gManTexas

Most of the threads were started before any of the verses and images had been reasonably paired. Heck, some people are still arguing which goes with which.
Either way, I think it makes sense to have one to discuss the Image and what we can see and another to talk about the Verse. Maybe some people are more visual and others are more literary.

That is a good point.

There often is no rhyme or reason stated in peoples assumed pairing or connection to a specific location. Over enthusiastic assumption or hopefulness take precedent in most peoples minds or they are just content to go along with a majority view which is also something of a mystery.
Theres quite a bit of huddling that just shows people are settling their views and lack scope for a more critical approach. This is more pronounced on the pbwiki. Q4T has a lot more diversity in it’s open discussion and many threads, not including the Josh startups.
I like Verse 7 for SF. It’s still only loosely viable though. Giants, Twain, and the Thinker (idiom for a stone wall) all feel right for SF.

BTW if you unscramble the 8 letters starting 8 lines of the verse you get
GRANITES

Goldengate

Back in 2006-7, the following method was used relating Verse 7 to New Orleans… but has anyone tried it with San Francisco?:
“To the place
The casque is kept.”
“Place” has anyone scoured a city map for street names that are “Places” like Telegraph Place, etc?
I took a look around and there are some interesting possibilities… while nothing jumped out at me, it may spark something for someone else.

Great minds…! What a coincidence, only a day earlier I had a similar thought and I came up with Genoa Pl. at the foothill of Telegraph hill.
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=770&start=3682
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=770&start=3694

Yet another perspective on verse 7
If verse 7 belongs to Image 1, I think we’ve been looking at it completely the wrong way.
Here, I’m focusing on 1st and last line of the verse, specifically the words “sweet smell” and “To the place”.
To me, “sweet smell” expresses success and achievement. Also choice of the words “To the place”, when the writer could simply write “where”.
Success is the end result of the search not the beginning.
So here’s my interpretation of the lines 1 and 8:
Line 8 reads like the title of the step by step directions.
“Directions to the place the casque is kept:”
And line 1:
“sweet success, you’re there”
So similar to G and h being reversed, the verse should be read backward too.
8 To the place The casque is kept.
7 Giant pole Giant step
6 Is an object Of Twain’s attention
5 Running north, but first across In jewel’s direction
4 Sounds from the sky Near ace is high
3 Education and Justice For all to see
2 Not far away High posts are three
1 At stone wall’s door The air smells sweet
The obvious Giant pole is Coit tower. Using the height of the tower as one unit of Giant, then Giant step, some 200 ft away is Columbus statue which is mark twain attention, or 12 feet tall standing straight.
Jewel’s direction could be either east (NYC) or line 5 in totality being pier 39 where you shuck oysters for pearl.
Yada yada yada, 3 poles being fisherman’s wharf sign and stone wall’s door … Hyde pier or Golden Gate Bridge.

SteveMarg

I don’t think it’s a street. If it was part of a street name, it would be capitalized.

That was my thought as well Steve. I like the way GG and Choice have been trying to breakdown or decipher certain words in these verses but I like your idea of a capitalized letter in that situation.
In my solve at the Aquatic Park I see the word “place” as being important in the fact that “place” also means “seat”. My dig spot is in between the East Speaker Tower (Giant pole) and the East Bleachers (Giant step)…..or the “seat” in this case.

Near ace is high,
Is this read as “near King”?

Well, if it does refer to gambling, a riverboat boarding area is right across the street from the Jackson Square.
I did like Falcon’s highway one version also.
wilhouse

Ace is high or Ace high is indeed a typical phrase in poker jargon.  Could the riverboat be too obvious?  Some time ago I was using this V (still hadnt found the P) for St. Louis & I too had this phrase tied into yet another riverboat turned floating casino in the middle of the Mississip docked near the Gateway Arch.
With all of the other not-so-obvious clues, would BP toss in an obvious one?  I kind of lean towards the “no”.  This is one of the reasons I grasped onto Falcon’s “Ace is high”-highway 1 theory.  But in this game….who knows?

treasurefindingfamily

…
At stone walls door:
Stone wall by Fort Mason …

I just made this connection where “mason” = “stone wall”.  I think looking for a specific wall or door is taking this too literal.  It is enough to just use the vicinity of Fort Mason as the beginning of the path.

Just to clarify
if going straight out  from the gate through the flag pole to the balustrade and then down to the dirt, is the 12 oclock position.
(the very tip of the ladys head.)  I have dug from 11 oclock position to the 2 o clock position along the base of the parking lot.
That encompasses your location and also is in line with SF as the object of Twains attention.

Damn.  Really??  I think im starting to get how strong your focus has had to be on this particular effort.  Thanks for putting up with my off path ideas.  Don’t know what is going on with this one.
Ok.  I have to look at this with every ounce of focus.  Its way to easy to get excited and then fall short.  And i know where I must be falling short.  I have no doubt the dooe is the Palace gate and the giant pole is the Betsy Ross described additionally with the Pledge.  I think the text that follows the line with jewels direction is an afterthought or summary.  We have to really get what a giant step is.   I mustve been hung up on the Lncoln marker.  Running North isba good description for Lincoln, could be the road which needs to be crossed.  The sounds from the sky near ace is high could be acrss the golf course as well.  So…what about thse benches on the other side of the El Camino?  That chinese memorial stone that’s tall and rectangular might figure in some how.  Fireworks are noises from the sky…Chinese origin?

Sounds from the sky pretty much has to be seaguls.
they are everywhere and very noisy  The use the wind coming up the seaclifs to soar so they are always above lincoln park
Ace is high – Lincoln park is near highway one.
It is about a 4-6 foot drop (depending on where you jump) from the balustrade to the ground.  so in the picture above with the arial shot of the parking lot and the lincoln highway marker in yellow the small red triangle is about a 5 foot drop to the ground.
Its not chinese Its a monument to seamen, I think specifically the merchant marine but I could be mistaken on the particulars.
The monument to that was next to the lincoln highway marker could concievably be considered a Giant step as it was shaped on the end like a giant stairway, but I dont know if it was there in the 1980-81 time frame.  Certainly if it was then the location of the casque would have been at the 12:00 position as it would be the first dirt you came to in line with the giant pole giant step…
I plan to go back and dig deeper in that area.

While looking into a time sensitive set of references that are practically impossible to consider based on the themes in image 7, all except for a few details, the symbolism of a grandfather clock and the ragged looking and dirty nailed hand, and something based on the history of chess, I found a science fiction fantasy connection that supports something I’ve worked on.
It depends on whether Byron Preiss had any close ties to the Swordsmen and Sorcerers Guild.  I dont actually know anything about Byron or his work outside these poems and I haven’t planned on reading the book.  I am looking at the possibility Byron was familiar with Poul Anderson’s 1954 book, The Immortal Game.

WhiteRabbit

I know this has been done to death, but flipping back over this one I was strongly drawn to Armstrong Square again. Just seems so simple and natural, with the Armstrong statue as clear a visual pointer as Ponce.

Ok, I just don’t get it.  We have had a clear visual pointer for quite some time but people, for some reason or other, keep dismissing it.  Here is our confirmer.
that
IS
our boy!!!!!!

I’ve explored the possibilities of Lafayatte Square as closely as I can, put together pages of notes about it and written twice to the Lafayette Square Conservancy. But at the end of the day it’s no good just saying: “It’s Lafayette Square” without any suggestion of
where
in Lafayette Square, and no explanation of most of the verse or image.
It’s got a possible match for one small element in the image, and an extremely obscure quote about Sarmiento in the same part of town. By contrast, Chicago had several statues, Cleveland had a huge great wall and fountain, FOY has an obvious statue…and so does Image 7. The mask clearly represents the statue of Louis Armstrong in Louis Armstrong Park. For pinpointing a specific spot, there are all the references to arches. New Orleans, the “Crescent City”. Joan of Arc. The image is stuffed with arches. Here’s another of the most obvious ones.
French image, French for “close” by one end of the arch, turquoise shown under the arch. It’s like the gold at the end of the rainbow.
Overall, the imagery in image 7 fits more easily with an arch in Louis Armstrong Park than this statue the other end of town. What does Lafayette have to do with Louis, jazz, and Preservation Hall…? And there’s a verse which leads you to the exact spot:
Armstrong: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
Giant step
To the place the casque is kept
The rest of the verse also fits quite naturally. You can have giant poles (the large N and S on the sign), stone walls, etc – and a very specific place to look.
“Not far away high posts are three…”

Unknown

Unknown:
The New Orleans public school system had been established in 1841, but the McDonogh Fund facilitated major expansion. Eventually over 30 schools were built, most emblazoned with his name and a number. By the early 1970s there were 20 McDonogh schools remaining in New Orleans. In the 1980s and 1990s, many of those were renamed in a movement to remove the names of slaveholders from New Orleans’ public schools.

I was wondering if there might be something linking McDonogh (clock-boy) to Louis Armstrong Park. This is from his Wikipedia entry:
Apparently McDonogh 18 was on St Ann near Rampart St, which is near Louis Armstrong Park.
http://www.old-new-orleans.com/NO_McDonogh18.html
According to this link it was at 1125 St Ann St.
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/t … 1053029926
Put that into Google Maps and it shows you the Armstrong arch.
This link
confirms that the building (also known as the Jean Louis Rabassa house) is/was a historical property within the park grounds.
(The arm, of course, is another pointed “Armstrong” clue…)

Why do you refer to Clockboy as McDonogh?
You have some great info, WR.

“The cross of the Legion of Honor has been conferred on me. However, few escape that distinction.”
The above is a quote by Mark Twain.
Maybe,
Running north, but first across
, is actually referring to a cross.  I know this has been mentioned before but I am not sure if it has been noted that the California Palace of the Legion of Honor is in Lincoln Park which is just north of GGP and as the jewel in image1 is north of GGP maybe that is what is meant by
In jewel’s direction
.
Lincoln park is also the western terminus of the old Lincoln Highway.

fox and Mrs?  what happened?!!!
have been waiting to hear how your hunt went! it’s hard for me to jump on new orleans for this verse, because i’d just started over with image 1 and was pretty convinced it was san francisco, but would love for you to find one there in new orleans!

maltedfalcon

Interesting I did not know of that link.
but yes it is part of the dedication that RLS wrote in the book it was a poem entitled “To the hesitating purchaser”
I will look at it using this verse,
Still I hope you are wrong in that, I would hate to think that the NO casque is gone forever.

