start.
BP’s verses seem random, but he chose every single word with care.
I.e. from Verse 11
Ride the man of oz, indicates (probably) to go over the washington BAUM bridge
so If he wanted you to ride the train or follow the tracks, he would have said something besides,
small of scale
step across
As I recall, The 982 train was south of the lake near the zoo entrance
The verse definitely takes you there.
South of that was the Children’s Zoo
BP told Wilhouse, the Children’s Zoo would be a good place to look for a casque.
So as much as I do like the fountains and obelisk, how do you get from there back to the Children’s Zoo?

“The obelisk was erected in the park by the San Jacinto Centennial Association in 1936, and moved to its current location during a revitalization project that ended in
2003
.” When did it begin? I’m guessing after 1981.

forest_blight

“he obelisk was erected in the park by the San Jacinto Centennial Association in 1936, and moved to its current location during a revitalization project that ended in
2003
.” When did it begin? I’m guessing after 1981.

Well that eliminates that possibility!

I think Wilhouse already solved the bulk of this. See if my input tips the balance to actually finding the casque.
Fortress north
Cold as glass
“The Glassell school of art. The tiles on the Glassell building look like ice, hence, cold as glass.”
Friendship south
“There was a Friendship park just south of the zoo”
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
Everyone agreed it was a reference to the Southern Pacific 982 train formerly stationed at the Hermann Park Zoo.
Through the wood
No lion fears
You are at the zoo. You don’t have to be afraid of the lion.
In the sky the water veers
Large fountain in McGovern lake. In the wind, the water will veer in the sky.
Small of scale
Ride the smaller scale train for a while.
Step across
Step across one of the bridges to get to the north of McGovern lake.
Perspective should not be lost
Generic comment because of both large scale and small scale trains, and the large fountain and the 4 small fountains we are about to get to.
In the center of four alike
Pioneer Memorial Obelisk is in the center of 4 small fountains.
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
The 4 fountains are each composed of 3 small streams of water. Check out the pictures online.
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
Others have said this is a Herman Melville quote that confirms Hermann Park as the location.
It does double duty by referring to the Pioneer Memorial Obelisk, because it is a tower.
In December night
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
Not being at the site I am guessing that in December, if they turn off the fountains so the pipes don’t freeze, the spout of one of the fountains becomes more visible.
Find a spot of ground near the Obelisk, with the characteristic that if you look back in the direction you came from, you can see a spout.
A whistle sounds.
You can now whistle in appreciation at me for pointing out the 4 identical 3-winged fountains around Pioneer Memorial Obelisk.
DocZ

Kro, I tend to agree with Falcon.  I could easily get a metal detector into the zoo (heck, I get in 2 shovels, a post hole digger, a crowbar, and two trowels, why not a metal detector?), but the ground is littered with water pipe and sewer mains.  If I could dig down two feet, I would dig down three. The ground is hard as rock and full of roots and it took me 3 hours to dig a foot. That’s not to say I won’t go back to try again.
wilhouse

I’m with you johann.  I think I may have posted something similar some time ago about how each of us are reading these V’s.  As they are written (or is it how we read them) there seems to be an apparent flow & we tend to assume that such-n-such line/s goes with such-n-such….  this V in particular.
as an example:  are we even sure the cowardly lion is thru the woods? … or … Are we first to go thru the woods….then No lion fears In the sky the water veers.  These lines can be combined so many different ways to find different meanings.
A lion in the sky?  hmm, odd.

