At a distance in time
https://youtu.be/Wp20Sc8qPeo

Unknown

Unknown:
As you walk the beating of the world
At a distance in time
At a distance in space
Ascend the 92 steps
After climbing the grand 200
Pass the compass and reach
Walk 100 paces

I want to comment on these lines in the verse which bring attention to the words “walk”, “at a distance”, “ascend”, and “compass”. I think the justification for using these words might be to convey the use of tools on a map. Obviously the compass is such a tool, though it could be thought of in at least four different ways: a magnetic or directional compass, a divider tool having two “legs” used to measure a course plotting with precise distance measures on a map, a mark on the map itself usually a “compass” or “wind” rose, and the figurative use such as the “Northpoint” Lighthouse. Of these, my favorite is the divider. It is a tool which is physically moved (passed) over a map by “walking”. I’ve watched several instructional videos now and looked at written resources and every single time the word “walk” is used to instruct a person to move a compass or parallel ruler over a map. That brings me to the use of a parallel ruler. I realize that in the case of a ruler, in the sense of a leader of a country, such as a king, often utilizes the word “ascend”, basically meaning the top position where one ascends or climbs to that position by right or deposing their predecessor. “At a distance” are words which may be used to describe something extended, or protracted, a protractor being another map tool.
Another line comes to mind, “you’ll see a letter from the country,” may be that letter “G” for Germany that many people have conjectured, is it possibly the G that sits below a mason’s compass and above a square angle ruler?
Doesn’t the letter G in the Mason’s symbol stands for God, and not G-ermany? There is that open compound word “God’s country”, with the definition of a place beyond the frontier, away from civilization, which might be another justification to go a few miles distance from the inner city area of downtown MKE. There’s certainly an architectural element to the puzzle given the “three stories of Mitchell” and climbing of steps.
Anyway, I’m definitely feeling inclined to see that a compass and ruler are put to use on a map and I think the distance to be measured is approx 3 miles. I think the location of either City Hall or the Mitchell Building/Wisconsin Club is an anchoring point on a map.

Kalessin

the capital G in Germany. The masonic G that’s inside the compasses on the lampposts around the Grand Staircase.
No deep dive required.

I’d agree with this except nobody has proven the compass(G) plate covers were there in 82
I’ve heard actually the opposite, when researching them it turned out they were added later during a retrofit of the lamps and wiring.
I.e the masons sponsored the retrofit…
I would love it if it turned out they were there. but I dont think that is the case

Hm. Unfortunately, without photo confirmation of the plates in 1981, there’s no confirmation (and I thought someone had confirmed that they are there … hard to hold the entire body of knowledge, theory and wackyness found here in q4t and elsewhere on the internet).
But I’d still say that the “wonderstone” in the verse references “wonderstone” in The Tale Simply Told and the Litany of the Jewels.

Kalessin

Hm. Unfortunately, without photo confirmation of the plates in 1981, there’s no confirmation (and I thought someone had confirmed that they are there … hard to hold the entire body of knowledge, theory and wackyness found here in q4t and elsewhere on the internet).
But I’d still say that the “wonderstone” in the verse references “wonderstone” in The Tale Simply Told and the Litany of the Jewels.

never been one for thinking there were any clues in the rest of the book.
I think that BP as editor might have changed a word here and there. but I don’t think any of it is useful as clues.

Kalessin

Hm. Unfortunately, without photo confirmation of the plates in 1981, there’s no confirmation (and I thought someone had confirmed that they are there ..

hang on I will check.

(I don’t think I’ve seen this proposed meaning of these lines in this 160-page thread…)
“You’ll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone’s hearth”
In “The Secret” book, on page 7 (the page number is cut off in the “OCR” PDF version of the book, it’s the second page of “The Tale Simply Told”), and again on page 30, the fair folk’s treasures, the gemstones, are defined as “wonderstones”.
In The Litany of the Jewels, the wonderstone of Germany is amethyst. The jewel in Image 10, which is already very strongly associated with Verse 8, is amethyst.
Guessing that Byron Preiss used the common phrase “hearth and home” for a substitution, the “letter from the country of the wonderstone’s home” that you can see after climbing the 92 steps very well might be… the capital G in Germany. The masonic G that’s inside the compasses on the lampposts around the Grand Staircase.
No deep dive required.

Kalessin

(I don’t think I’ve seen this proposed meaning of these lines in this 160-page thread…)
“You’ll see a letter from the country
Of wonderstone’s hearth”
In “The Secret” book, on page 7 (the page number is cut off in the “OCR” PDF version of the book, it’s the second page of “The Tale Simply Told”), and again on page 30, the fair folk’s treasures, the gemstones, are defined as “wonderstones”.
In The Litany of the Jewels, the wonderstone of Germany is amethyst. The jewel in Image 10, which is already very strongly associated with Verse 8, is amethyst.
Guessing that Byron Preiss used the common phrase “hearth and home” for a substitution, the “letter from the country of the wonderstone’s home” that you can see after climbing the 92 steps very well might be… the capital G in Germany. The masonic G that’s inside the compasses on the lampposts around the Grand Staircase.
No deep dive required.

the only thing is youre not right lol. wonderstone is from SOUTH AFRICA. so the letterS are S and A, that is a reference (hint) to the compass clue in that puzzle. but the answer to the verse clue is definitely SA.

btw dont listen to malted he has no idea whats going on.

maltedfalcon

never been one for thinking there were any clues in the rest of the book.
I think that BP as editor might have changed a word here and there. but I don’t think any of it is useful as clues.

I think that there’s some clue information in there, and a whole lot of storytelling fluff. There’s also a number of bits and pieces of illustration that show up slightly altered in the JJP paintings.

no youre not. google it. that is beyond an absurd statement i just told you what both mean. i know what im doing. you dont have to trust me, but that would be a mistake on your part. not mine.

JoshCornell

the only thing is youre not right lol. wonderstone is from SOUTH AFRICA. so the letterS are S and A, that is a reference (hint) to the compass clue in that puzzle. but the answer to the verse clue is definitely SA.

Josh, since neither of us has the Image 10/Verse 8 casque in hand, I’m as right about the clues as you are.

you know i know where it is right? i mean, ive already told everyone the location and everything. its just a matter of getting there, which i dont plan nor care to do really. im giving you the answer. reject it at your own peril…
btw youre definitely not as right as i am, cause i know what im doing…you clearly dont. no offense. it is what it is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrophyllite

read it and weap gg, ya little biznatch

JoshCornell

the only thing is youre not right lol. wonderstone is from SOUTH AFRICA. so the letterS are S and A, that is a reference (hint) to the compass clue in that puzzle. but the answer to the verse clue is definitely SA.

Which sounds more like the defining part of a clue:
(1) A reference to “wonderstones” as the Fair Folk name for the jewels in the section that talks about the Fair Folk countries of origin, and a verse reference to “wonderstone’s country” , all in the pages of the same book, The Secret.
(2) A reference to “wonderstone” in South Africa found via google (which didn’t exist when the puzzles were created, but one could of course use a library), which is also found in other places like Namibia and the USA (Utah, California, and Nevada).
Josh, since neither of us has the Image 10/Verse 8 casque in hand, I’m as right about the clues as you are.

JoshCornell

btw youre definitely not as right as i am…..