7.Treasure Island / Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894  [New Window]
… heat and cold, If schooners, islands, and maroons, And buccaneers, and buried gold, And all the old romance, retold Exactly in the ancient way, …
http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg … 20/120.htm
8.Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Search, Read, Study …  [New Window]
And all the old romance, retold Exactly in the ancient way, Can please, as me they pleased of old, The wiser youngsters of today: –So be it, and fall on! …
http://www.online-literature.com/steven … ureisland/

Interesting I did not know of that link.
but yes it is part of the dedication that RLS wrote in the book it was a poem entitled “To the hesitating purchaser”
I will look at it using this verse,
Still I hope you are wrong in that, I would hate to think that the NO casque is gone forever.

GoldenMartyr

I suppose my point is this, when you have an image match, you won’t have to convince anybody.

Unknown

Unknown:
I feel like the same iconic people who have done such a wonderful job of showing us all that the puzzles have a start, middle, and ending have also tricked everybody into believing these paintings are actually just Highlights Magazine Hidden Picture pages.

Sadly, most people come to this conclusion all on their own. No tricks (other than by the master himself) required.

Durian

…Nothing is a ‘great’ match, because that’s the way JJP designed the puzzle.
{embedded images}
And I still haven’t seen any potential dig site matching the image more closely than the San Carlos rock/plaque:
{embedded images}
BTW, these are all in my opinion just as valid matches—if not more so—than this: {embedded image}

I personally hate having to scroll past embedded images, as I usually miss the snippets of text inbetween. I would also be very careful with your statement of “that’s the way JJP designed the puzzle” because he did not design the puzzles at all. He was hired to paint images at the direction of Preiss, who was the only author of the puzzles (as far as I understand).

I’m very new to this hunt. I live near San Francisco so I’ve been tracing the Image 1/Verse 7/SF connection. I just posted an Image 1 analysis in that thread:
http://www.quest4treasure.co.uk/forum/h … 320#p22320
Here’s my take on Verse 7 and its connections to San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square and Aquatic Park:
At stone wall’s door
– There are lots of brick and cement walls nearby; no obvious stone wall
The air smells sweet
– Ghirardelli Square chocolate factory
Not far away
High posts are three
– There are three flagpoles on the Ghirardelli building right behind the big sign. In addition the three masts of the Balclutha ship are plainly visible.
Education and Justice
For all to see
– Justice could mean Alcatraz prison, plainly visible. No idea what Education could refer to.
Sounds from the sky
– Crissy Field, a military airbase just a couple miles away, might still have been in operation in 1981. This could also refer to the G Bridge (next)
Near ace is high
Running north
– The Golden Gate Bridge is in clear view, which is Highway 1, running north to Marin County
but first across
In jewel’s direction
Is an object
Of Twain’s attention
– The “sidewheel paddle steamboat” Eureka is docked at Hyde Street Pier next to Aquatic Park (
http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/eureka.html
). In addition there was a smaller riverboat called the Delta King that might have been housed at Aquatic Park in the early 80’s. (All I know so far is that it was moved back to SF Bay in 1980, before being transported to Pt. Richmond in late 1981, where it sank).
Giant pole
Giant step
To the place
The casque is kept
– Of course these last lines are the trickiest. Even if you can pinpoint a giant pole and step, how are these directions specific enough to lead you to a single digging spot? Suffice it to say that there are quite a few flagpoles and such in the area, but none have a big obvious “step” next to them.
Anyway there are a lot of connections, but some of the biggest ones — the stone wall, the giant pole and step — aren’t there yet. But I hope I’ve been able to trigger some new ideas at least.
Thanks,
Rob

as stated in P1 thread Aces…I really like where you are going with this line of thought…..
now, if you could only find that darned infamous Giant Pole & Giant Step…than I think you may even begin to sway Falcon

shecrab

Personally, I believe verse 7 matches up with Image 12 in New York–at the tip of Manhattan Island.

Bumping this old idea to see if anybody else has ever seriously considered pairing up Verse 7 to Image 12 & NYC?
From Wikipedia:
The
Stonewall Inn
, often shortened to
Stonewall
, is a gay bar and recreational tavern in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States.
There’s also a “Mark Twain Apartments” and a “Mark Twain House” in the same neighborhood– apparently Twain lived here for a few years:
http://greenwichvillage.nyc/places/mark … residence/

JamesV

Bumping this old idea to see if anybody else has ever seriously considered pairing up Verse 7 to Image 12 & NYC?
From Wikipedia:
The
Stonewall Inn
, often shortened to
Stonewall
, is a gay bar and recreational tavern in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States.

I’m on board with this pairing. So much, in fact, that I wandered around the Stonewall Inn offering people money if they could show me a “giant pole.”
I got arrested for solicitation.

could actually be a valid reference; as California Hall is def part of the puzzle.

maltedfalcon

No worries about this at all, Since the boxes were made of plexiglas (cast acrylic) (not perspex) and were not subject to UV radiation they are as strong as the day they were buried.
and that is very strong. 250Lbs of pressure on a tempered probe, was merely sufficient to scar the top of a replica box, not pierce it and striking it merely bounced off.
The Cleveland box which had been shattered by something like a rototiller was open to the weather. and while the casque broken physically, it showed no signs of dissolving. (as evidenced by the tiny pieces still intact.)
so barring physical destruction (accidental removal, rototilling, etc) the casques are still intact in their boxes, even should they have been flooded.

Thanks for the correction. I figured a fired ceramic would be fine in wet conditions… toilets are ceramic, I dig up ceramic plates in my back yard all the time that are 60+ years old. I did look up the degredation times of perspex and acrylic, and they were insisting that they never broke down, especially if not UV exposed. Didn’t know the yield pressures though. I’ll pass that on to the guys who dug for me so we know for the future that probing would be worth doing.

BINGO

People should actually look for casques (or even parts of them) rather than excuses. Matt just eliminated a handful of the common ones. Unfortunately, permission and permits will always be the go-to excuse for those looking to keep a theory alive and well.

Well I posted my solution a couple of pages ago. It ended at Sutro Heights Park. I put my permit to dig application in to the SF Park and Rec a week or two ago and they answered by saying that Sutro Heights Park is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. So then I reached out to the NPS to try to get a permit to dig and they turned me down.
So are you saying that I should continue to look elsewhere?

XeroDM

I’ll pass that on to the guys who dug for me so we know for the future that probing would be worth doing.

originally I thought probing a waste of time.
until I built a replica and then discovered I could actually find it (after someone else buried it) using only a probe.

As I couldn’t find a verse 7 thread, I am going to post it here…
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.

It is this verse that I believe goes to image 12 and is in New York…Rochester NY.
I deconstruct it this way- “at stone wall’s door”- a reference to Stonewall Jackson
“The Air smells sweet”- a reference to a bakery where cookies or other sweet treats are being made.
Therefore, a quick search for Jackson Bakeries brings up very few, one of which is in Rochester NY…614 Stone Rd.
The rest of the puzzle seems to be something that you would have to be there to see, and I can not find any information or pictures on the area. So, if anyone wants to check, that is where you might start.

i wonder how much that area has changed in 25+yrs
i also think this is what this line of verse meant
Near ace is high
Running north, but first across
Ace= number 1
High= highway
highway 1 Golden Gate bridge runs north, but first across the bay.
sure is quiet here these days

burnstyle

He sent this to me unencrypted. I can say I dont know of anyone ever being at his spot…

Is it in Simone’s Point?!

Dig a hole.
Confirm or negate the theory.
Easy fixed. Much easier than saying I have a theory and won’t tell anyone until I can say “I told you so”.

XeroDM

Dig a hole.
Confirm or negate the theory.
Easy fixed. Much easier than saying I have a theory and won’t tell anyone until I can say “I told you so”.

I am overseas and far away.
Hopefully arrange a dig if I can convince it’s OK and worthwhile.
I have told someone though, you missed that in the previous post.

SimonB

I am overseas and far away.
Hopefully arrange a dig if I can convince it’s OK and worthwhile.
I have told someone though, you missed that in the previous post.

I’m half a world away and got a hole dug.
Dig the hole. Dig the hole. Dig! The! Hole!
Everything is a theory until you’re at the bottom of that hole…

Hello, this is my possible solve for verse 7. It may get investigated.
Currently it is version 1.
I post this here so that if it gets found I can reveal the key and show that I was involved as the person who came up with it.
Also to show how close I was if someone else finds it instead.
Also please don’t copy quote the encrypted bit to save everyone from the annoyance of long posts.
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a49SYwrvbPpV/oOVEB0ZTwBiEcq1u+mhUmzWdf9rOA==
=uQ5D
—–END PGP MESSAGE—–

7MzL uF3

SimonB

Hello, this is my possible solve for verse 7. It may get investigated.
Currently it is version 1. will be edited with new versions in this post if I choose to find it.
I post this here so that if it gets found I can reveal the key and show that I was involved as the person who came up with it.
Also to show how close I was if someone else finds it instead.
—–BEGIN PGP MESSAGE—–
Version: GnuPG v2.0.19 (MingW32)
jA0ECQMCCZNUR+BOq8Ou0usB2G6oazJuuRxaB0L3Vn+wLaiHzqqHe3T0Hn1GvMiq
khd8mfE24guXXNgd1aDS4jlktQI+7LlMcb5eo/goVRPbZ8egE8z5bSAw9hNLH0y0
6fUeyWpcOoyo8WQNiXzyHLatO8hJM8h4yHltuZNG+mApuH7LZ8qTuuGuKzzhD/1W

0xhkBSPl5KM6jbkWaUfhuyVXLOS+7PCokidzRxZJx1RuG47PrWT2RUUrzQ7Pizkz
MSxzb8bVdWMgdGvgEQ8Dgh+sCQL/IIF/KzSQ0+BiijXJ1w18JDqKnX5k43q9dgVP
a49SYwrvbPpV/oOVEB0ZTwBiEcq1u+mhUmzWdf9rOA==
=uQ5D
—–END PGP MESSAGE—–

I read your solve, it makes as much sense as a lot of others that have been posted
you do understand, that to let anybody read this, you would have to post your private key and then post your passphrase and people would need to import your key and pretend to be you. -nobody is going to bother to do that and – thats not the way it’s supposed to work you could simply use your pgp key to digitally sign the document and the post it and the signature.
no need to encrypt it at all. If you are trying to keep your theory a secret, until after a casque is found, nobody will actually care if you thought of it first, since you didn’t actually help find it. I have no doubt that during the the last 38 years somebody has already suggested the actual location at one point or another.