What might we be looking for when it is both “small” and “slight,” the latter meaning something insignificant, barely perceptible or slender (as a verb meaning to neglect in speech or action as if insignificant, to raze a fortification; or as a noun to be a marked piece of neglect, a failure to show due respect).  –Oxford Concise Eng. Dict.
Considering the tricky punctuation (or lack thereof) throughout all of the verses, we may be incorrectly (or correctly) assuming that there is a full stop at “Perspective should not be lost,” then a connecting flow from “In the center of four alike” to “Three winged and slight,” after which is a full stop.
In short, we should closely examine the words and rethink the syntax with which we are working at present.
Of course, perhaps we are correct already and the above commentary is unnecessary.
–Johann

Forest, we share your obsession.  The thread has not died.  I am speaking for everyone here, but I know many of them and your comments and insights are welcome and appreciated.
The concrete guys are generally all gone.  I have some photos of where some of them were.  Look back on this thread and the image 8 thread for my links to the photos, they are all still there. I do not know where they all were.  I am hoping that I can eventually find photos of them and can locate 4 of them so I can figure out where a center was.
I agree with you, it’s there.  But consider this – it takes me about 4 hours to dig a 3 ft x 1 ft x 2 ft deep hole.  The ground is hard as rock, and at about 2 feet it becomes clay. And remember we’re searching for a 6″ square box that might have been broken into bits.
I have been to the zoo to dig about 4 times in the last couple of months.  No luck. I am digging around the party building, first in the front and more recently behind.  I can pretty much go there whenever I want, so if you have any thoughts I’ll be glad to follow up.
I have contacted some local people that I hope can get me some more photos of what the zoo used to look like. I am convinced that only through photos and locating the specific spot will I ever find it.  I don’t believe I will ever just “stumble” upon it.
I will try to answer any questions you have. keep up the though process.
regards,
wilhouse

I found this site through my obsession with “A Treasure’s Trove” but now I’m obsessed with “The Secret” too. Good thing it’s summer and I don’t have much else to do.
I just joined this group the other day, and spent hours reading the entire thread on Verse 1. What a fascinating story! I’m curious why the conversation died, though, because clearly you’re all within yards of the right spot.
For “small of scale” my money is on a reference to the fish in the walk-through aquarium; that’s just how a writer with a penchant for wordplay would describe a fish. These riddles are not straightforward and cannot be taken at face value, so it is difficult for me to believe the author meant literally “something smaller than usual.”
At one point back in October, Wilhouse said:
“The zoo director and I have been discussing those cinder block guys.  They were actually concreted into the ground, and they are at strategic locations around the children’s zoo.  They were at every corner of the contact areas.  The three you are looking at, looking at the asia exhibit, were turned into a garden called the Friendship Garden (Friendship South?). I am unsure of when, but we believe it was around 1982.  Were they there when Preiss was there? I don’t know. A sign for “future location of the friendship garden” may have been there too. … These guys are actually still in the CZ, over in another corner. I have looked at them.  One is small; one is thin (slight?); all three appear to have “wings”. Spooky.  And they were located right next to Asia.”
My question is, what happened to this line of thought? Where were these things located in 1982? Why didn’t you jump for joy when you found them?? Pictures??

ONE STEP AWAY, THE FOUR ALIKE ARE TREES I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!    ONE IS SMALL, ONE IS SPLIT, ONE IS THREEWINGED AND ONE IS SLIGHT.

Fenix, I sent the question to the zoo director.
Also, last week I went to the Houston library to look up old newspaper clippings of the zoo and park.
I placed the photos in the following shutterfly link:
http://share-dell.shutterfly.com/osi.js … mbdmzaNnRw
Note a few things – good maps of the zoo, Wanda the camel in the children’s zoo circa 1982, some good photos of zoo from 70’s and 80’s.
unfortunately, nothing concrete.
wilhouse