JoshCornell

reject it at your own peril…

Yeah. “I’m right, you’re wrong.”
Nyah, nyah, nyah….pbbbbbbppptttt.
=P
O_o

look dude. if you get it you get it, if you dont you just dont. do you think your shit talking hurts me? it doesnt phase me in the slightest, though i will defend myself so that your attempts to smear me to others are checked
anyways. there are two countries that have more than one word that produce wonderstone USA and SA…both have SA. however, to get to that damn point in the puzzle…you will have had to made the reading of an earlier clue via a marketing reading of the verse clue (to get you to Kenwood) you learn about this (are hinted towards) the reading of this clue when you visit the italian renaissance house built by adler which has a set of VERY CLOSE to 92 stairs (i couldnt bw 82-96 based on which sets you include)…you know its a staircase cause you would have already learned about the grand staircase in the mitchell mansion (now wisconsin club and adorned with lions), which you are taken to via the awning in the cape and first verse clue. in this museum there is a section about the advertising campaigns used by the family who lived there. therefore we know we are to read the clue in a marketing sense. and thus, it applies to the wonderstone marketed for sculptures, particularly, coming from south africa. therfore we are looking for an S or an A. (if you make wrong reading you see A on ground…there is both an S and A on the ground in the location and an A up on the building…)
it’s not rocket science… (wait…sometimes it actually is…XD…)…

My goodness… what about Namibian wonderstone? Namibia also being in Africa and everything…

Clearly a ref to this, via a clue from Hollywood/LA that I just recently broke. So good.
^does a little dance^

see prev post i covered that.

JoshCornell

in this museum there is a section about the advertising campaigns used by the family who lived there. therefore we know we are to read the clue in a marketing sense.

because we all know Museums never update/change / add or remove sections. we can assume that this obscure section was there at the time and included as an important clue by BP.

Careful guys.
He’s right, you’re wrong and posting anything to the contrary places you in….
PeRrRRrrRiL! ! !.
*cue ominous music*
Dunn-dun-duuuuuunnnn!

JoshCornell

see prev post i covered that.

The verse also says “A letter from the country” not “Two letters” or “More than one letter” or whatever.

animal_painter,
i love reading all your research and pictures for the park.  sorry i have not had any input, i just got stuck, it seemed it had to be the lion bridges.
plus, not having much time anymore, it’s hard to focus on one image or verse.  and somehow i miss some posts even when i think i’ve caught up
going over the verse again i think we all agree up to “after climbing the grand 200”
then it gets murky.
the part “southeast over rock and soil” makes me think of the indian mounds, but that would be going opposite of the lion bridges. but then “pass the compass” could mean “circle around”………..i think
but maybe that is for “the meadow” or the “golf course”, except i don’t think of rocks being in meadows…
synonyms for meadow are:  greens, range, field
which makes me think of the bowling greens and the greens on the golf course.
isn’t one of the girl scout markers near there? maybe it’s just the 5th tree from the bowling greens or golf course.
the only other thing i’ve thought about is in the cloak, that could be the lighthouse on the far right, not sure what that dark indention is meant to portray….but now boogieman has me seeing letters in the cloak like in image 12
just for laughs…when i say rock and soil several times, i think of rock and roll….music, don’t they have concerts in the meadow?

I’ve been thinking about this verse and can’t get the woman and the harpsichord out of my head so I will take another stab at an interpretation.  I think the woman and the harpsichord are different clues.
View the three stories of Mitchell
The Mitchell Hall building at the corner of Downer and Kenwood Blvd.
As you walk the beating of the world
A reference to the synagogue that was across the street from Mitchell Hall.
At a distance in time
From three who lived there
A reference to N. Downer Ave., N. Hackett Ave., and N. Sheppard Ave which were all named for people who lived in Milwaukee and which cross Kenwood Blvd.
At a distance in space
From woman,
I think this just refers to the last street (Marietta Ave.) you have to cross before you get to Lake Park.  So as you view Mitchell Hall you have to pass 3 streets (named for people who lived in Milwaukee) that are a temporal distance from you and one street (named for a woman) that is a spatial distance from you.
This doesn’t help us locate the casque but I think it narrows down the location where we might find the silent harpsichord.  As all the clues(as far as we know) are in order it would put the harpsichord somewhere between Marietta Ave and the Grand Staircase.  And as I think the next lines go together I think the silent harpsichord will be in the park.
with harpsichord
Silently playing
Step on nature
Cast in copper
One should enter the park (step on nature) on LMD (cast in copper) while looking for a silent harpsichord
Anyway just a thought….

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

Great armchair-treasure-hunting….
Love the painting….It keeps us right in the Lake Park vicinity.
AP

Here are a couple of pics that I don’t know if they have been posted here, but I thought they might help. I can’t remember where I picked them up from. The first is a map the old girl scout trail around the lighthouse at the time (I also have one plotting all the Girl Scout signs on the trees along the path), the second is what I had always considered the 100 paces:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/r8drl8p4tl910cx/2638187808_d3c74426a0.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ewbdvyx2x0jq25u/100%20paces%20sign.png?dl=0

How would the Bridge and Culvert fit in to this location?

I dont know.

There should be a beer reference somewhere in this Milwaukee puzz.
Edit: for the record, I think the “4-trunk tree” shape in the cloak is actually the wrinkled boot on the statue of Kosciuszko in connection with a tall tale theme about lifting yourself up by your boot straps which would explain hopping from place to place around the city.
Doubledit: I also cant help thinking of distance in space and time as a nod to Time Bandits.

Saw this today….
Interesting….
http://www.mediafire.com/view/zprzxonkd68s3d4/dig.jpg

decibalnyc,
A couple of your questions can be answered…
The verse says to “pass the compass”.
About 10 years ago, the North Point Lighthouse was
completely renovated and remodeled. This
included the grounds and parking area.
Before the updating, there was a walkway
around the North side of the lighthouse.
If you walked on the pavement from the golf course
parking lot, along the edge of the golf course, over
the North Lion Bridge…you could bear right when
you reached the area between the two Lion Bridges
and take the walkway around the back of the
lighthouse and “pass” it on its North side…
until you reached N Wahl Ave.
That is where you enter the North Ravine.
This is the beginning or “foot” of the ravine.
You can call it a culvert because it is a trough
that passes under a railway or bridge.
As for the significance of the use of the words
“over rock and soil”…
There is a trail under each Lion Bridge.
The South Ravine trail steps are created
using wooden timbers and dirt.
The North Ravine trail steps are created
using rocks and dirt.
This would mean that you are taking the
100 paces under the bridge in the
North Ravine.
Hope this helps clarify some of the verse.
AP

Hey I know that tree!

I can’t really see ‘foot’ as ‘top’. But…are you saying the 100 paces start from the top…?

WhiteRabbit,
I can see the “foot of a hill” or the “foot of a tree” as being
the outside edge or the beginning of the object.
If you wanted to, you could go directly to the low part of
the ravine (precariously making your way down the sloping side)
as you just pass the lighthouse. Then the word “foot” could mean
“the low point” of the culvert. Either way, you would still find
yourself in the ravine…making your way to “below the bridge”.
Taking the trail is safer.
As for the 100 paces…
We are told to start counting them from “below the bridge”.
Those paces appear to take us to the end of the ravine.
AP

Ah, OK. Cheers. I thought 100 paces from the bridge was said to take you across the road though…?

We can’t yet be certain which compass is being passed, or which sense to utilize the word “pass”.
By walking, I could pass by a place that is named North Point Lighthouse, which entertains the notion that a compass is something that points north.
I could simply transfer an object, like a directional compass or a draft compass from my hand to your hand, which you can then use to find a heading or draw a circle on a map.