Unknown

Unknown:
Everything is a theory until you’re at the bottom of that hole…

Actually, the best theories are found at the bottom of empty holes. I’ll say it again: Unless you are willing to probe and/or dig, or find someone willing to do it for you, you are wasting your time on this puzzle.

maltedfalcon

I read your solve, it makes as much sense as a lot of others that have been posted
you do understand, that to let anybody read this, you would have to post your private key and then post your passphrase and people would need to import your key and pretend to be you. -nobody is going to bother to do that and – thats not the way it’s supposed to work you could simply use your pgp key to digitally sign the document and the post it and the signature.
no need to encrypt it at all. If you are trying to keep your theory a secret, until after a casque is found, nobody will actually care if you thought of it first, since you didn’t actually help find it. I have no doubt that during the the last 38 years somebody has already suggested the actual location at one point or another.

Not sure about signing stuff, I used some software and it spit it out. Have reconstructed it too. Will try from a different PC to check thanks for the warning.
Somebody may be doing this they are reviewing it.
Someone else may have suggested it, but maybe not. They may have different methodologies and missed things that I didn’t. And vice-versa. No harm comes by it.

Euhirudinea

Unless you are willing to probe and/or dig, or find someone willing to do it for you, you are wasting your time on this puzzle.

SimonB

Hello, this is my possible solve for verse 7. …
—–BEGIN PGP MESSAGE—–
—–END PGP MESSAGE—–

This was your very first post to this forum. My initial instinct upon seeing a large block of encryption was to avoid it as potential spam or porn image. Sorry, that doesn’t make me paranoid, only cautious and safe.

We need karma or like buttons here….seriously.

maltedfalcon

I read your solve, it makes as much sense as a lot of others that have been posted
you do understand, that to let anybody read this, you would have to post your private key and then post your passphrase and people would need to import your key and pretend to be you. -nobody is going to bother to do that and – thats not the way it’s supposed to work you could simply use your pgp key to digitally sign the document and the post it and the signature.
no need to encrypt it at all. If you are trying to keep your theory a secret, until after a casque is found, nobody will actually care if you thought of it first, since you didn’t actually help find it. I have no doubt that during the the last 38 years somebody has already suggested the actual location at one point or another.

He sent this to me unencrypted. I can say I dont know of anyone ever being at his spot…
But I am also not yet convinced the reason he got there is correct.

“As construction began in 1971, law students at the University of San Francisco went to court to stop its rise. But the concrete base was already dry, and the three gaunt legs were already above tree level. The tower went up; the lawsuit went down.”

maltedfalcon

You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about.
nobody took any offense at you ideas or theories.
You asked for people to tell you what we think, I did, i’m sorry if I upset you and please don’t stop hunting.
Remember you have found exactly the same number of casques as I have.

How about this…
I have reviewed this thread in it’s entirety, and I have reviewed much of the others. Yesterday I stopped by the Gateway Arch National Park and walked around the Arch grounds as well as the Old Courthouse and obviously no sign of a “leg eater”. However, something has been bothering me about that image for some time now. Why did he change the face to look more like a fox/dog and why does part of the horse leg extend outside the box? It seems that in all cases, Preiss obscured his true intent with other more obvious images (e.g. In the Chicago find, the windmill had a similar architecture to the watertower and the image of the fairy was actually similar to the sculpture in the park). Additionally, he used street coordinates to help identify an exact location (e.g. “and to Congress R is known”). I’m not convinced that the “leg eater” is intended to represent an actual “leg eater”. It is an extremely obscure Italian design. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure JJP and/or Preiss had visited Montreal or Italy to see this type of Italian Renaissance detail and likely used it to further challenge readers to solve the puzzle. As I walked across the street yesterday, I noticed that the Old Courthouse is located at the corner of Chestnut and Broadway. It just so happens that one of the most famous landmarks in St. Louis is The Fabulous Fox theater which opened in 1929 and is known for being ‘The best of broadway’. Not so coincidentally the only piece of the horse leg inside the box is the hock which appears to have a mark on it. It may look like a crease, but look closely, it doesn’t extend to the rear of the hock. These marks are referred to as “chestnuts”. The remainder of the leg extending outside the box is to show the reader that the leg is that of a horse, and it helps to form the bootheel of Missouri in the black negative space. However, the clues are INSIDE the boxes. I think he was trying to put readers where Broadway meets Chestnut, which is the location of The Old Courthouse. I know this sounds like a stretch, but it seemed that he loved to use hidden coordinates, and this certainly would explain why the boxes exist. Also, it goes without saying that the fleur-de-lis is the official symbol of St. Louis, as it is even present on the city’s flag. Again, just another theory, but pretty plausible.

Many many people have reviewed the legeater and 99.99% accept it as being exact or so close as to not matter.
yes there are many many examples of that style around, (seemingly none in St Louis though)
But it is taken as a given to be a match for The St Stephen club legeater.
When you add that to the fact that in the 1980s about every 10 feet along the fence around the club were large Fleur De Lis.
you have a combination clue that basically is almost irrefutable. of course that is not true because you are refuting it. but you get my point.

I am absolutely not refuting the fact that the image is an almost 100% match for the lamp base at the George Stephen House and other lamp bases in the same style. I am simply looking at the clue in a different way. If it truly does represent the lamp base in Montreal, it would be one of the most prominent, non-obscured clues within all 12 images, as most just have some likeness. The box separating the leg appears to be a purposeful distinction. Being relatively new to this, has a location been determined for the Montreal casque?

“Legeater” IMO is nod to Satyr. It appears at the bottom of the even pages of the book from 22 to 32.

The Secret, San Francisco Solution by slowrisingwhitebread
Painting 1, Verse 7
Here is my solution to the San Francisco puzzle. Please go through the proper channels if you choose to dig at this spot.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KJGKIiH97ksPLJIXXsW3V1OEP6pad4f_bjcy4-oqvzE/edit?usp=sharing

What’s missing from your solution is any waymarkers supported by the image. Please post a few solid image comparisons for landmarks in the image 1 thread.

I don’t think you’ll receive any reply from the publisher since the company went bankrupt and I doubt the people that purchased their assets know anything about the solutions.
You should go visit the location when it’s stormy. Tons of sand gets moved around.
I remember visiting China beach decades ago. It’s in much calmer area. I was on top of the large rock next to the drain pipe taking pictures and a massive wave nearly knocked me off of it.
Maybe it will be helpful if you post some of your photos.

sluggozim61

Did you know the capitalizations in the verse spell out a clue? “FARTHEST JOINT IN GG”…

No. The capital letters spell
ATNHEJFSNRIIOTGGTT
. What you’ve done is anagram them, which is a weak technique in any puzzle hunt, due to the myriad ways they can be rearranged. Without a pattern or explicit instructions, it’s just a scramble.

catherwood

No. The capital letters spell
ATNHEJFSNRIIOTGGTT
. What you’ve done is anagram them, which is a weak technique in any puzzle hunt, due to the myriad ways they can be rearranged. Without a pattern or explicit instructions, it’s just a scramble.

True dat. I came up with GRANITES moving around the 1st letter of the 8 ines of the verse. (2 segments or stanzas per line)

Another life-threatening place?
Arguably if it’s close to the beach or rising tides and storm waves and if there were any cavities, they would be filled with sand and impossible to recover without dredging equipment.

By the way the object of Twain’s attention is,  either a Huckelberry tree (i might be dumb
) or  A WHITE PICKET FENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Tom Sawyer.
any thoughts?

Looks like someone took a peek behind that door.

“prospector”
That looks a lot like what I saw on the Gh. Is this a recent photo of the area and is the the park at the Sutro Park? I think a lot more brush has grown around that area. If it is the same wall it can be seen while digging in many places.
The picture was taken in May of last year.

drunknerds

Wow, great as usual Goonie.
So, can the cliff house pole’s former location be seen from anywhere there? Take a giant step toward the giant pole (which was an object of Twain’s attention) and dig. Now we just have to figure out where to stand.

Here is the location of the wall door in relation to the Cliff house. The wall/door sits below the lookout area, it is covered by trees so no view of the Cliff house from that vantage point.

what I like about this wall is that it sits above the hillside where I found the face in the rocks.

Also the entrance to the trail has lions with similar paws on the cliff.
ADDED: BTW does anyone know what’s in the middle of this island/circle? Got any photos to share?
https://tinyurl.com/yd8vth7o

Also the entrance to the trail has lions with similar paws on the cliff.
ADDED: BTW does anyone know what’s in the middle of this island/circle? Got any photos to share?
It appears to be a bird bath or fountain, I found it from a different angle:
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7778244 … 192!8i4096

Great AT, I remember messing around that area in the 80’s. The remnants of Sutro urns and statues were all over the place. Very little has survived. I’ve seen the pics of statue of a woman holding a deer by the antler? And the lions and the round fountain.

Choice

Hey Goonie, any progress on your Washington square solve? Have you narrowed the search area or nailed down Twain’s attn.?
I’ve been thinking (a very dangerous exercise); in this area the church itself could be considered the object of Twain’s attention. I’m getting Romulus and Remus involved. Here’s why:
• Saints Peter and Paul Church is a Roman Catholic Church
• Romulus and Remus were the hero-twin founders of pre-Christian Rome
• Saints Peter and Paul replaced them as the hero-twin founders of the new Christian Rome. You almost always see them depicted together.
• Capital T in Twain signifies names of persons, and twain of course twin or two
• Attention means standing straight like a tower
So Twain’s attention could mean twin towers, in this location named after Peter and Paul, the hero-twin of Christianity.

I do like the church and think that it plays into the puzzle. For me I like the Transamerica Pyramid (object) and Montgomery block (Twain’s attention) which the Pyramid sits on. Though you can see the Pyramid from Washington Square you don’t need to be standing in front of it. Once you cross Columbus Ave you walk towards the Pyramid, until you get a line of site of the Giant Pole and Giant step, this puts you on Union St, IMO is why the Yin and Yang is in the image to represent Union, or in this case Union St. At the corner of Union and Columbus you see, Twain’s object (Transamerica), Giant Pole and Giant step.
I personal don’t think Twain has to do with a number or a boat or a book. I believe the reason why the author used Twain was to tie him to SF and Montgomery Block, where he became Mark Twain and the people who influenced his direction to become the literary Icon that we know.