Hey all,
This post covers multiple verses (1, 3, 7, 12) and multiple pictures (5, 6, 7, 8 ).  There doesn’t seem to be just one thread that was appropriate for this kind of post so I just posted it in all 8 threads.  So if you have read this post once you don’t have to read the other 7 as they are all the same.
Socrates, Pindar, Apelles
Free speech, couplet, birch
To find casque’s destination
(Verse 4) (Lines 10, 11, 12)
The word birch rhymes with verse so I think the line is supposed to read FREE VERSE, COUPLET.  Now separate the initial letters of each couplet that rhymes from the initial letters of the free verse(i.e. the lines that don’t rhyme).  You can do this for all the verses(although some of them are all free verse with no lines that rhyme), however, for reasons that I will make clear below I think the only verses that matter here are Verses 1, 3, 7, and 12.  In all the verses below I have highlighted the lines that rhyme.
I will start with Verse 12 as we already know the answer for that one.
Where M and B are set in stone
And to Congress, R is known
L sits and left
Beyond his shoulder
Is the Fair Folks’
Treasure holder
The end of ten by thirteen
Is your clue
Fence and fixture
Central too
For finding jewel casque
Seek the sounds
Of rumble
Brush and music
Hush.
So you end up with: WABTICBH which when you rearrange the letters and use the B’s as blank spaces between the words you get: CHI B WA B T or filling in the letters left out of the abbreviations and removing the B’s – Chicago Water Tower.  As we all know this is the tower in Picture 5.  This also explains the use of the word Hush in the verse, BP needed a word that started with H and rhymed with Brush.
On to Verse 1
Fortress north
Cold as glass
Friendship south
Take your task
To the number
Nine eight two
Through the wood
No lion fears
In the sky the water veers
Small of scale
Step across
Perspective should not be lost
In the center of four alike
Small, split,
Three winged and slight
What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight
Falls gently
In December night
Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds.
So you end up with: NISPOILA which when you rearrange the letters and use the I’s as blank spaces between the words you get: NO I S I PLA or filling in the letters left out of the abbreviations and removing the I’s – New Orleans Spanish Plaza.  And there is a
Spanish Plaza in New Orleans.
On to Verse 3
If Thucydides is
North of Xenophon
Take five steps
In the area of his direction
A green tower of lights
In the middle section
Near those
Who pass the coliseum
With metal walls
Face the water
Your back to the stairs
Feel at home
All the letters
Are here to see
Eighteenth day
Twelfth hour
Lit by lamplight
In truth, be free.
This time use the letters that begin the free verse lines: INTANWWFYFAETL which when you rearrange the letters and use the extra WFA as blank spaces between the words you get: FT W WAYNE F LIN A T or filling in the letters left out of the abbreviations and removing the WFA – Ft. Wayne Lincoln Tower.  And there is a Lincoln Tower in Ft. Wayne Indiana built in 1929.
And finally Verse 7
At stone wall’s door
The air smells sweet
Not far away
High posts are three
Education and Justice
For all to see
Sounds from the sky
Near ace is high
Running north, but first across
In jewel’s direction
Is an object
Of Twain’s attention
Giant Pole
Giant step
To the place
The casque is kept.
I first started anagramming this one using the same method of separating the letters that I used above and ended up with some wrong answers that wilhouse pointed out.  So I think for this one you anagram all the letters together: ATNHEFSNRIIOGGTT which when you rearrange the letters and use the G’s as blank spaces between the words you get
HST G NATION G FRET or filling in the letters left out of the abbreviations and removing the G’s – Houston National Forest.  This one didn’t anagram to my satisfaction as you end up with an extra I but there is a Sam Houston National Forest in Houston.
Now as cool as all that was this is the really cool part and the reason that I think that this particular solution only deals with the above 4 verses.  Going back to verse 4 and using the words Socrates, Pindar, Apelles, birch along with information that we already have from the pictures(i.e. the latitudes and longitudes) you can as BP put it, “wed one picture with one verse.”
Birch = 5 letters, picture 5 we know is Chicago goes with verse 12 which gives us Chicago Water Tower.
Apelles = 7 letters, picture 7 we are pretty sure from the longitude and latitude is New Orleans and verse 1 gives us New Orleans Spanish Plaza.
Socrates = 8 letters, picture 8 we are pretty sure from the longitude and latitude is Houston and verse 7 gives us Sam Houston National Forest. (sort of)
Pindar = 6 letters, by process of elimination picture 6 goes with verse 3 which gives us Ft. Wayne Lincoln Tower.
So to sum up.
Verse 1 goes with Picture 7 and give us a starting location of Spanish Plaza in New Orleans
Verse 3 goes with Picture 6 and gives us a starting location of Lincoln Tower in Ft. Wayne
Verse 7 goes with Picture 8 and gives us a starting location of Sam Houston National Forest in Houston.
Verse 12 goes with Picture 5 and gives us a starting location of the Water Tower in Chicago.
Just some further thoughts that might not lead to anything but are rattling around in my head so I will throw them out for your consideration.  Two of the verses (9 and 11) are all free verse, nothing rhymes but there are two additional verses that do follow the free verse, couplet pattern. The first comes right before the pictures and second right after the pictures.  It is possible that some information is hidden in these two extra verses.
Also if you like the idea of the number of the letters in a word indicating a picture(or a verse) then you might find this interesting.  There is only on significant instance of a one letter word in all of the verses(I know that there are various A’s in the verses but I said significant) and that is the v in verse 10.  In addition there is only one 12-letter word in all of the verses, remuneration.  I know that wonderstone’s is also 12 letters but I don’t count that one because you need to add the possessive s in order to get to 12.
digger7