I’ve really been researching a lot of things tonight…here is what I am having hangups on with the Lake Park solution…not only the original dig site which I took a picture near today, but also shadowrunner’s revised version.
Original Dig
This is assuming BP considered a culvert to be a natural made ditch…really a culvert is something that diverts water underneath land like a pipe under a road…so in essence a bridge could be the land over the drainage, but lets assume he meant what we all take him to mean in this scenario which is the ditch that runs under the 2nd lions bridge past the lighthouse….which incidentally is where I was able to notice the drain and the newly dug up hole as well as the wooden foot bridge below. From the drain by the dig site (lowest spot), 100 paces southeast puts you across LMD…examining this more and I know anyone who has been through this has been at this point many times….
Pass the compass and reach – North Point is the only thing I can attribute to this, but what about “reach” ? How do you pass the compass…because you can go around it 2?
The foot of the culvert – which one, lets assume the one south of the light house
Below the bridge – which one? lets assume the southern one
Walk 100 paces – OK
over rock and soil – why the significance of this line? why is he telling us this, it must be important…is there 2 ways to walk?
To the first young birch – problem is you come this way by not the first young birch, but the largest cottonwood…even though we assumed that BP didn’t know his trees…it still puts you in the wrong spot.
If you were to come out on the path with the stairs by the benches then that largest tree by the ditch would be the 5th, but there is no “letter from the country” on the 5th, I don’t think BP would have considered a knothole that kinda looks like a D a letter…is there any other case of this? Granted I have always thought that tree matched the cape, and the foot sorta looks like the picture…but I stood in that spot for 30 minutes today just looking at the picture and EVERYTHING I could see from that location and it just doesn’t click…taking into consideration the time that has passed, I just don’t see enough overwhelming evidence…I see 1 maybe 2 similarities to the picture, but the chest pattern isn’t anywhere, nothing else in the picture resembles anything in that spot except the pattern on the cape foot and the tree… you can see the hoan bridge from there, but that’s about it.
With shadowriders theory, well you don’t pass the compass, unless there is another compass we missed…but he found some birch trees!
One thing I will say about the cape image…there are what looks like 4 trees in a cluster, or 3 trees with a streetlamp in the distance….these trees appear to be numbered by horizontal lines in them…2, 3, and 4….are these the “Pass Three”?
Also the pattern on the neck bothers me, and it always has…that design is on the Pabst Theater yet I haven’t seen it anywhere else, not on lattice work or bridges….with the city hall image, was it also necessary to invoke the Pabst (and by the way, there’s your beer reference)?
When I stand at Juneau Park, there is at least a solid 100% visual clue, but to get from the north point lighthouse to there is quite a haul and leaves a big gap in the verse…and right when it seems you are getting close…still hard to ignore. Other than the large cottonwood tree looking similar to the cape foot, what else is there. The cape shoulder trees are found just about everywhere along lake park…to see a 3 branch or 3 trunk tree growing at that angle, next to a pair like seen in the illustration is so common I thought I saw that layout several times today. I believe there were some more obvious markers at the dig spot for Cleveland and Chicago.
The only thing I can think of is re-interpret the verse even more literal. Again, just brainstorming here…but lets start with the first word…
VIEW – to look at something
Three Stories….is this a building…. or a book or a collection of facts about the Mitchell family?
Thinking downtown as this is where city hall and the Pabst Theater is…other than the grand avenue mall (which I agree has a compass and a staircase with 92 steps and is located at 200 Wisconsin or Grand Aveune) what else could be considered the Grand 200…I just don’t see it….also what I can’t believe is that the plaque on the Juneau Statue and the match to the hand and head of the P10 is a coincidence…also that he is a Leo the 5th sign of the zodiac and the statue is one of the tallest on the lakefront…but even to reverse engineer it…there has to be a bridge near that has a culvert.
I have lived here for a long time and just can’t see how it wouldn’t mean the grand staircase, but again…back to the argument of either BP knew his trees or he didn’t.
I’ll be glad when I can get the GPR on all of the suspected spots and start ruling them out one by one.

I think BP found the 200 Grand Avenue site of the Plankington Arcade and then discovered that he could set a compass to 200 degrees (while setting the 0/360 to true North) and drawing a line at the center of those stairs takes you within 100 paces of the NW corner of Kosciuszko Park.
You can argue that this is just wrong and any other option is more favorable, or you can say it’s too complicated because it requires compass manipulation and the use of a standard city map, or you can simply say it’s cool to pick the address of 200 and Grand Ave, and discover you can also set a compass to 200 degrees for a directional heading.
The 100 paces of rock and soil then must be the SE diagonal heading over the playfield of the Kosciuszko Montessori school. It’s a raised grade playfield and according to code standards of landscape construction, of which I’ve reviewed only in a general fashion and have no idea how these have changed over the years, and such standards include specifications of laying rock aggregate of a certain size and layer thickness, grading (to level it out), and then follow that with a layer of soil also of certain specifications like percentage of clay, loam, and organic material which again is graded and seeded. I think a playfield works great as a literal representation of “over rock and soil”.

digger7, how long has that lighthouse sign that says it used to be “100” feet away been there? i think that’s to let you know you’re going the right way. ‘m liking the lion’s bridge, behind the 5th rail,

Perhaps a “letter from the country” implies a STAMP of sorts.  In a different sense, what kind of things are known to “stamp”?  Would that pertain to any kind of animal or just ones with hooves?  I’m thinking of the word “stampede” as in a cattle stampede.
Does this look like a possibility?
The Kosciuszko Equestrian Statue off of Lincoln Ave which I believe makes a good case for a “Proud tall fifth” as he is a 1-star General (Generals may have up to 5-stars, and so 1/5 = fifth)

“Letter from the country” could imply stamp,
yet it could also imply post, postal, envelope, stationary /stationery , address, RFD, rural, Mail/male and a myriad of other words.
before you fixate on stamp, explain what clue in the verse or image, indicates that word as opposed to any of the others.

I still have some problems to work out with the juggled verse.
I’m thinking back to street names.  If “beating of the whirled” is Kenwood, then we shouldn’t expect any of the lines to behave any differently.  “Southeast over rock and soil” might be Water which typically flows over such material as rock and soil.  “At a distance” could be the word Prospect which means “to look at a distance”.  Lots of possibilities still need to be considered.
Cast on copper, might not connect with Lincoln Memorial Drive but with Lincoln Avenue instead.
Step on nature, the Oakleaf trail runs along the Lake Park to Downtown route already.  It doesn’t make sense to call attention to both if they both parallel each other.

I don’t know the area well enough to really have a good opinion.
But I have seen that in  the two found casques the verses were completely linear
starting from the iconic image and ending at the casque.
While I havent found the casque in SF, using this methodology alone, helped me discover the lincoln park site, that I am sure holds or held the SF casque at one time. Assuming the verse was linear got me further along than I had been for many many years.
So by starting at city hall in the view from image and head toward the east. the point where you cross from urban to park, fits perfectly “Step on nature” So Id feel resonably confident that this verse also is linear.

What do folks think of this attempt to juggle the verse?  I start on Kenwood, see Mitchell Hall, take Lincoln to the Grand Stair, ascend, walk 100 paces southeast to the parking lot that puts you on Oakleaf trail (step onto nature) pass the lighthouse, the bridge and the culvert (while not exactly climbing down into the ravine, just peering down to see it) and then *poof* At a distance in time and space…find Cityhall, continue southeast to Kosy Park, find the birches, and then find the tree that matches the outline in the cape, it’s along the edge of the street near St. Josephat.  Perhaps there’s a woman and harpsichord organ associated with that church.
Maybe the line “southeast over rock and soil” follows the line “Below the bridge” instead.