Hey just wanted to try a wrap my head around the 43 pages of speculation and wanted to toss some thoughts out there.
Do people still believe the casque isn’t buried in GGP in SF? I hear people talking about the following locations:
Presidio
Coit Tower
Russian Hill park
Legion of Honor
Cliff House
Fort point
Aquatic park
Though the Map is so obviously GGP…? Why would he be leading us in the totally wrong direction to those other places? I mean, he eventually wanted these found right?
Also how sure are we that Verse 7 is a match? Are there any other candidates? Some people seem confident on completely different cities too.

forest_blight

Indeed, fox.
shecrab – I highly recommend reading the entire forum from oldest to most recent topic, taking notes as you go. Many, many ideas have been floated, hashed out, and discarded, and there is no point in reinventing wheels. It may take you a few days, but it will be worth it. We’ve got more at the Secret wiki, mainly summary information, like this:
http://thesecret.pbwiki.com/4_solution

Already did, FB–took me several days, in fact….that doesn’t mean that I can’t re-think some of these things, I hope.  I’ve been to the secret wiki also.
I realize that I’m coming into this late, but that shouldn’t make my contributions any less thoughtful, should it?  As you may know (or maybe not,) when you read old posts, and click on old links, many times they are no longer there–just like the casques may not be there. So many of the posts where it says “look at this” and provides a link or photo are pretty useless to me. I didn’t find the JAX brewery picture, for instance; and the rest of the older links–some over two years old–or pictures that were hosted or posted, just don’t show up anymore. I don’t want to waste your time, so maybe until I catch up you might not want to read my posts.
Or perhaps the secret wiki could be updated. AND a current link to it posted somewhere easier to find. As well as information about how to get the scans downloaded, since there
is none
out there–it took me a while to figure out to change the file name to .zip before I was able to get them working.
c

I believe that is exactly what FB is saying.  Many believe (but nothing is concrete until the casque is found) that this V is paired with SF while the P seems most definitely to be pointing to N.O.

shecrab, please dont get the wrong idea.  I am with you when you state that you ” realize that I’m coming into this late, but that shouldn’t make my contributions any less thoughtful, should it?”  I, along with everyone else here, have always said that maybe what is needed around here is a new set of eyes and a fresh perspective.  Like I said before, nothing is concrete until a casque is found.  Feel free to keep working your angle and maybe one day you can tell us oldtimers “where” the next casque to be found is.  No ideas are far fetched….well,
, except for maybe the oval, paddock & gates…   😉

Indeed, fox.
shecrab – I highly recommend reading the entire forum from oldest to most recent topic, taking notes as you go. Many, many ideas have been floated, hashed out, and discarded, and there is no point in reinventing wheels. It may take you a few days, but it will be worth it. We’ve got more at the Secret wiki, mainly summary information, like this:
http://thesecret.pbwiki.com/4_solution

Thank you Fox! I appreciate that. And I’ll try not to rework old rejected ideas.
c

the 64 thousand dollar question is this:  Are those old rejected ideas wrong?  Answer that and you will be so far ahead of the pack.

fox

No ideas are far fetched….well,
, except for maybe the oval, paddock & gates…   😉

ideas are like grass….
manure makes them flourish.

shecrab

Thank you Fox! I appreciate that. And I’ll try not to rework old rejected ideas.
c

I will bet you that the actual locations have been brought up here at some time or another. Most have simply been dismissed or given up on.  The key to finding the locations is to keep hashing it out here til’ it sticks, until someone finds that Eureka moment and says “How did I miss that”.  Yet, some ideas seem too silly to consider, but hey, you never know until YOU KNOW!  Try not to get insulted.  If you find a location, everybody here will kiss your butt in Macy’s window! (The MACY’s in NY I hope)

CK-
also keep in mind,
that Byron was trying to best describe (literally and visually) the choosen
casque locations.
He was not attempting to be exclsuive with his clues, so it is possible
that the ‘proper’ combinations or verses and images could lead
to numerous viable locations.  (Known as a ‘false positive’)
The only true sense of knowing that you are correct is digging it up.
(and the only sense of knowing if you are wrong)
As with everyone, we all wish everyone luck and ‘becareful what you
wish for’  This can become obsessive.  (but always worth it)

thanks Cat, do you know if he’s heard of The Secret?

Im excited.
The verse fits.
One thing that always bugged me about searching in GoldenGate park with this verse was there was no obvious Twain connection.
My Current location has an obvious Twain Connection.
Which means the actual dig location is quite obvious.  So it will be a simple Dig (although I bet the ground is rock hard)
that might mean its not buried very deep.
So in GGpark to be sure I had to dig in every direction Which took several days over several months.
This spot should be easy enough to check in a 1/2 hour or so.
Got to run by a surplus store and get one of those folding shovels.

Last year dashcat posted Candlestick Park as a possibility because of the SF Giants. I just reread V7, and I think there’s some merit to the idea (if falcon’s idea doesn’t work out).
Giant pole
(
Candlestick Park
, home of the SF
Giants
)
Giant step
(Right beside Candlestick Park is the large, rocky Bayview Hill and Park)
To the place
The casque is kept
(it would take a giant step to get to the top of Bayview Hill)
It fits only the last 4 lines, but maybe this will inspire someone to find more links to that part of town.

FB,
You must have read the grammar book
“Eats Shoots and Leaves”
…
AP

It’s difficult talking to me sometimes, knowing that I am diagramming your sentences in my head…  :-/
Here’s another way to read it:
Sounds from the sky.
Near ace is high, running north.
But first… across is an object of Twain’s attention!

This is the verse part of what I came up with for todays SF hunt.
be sure to read my concurrent post in the image 1 thread.
At stone walls door:
The Palace of the Legion of Honor.
The air smells sweet
Which was donated to SF by alma de bretteville spreckels
Alma is very famous, was very rich and all her money came from Sugar, Spreckels at least in California = Sugar.
Not far away
High posts are three
From this spot Sutro tower is plainly visible or if you like the lamp posts in front of the Palace all have 3 globes with points.
Education and Justice
For all to see
Education=Sitting in the  entance of the palace is Rodin’s Thinker.
Justice=In front of the museum is a statue of El Cid – Hero of Spain – a hero famous for being educated by the Castellians and also famous for seeking justice as he fought.
Sounds from the sky
?? Birds, seagulls, pelicans Huh
absolutely these birds are everywhere and constantly noisy.
Now you turn left from 43 ave and walk down to Lands end.
There is a monument there to the USS San Francisco, which sets on the cliff above the pacific.
The monument is a flagpole mounted on a piece of the bridge of the ship.
Near ace is high
Running north, but first across
standing at the flagpole you can  turn and look over your right shoulder to see a beautiful view of the goldent gate bridge,
which of course is Highway 1 which runs north from where you are but first crosses over the golden gate.
In jewels direction
Is an object
Of Twains attention
Without moving you can turn your head to the left and you see, less than 200 yards away, Cliff House,
Mark Twain while living  in San Francisco wrote about going to visit cliff house (mostly complaining about how far away it was)
Giant pole
The flagpole
Giant step
If you Line up the flag pole and cliff house you can walk to the edge of the monument and look straign down 8-10 feet at the dirt hillside the monument is setting on.
the 8-10 feet = a giant step down.
The trouble being once you get there. the ground is very eroded along and under the monument. The park service has  done lots of work trying to stabilze the ground. hemp netting.
cement, large metal staples. but mostly it’s eroded dirt with some grasses and small plants.
I dug a hole but didnt find anything. its very difficult to say if the area is still the same as it was in 1982, its possible large portions of the dirt has  washed away or even washed down on that area.
The ground was very hard for the first foot but soft underneath, I was very concerned with causing damage so I didnt dig a very large hole I went down about 2 1/2 feet. There was too much foot trafffic to do much more. the hill was very steep there.
Without confirmation that that is the spot, I would not dig there anymore.
This solution has plusses and minuses
+ obvious object of twains attention within site
+ in sight of cliff house.
+ it is on a cliff above the water like in the painting.
+ in site of Aces High
+ To get here You turn left from the first spot of the verse.
+ One of the rocks in the ocean has a arch which shows up as a strangely shaped hole.
+ Lincoln park
+ located in the headlands of the Golden Gate.
– The flagpole, while a pole, isnt all that Giant…
– No obvious dig here spot. (possible there once was, but it has eroded away) but the monument actually overhangs the hillside, so there is not even a wall to dig right next to. your just sort of out on the hill below the railing.
+ i

Unknown

Unknown:
standing at the flagpole you can  turn and look over your right shoulder to see a beautiful view of the goldent gate bridge,
which of course is Highway 1 which runs north from where you are but first crosses over the golden gate.

Maybe the interpretation of this line is simply that the Lincoln Highway, which ends at the Legion of Honor, was the
first
highway
across
America.

Another possibility:
“In jewel’s direction”
Along the bay in 1915, was held the Panama Pacific International Exposition–which had as its centerpiece the Tower Of Jewels. This was a 43-story building, covered in glass “jewels”, and was certainly the tallest building there. It is not there now, but perhaps this refers to the direction it would have been in? If you google it, you can find a map of the whole exposition in relationship to the bay.

Interestiing analysis,
that would seem to put the casque near Highway 1
Except where it crosses ggpark highway 1 is a city street until it reaches the presidio (south of the ggate bridge)
the last 3 miles or so.
which at the time was an active military base that BP would not have had access to.
or it means accross the Bridge which would remove it from san Francisco.
Also I am now pretty sure the silhouette under the table is in Lincoln park near the palace of the legion of honor.
as  soon as I get the photo downloaded I will post it.
I will be concentrating on the lincoln park area

catherwood

I’m sure we’ve already discussed this, but there used to be a giant pole — a totem pole — at the Cliff House.

We have and this would be truly sad if it were the case.
Cliffhouse and the area around where the totem pole was (both places)
was entirely dug out re-enforced and rebuilt. just a few years ago.
FYI the totem pole is back I saw it yesterday. It is again along the road just at the southeast corner of cliffhouse.

Is it possible that “Giant pole” refers to the totem pole, but one would have to take a “giant step” down the cliff-face to find the casque location (possibly marked by a visual confirmer from P1)? Is that area even accessible to anyone but seals?
Here’s another idea. Rather than down the cliff, could it simply be across the street from the totem pole, a “Giant step”
up
?

I’m sure we’ve already discussed this, but there used to be a giant pole — a totem pole — at the Cliff House.
a quick google image search brings up these examples
http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/d … bdff78.jpg
http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com … 534697.jpg
(large)
you can see where it used to be in relation to a staircase and the edge of a drop-off down to the beach.
this other image seems to contradict the 2nd one?
http://cdn1.ioffer.com/img/item/683/679 … an0659.jpg

Sounds from the sky
Near ace is high
Running north, but first across
In jewel’s direction
Is an object
Of Twain’s attention
A valiant effort, malt — I salute you.
But you want to take the “Running north, but first across” and associate it with the lines before it. I would rather associate it with the lines following it. That is, “Running north, but first across” I interpret as a participial (or is it adjectival?) phrase, with “object” as the subject. That is, the “object / Of Twain’s attention” is that which is “Running north, but first across.” Read like this, you get 3 independent pieces of information:
Sounds from the sky.
Near ace is high.
Running north — but first across — is an object of Twain’s attention.