Interesting idea digger…but I must honestly say I don’t think it applies.  Why?  Can’t really give you a long drawn out answer except that it is “almost” a definite that this V (V1) leads us directly to Hermann park in Houston, TX.  Pretty much is no argument about that fact.  W/o going into all of the detail that is buried somewhere in the masses around here: “What we take to be
Our strongest tower of delight” is a direct quote from Herman Melville which, not coincidently houses a famous train engine # 982.  That is pretty cut and dry.

fox

“What we take to be Our strongest tower of delight” is a direct quote from Herman Melville

Yes, it is but I think if BP was trying to tell us something with this line we should look at the title of the book(Pierre: or, The Ambiguities) instead of the author to be the more relevant part.  These puzzles are full of ambiguities.  Which I actually think is the whole point of the puzzle.  I think BP wanted to make us see the ambiguities all around us and to be able to look at things from multiple perspectives.  But that is just my two cents.
digger7

I like your idea of starting from the Chicago puzzle to try to reverse-engineer some sort of anagram or acrostic.  It seems like a very good thing to match up information that we know for sure with trying to figure out how that information might have been encoded.
I think using anagrams is pretty inexact and subject to biases, though — especially when you can arbitrarily assign any letter as a “blank”.  You could spend hours trying to arrange the letters to fit whatever solution you have in mind.

And I am assuming that the
‘West Entrance’ has changed locations
from 1980 to now.
(from what I interpret)

Trohn

And I am assuming that the
‘West Entrance’ has changed locations
from 1980 to now.
(from what I interpret)

I’m not sure which entrance was “west” but the main entrance is still approximately at the same location that it was. the entrance at the other end of the park, though the CZ, is closed, but there is one near it that is new.
wilhouse

wilhouse, I love puzzles like this, and as a kid, my mom took me to Hermann Park and the CZ pretty frequently.
Did you get a chance to dig?  I’m on the edge of my seat!

the reflecting pool was only recently finished within the past couple of years
wilhouse

that line makes me think of the Reflecting Pool.

Fox, many of us believe that P8 is the matching one. Note the animal heads (zoo, next to train), geyser, and potential train tracks on the rocks.
wilhouse

nice find on the “spout” Soonerfan.  Now, where is the “whistle”?

ah, Fox, the whistle is easy.  The dock he is talking about is right next to the miniature train station.  The train, when leaving and approaching the station, whistles.

ah, thanks wilhouse.  ok Cat, I guess it is now time to swallow my pride and concur with you about this V being in Houston and not the great SW which I convinced myself about.  Now, which P will we be matching this V with….and also, when you get the time….help me find another V that I can apply to my Lion P  (I am still convinced  😛 hehehe).