Wonderstone… I wonder… could this be a literary reference from an author who writings shared similar topics?
Walter de la Mare (1873–1956)
English poet and writer.
“All de la Mare’s short stories and longer prose works are touched with mystery, if not fantasy. The two recurrent themes are the child’s vision of the world, and death; the usual setting is an unspecified candle‐lit, horse‐drawn age; houses are old, many‐roomed and have secrets. The characters often seem to have strayed from another world, or to be in close contact with it, and many of his stories touch on ghostly visitations. Though his verse
often deals with conventional fairy matters—witches on broomsticks, fairy dancers, elves, will‐o’‐the‐wisps,
he is far more oblique in his fiction.”
In 1910 Walter de la Mare wrote The Three Mulla‐Mullgars.
“The Three Mulla‐Mullgars is the story of
a spiritual quest
, from life to death. The three little monkeys set out to find the Valleys of
Tishnar
, the kingdom from which their father had originally come and for which he has departed. Nod, the folkloristic youngest son, who is also the leader, is entrusted with the talismanic
Wonderstone
. In the
journey ‘beyond and beyond, forest and river, forest, swamp and river, the mountains of Arakkkabao—leagues and leagues’
they encounter strange and wonderful animals, among them the spirit of evil, the menacing Immanala—‘she who preys across the shadows’, and survive terrifying perils, including the loss of the Wonderstone, wheedled from Nod by a seductive Water Maiden. Though the last few pages are anticlimactic, even weak compared to what has gone before, it is the most magical and original of all de la Mare’s stories.”

Elisabeth Chojnacka is amazing at harpsichord.

The architecture of the Bank at 10th and Mitchell is very interesting.  I think its a candidate for the line about a culvert.

No problem.  I have only ever been there for football games, concerts, and the State Fair, so it was fun to walk around while the place was empty.  I’m glad you like the pics.  FWIW, I used an inexpensive Sony digital camera.  Don’t give up!

At a distance in time
I still favor the word “prospect” as a swap for “at a distance”.  The word’s “in time” could take on a literal meaning such as the Clock Tower Acres where you would take 2nd street which actually passes through the building that’s built over the roadway.  The result is literally traveling into “time” and then out of “time” as you pass through that threshold.
Time could also be less to do with a clock and more to do with a period or interval.  Perhaps a bank, a place that operates primarily on the basis of giving loans, which are repaid over time.
If the preceding or following line could give hint to a bank, then I’d be more into that perspective.

At a distance in time,
At a distance in space,
Some distance along “second” street, passing through the Clock Tower Acres.  An Acre is a measure of space.
Im a bit hazy on the particulars with how this journey starts in Lake Park and gets to W. Lincoln Ave., but thats what I’m tying to figure out.

I just want to rehash some things about this verse. Being that there are multiple theories about the “Starting Point” if it is even a linear puzzle, and since Siskel and Egbert have told us that the verse will take you directly to the spot, I think we should go over this verse one more time. I just want to break this down to non specific terms and though this might seem redundant, I think it might open up some new thinking.
We already have a solid theory put forth and tested by Forest, Pine and AP and others back in 2006 at Lake Park. I also have a downtown suspicion, and others have a Kozy park theory. No one has found anything solid yet. Some very good theories, a set of stairs, a good BP representation of the Compass, and a cottonwood tree which closely matches the image aren’t discounted, maybe the dig was off a bit, but I’ve seen the pictures, that was a LARGE excavation. LP is the most accepted theory, but if we were to re-examine it…
Keeping in mind what we know now about methodology, it wouldn’t hurt to go over the verse once again. I have a new theory and what I feel might be the key to lock in some kind of starting area for locating the right bridge. This came to me over an August 1980 expo on Milwaukee in National Geographic Magazine. Consider the popularity of Nat Geo magazine in the late 70’s and 80’s. I suspect BP as well as many other Americans read this article. It was a cover story, a 22 page expose on the city, origins, history, etc… It gave a specific breakdown of the 3 settlements from the early 1800’s that eventually formed the city of Milwaukee (at a distance in time from 3 who lived there) Kilbourn, Juneau, and Walker. The article also provides this map.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o3hgraotizg95ie/map.png?dl=0
Reading more, the article also tells of the 3 brewery moguls Pabst, Schlitz, and Miller. I feel this line, as WELL as the line “View the three stories of Mitchell” may only signify Milwaukee, enough for you to match the image with the verse. The Mitchell Gardens (or Domes) as they are known as, was a top tourist attraction through the 70’s and 80’s with a rich history.
View the 3 stories of Mitchell – This seems like it’s referencing a starting point, but perhaps it’s only to signify Milwaukee – enough for you to match the verse and image.
The line “As you walk the beating of the world”, seems to signify a street…Wells or Kenwood or maybe something else.
I am somewhat convinced that due to the history of the city, the lines
“At a distance in time from three who lived there”
are a reference to the same information in the Nat Geo article, referring to the founders of the city.
If this is narrowing the area down it would be the walkers point / downtown / points east area
That leaves us with
At a distance in space – From woman – With harpsichord silently playing
After this the instructions start to become more direct.
So WHAT IF, the above line about the woman is narrowing the area down a little bit more. The best and really the ONLY idea’s anyone has had about this line so far are citing a possible painting hanging in the Hotel Wisconsin, and Marietta Robusti as a very obscure reference to Marietta St. near lake park. I thought as the Pabst Theater was known as “The Grand Old Lady” and had a Lire (resembling a harp) on top, it was also a contender. None of these idea’s, even my own, seems correct. Does anyone have any thoughts on this line other than what has been discussed previously? It could allude to an area of town, a street, landmark, or anything else. It seems to be the last of the vague clues on this verse, and no one has really had anything solid on it for 10 years.
As discussed in the methodology forum, and as many of us agree that the first part of the verse gets you to a starting point, and the last part kind of zero’s in on the exact spot…could we apply some thinking to this line, in those regards? I know the area’s of the city fairly well since the 80’s… AP also has extensive history here. I think we’d be happy to answer any questions about parts of town or landmarks etc…
So any idea’s about that line?

Also I don’t know if this has been brought up, there is a statue in Cathedral Square Park, just off Wells and Jefferson across from the fountain is the Immigrant Mother statue, which bears some resemblance to the image in how the hood angles to the left at the bottom. Ironically this statue was made by Ivan Mestrovic, the same creator of the Spearman and the Bowman in Chicago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigrant_ … ulpture%29

I caught that connection in sculptor work, but I couldnt bring myself to bend the verse that far.
When I get down to it, Id like to make sense out of each individual piece as a thing selected by that particular Fair Folk for its purpose in representing their appeal for each jewel. In Milwaukee I am concerned mostly with qualities of the amethyst, which is rectangular, purplish, imperial and star. I think the dwarves liked beer, exploration, and militarism. They liked HG Wells story telling. They blended in with the culture brought by the city founders. They admired City Hall from nearby Pabst Theater. They admired the statues of Generals.

And they liked wonderstone…a beautiful mineral when tumble polished.

The likelyhood that a worker found the casque is very likely. They would not know what it was and keep it or sell it to an antique dealer. One way to find this is out is either us or the park manager send an e-mail to all the construction companies that put up the wall explaining the situation and asking them to see if anyone that worked on the project found the casque. Another area to exsplore is former park managers they have likely gone through several sence the time the wall was constructed. If a worker did find the casque they may have showen it to the park manager who let them keep it.
Another possibility if you could find someone that had the technology is to use ground penatrateing rader on the concrete to see what can be found. You may be able to talk the park into letting you jackhammer up a small amount of concrete if you know something definate and agree to put it back at your exspence.