New to this, but based on this:
Tried to read most of the thread, but didn’t see anything along the lines of what I was thinking,
Near ace is high
Running north, but first across
In jewel’s direction
1 is Ace high, aka HWY 1. It travels north, then takes a sharp right (across) in jewel’s direction (toward Pearl street) before continuing North. Haven’t been to GG Park in years, so not sure if there are any “Giant Poles” in this area.
Hwy 1 is also called park presidio. Twain wrote a scathing satire about a general Funston who had been stationed at the Presidio in SF, so
Running north, but first across
In jewel’s direction
Is an object
Of Twain’s attention
Could be totally off base, but won’t be in SF anytime soon, so thought I would throw it out there.
Sounds like Hwy 1 aka Park Presidio.

Giant step, giant pole could be this:
http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/th … house.html

Giant pole:
http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/th … house.html

Goonie68

Who knows maybe BP a big Rush fan and was listing to Tom Sawyer when he wrote that verse?

It was released in ’81….so…..maybe…?
(Or, not.)

Goldengate

I’m on a different computer at the moment, but I’ll see if I can post a pic comparison later. I’m fully expecting to be laughed out of the room and it’s probably a “so many wolves” observation and probably just the way my eye has become accustomed to seeing it, but maybe something worth mentioning as part of the larger discussion — and if it does help someone… all the better!

I would be interested in to see what you come up with…..I do like part of the museum for this puzzle.

oh. my. god…lol….*smacks head*…

lolololol  😀

Today I got permission to dig one hole in Golden Gate Park next Wednesday.
So whos gonna come and help dig?

There is the face of lincoln
Lincoln ave is the south side of the park
There is the rose
There is a rose garden near Lindley meadows
Then the shape over her right shoulder (your left) matches vaguely the south part of north lake.

Unknown

Unknown:
I set off on the information superhighway looking for the statue of a person with Polish descent (giant pole, rimshot please) but may have found something more promising?!
____________________________________________________
Artist:  Carter, Dudley, 1891- , sculptor.
Title:  Goddess of the Forest, (sculpture).
Other Titles:  Goddess Mark II, (sculpture).
Dates:  1939-1940.
Medium:  Redwood.
Dimensions:  Approx. H. 26 ft. x Diam. 6 ft. (10 tons).
Description:  Northwest-style carved totem pole depicting an Indian woman, with bear and bird in front.
Subject:  Figure female
Ethnic — Indian
Animal — Bird
Animal — Bear
Object Type:  Outdoor Sculpture — California — San Francisco
Totem pole
Owner:  Administered by City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco Arts Commission, 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 240, San Francisco, California 94102
Located City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Provenance:  Formerly located Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California
Remarks:  The sculpture was carved with an axe at the Golden Gate Exposition in 1939/40, possibly as part of the art-in-action pavilion of the Works Progress Administration. After the exposition, the sculpture was a gift to the City and County of San Francisco in 1940. With the onset of World War II, the sculpture was hastily installed on a concrete pad in Golden Gate Park, where it suffered from moisture buildup and rot. In 1985, with the artist’s permission, the totem was moved to the City College of San Francisco College for restoration work. A large portion of the statue had to be cut off due to rot. The “recycled” sculpture was retitled “Goddess Mark II.” IAS files contain copy of article from San Francisco Chronicle and press releases from the San Francisco Arts Commission.
References:  Public Monument Conservation Project, 1986.
Control Number:  IAS CA000010
____________________________________________________
Anybody think they can figure out where this used to be and spec the area.  I’ll keep checking for information.
>>>Dan

fox —
I think a 26 foot totem qualifies as a giant pole.  🙂  I don’t know if there is more information to be gotten from this monument, but take a look and see what you think.  There are a few more posts below the original regarding its removal, appearance, etc.

I always assumed she was indicated a particular number somehow…

No joy –
it is not one giant step west of the Base of the Totem Pole that used to be in Lindley meadows.
Which doesn’t rule that pole out. I was using west as the direction of Twains object.
Basing it on Twains writing about the Pacific.
Now if someone could come up with a different object.
but shoot you could pretty much come up with something for each direction. i.e., the Mississippi is east…
Calaveras County is SouthEast….
Hawaii is South West…
His House in San Francisco is Northwest…
The groundskeepers in Goldengate park are really nice and
thought it was pretty entertaining.
I did notice, if you drive into GGpark starting at the panhandle,
you are generally following the dragon…
you pass the stone building (park admin)
doors in stone walls
then you pass the flower conservatory–
air smells sweet.
then you pass the rose garden.
Then you get to highway one, but first you pass
prayerbook cross.
you go under highway one, noise from the sky…
Then you reach The Giant Pole Goddess of the forest
(or where it use to be…
after that is spreckels lake then the buffalo field
then the lake that matches the outline of the strange shape
above the lady in picture 1s right shoulder.
Id hate to have to dig a 3.5 foot deep trench around that base  -another  question that remains is how big is a giant step? ….
and what significance if any is the ladys finger positions?

did you decide that Fulton Street did not work as the object of Twain’s affection – direction?
wilhouse

Thats the trouble,
Every direction works….
I spent 2 1/2 hours digging
If you had to dig all the way around the pole it would take days…
even then exactly how long is a giant step?
I just took the biggest step I could make then dug a very large hole around it…
amazingly in GGpark if you dig down more than a foot you are into sand.

Unknown

Unknown:
ps..humor me and check in the sand around the Amundsen monument and the giant rock.  ::)

I visited the Amundsen monument after filling in the hole I dug at the Goddess,
The Amundsen monument is not pole shaped, its about 10 feet tall but wider front to back then side to side,
The top is tombstone shaped, but the bottom is much wider.
and its surrounded on all sides by  about a foot of crushed rock then a curb and either asphalt or sidewalk.
Actually I am convinced its buried near the goddess,
the question is where…

Both Egbert and I have used thin steel poles to “pry around” the area and try to “feel” resistence. If you use one 3-1/2 feet long, you get a good idea if something is there. It might save some digging.
I used the legs from a tomato cage for my poles.
wilhouse

I brought a 3 1/2 fiberglass pole.
(it doesn’t set off the metal detector when it gets near it.
unfortunately  it was impossible to shove it more than a few inches into the sand. – its much easier in soil.

Thanks so much for scouting the location falcon–ive always thought the lady’s fingers were just pointing to the blocks in her dress sleeve. could be something more?

thanks for checking the Amundsen site for me Falcon.  I realize the monument itself is not pole shaped but the symbolism is…. Mr. Amundsen located THE poles (north & south poles) and they dont get much more giant than that.  I’ve never even heard of the “godess?” mentioned before now, is that a large pole?  Did you happen to notice if there were any other objects in the park which are directly in the P (ie..all of the objects found by Egg)?  How about that darn pedestal for the table?…that seems to be something other than a table.

MERLIN

what if the whole thing is some kind of twisted word play and we should actually be looking for a Giant steeple -step+pole. Hence the meaning of the backwards G on the robe and the religious blue outlining in the image?

Way ahead of ya! I considered giant steeple and Grace Cathedral was my “solve”!
Also considered the pagoda in Tea Garden as stupa.

Choice

Way ahead of ya! I considered giant steeple and Grace Cathedral was my “solve”!
Also considered the pagoda in Tea Garden as stupa.

Washington Square had both Cathedral and a Pagoda……..

IF this was a correct assumption then we should be looking for an object of Twain’s attention – My guess would be an angel – isn’t that what he called the young women he started hanging out with in his later years….or maybe Angels Camp CA.

MERLIN

IF this was a correct assumption then we should be looking for an object of Twain’s attention – My guess would be an angel – isn’t that what he called the young women he started hanging out with in his later years.

Yes he called them his Angel fish

Goonie68

Yes he called them his Angel fish

This puzzle has caused me to know more about Twain than I ever wanted to.

MERLIN

This puzzle has caused me to know more about Twain than I ever wanted to.

and that my friend IS THE SECRET….

And waste of time and productivity!

Choice

And waste of time and productivity!

C’mon Bro…..it’s a spiritual thing – you probably just need to get your chakras aligned

I’ll get my monkey wrench!

Cask 1
Verse 7 : Crazy San Francisco Theory (6/20/13)
At stone wall’s door
Stone wall (idiom): We’ve run into a stone wall in our investigation.  Unable to solve a problem: The Thinker (sculpture).
The air smells sweet
“heir” “sugar” fits rather well with Alma Spreckels, heiress to a fortune from sugar plantation, friend of Rodin and placed his work at the Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Not far away
High posts are three
Several triple-lamp posts line the curved portion of the parking lot that fits the curve around the woman’s head, the very tops of the lamps are an exact match to the top of the watch on table, notice the new location for the terminus marker for the Lincoln Memorial Highway:
Education
and Justice
For all
to see
“and justice for all.”: last four words of The Pledge of Allegiance, conceived to promote American nationalism to children in schools,  The Pledge’s final four words are “and justice for all” and is performed while facing a flag.
Sounds from the sky
“Fore!”: golf term for “look ahead”.
Near ace is high
Ace (cards), alphabet version:  the letter A, if it’s high, then it’s considered one step greater than the king, the letter K, which is the letter L.  Ace high is one step higher in rank than the King, the letter K.  One letter beyond K is the letter L.  This line translates to “Near the letter L”.  There happens to be a large letter L on the terminus marker for the Lincoln Memorial Highway inserted just next to the Three Shades sculpture.  Numeric version: A = 14, nearest numbers are 13 or 15.  The 15th hole on the golf course is just beyond the balustrade.  I prefer the Lincoln Marker solution.
Running north, but first across
The Golden Gate Bridge runs north across the bay and is itself first across.
In jewel’s direction
Is an object
Of Twain’s attention
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (Pen): Twain (pen-name) uses this object (pen) to write.  This is an instruction to use a map to set a course in the direction of the Pen.
Giant pole
Betsy Ross Memorial Flagpole
Giant step
To the place
The casque is kept.
Keep in mind that sometime since 1981 the Betsy Ross Memorial Flagpole has been replaced with a big red metal sculpture.  The Three Shades have been removed.  The Lincoln Highway marker has been moved a good distance to the edge of the lot.  All we can do is look at the few pictures we’ve been lucky enough to find and some crappy historic aerials to get a sense for their positions.
A) The Betsy Ross Memorial Flagpole
B) Terminus Marker for the Lincoln Memorial Highway (original location)
C) Alcatraz, the answer to the object of Twain’s attention: a Pen (Penitentiary)
I thought the first obvious spot would be just over the edge (giant step) and at the base of the wall beyond the parking lot.  Maltedfalcon has done real shoveling to confirm it’s not the spot unless it’s buried much deeper than we think.  I then thought, what in the verse tells us to follow that line to an obvious spot beyond the wall?  I thought “near ace is high” could be inspired by A=14 (one higher than a King in cards) and therefore the 15th hole could be thougth of as near 14.  Does that tell us to go onto the golf course grounds?  I’m unable to determine a spot on the course itself that draws me in to justify a dig.  I want to avoid the sense of it feeling too random.  I then consider to continue along that line until I bump into a novel looking site, which takes me to the bench on the road below the course.  At the bench we see the Golden Gate Bridge, which could be “Running north but first across”.  The bench also fits my idea for the first line where at Stone wall’s door sits The Thinker sculpture and I believe it becomes relevant when we have to sit down on something to think: a rock, a chair or a bench.
I’ve made an adjustment to the angle I’ve been estimating based on taking an exact line to Alcatraz from the center of the spot where the Betsy Ross Flagpole use to be.  The area I think it puts us has this view:
I like the curvy tree crossing over on itself, maybe it looks like the arms of the woman in the image.  Yes, I think I’ve found a convincing match.