There was an occasion when I thought the word December had something to do with a numeric interpreration, possibly to suggest the number 12 or if it had to do with Christmas Eve, the number 24. I thought it might work as a way to count off paces. Since then, I’ve reconsidered my approach. I think tbere is no numeric count for anything in this puzzle and the number 982 is just a plain identifier for the train. I now believe the December hint only applies to an idea about being in the winter of ones life. This suggests a person has used almost all of their time in life, rather, one wouldnt be wasting their time. Funny if thats why Preiss said this to wilhouse.

erexere

There was an occasion when I thought the word December had something to do with a numeric interpreration, possibly to suggest the number 12 or if it had to do with Christmas Eve, the number 24. I thought it might work as a way to count off paces. Since then, I’ve reconsidered my approach. I think tbere is no numeric count for anything in this puzzle and the number 982 is just a plain identifier for the train. I now believe the December hint only applies to an idea about being in the winter of ones life. This suggests a person has used almost all of their time in life, rather, one wouldnt be wasting their time. Funny if thats why Preiss said this to wilhouse.

Can’t say I agree with that.

Hey all,
I typed FORTRESS NORTH into google and it led me to the following Wikipedia entry.  It makes me wonder if this could be the verse for Canada.  Probably not but I thought I would throw the possibility out there.
digger7
Fortress North America
is a term used both during the Second World War and more often in the Cold War to refer to the option of defending Canada and the United States against their enemies if the rest of the world were lost to them.
It was viewed only as a last-ditch option in case Europe and Asia were overrun by the fascists or Communists. At the outset of the Cold War there were some, especially in the United States, who supported the isolationist idea of fortifying North America and abandoning international involvements. This option was rejected with the formation of NATO and the decision to permanently station troops in Europe.
During the Cold War significant planning and effort went into developing continental defense systems just in case. Most notable were the formation of NORAD and the setting up of radar lines in the Canadian Arctic. Canadians were long concerned that the adoption of a Fortress North America strategy involving close intergovernmental links and the loss of outside links would inevitably result in the nation’s absorption by the United States.
In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks the idea of Fortress North America has been revived as a strategy of keeping both nations safe from terrorism while keeping the Canada/U.S. border undefended and open to trade.

I was really hoping that Fortress North and Friendship south would bound the search area, rather than point to Texas. Who knows?  Check out this picture of the Friendship plaque at the Park (image 39 or 40)
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/armchair_treasure_hunting/files/HermannPark/
If we can find some old maps of the park it might tell us about the Friendship Pavillion.
You are right Soonerfan that there is absolutely nothing in the area you described below that fits the verse.
If we use the part of the verse about “Looking back from treasure ground
There’s the spout!
A whistle sounds.”
that essentially bounds us around the park. I don’t know how many of the existing buildings were there in 1982, but you can’t go too far or else you’d lose sight of the fountain.
wilhouse

Yeah that’s consistent with past emails conversations I’ve had with him.
According to my source who recently talked to Mrs. Preiss, she has the gems. So I’m not sure who is correct.
wilhouse

that ground is hard as a rock. There’s no way anything was buried there without a jackhammer
wilhouse

wilhouse

that ground is hard as a rock. There’s no way anything was buried there without a jackhammer
wilhouse

Either way as I review the aerials of that area in different years, it doesnt look like those trees were there in 82.

They look like young sycamores.

Unknown

Unknown:
It is the custom on the stage, in all good murderous melodramas,
to present the tragic and the comic scenes, in as
regular alternation, as the layers of red and white in a side of
streaky bacon. The hero sinks upon his straw bed, weighed
down by fetters and misfortunes; in the next scene, his
faithful but unconscious squire regales the audience with a
comic song. We behold, with throbbing bosoms, the heroine
in the grasp of a proud and ruthless baron: her virtue
and her life alike in danger, drawing forth her dagger to
preserve the one at the cost of the other; and just as our
expectations are wrought up to the highest pitch,
a whistle is
heard
, and we are straightway transported to the great hall
of the castle; where a grey-headed seneschal sings a funny
chorus with a funnier body of vassals, who are free of all
sorts of places, from church vaults to palaces,
and roam
about in company, carolling perpetually
.