Cost to rent jackhammer, air compressor and hose, plus $150.00 deposit:
$254.00
Cost of  3 yards replacement concrete, at $65/square yard:
$195.00
Cost of citation from city when you jackhammer up a piece of a public park:
$1000.00
Finding out you had the wrong location for a prize worth no more than $100 in the first place:
Priceless.
(LOL…all in fun, folks!)

Nice work…I think the 2 best finds would be the neck image by UWM….I would verify that it existed in 1982, and the 92 stairs at the library…unfortunately that doesn’t explain “The Grand 200” just yet, but there are a set of eagles on the outside of the library that might come into play.
That might be a reach for the compass at city hall…it does look as if it’s pointing NSEW, but the only if you know your bearings…also even though there is a 92 step spiral staircase leading to the observation deck in city hall where you find the Juneau bell, I still have my concerns about him taking us indoors….so far the strangest place he’s taken us is on a ferry boat.
All good observations, possibly the answer to your rebus question is this…
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ogf5x6n18c9ip … K.png?dl=0

Also it should be mentioned the oval track is a 1/5 mile track not a standard 1/4 mile.

After a long hiatus, I am back in the game.
I haven’t even touched the message boards here since the end of summer when grad school started. I wanted to concentrate on school, and not get to caught up in the hunt. That said, since I am on winter break, I got the itch and caught up on the 25+ pages I missed on on verse 8 and Image 10. While I’ve been gone, it looks like my Wisconsin Club discovery picked up some traction. I am really glad about this as I feel this is one of the most solid leads that anyone on the boards has found yet. A big thanks to lengrano for giving it the bump it needed and building a really solid theory around it.
Before I get to all of those pages of posts, I also want to give my friend J_Galt a shout since he has gone location scouting with me a few times now and we have formed somewhat of a team. Also decibalnyc gets a lot of my admiration for a ton of creative problem solving with this puzzle and getting the ball rolling on using GPR in some of the suspected dig sites. Likewise, erexere – keep spinning those wheels, you’re our way outside the box thinker and you have certainly inspired a theory or two of mine thus far. Also, if otteriffic is still out their someplace, thanks for driving in from Madison and confirming some of the things I was seeing. Lastly – a big thanks to crashdome for suggesting we all take a look at some older maps at
http://county.milwaukee.gov/mclio/geodata/imagery.html
. This was a huge help in confirming what things looked like 30 or so years back.
All this being said there are new things I have noticed while reviewing all of those posts. I’m not sure that I have a decisive theory, but a bunch of little revelations that might help push this hunt forward. So without further ado;
———————————————————————————————-
RANDOM:
Here are some old images of a few of the parks in question… maybe they will help someone.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 691162324/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 312727412/
Also, I think these theories/ discoveries by others have merit and dersearve a little more exploration:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 313767675/
(Woman playing a harpsichord owned by the pabst mansion)
The neck image here looks similar to the clock hand to me…
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 126219048/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 312708022/
————————————————————————————-
MY OWN IDEAS (FROM LEAST TO MOST LIKELY):
1. From the intro of the book:
A proud tall fifth might refer to the 5 fairy nation to arrive in the new world (from Ireland)
– 5 Sidhe, Leprechauns, Fir Darrigs
2. There has been a Grand staircase inside the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn Milwaukee Downtown since 1886.
3. Young Birch is a Robert Frost Poem – Probably just a coincidence, but since there is a possibility that war of the world’s plays into one of the clues (well’s street/beating of the world), I thought I would also mention it in case this puzzle is full of literary references.
4. Something has bugged me for a long time about the 1,3,5 at the end of the verse. This is a clear number sequence like you would have gotten on the ACT… usually you would then have to finish the sequence or figure out how the two sequences were related. This is one way that the birch doesn’t have to be an actual tree, if the numbers are the actual important thing. The numbers might alternatively be a code or equation of some kind.
3
3
92
200
100
1
3
5
5. The entrance of Lake Park is refered to as the “Grand Entrance” and looks like this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 287812016/
(flowers?)
6. Key – Walking stick – Millstone
I have some questions about this…
Why is this backwards? Is this a clue to go through the verse in reverse order?
Is there a reason the flower is placed in between the key and the Walking stick?
Could this be a clue that the image needs to be flipped to make the “map” work?
7. In terms of the pattern on the woman’s neck, I have also seen it at the fire house on KK in bay view.
(they aren’t their on google street view though, so these might be a newer addition)
Likewise there is a similar symbol on the wall of the restaurant across from UWM’s Mitchell hall.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 693869843/
There are also weird people on the roof that may have some significance.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … otostream/
8. In the figures hairline there is a shape. decibalnyc suggested a while back that the shape might be the Hoan bridge. This got me to thinking that rather than a bird’s eye view – that the edge of the figure might instead actually be a silhouette of the skyline – with the blue denoting which side the water is on (take a look at google maps in satellite mode). This means however that it will need to be “unraveled” in some way to align with a map. Once this is done, the glowing ball shape might produce a location to look in. I was able to get the odd notch in the cape to line up really well in this way with part of the water line and this places the ball very close to the Mitchel park domes. Maybe we are supposed to travel from the Wisconsin club to the domes? I have always thought that there was a map hidden in this image somehow.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 126023318/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 311476171/
Also these views for comparison:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 313769705/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 126031498/
(notice the smoke stack)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 311981901/
(maybe the robe line?)
9. Some other Dome ideas. The Mitchell Park Nature Conservatory (the domes) could be another play on words that was used since there are also conservatories for music. In this case, there would be no music, hence the silence.
Not sure how the harpsichord or woman plays into this except that the domes are referred to as the three breasted woman. Also, Primrose (and many other flowers) grow at the Mitchel park domes.
Also, this is there:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 311965311/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Vieau
10. There is a compass that no one has mentioned on the floor of city hall:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 126210690/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 287651106/
Likewise, the landing of the grand staircase at the lakefront may have been decorated in a compass like fashion at one time:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 311786021/
11. This one is quite significant and was discovered by J_Galt and confirmed by a worker at the library. The grand rotunda of the Milwaukee Public library ALSO has 92 stairs. Damn you Milwaukee and your consistent stair counts. We have yet to explore this further.
———————————————————————————–
And finally… My favorite idea for a dig spot.
decibalnyc I would love to come with you to GPR this spot…
Here is an old pic of Pere Marquette:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 287839576/
There is a tree in Pere Marquette Park that fits the outline of the cape almost perfectly.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 126024558/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 126188650/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 693689623/
It also happens to be at the southern foot of a bridge in a spot that is partially concealed to view. You can also see the Usingers sign (“U”) plainly between the trees from the south side.
Did I mention that the bridge has a culvert underneath it and bells on its control towers. Oh, and it also would have been almost a perfect match to the view of city hall in the illustration before the PAC was built (after 1982 btw).
Also, coincidentally the historical society building is strikingly similar to that of a harpsichord.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 127895347/
I also referenced an old map of the park and there appears to be birch trees growing there in a similar configuration to what is currently onsite.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 287647916/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 126188470/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 126187870/
My money says the cask is there.