I’d prefer to be on location before suggesting this, but I found it interested that a line could be drawn through the center of the Superdome and the fountain in Coliseum Square that also touches the corner where Camp and Race cross.

Digger, those types of rhyme are perfectly acceptable as rhyme. Jimerson is correct in stating that they are rhymes.
Alike/slight, direction/attention, glass/task–are all forms of assonance, a common and well-known form of rhyme.
ck

I agree with that.

Giants are typically depicted as carrying a club slung over their shoulder. Could Giant pole mean club? The SFMYC in the Speckles Lake Boathouse in a club.

Mark Twain got married and moved to Buffalo, NY where he was a newspaper editor. Later when he was out west, he befriended and promoted Buffalo Bill Cody. As we know, next to the Spreckles Boathouse, the Bison Paddock sits, all close to the Senior Center. I theorized previously that the paddock could also be referred to as a steppe, or grassland.

The GG Angling & Casting Club sits in the area just south of the Boathouse. Fly fishing uses large poles. Also the Model Yacht Club members sometimes use large poles to retrieve their boats from Spreckels Lake.
All of this is also near the Giant Polo field. Polo means pole in Spanish,

Gman!
these are all great possibilities
I tried to find something around the polo field but I could never make it work.

maltedfalcon

Gman!
these are all great possibilities
I tried to find something around the polo field but I could never make it work.

I am trying to find connections and maybe what I have found is reinforcement instead. I want to believe that Preiss was clever enough to incorporate multiple items with the same general meaning (like a pole) to let us know we are getting warm.

gManTexas

I am trying to find connections and maybe what I have found is reinforcement instead. I want to believe that Preiss was clever enough to incorporate multiple items with the same general meaning (like a pole) to let us know we are getting warm.

my theory is if is super important he puts it in both the image and the verse

Unknown

Unknown:
Also why I say this casque will resolve to a 1 inch square.

Not true in Cleveland, and not true in Chicago. By any measure of which I am aware.

Euhirudinea

Not true in Cleveland, and not true in Chicago. By any measure of which I am aware.

You are 100% correct, Chicago resolved to a 1 foot by 1 foot square , the basic minimum amount you could plot by using trees as your vectors ,but most likely really the center of one square yard.
Cleveland resolved pretty much to a 1 foot by 1 foot area.
SF will resolve to a 1 inch by 1 inch area.

Unknown

Unknown:
SF will resolve to a 1 inch by 1 inch area.

Color me skeptical, especially if you are relying exclusively on the Image and Verse. My probe, on the other hand, is 1/2″ in diameter, so 5 times more precise, give or take a few decimal places.

Euhirudinea

Color me skeptical, especially if you are relying exclusively on the Image and Verse. My probe, on the other hand, is 1/2″ in diameter, so 5 times more precise, give or take a few decimal places.

Although it seems I only heard to my sporting offer…
well not true my PM box blew up but not from Josh.

Congratulations Matt.
When will you be sharing pictures of your find?
You don’t seem to be the type to make bold predictions without a little something in your back pocket…

BINGO

Congratulations Matt.
When will you be sharing pictures of your find?
You don’t seem to be the type to make bold predictions without a little something in your back pocket…

nope no casque yet, that would be cheating.

I solved a clue: “sf casque” stands for “Sparks’ fake casque”

drunknerds

I solved a clue: “sf casque” stands for “Sparks’ fake casque”

no thats the Casque 13 thread.

Unknown

Unknown:
You are 100% correct, Chicago resolved to a 1 foot by 1 foot square

Really? Care to share with the class where this spot is, exactly? Feel free to use any and all of the existing landmarks as reference points. I have exact measurements for all of them.

Hello everyone,
I believe I have made a giant discovery to this verse. For years people have been trying to figure out what Twains attention is. Twains attention was to the Chinese. He was very influential with everything that had to do with the Chinese immigrants and the culture. How does this relate to the puzzle? I believe that the giant pole is the Goddess of the forest pole that stood in Golden Gate Park. In the park we have a Chinese pavillion that’s not far from where the totem pole stood. The painting for San Francisco has 11 moons on it. The Chinese pavillion is also know as the moon viewing pavillion. I believe you stand at the pole and in direction of the pavillion you take a giant step. What the giant step is is unknown. It could be 11 feet or paces in the direction of the pavillion. The beginning of the poem mentions “at stone walls door”. I believe this to be Shakespeare’s garden which is also in ggp. The painting has a door at the top that is an exact image match to Shakespeare’s garden. The flowers in the garden weee also specifically picked to bring sweet and pleasant aromas in the air. From this spot the rest of the puzzle is easily solved as we move towards the giant pole. I hope someone will be convinced enough to dig in that area!

Thecollector420

Hello everyone,
I believe I have made a giant discovery to this verse. For years people have been trying to figure out what Twains attention is. Twains attention was to the Chinese. He was very influential with everything that had to do with the Chinese immigrants and the culture. How does this relate to the puzzle? I believe that the giant pole is the Goddess of the forest pole that stood in Golden Gate Park. In the park we have a Chinese pavillion that’s not far from where the totem pole stood. The painting for San Francisco has 11 moons on it. The Chinese pavillion is also know as the moon viewing pavillion. I believe you stand at the pole and in direction of the pavillion you take a giant step. What the giant step is is unknown. It could be 11 feet or paces in the direction of the pavillion. The beginning of the poem mentions “at stone walls door”. I believe this to be Shakespeare’s garden which is also in ggp. The painting has a door at the top that is an exact image match to Shakespeare’s garden. The flowers in the garden weee also specifically picked to bring sweet and pleasant aromas in the air. From this spot the rest of the puzzle is easily solved as we move towards the giant pole. I hope someone will be convinced enough to dig in that area!

Someone did dig all around that pole. Nothing.
It might be helpful if you read the thread and see what progress people have made over time. And also, what dead ends they have hit.

I did read the entire threat. He dug 6 feet around without knowing which direction Twains attention or what a giant step.

If my theory is correct it’s at least 11 feet or 11 paces away. 11 pace is 27.5 feet. He could have easily missed it. It’s hard to look past physical markers in ggp. I truly believe Maltedfalcon missed it by a few feet.

Thecollector420

If my theory is correct it’s at least 11 feet or 11 paces away. 11 pace is 27.5 feet. He could have easily missed it. It’s hard to look past physical markers in ggp. I truly believe Maltedfalcon missed it by a few feet.

Could be. You can apply for a permit and have a go at it.
Paces is a tricky thing though.

gManTexas

Could be. You can apply for a permit and have a go at it.
Paces is a tricky thing though.

Especially if you are pacing toward something you cant see. that would make your distance vague as well as your direction…
you could easily be off by 10-15 feet (+/- 7 feet) in any direction with the above method.
I believe when the casque is found it’s location will have been determined based on the image/verse to the square inch.

maltedfalcon

Especially if you are pacing toward something you cant see. that would make your distance vague as well as your direction…
you could easily be off by 10-15 feet (+/- 7 feet) in any direction with the above method.
I believe when the casque is found it’s location will have been determined based on the image/verse to the square inch.

I think square inch is pushing it a bit, maybe several square feet.
Also, 420 guy, remember the casque and plexiglass box is only about 6-8 inches square. Off by 2 -3 feet and you will miss it by a country mile.

I completely agree that it can be easily missed. Preiss gave the Cleveland people a Polaroid of where to dig and they almost missed it when they found theirs. Montreal is paces. Why I suggested maybe it’s that. Could be feet or paces. I live in Canada. I decided to write the solution on here with hopes ornate finding someone that will be convinced enough to dig. The moon viewing pavillion is the Chinese pavillion. The painting outlines ggp and has a Chinese theme. We even have a visual marker at the start of the puzzle that matches the painting. Twains attention was china. In all the years people
haven’t connected that. If you look at it my way everything points to ggp and the totem. Someone will dig one day in that spot and find it. Nothing else i can do. I’ll convince someone.

Thecollector420

Hello everyone,
I believe I have made a giant discovery to this verse. For years people have been trying to figure out what Twains attention is. Twains attention was to the Chinese. He was very influential with everything that had to do with the Chinese immigrants and the culture. How does this relate to the puzzle? I believe that the giant pole is the Goddess of the forest pole that stood in Golden Gate Park. In the park we have a Chinese pavillion that’s not far from where the totem pole stood. The painting for San Francisco has 11 moons on it. The Chinese pavillion is also know as the moon viewing pavillion. I believe you stand at the pole and in direction of the pavillion you take a giant step. What the giant step is is unknown. It could be 11 feet or paces in the direction of the pavillion. The beginning of the poem mentions “at stone walls door”. I believe this to be Shakespeare’s garden which is also in ggp. The painting has a door at the top that is an exact image match to Shakespeare’s garden. The flowers in the garden weee also specifically picked to bring sweet and pleasant aromas in the air. From this spot the rest of the puzzle is easily solved as we move towards the giant pole. I hope someone will be convinced enough to dig in that area!

i actually already told everybody, including people on this forum.

gManTexas

I think square inch is pushing it a bit, maybe several square feet.
Also, 420 guy, remember the casque and plexiglass box is only about 6-8 inches square. Off by 2 -3 feet and you will miss it by a country mile.

5″x5″ x7″tall so even smaller.

anus905

i actually already told everybody, including people on this forum.

Told us what?