Unknown

Unknown:
Oliver was precisely in this condition. He saw the Jew
with his half-closed eyes; heard his low
whistling
; and recognised
the sound of the spoon grating against the saucepan’s
sides: and yet the self-same senses were mentally engaged,
at the same time, in busy action with almost everybody he
had ever known.
When the coffee was done, the Jew drew the saucepan to
the hob. Standing, then in an irresolute attitude for a few
minutes, as if he did not well know how to employ himself,
he turned round and looked at Oliver, and called him by
his name. He did not answer, and was to all appearances
asleep.
After satisfiying himself upon this head, the Jew stepped
gently to the door: which he fastened. He then drew forth:
as it seemed to Oliver, from some trap in the floor: a small
box, which he placed carefully on the table. His eyes glistened
as he raised the lid, and looked in. Dragging an old
chair to the table, he sat down; and took from it a magnificent
gold watch, sparkling with jewels.
‘Aha!’ said the Jew, shrugging up his shoulders, and
distorting every feature with a hideous grin. ‘Clever dogs!
Clever dogs! Staunch to the last! Never told the old parson
where they were. Never poached upon old Fagin! And why
should they? It wouldn’t have loosened the knot, or kept the
drop up, a minute longer. No, no, no! Fine fellows! Fine fellows!’
With these, and other muttered reflections of the like
nature, the Jew once more deposited the watch in its place
of safety. At least half a dozen more were severally drawn
forth from the same box, and surveyed with equal pleasure;
besides rings, brooches, bracelet, and other articles of
jewellery, of such magnificent materials, and costly workmanship,
that Oliver had no idea, even of their names.
Having replaced these trinkets, the Jew took out another:
so small that it lay in the palm of his hand. There seemed to
be some very minute inscription on it; for the Jew laid it flat
upon the table, and shading it with his hand, pored over it,
long and earnestly. At length he put it down, as if despairing
of success; and, leaning back in his chair, muttered:
‘What a fine thing capital punishment is! Dead men never
repent; dead men never bring awkward stories to light.
Ah, it’s a fine thing for the trade! Five of ‘em strung up in a
row, and none left to play booty, or turn white-livered!’
As the Jew uttered these words, his bright dark eyes,
which had been staring vacantly before him, fell on Oliver’s
face; the boy’s eyes were fixed on his in mute curiousity; and
although the recognition was only for an instant—for the
briefest space of time that can possibly be conceived—it was
enough to show the old man that he had been observed.

Whistling happens in Oliver Twist.   Page 189 is one example.
This reminds me of a sidenote.  I’ve been thinking more about the lines about December night and the whistle sounds.  Christmas carolling happens in December night.  There is a Caroline street that runs into Hermann Park.  It is a stretch though to say carolling = Caroline.
The one instance of “whistle” in Oliver Twist that intrigues me most is this, pages 94-95.
A nice little passage about a secret box and jewels.
I wonder if the little Oliver Twist statue plays a role in finding this casque.

fortunately, the number of days in houston below 32 are typically about 2. last year it was 0.
however, as you know, in winter it can rain for weeks on end. we can’t dig in the muck here either.
yes, it’s either too hot, too cold or too wet. what a great place to live.
wilhouse

Wow, it’s been ages since i’ve been here! The community has settled down a bit but that’s to be expected. The progress seems to be amazing here! Hopes for a 10 year anniversary of the 2nd Casque Find! Unless it was 2004, i get dates mixed up hehe.