The Ferry can also be bypassed, I’d be skeptical of anything that specifically requires a car or going indoors. Yes, you need a car to skip the ferry, but once you ‘get’ the clue you don’t have to physically ride the boat. You’d absolutely have to go inside for that one.

decibalnyc

I still have my concerns about him taking us indoors….so far the strangest place he’s taken us is on a ferry boat.

shecrab

um….in the interest of accuracy,
The Baum Ferry was not built or delivered to the state of North Carolina until 1995 and it does not run to Roanoke Island. The TA Baum ferry runs from Cape Hatteras to Ocracoke, well south of Roanoke Island.
The ferry
LINE
in North Carolina was operational in 1947, when the NC Highway commission bought the T.A. BAUM’s ferry
COMPANY
. At
that
time, the single ferry ran from Manns Harbor to Roanoke Island. Today, no ferry connect Roanoke I. with anything. Instead, there are two bridges–one of which is probably the same as that first ferry route.
The correct Baum item is the Washington-Baum Bridge–which connects the outer banks to Roanoke island on the other (East) side of the island. The route is US 64–this route connect Roanoke Island to the Mainland via the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge. .

Obligatory reposting of the Standard Shecrab Correction
TM
:

Good fact checking. I mostly rely on maltedfalcon’s criticisms these days. Shecrab use to be a huge help to the hunt. She has been missed. People who understand the nuances of diction are a great resource. I have lots of trouble in that area.

Awesome post atomicleprechaun.
I intend to read that Frost poem…just to be sure.
I liked your take on the numbers being tied together somehow.
92 stair rotunda in the library too!? WTF Milwaukee.

Also, Roanoke is the only puzzle (that we know for as sure as we can be) where the distance between relevant clues and the treasure ground is too far to travel on foot. So “
Ride
the man of oz” could just be a subtle hint to that fact and not meant to be taken literally. All the other words Preiss uses are measures of foot travel (hop, step, walk, pace, etc), probably because either you can see the relevant clue from where you are standing (the Sutro Tower in SF for example), or you pass them on your pleasant little walk from Point A to Point T. If a clue isn’t obvious from ground level, then it’s probably not relevant to the puzzle IMO.

Right, so if we rule out the grand avenue mall and city hall, and we don’t find another match for the 92 stairs, we are left with Lake Park and the Mitchell Domes. Since the Domes have 92 steps, divided into 4 sections and no bridge over a culvert, we have to think that Lake Park is a pretty solid match…finding that neck symbol by UWM was a huge deal. Also has anyone considered that Mason St. which is only a block from Wells, turns into Lincoln Memorial Drive at the lake and if you follow it to the end, where do you end up…on Kenwood…so like the Roanoke puzzle, the stating point may be downtown. At a distance in time from 3 who lived there to me is referring either to the 3 Mitchells, or to the city founders, not streets, I am confident of that. The woman with harpsichord line has yet to be translated to anyone’s satisfaction. The biggest clue we have is 92 steps outside somewhere. Lake park meets that the best so far, and the verse does take you to a certain area, but we have not matched anything solid in lake park which is troubling. If he only gave us 2 trees to match for the park, we might have found 1 in the cottonwood tree but not everyone agree’s. And what of this bird in the lower left?
GPR day will be sometime in mid-late Feb. If anyone wants to meet up, let me know. Until then, start figuring out some dig spots that we can put the radar on.

Also the problem with Pere Marquette Park, which I have examined closely every time I go to the Historical society, is that if you were to walk 100 paces SE from under the bridge, you would be in the river. You could argue that the riverwalk runs sort of southeast (but more south) but then if you took the riverwalk 100 paces SE from the bridge you pass all 3 birches which are on the north side of the park. It’s a cool spot, and I have often tried to shoehorn an idea there, but I just don’t see it. I’ve also checked out the Juneau statue where we have the best match for the image so far, and that only leads you to in front of the war memorial looking for the area where the clump birch was at, and then the PTF, it seems we can find pieces that fit all over, but LP so far…has the verse matched up from the stairs on out.

Unknown

Unknown:
but we have not matched anything solid in lake park which is troubling

We have the tee markers, and a fairly close match between the Lion’s Bridge sentries and the juggler’s face. Coincidentally (or by design if you subscribe to the theory that the verses were written after Preiss had the corresponding image from Palencar in hand), that is the one part of the Milwaukee puzzle where you have a directional decision to make and where the verse isn’t explicit as to your next move. As I’ve said many times, I find it almost impossible to believe that the red balls in the image are not representative of the tee markers on the golf course, and the only way we can incorporate them into the solve is to go south at the top of the GS, around the pavilion, and toward the lighthouse. The lions would be further confirmation that you are on the right path, at which point, the verse takes over again and tells you everything else you need to know to dig up the casque.

Oh yea, I forgot about the Tee Balls, that was my find a long time ago duh! Thanks Renovator! Also I was thinking about the top of the staircase, I like MF’s theory about the way the hand is pointing…left, so you would go left at the top of the stairs when the verse is unclear, yet you are 🙂

Sadly most of Varins pics were not available. The thumbs showed she took very comprehensive pics.
Maybe someone else will go and photograph the area.

Has anyone ever assessed the Marine Bank building on water st. for having the same architect and also owner for the Mitchell Mansion on 9th and Wisconsin?

i have pics of it, i didnt go inside though. i dont think youd need to go inside though. def supposed to go inside pabst mansion. mitchell mansion isnt accessible to public. are you talking about the one with the lions and eagles on it?

Ooh, just found that Silverberg collaborated with Preiss on a project.  The Ultimate Dinosaur (1992).  It might be assumed they were chummy enough a decade previous that it was cool for Preiss to use a juggler/Valentine motif for use in the Milwaukee puzzle.

JoshCornell

i dont see how you guys think its any where other than by FSAB in Charleston…

I don’t think it leads to FSAB (or, FSAH)….or, Charleston.
I think Verse 8, when coupled with Image 10, leads to Lake Park and Milwaukee….and, I’m pretty sure you agree with the Milwaukee part of that statement, even if you think it leads to the south side of the N.P. Water Tower.
(Looks like you posted your comment about FSAB / Charleston in the wrong thread? Maybe?)

Unknown

Unknown:
Looks like you posted your comment about FSAB / Charleston in the wrong thread?

No doubt. But at this point, it’s easier to think about what goes on here more as a free-flowing conversation among a few people, and act accordingly. The organizing principles on which this forum was founded haven’t been relevant for at least six months.

Euhirudinea

No doubt. But at this point, it’s easier to think about what goes on here more as a free-flowing conversation among a few people, and act accordingly. The organizing principles on which this forum was founded haven’t been relevant for at least six months.

Yeah…but, I’m hopeful…
=]

i dont see how you guys think its any where other than by FSAB in Charleston…

Josh. Are you out of your mind? What makes you think that BP would be able to take a ferry out to Fort Sumter and bury a casque on what is arguably sacred ground to all those men that died there?
Dude, you are definitely on the wrong track…..just like Houston, those aren’t train tracks in Image 8.

wtf are you on? fsab is across from wpg…

Unknown

Unknown:
i dont see how you guys think its any where other than…

Pay attention Josh, it’s not that hard to understand. Until the casque is dug up, “any where other than” incredulity can only rightfully be applied to the Cleveland and Chicago casques. It would be a boon to your cause if you showed even the most basic understanding of this concept.

JoshCornell

wtf are you on? fsab is across from wpg…

In my world FSAB means Fort Sumter Army Base. What color is the sky in your world?

Unknown

Unknown:
In my world FSAB means Fort Sumter Army Base.