Thecollector420

I completely agree that it can be easily missed. Preiss gave the Cleveland people a Polaroid of where to dig and they almost missed it when they found theirs. Montreal is paces. Why I suggested maybe it’s that. Could be feet or paces. I live in Canada. I decided to write the solution on here with hopes ornate finding someone that will be convinced enough to dig. The moon viewing pavillion is the Chinese pavillion. The painting outlines ggp and has a Chinese theme. We even have a visual marker at the start of the puzzle that matches the painting. Twains attention was china. In all the years people
haven’t connected that. If you look at it my way everything points to ggp and the totem. Someone will dig one day in that spot and find it. Nothing else i can do. I’ll convince someone.

While I agree that Twain was outspoken for the rights of the immigrants and against the police, that doesn’t really give us a strong connection, since Twain’s attention was everywhere. He dabbled in everything. The only two things you can say with certainty is the Mississippi and writing. I think it’s simpler than that, a basic association play on words. Twain’s attention = Marx (Mark’s) Meadow. Doesn’t invalidate your theory about the now gone totem pole either.

are you serious. YOU WERE THERE. INVOLVED IN THE CONVERSATION. WHEN I BLOCKED YOU ON FB…DO YOU NOT RECALL THIS? WTF.

anus905

are you serious. YOU WERE THERE. INVOLVED IN THE CONVERSATION. WHEN I BLOCKED YOU ON FB…DO YOU NOT RECALL THIS? WTF.

Dude, maybe you can get another hobby. 80% of your posts are useless, and the other 20% are suspect.

i mean, obviously that was a key moment in your life.

what posts theyve all been deleted lol.

that wasnt even directed at you gman…all my posts are suspect…haha…gimme a break. im the only one who knows what hes doing here. period.

I will agree that Twain had a lot of interest. You could look at it a million ways but if you go with my theory that it is in ggp, then you’re only solution would be the Chinese pavillion. The fact that it’s called the moon viewing pavillion and we have moons all over the painting are to big of indicators for me. You have the stone wall in Shakespeare’s garden which is found in he painting. You have the outline of the park in the woman’s dress. The theme for the painting is china. Too many obvious indicators to look past. I admit until someone finds it it could be anywhere. All I want is someone to go dig the spot I mentioned. One day someone will.

anus905

that wasnt even directed at you gman…all my posts are suspect…haha…gimme a break. im the only one who knows what hes doing here. period.

Josh – make you a deal,
If I dig up the sf casque inside of one month you admit you are totally wrong and drop out of the hunt entirely
or If I don’t dig it up, I will admit you are totally right and I will drop out of the hunt
Matthew Sparks

gManTexas

I think it’s simpler than that, a basic association play on words. Twain’s attention = Marx (Mark’s) Meadow. Doesn’t invalidate your theory about the now gone totem pole either.

Thecollector420

You could look at it a million ways but if you go with my theory that it is in ggp, then you’re only solution would be the Chinese pavillion.

I genuinely hope you convince someone to dig your spot 420. On that note, here is the best tip I can give:
Before one can convince anyone of anything, it strongly helps to learn the back-and-forth of civil discussion, and how to state one’s ideas without ignoring or casually dismissing those of others.

maltedfalcon

Josh – make you a deal,
If I dig up the sf casque inside of one month you admit you are totally wrong and drop out of the hunt entirely
or If I don’t dig it up, I will admit you are totally right and I will drop out of the hunt
Matthew Sparks

So, if you don’t find it within a month, you’re just going to turn JC into even more of an obnoxious egomaniac, then bail?
I gotta say, that’s a good prank, even though it will be on me.

drunknerds

So, if you don’t find it within a month, you’re just going to turn JC into even more of an obnoxious egomaniac, then bail?
I gotta say, that’s a good prank, even though it will be on me.

LOL I plan to be here a long while.

I’m not dismissing anyone. All I’ve said is that I believe this is the correct solution. I used the two previous solves as sources and used all the ino on all te boards to come to my solution. I could have stayed silent but hoping my finds help others.

Unknown

Unknown:
If I dig up the sf casque inside of one month you admit you are totally wrong

Unknown

Unknown:
If I don’t dig it up, I will admit you are totally right

Unknown

Unknown:
I will drop out of the hunt

Ok, but we must assume that you are not digging where Josh thinks it is. Let’s say for arguments sake that is the case. Then…
This statement is absurd, and does not logically follow from what you wrote above. The most likely scenario, based on past experience, is that you are both wrong. But the best of luck to you on your dig.
Yeah. I don’t think so. Not after 35 years.

Euhirudinea

Ok, but we must assume that you are not digging where Josh thinks it is. Let’s say for arguments sake that is the case. Then…
This statement is absurd, and does not logically follow from what you wrote above. The most likely scenario, based on past experience, is that you are both wrong. But the best of luck to you on your dig.
Yeah. I don’t think so. Not after 35 years.

You don’t think I will drop out or you don’t think I will find it?
and my logic totally makes sense, Josh’s claim is that he is correct even though he cannot dig up a casque anywhere. so that is what I would be admitting is totally right.
and josh digs near the Conservatory of Flowers – so no I am not digging there.

Matt,
Just to be clear, I don’t think you will drop out, nor do I think you will subscribe to the belief that an empty hole means the casque is no longer recoverable. More than likely, you will do what you always do when confronted with an unsuccessful dig. You will reassess, rework, and return to dig another day. Of course, that all assumes that your dig is unsuccessful. Which I certainly hope is not the case. I’m just playing the percentages.

Thecollector420

I’m not dismissing anyone.

I found this statement to be dismissive.
Unrelated note: Falcon brings up a great point about steps and cask size. Unless there is an object with a well-defined center, we can’t be sure of finding the cask even if we knew the object to giant step toward and the distance of a giant step. Do we go one big 6-foot-tall human step from the senior center flagpole to Marx Meadow? Well, maybe it’s toward the right side of Marx Meadow, maybe it’s toward the left. Even though that might put us off by a few inches, that’s enough to miss a cask.
Argh! So frustrating

Euhirudinea

Matt,
Just to be clear, I don’t think you will drop out, nor do I think you will subscribe to the belief that an empty hole means the casque is no longer recoverable. More than likely, you will do what you always do when confronted with an unsuccessful dig. You will reassess, rework, and return to dig another day. Of course, that all assumes that your dig is unsuccessful. Which I certainly hope is not the case. I’m just playing the percentages.

Euhirudinea

Matt,
More than likely, you will do what you always do when confronted with an unsuccessful dig. You will reassess, rework, and return to dig another day.

oh c’mon there are several totally logical possibilities here
1 I have discovered I have a fatal tropical disease and have only weeks to live…
2 Drunknerds really pissed me off and I can’t think of a more evil way to get even.
3 I found a totally different hunt and decided to devote all my effort to that one.
4 Josh’s stunning wit and repartee have broken me as a person and I have to leave for my sanity’s sake.
5….
Wait.,
If by reassess, rework and return, you mean Swear and curse the name of Byron Priess, throw my shovel and book ,then decry I could make a better THunt what was he thinking… yes the usual

drunknerds

I found this statement to be dismissive.
Unrelated note: Falcon brings up a great point about steps and cask size. Unless there is an object with a well-defined center, we can’t be sure of finding the cask even if we knew the object to giant step toward and the distance of a giant step. Do we go one big 6-foot-tall human step from the senior center flagpole to Marx Meadow? Well, maybe it’s toward the right side of Marx Meadow, maybe it’s toward the left. Even though that might put us off by a few inches, that’s enough to miss a cask.
Argh! So frustrating

Also why I say this casque will resolve to a 1 inch square.

Whoa.

Unknown

Unknown:
If it helps get you on a plane…

To Europe? No need since Preiss tells us outright in the book that the casques are all in North America. And he “tells” us in the puzzle that the casque associated with Image 1 is most likely in San Francisco, California, so that would be a good place to search for the other things that he also “tells” us. And if you can figure out all those things out, then maybe, just maybe you will find the casque. In San Francisco, California.
But here’s the thing: for the past 10 years or so, nobody who understands the puzzle has seriously suggested that the casque associated with Image 1 is not in California until you did in the original post that I responded to. You are welcome to your opinion of course, but if you want to be taken seriously, then perhaps you can offer something a little more compelling than “depth to horizon”, which I’m pretty sure is not a thing. Otherwise, it looks an awful lot like trolling. Which used to be a thing here, especially for the last year or so, but seems to have subsided.
Perhaps you didn’t get the memo?

maltedfalcon

Remembering people were suggesting the Casque could sell at auction for $50,000
So take a guess, what did this iconic piece of Disney Memorobila sell for yesterday?

This topped out at $30,000

Euhirudinea

Perhaps you didn’t get the memo?

Wait there was a memo? Dammit! (furiously checking inbox….)

Euhirudinea

To Europe? No need since Preiss tells us outright in the book that the casques are all in North America. And he “tells” us in the puzzle that the casque associated with Image 1 is most likely in San Francisco, California, so that would be a good place to search for the other things that he also “tells” us. And if you can figure out all those things out, then maybe, just maybe you will find the casque. In San Francisco, California.
But here’s the thing: for the past 10 years or so, nobody who understands the puzzle has seriously suggested that the casque associated with Image 1 is not in California until you did in the original post that I responded to. You are welcome to your opinion of course, but if you want to be taken seriously, then perhaps you can offer something a little more compelling than “depth to horizon”, which I’m pretty sure is not a thing. Otherwise, it looks an awful lot like trolling. Which used to be a thing here, especially for the last year or so, but seems to have subsided.
Perhaps you didn’t get the memo?

Always the same story straight to the ridicule. I am glad you have it all worked out and have so many tells to take you to the casque location.
I simply made a comment on a new idea and would have expanded on my work except that you have been nothing but an ass in your replys
Enjoy digging your empty holes

maltedfalcon

This topped out at $30,000

Disney so rich they should be donating that stuff, doubtful a banged up ceramic box will top that

Oh the suspense!

mlsinstl

What do you guys think of Justice referring to the painting …

I’d rather it be a word on a plague or a statue of a judge, not something hidden inside a building. I really believe this hunt was meant to play out like a scavenger hunt, not a research project. By that I mean, the clues should be something visible in the field while walking a trail. Ideally, each clue should lead to a spot from which the next clue becomes visible, but I’m not certain that has been the case.