The point is more about people needing to blow off some steam.  I get it.
The point is also about how you define productivity.  Its true that many of my ideas are unproductive.  Everyone has those.
In this case I’m talking about what’s literally written in the verse.  I’m not saying 982 isn’t a number or that it isn’t the train.  I’m saying the word “number” has some porential for an intelligent application beyond what we have assumed.
The idea I’m exploring is the root word ‘numb’.  Is there context to fit with this in a way that accompanies any sense of finding direction or placement in Hermann Park?  So far I’ve gravitated to the characteristic spider web pattern design of the iron roof of the theater.  Its very recognizable and easy to see from all around.  I’m making the connection to a spiders bite, which might be going too far.  Metal is often described as cold, perhaps that’s the as far as this should go.  Perhaps there is room for a metaphor of a train on its tracks acting like a spider on its web.  The word ‘task’ continues to interest me.  If this metaphor is taking us somewhere perhaps our job is like catching something as insignificant as a fly.

My assumption has always been that the word “number” is a clue that it’s a mode of transportation we’re talking about. As in “take number 2 train to Houston” or similar.

erexere

Don’t lose focus on the hunt by being a jerk.

I guess I’m a jerk as well. Maybe it seems far fetched….but the point is, that is how almost all of your ideas come across. You stick with them a couple weeks and the thread pops up saying you have now abandoned that idea because you are moving on to something new.
Number 982 IS A TRAIN IN HERMANN PARK. That’s it!

So small of scale could mean Children’s zoo after the Regular zoo, couldn’t it?  as opposed to the small train…

So you would enter the children’s zoo then step across was there a bridge by the entrance to the CZ?

Unknown

Unknown:
I know SoonerFan thinks (thought?) it is in the park somewhere.  If it is, I still haven’t stumbled on what is small, split, three winged and slight there.  The park is only about 300 acres…
wilhouse

I always thought it sounded like it should be about where the boathouse is now and I still tend to think its in the park (because of crossing the small of scale) but you have certainly made some solid connections in the zoo. I’ve only been out to Hermann park a couple of times but as you say there is just nothing that suggests the four alike (unless they’re trees).
I’ve been trying to keep up with the posts but I haven’t really worked on this verse in awhile so this may have been talked about, but one thing I find curious about the verse is the ‘Through the wood no lion fears’ line. Seems odd that wood is singular. Was there a wooden entrance gate to the zoo in ’82?
Also, was the Japanese garden there in ’82? Outside of the zoo that seems to be the only cultural part of the park.

SoonerFan, glad to see you’re still around.  Perhaps some weekend you can join me in digging up the CZ!!
YES YES!! The entrance gate to the CZ is a wooden gate.
If we understand Egbert correctly, the solution will have something to do with the theme of the picture.  The them of pic 8 is Araby, or Saudi Arabia, which is in Asia.  The only “Asia” thing I could find in the park (outside of the zoo)is the Japanese Cultural Gardens. However, it was dedicated in 1986.  There’s no telling what was there in 1982. Perhaps they were building it in 1982.
wilhouse

forest_blight

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

well, I certainly can’t tell you for sure what anything means any more, but my suspicion is that friendship south referred to “Friendship Park” which is located across the street, and due south, of the children’s zoo.
wilhouse

Ive been working on an idea for the Childrens zoo theory. The Auditoriums roof is pointy..like a witch’s hat (Perspective/vanishing point pointing to the sky). What if the roof is used like a sundial. If we look at wear the shadow falls in december it might reveal the place to dig. December 22nd is winter solstice this year. In 1981 it was december 21st. In 1982 it was december 22nd.
See my diagram for details…