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

Alright. I’m going to Milwaukee this week. I’ll have a little time to check possible sites besides my own. Anyone that wants me to check on something let me know. Be specific though so I’m not chasing my tail. As of now I’ll be in Lake Park, Juneau Park (WR, I’ll check out the southern foot), and Kos Park.

I hope you find.

Enjoy. Take lots of pics!

Deuce, please point your camera at the following places:
1. E. State street and Water, facing south towards City Hall.
2. South side of Kosy Park standing on south side of tree just a few feet west of and across from Fiesta Garibaldi restaurant at 821 W. Lincoln Ave., point camera east towards St. Josaphat’s Belfry and point camera west towards the Thaddeus Kosciuszko statue.
Do you plan to probe?  If so, what are the specs of the tool?

ex, I will try to get those pics. Yes I got permission to probe. I have a fiberglass probe 48 inches long and half inch diameter. Shouldn’t be any deeper than 3.5 feet according to the book.

I have to admit, I haven’t worked on this verse/image a whole lot, but ponder it a bit. I also couldn’t find it mentioned yet that the North Bridge is 100 feet long. Perhaps this is why “paces” isn’t enumerated in any meaningful way… it would be clear. Or perhaps we just take 100 paces…
Sorry if I am just adding fluff.

FB,
Thank you.
AP

cw0909,
I did not make it to the “walk” on Sunday.
In the past, I have “stepped” off the distance from just below the
North Lion Bridge to the trail opening, to be 100 steps. The steps are actually
made of stones and dirt  (“rock and soil”), unlike the South Lion Bridge trail
which is made of timber and dirt.
I am trying to get to the lakefront this week to see if anything jumps out at me.
This time of year, everything is thick and green…and it makes it more
difficult to really “see the trees”.  The under-brush and thistles grow
several feet tall and remind me of a tropical jungle (I should take a machete!)
Forest B’s photos show a lot of changes since last year!
Why couldn’t BP have chosen to bury the casque near a “hardscape” instead of a tree?
AP

animal painter

Just ruminating on the word “pace”…
pace/pās/
Noun:
A single step taken when walking or running
.
It is 100 “steps” from just below the bridge
to the end of the North Lion Bridge Ravine.
Coincidence?
AP

are these what your talking about,and are both sets of steps a 100 count
here is the North Lion Bridge Ravine trail head:
http://kspot.org/trove/lakepark/DSC01272.jpg
http://kspot.org/trove/lakepark/DSC01273.jpg
From here I ascended the trail in the South Lion Bridge Ravine to its top, then descended, snapping photos:
http://kspot.org/trove/lakepark/DSC01287.jpg
http://kspot.org/trove/lakepark/DSC01288.jpg
FB thanks again for the pics

i too think you will find the casque AP
did you happen to make it to the history walk the 10th,and was it informative
regarding this hunt

erexere

I’ve been making the mistake of thinking of 1 pace as one step.  I think it’s more correct to use every other step distance which is about 2m.

pace = 1 step or about 30 inches.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pace

maltedfalcon

pace = 1 step or about 30 inches.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pace

That is definition 2.  Definition 3.c  says it’s 58.1 inches.  How screwed up is that?
Pace
n.
1. A step made in walking; a stride.
2. A unit of length equal to 30 inches (0.76 meter).
3. The distance spanned by a step or stride, especially:
a. The modern version of the Roman pace, measuring five English feet. Also called geometric pace.
b. Thirty inches at quick marching time or 36 at double time.
c. Five Roman feet or 58.1 English inches, measured from the point at which the heel of one foot is raised to the point at which it is set down again after an intervening step by the other foot

Okay, I’m taking a break from Verse 1 for a bit. This picture is amazing, and your discovery of the Milwaukee rebus was clever. I have some initial thoughts.
I agree with dan39decoy when he noted (6/21/04) that ‘Wonderstone’ refers to the jewel whose key casque is hidden. He added that ‘Wonderstone’s hearth’ probably refers to the country of the jewel’s origin (Germany, we think?).
Fox (5/30/04) noted, “It just doesn’t seem right. It tells you to climb (ascend) 92 steps after climbing 200 (more steps?) and then you reach the culvert.” I think they directions can be read either way. For example, “Ascend the 92 steps after you climb the grand 200” or “Ascend the 92 steps. Then, after you climb the grand 200…”. These two lines could also easily refer to the same set of steps, as long as “200” isn’t interpreted literally as a number (it’s okay if it is interpreted as CC). The latter interpretation is more in agreement with the steps in Lake Park, in which the “Grand Staircase” (‘grand 200’) consists of some of those 92/95 steps (after I typed that, I found that Pine Tree came to the same conclusion just last month, 5/6/05). To my mind, BP would have written ‘292’ rather than splitting it up into 92 and 200 if both numbers referred to steps. One of them is a play on words, pun, or visual reference. The fact that there is a sundial (compass?) near the top of the steps was the clincher for me.
I badly want to be able to say I recognize the girl’s hairline as the shoreline of Milwaukee, but I’m afraid I see no resemblance:

Ok, once again I find myself back in Piedmont Park in Atlanta.  Are any of our hunters from or near Atlanta?
Take a look at these pictures taken around (I believe the outsides or less traveled portions) Piedmont Park:
http://www.diff.net/media/2001_06_Piedmont_Park/
“Ascend the 92 steps”  I dont know if there are 92 but the last photo of the stairway appears to have atleast 80 steps.
“The foot of the culvert”  one photo actually shows a culvert..why..?…not sure since it isnt very pleasing to the eye.
“”Below the bridge”  The bridge photo obviously has a walking trail beneath it.
still searching for the nearby Compass and the statue/memorial/monument/plaque of or by a South African. (SA is wonderstone’s hearth).

I counted 5 sets of 10 stairs –
which is only 50  – unless there are several other unseen sets of stairs.

At least once in the opening pages, the book uses the term “wonderstone” as a catchall refering to each of the Fair Folk’s jewels.  I think it is highly possible that the reference in this verse is not refering specifically to a wonderstone (of South Africa or Utah), but to the actual jewel in its corresponding picture.  Knowing this would, of course, give you a specific country to find the letter thereof.

forest_blight

Much, or even all, of varin’s pictures are still available using the Internet Archive “Wayback Machine” (archive.org).

Thank you kindly, never heard of that site. I think I will go around saving these and putting all the pics in an easy to find album(s).

on that map that trohn posted, couldn’t the “over rock and soil” be the Indian mound, and then the road “locust” for birch, then i see newberry and 2 more roads (“pass three”)  (on the west side) that takes you to a path  to the lion bridges.

forest_blight

I believe that there is a remarkable amount of evidence in favor of the amethyst theory. Beyond simply conforming nicely to the country/birthmonth/stone/flower theme, consider what it would mean were it
not
an amethyst. 11 of the jewels would be birthstones that conform exactly to the theme …except for the one in P10. Why would JJP/BP do that deliberately? It makes no sense to have (e.g.) two sapphires when everything else conforms to the theme. When something clicks that well, you have to give it a certain amount of credence.
Why does it appear to be blue? I think you see this as deadly to the amethyst theory, but I don’t. I don’t believe it is a big stretch for what looks purple on a painting to translate poorly into an illustration in a mass-produced paperback (is purple really all that different from blue?). Colors in books often simply do not look like they do in person, if we were staring at the actual painting. It is much easier for me to believe that the coloring in the book is not 100% faithful to the original painting than it is for me to believe that one jewel violates a complex theme that makes perfect sense for all the other images.

Unknown

Unknown:
(is purple really all that different from blue?).