I’d rather it be on a plaque or a statue of a judge too. I searched every monument in Golden Gate Park and there are no monuments to people who were Supreme Court justices. There is another possibility, however – the monument to Ulysses S. Grant near the entrance to the Music Concourse. He founded the Justice Department in 1870. Granted, it’s not an ideal reference. I think you are correct that the reference to “Education and Justice for all to see” is only there to reinforce the link to Golden Gate Park. It is not required for a solution.

and standing under highway 1 there is plenty of noise from the sky…

Bumping this verse up to the top as it has been mentioned in other threads.
To recap where we (I) am at with this…
“At stone wall’s door    The air smells sweet”
No specific place identified
“Not far away  High posts are three
Education and Justice   For all to see”
Tulane, Loyola, and ?  schools (on St Charles street in the Garden Distrct)
“Sounds from the sky  Near Ace is High”
Near ace is  ‘King’, but no specfic place idenitfied
“Running North, but First Across
In Jewel’s Direction
Is an object  Of Twain’s attention”
This is taken to be the MIsissippi river and its Riverboats
“Giant Pole”  see photo
The Liberty Monument was erected on Canal Street
a few blocks from the river and very cloe to Preservation Hall.
http://www.canalstreetcar.com/archives/2004/06/
http://www.canalstreetcar.com/archives/history/
In 1988 it was taken down and moved… you must use this landmark from its
1982 location.
“Giant Step”  still no idea
Concrete blocks surronded the monument to prevent vandals
(read up on this particular history – interesting)
“To the Place The casque is kept”
The Liberty Monument was originally across from Canal Place (park)
I find his use of the therm ‘place’ here to be clever
Between the site of the monuemnt and Canal Place
ru. trolly tracks.  Could the giant step be walking over the tracks?
Have to feel that this casque is most likely lost.
Before the flooding, much revitalization was orccuring in the area.
Found the photo and wanted to share.
I was originally thinking of ‘Liberty Place’ to chain this location into
a possible Boston location.  (free association)

Photo from 1975…
http://www-sal.cs.uiuc.edu/~friedman/canal/Pic273.htm
Of course if that were truly the case, current debates about memorials would not be so acrimonious. Take the case of the New Orleans Liberty Monument, which in 1993 was finally removed from its place on busy Canal Street to a more obscure location. Erected in 1891, the Liberty Monument commemorates the so-called Battle of Liberty Place—an 1874 skirmish between members of the racist White League and an alliance of Republican whites and newly enfranchised African Americans. While the monument included the names of the anti-Reconstruction White Leaguers, it did not until recently include the names of the mostly black militia members who died fighting them. Over the years, various plaques were added to the imposing obelisk alternately affirming or attempting to neutralize the monument’s original message. When the whole structure was temporarily removed in 1989, ostensibly to allow for street repairs, preservationists and civil rights activists engaged in opposing rallies. “Take that sucker out in the Atlantic Ocean and dump it,” demanded a civil rights activist who believed a monument to white supremacy had no place in a city with a majority African-American population. In response to such sentiments Richard Bell, president of the Louisiana Historical Society, told the Christian Science Monitor that “You can’t go around destroying statues and monuments because of the political atmosphere of the day. Where would it end?”

Like another member (treetops back in 2013) I also came across the same book, a sunset pictorial book from 1986. This time, knowing what we know about the Japanese clues it seems to make more sense.
There is a short paragraph that explains about the preserving of the Ghirardelli building and makes mention of “The [Ghirardelli] clock tower houses the studios of a radio station whose call letters are, appropriately, KFOG”. I know the radio station formed in the 1960’s but I’ve not found too much information in regards to the statement in the book. But, being the shape it is (the clock towers A shape) and what it housed, it certainly could fit the “Sounds from the sky Near ace is high” Just thought that was interesting.
Snippet from actual book

BBI,
Excellent find. It feels like the type of obscure reference that BP would make…Just enough “description” to throw people off track
.
AP

Yeah…I was wondering about St Louis and the Mississippi the other day. It does run across then north at one point. One of his books was Life on the Mississippi.
I don’t know how to interpret those lines in any context though; very odd.

Standing at the Betsy Ross Flagpole in front of the Legion of Honor, you would easily see the sculpture of Joan of Arc astride a horse that is “running” (galloping) in northern direction. Twain wrote a book about Joan of Arc which he regarded as his favorite book. Line up the sculpture to where the pole once was and follow that line to the parking lot drop off (giant step) and poke around down there.

been there done that.

dietrologia

Standing at the Betsy Ross Flagpole in front of the Legion of Honor, you would easily see the sculpture of Joan of Arc astride a horse that is “running” (galloping) in northern direction. Twain wrote a book about Joan of Arc which he regarded as his favorite book. Line up the sculpture to where the pole once was and follow that line to the parking lot drop off (giant step) and poke around down there.

you are contradicting yourself, the verse says the casque is in the direction of the object of twains attention

dietrologia

Standing at the Betsy Ross Flagpole in front of the Legion of Honor, you would easily see the sculpture of Joan of Arc astride a horse that is “running” (galloping) in northern direction.

Actually faces northwest.

maltedfalcon

Actually faces northwest.

Right. So, two things:
(1) did Priess know and yet think it was “close enough” or did he simply eyeball it as being north?
(2) does the phrasing indicate a diagonal direction (if the jewel is to the west?)
But yeah, I agree, it’s not very neat and tidy and therefore I’m inclined to believe I’ve got to rethink it.
Running north, but first across
In jewel’s direction
Is an object
Of Twain’s attention

dietrologia

(1) did Priess know and yet think it was “close enough” or did he simply eyeball it as being north?
(2) does the phrasing indicate a diagonal direction (if the jewel is to the west?)
But yeah, I agree, it’s not very neat and tidy and therefore I’m inclined to believe I’ve got to rethink it.
Running north, but first across
In jewel’s direction
Is an object
Of Twain’s attention

Im sure he had a compass with him.
well actually I’m pretty sure I have it solved. and it fits all the requirements nicely,
Mind you I have been working on it since the book was published.
looking forward to digging as soon as they let me.

I don’t think it is a direction to the reader…I think it is a description of something….
Something that runs and is also an object of Twain’s attention…my first guess would be a river.

isnt that kind of ignoring the verse?

much Angst here. I have contacted the SF Parks and Rec Dept and asked them about the Giant Pole and
No response yet (of course it is a holiday) but I also contacted a historical society and they said
“No one knows when it was removed or what happened to it.”
Again I have got a picture of the areas from the 30’s and it is there
I have a picture of the area from the 90s and it is not.
and I have a picture that just from the coloring was taken anytime between the 60s and the 90s and it is not.
I am quite bummed.
This is a perfect example of the kind of information that is just not on the internet anywhere.

maltedfalcon

much Angst here. I have contacted the SF Parks and Rec Dept and asked them about the Giant Pole and
No response yet (of course it is a holiday) but I also contacted a historical society and they said
“No one knows when it was removed or what happened to it.”
Again I have got a picture of the areas from the 30’s and it is there
I have a picture of the area from the 90s and it is not.
and I have a picture that just from the coloring was taken anytime between the 60s and the 90s and it is not.
I am quite bummed.
This is a perfect example of the kind of information that is just not on the internet anywhere.

Well, there is still some info available. Try google with ‘dudley carter goddess of the forest’ and there’s
a pdf (WAG_96_schniewind.pdf) with some details.  Also, I see a page by Gary Trent who claims Carter
was his great uncle and there’s a picture of the sculpture in GG park circa 1975.  The caption for the photo says:
“The Goddess of the Forest in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, circa 1975.
Its original height was roughly equal to that of a three-story house with a flat roof.
Carter had specified that the sculpture be set on blocks to provide for air circulation at the base.
However, it was set squarely on a concrete pedestal, This allowed rain water to collect at the base making ideal
conditions for decay. Dudley Carter inspected the Goddess in 1983 and foundextensive decay,
In the spring of 1991 the sculpture was moved into the lobby of the
Little Theater in front of the Diego Rivera mural, where it was placed
flat on its back so that work could begin on the repair.”

All that being said,
There is nothing that ties the verse concretely to San Francisco.
Like I’ve said before, this verse is generic enough to fit all kinds of places.
For instance. in Montreal, Just up the hill from the legeater, is Redpath lane.
Redpath is the name of the sugar magnate in that area of Canada, just like spreckles is in California.
on the hill above Redpath Lane Mount Royal, is a huge 3 spired antenna just like sutro tower…
and there were a bunch of other similarities.
I’m afraid without a casque found in SF, we still have to consider this verse other places.
I just cant find any other verse that fits Lincoln park.
I wish we could figure out the methodology for associating verse with image, that would be a huge leap forward.
I hate to think its just random.

I hate anagrams as much as the next guy…yeah that guy.

As much as this will be disliked, I’m just finding an anagram of an acrostic a possibilty since there are some multiple double letters grouped together similar to where ‘SSS’ appears before ‘ELOY’ in verse 5.
FIRST GO NINTH GATE

I love anagrams. I just made “Gnomes admire” into “Lampooner aids” by switching “gem” for “opal” – clearly a reference to Montrealer Sean Kelly.  😉

WhiteRabbit

… by switching “gem” for “opal”

This post just made me laugh so hard my gum came out. I think the psychometrician in the office next to me heard me choking. You need to quit giving erexere such a hard time, WR

The first line doesn’t seem as direct as those which follow.  The strongest markers would seem to be giant pole and giant step.  Stonewalls door seems like a good direct reference, but I’m more inclined by its position in the verse to think its generalized to a large area.  What kind of door is in a stone wall?  Seems any style door would do, a gateway or archway can also fit.  Given the Lat/Long we are left with the question of what kinds of doors are associated with the general area of San Francisco?  This may be the edge where things arbitrary transition to a very specific detail (call it step 3), which I think must be the Japanese Tea Garden.  Step 3 in Chicago was the Water Tower, in Cleveland the columns of the Greek Cultural Gardens, both the largest picture element of the image.  Steps 1 and 2 are more about pairing the first line from verse and Lat/Long from image to assert a general location.  The shape of a state or a prominent visual feature like a water tower or “giant tree like” feature is what puts us on the fairfolks trail.  Is there a preferable “gate” element to the general area of San Francisco?  GoldenGATE?  I think we have to look at where a road along the path of Tea Garden path takes us.

erexere

, which I think must be the Japanese Tea Garden.  Step 3 in Chicago was the Water Tower, in Cleveland the columns of the Greek Cultural Gardens, both the largest picture element of the image.

how possibly do you get the Japanese Tea Garden.
1. The theme of the image is chinese not japanese
2. The largest element in the image is Golden Gate Park
3. The second largest element in the image is the Lincoln park parking lot.
4. Equating gate and door is a stretch unless you use the barred window image to match to the gate of the palace of fine arts.
5. Sure the tea garden is in GGpark but so are hundreds of other features. why choose the tea garden over them. There is no reason to.
I don’t understand your last two statements at all, your leap to looking for a gate is illogical by your logic you should be looking for a door and then you want to look along the path of the the tea garden, when demonstrably the tea garden has nothing to do with this search.