I’d like to go against the established line of thinking on V1 for a moment, if only to help shake loose some alternative thoughts:
1) In the current Dewey Decimal system, 9/8/2 is the class/division/summary for Argentina. (Note that the Dewey system is now in its 22nd version, and would’ve only been in its 19th version when “The Secret” was published.)
https://www.oclc.org/en/dewey/features/summaries.html
.
2) Argentina has an Embassy in Washington DC, as well as Consulates in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
http://www.embassyofargentina.us/en/con … he-us.html
. In the realm of infinite possibilities, this could also refer to a statue or monument with any links to Argentina, Buenos Aries, etc. (Please note that this is in no way an endorsement of the theoretical “Abroad in America” links to Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, although I have also purchased that book and read it from cover to cover.)
3) Regarding the “take your task…” line, we’ve all been reading this as a direct instruction. With a little poetic license, *could* this also be interpreted as a variation of the idiom, “take someone to task”?
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/di … ne-to-task
Anyway, just food for thought. Outside of the Falklands War, April-June 1982, I can’t think of anyone/anything who might’ve had beef with Argentina during this era…

erexere

I believe “smooth” or “entire” is a perfect equivalent of “slight”.

So I went to Thesaurus.com and put in Smooth, Entire and Slight, and could find no references where Smooth or Entire is equivalent  to slight. Am I missing something?

Use dictionary.  Slight has a defintion as adj to describe something as smooth.
Entire is as a botanical term in leaf edge description.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=slight
Should we consider ‘cold as glass’ as related to the smoothness of a surface?

Back to thinking on the first two lines.  Fortress north fixes our focus on a search for a building with a defensive wall or a tower as a fortified position.  St. Pauls has that kind of character but I really think we shouldnt be thinking of a building at all.  The line seems more like a nod to Superman than anything else.  Perhaps we need to consider what might be most like Superman.  The fortress of solitude was essentially a secret lab for Supes to conduct experiments or work on special projects.  It contained an alien zoo and was like a museum hosting all his trrophies from his achievements.  In a sense, the park on the whole is like the FoS.

Cold as glass in the story Anthem is about an iluminated train rail.  Was the Atropos Key iluminated in 1982?

Very nice.

I doubt many will agree…
Its really hard to justify the leaps of “friendship” =  steward = chamberlain and then build on the leaf falling and d cember night as wilting.  Wilt Chamberlain was the ultimate basketball giant pre-1982.  Did I just have a random idea or does the scene in image 8 support this claim?

HoustonTxDave

Hi TexWriter,
The zoo theory is one of the strongest….BUT i do have a secondary theory that i put in a request to the Houston Parks and Recreation department for a dig in Hermann Park. I am waiting for a RITE of Access and Permit to dig from their Park Administrator Rick Dewees.
…..
The spot just to the front right of the clock tower is the spot i requested to dig. Now that it is the off-season for miller outdoor theater plays….there is less traffic and the kids are out of school for christmas break. I should here from Rick Dewees sometime in early January 2016 on the permit.

Any update on the dig? Does anyone have a close-up photo of the bottom of the clock tower? Was the clock tower there in 1981?

Hey wilhouse, I thought of something last night while noodling over the “small, split….” line.  As you recall, my current theory has the Verse stopping your travel at the intersection “In the center of four alike” and then there are the mystery lines.  Well, mentally place yourself there, where you dug a while back.  The pictures seemed to show a big rock and several circular spots (holes?) in the brick/stones.  Today, that’s all that’s there, but
what was that area like in ’82?
Unless I’ve missed it, it isn’t clear on any of the archival pictures.  In the best of all possible worlds, I’d hope for one of two things:
– A collection of things (rocks, even) that could reasonably be called small, split, three-winged, and slight, or
– Something specifically in the picture, like a column, or even the base of a column, or a globe-on-a-stick, or something.
What thinks ye?

Pine, that is a missing piece of information.  NOT ONE picture that I have shows that area in 1982.  Some people think it was grass, some people think it was tile.  In the middle of that circle there was a Japanese Lantern.  It was from a sister city, given in friendship.  I don’t have any pictures of it either.
Remeber that I submitted that area as a solution to Preiss.  Perhaps Egbert can help jog him to answering that.
The old zoo director had a thought.  The contact areas back then had different fences.  They were small, split rail fences…
wilhouse

What is the status of the dig Wilhouse?  Any new information to be shared?
Also, what the heck has happened to this hunt?  Too much inactivity for my liking.  Let’s get back on this thing folks.