Unknown

Unknown:
Personally, I consider the “wonderstone’s hearth = Germany” idea speculative. It’s appealing, certainly, but far from definite. I don’t think I or anyone else meant to shoot down the proposal that it could mean something else, but of the many interpretations that have surfaced, it still makes the most sense to me that “wonderstone” refers to a jewel in a book that is all about hunting fairy jewels. “Wonderstone” is an apt way to describe such a thing. It could very well be a literal reference to a fireplace made out of wonderstone (rhyolite), but it seems to me that BP is trying to be cryptic and poetic here. It is a riddle, after all.

Unknown

Unknown:
I don’t want to squelch new ideas. But I think it’s fair to suggest that the new ideas have to lead somewhere if they are going to be useful. If you favor a particular idea, see where it takes you, share what you find, and we’ll debate it until the weaknesses are uncovered. It will either lead somewhere useful or it won’t.

Unknown

Unknown:
BTW, is it mainly the wonderstone and amethyst theories that you disagree with, or is it the broader claim that the P10 casque is in Milwaukee?

Unknown

Unknown:
Yes klbt, i did think the stories of mitchell refered to her house in atlanta. i also thought i had a pretty good solve for V1/P2 pairing being at the four corners monument. then the tie in to Herman Park was made, the outline of Charleston was discovered and my theory crashed and burned. i love the new ideas that come out daily. i have never, since latitude longitude_ birth month tie ins_ and city confirmers, even thought about them as anything else. lets stop the bickering, focus on the ‘unknowns’ and find another casque

I am not saying “I” don’t believe it’s an amethyst pictured in the painting–what I was saying was that when someone NEW looks at the painting, they are not going to see it as an amethyst because it’s definitely the wrong color. I found the attitude of superiority very rankling when comments were made about the painted jewel not being purple (previous comments–not yours.)  And yes, I see purple and blue as two very different colors, although they are in the “cool colors” family. If you say
then by reasonable inference, you’d have to say “is red all that different from purple?” or “is green all that different from yellow?”  I don’t like that kind of fuzzy logic, myself. Printing processes are not that “off”. They pretty much translate faithfully the colors the artist intended; for proof of that, look at any fine art painting in any museum, and then look at the photograph of it in a high-quality book and you’ll see what I mean. I only meant that we have the right to question something that isn’t correct–and that, for me, includes the color of the amethyst in the image.
True enough–but maybe not, too. Again–it’s not that these ideas are good OR exclusive–it’s the fact that it’s getting harder and harder to refute ideas that have been on this forum for a while because they are becoming proprietary. I say let’s rehash EVERYTHING. Let’s do it ALL over. It didn’t work the first time–so why not? So what if we bring up ideas that have been discarded? How many times did Edison do that before getting a device that finally worked? (Lots.)
As I said, if it didn’t lead to a find the first time, then (a) either something’s wrong with it, or (b) it’s lost and we can scratch off trying. No one here has ever suggested we stop trying. Not even in the Houston solution. So why groan about ideas you’ve heard before then? Or new ideas–
even when they don’t seem to lead anywhere obvious?
Neither one…I’m merely trying to say that we need to stop trying to dampen down those who get excited about this hunt and have ideas about it, even when they refute ideas that have been widely accepted as accurate or probable.
This is contrary to postings that have been put up here, Fox. You say this now, but that’s not the attitude you’ve had recently–or at times in the past. I’m not trying to single you out here, but if you really felt like this, wouldn’t you be less adamant about some ideas?
For instance, you stated that(in image 2) ‘since the outline of Charleston’—but if you look at a map, and take the latitude and longitude as some of the OTHER numbers in , you’ll end up at Niagara Falls Canada, and you can make almost everything in the verse that you have paired up with New York City and image 2 fit together for THAT location too. I did it when I first started working this. I’ve conceded to the Charleston location for now because I felt there were other things that were a better fit, but I still see image 2 and the NYC verse as paired–and can give quite a bit of evidence to support it,
even
the map! So as for things that are set in stone, I don’t believe anything is until a casque is found.

I only have one criticism of the idea for the place itself, which is that if it were beneath a tree, it would be extremely tough to dig very far down because of the root system…

Let me just put this out there, because I can sense that it is a point of contentin for the three people that have read my posts so far (Regulus, I’m not counting you in this because so far your posts have been based almost solely off of physical evidence that you yourself perceive): Trohn, Blight, and Fox: I do not WANT to find a treasure.  I want everyone else to find them.  My motivation in this respect is personal, and i will explain it further if you wish, but let it rest at that concept alone for now; I am establishing reasonable doubt about anything that is purported to be definite in an effort to stimulate critical thinking.  Before you try to tell me that I am being arrogant or something let me first point out (again) that I don’t want a casque for myself; I want it for all of you guys (everyone on the forum) because you’ve all put a lot of thought, and in some cases, work towards that end.  In other words, you guys deserve it.  Critical thinking is necessary because in order to find anything, you have to interpret quite a bit that is subjective: “what does the Harpsichord mean?”  “How many steps or feet are in a ‘pace?'” “How does one reach a specific spot where no path exists?”  You cannot deny that time and tide have ravaged the world since 1981.  As such, you cannot discount any possibility or observation as ‘silly’ or ‘irrelevant,’ especially when the original author of the “map” is a fantasy writer/publisher. If we can agree on that much, then allow me to continue, otherwise stop reading at this point.  I can take responsibility for any errors in fact, and thank you for being kind enough to correct them; I am only offering my own interpretations based off of extensive experience in intelligence gathering, land navigation, print manufacturing, and even a little bit from my years as a published writer and graphic artist.  I have, in fact, had to answer questions like “what does the color blue mean to you?” and “what symbol represents permanence to a specific culture?”  From the psychological perspective, it seriously helps to have someone question your perceptions of the evidence that is presented, in order to know what it…looks like you are thinking about doing…if that makes sense.  In summation, my experience lies mostly with manipulating other people’s perceptions in graphical and literary ways, of which I, once again, have extensive success.  Not that i am trying to ‘psych you out;’ I’m only trying to help you see how ambiguities can steer you in different directions than you intend.  This is not a lesson: it is an attempt to take you outside of 25 years of investigations that have yielded 1/6 of the intended assets.  I apologize for anything I’ve said that makes it seem otherwise.  Please continue to use whatever works best, and find something wonderful buried in the ground.  Again, you all deserve it, and I just want to watch people become triumphant.

The best proof is digging it up.
(To quote Roger Clemons – ‘How do you prove a negative?’)
** Thick skins only need apply. **
‘We’ are both a team and an individual.  For that, follow your logic and
your heart, and let all others be damned.
Let me just finally state the only obvious rule involved in this Secret:
Tell us if you find one.  (That’s it.)

And the unwritten rule: Don’t dig it up and leave a note that says: “Dear Forum Member: Let this be a lesson to you.”
Although, that would be pretty funny.  Funnier still if someone did that and spent their time writing posts that led directly to the spot…
Funnier STILL if the person made it tothe spot and found a shovel waiting for them.

Kuh-Lai-Bah-Ti

And the unwritten rule: Don’t dig it up and leave a note that says: “Dear Forum Member: Let this be a lesson to you.”
Although, that would be pretty funny.  Funnier still if someone did that and spent their time writing posts that led directly to the spot…
Funnier STILL if the person made it tothe spot and found a shovel waiting for them.

Funnier stilll, digging in the spot, and uncovering a copy of the book

Funnier still (?), going there, digging, and unearthing a golden hare.

KLBT,
Whille walking around the Lake Park on LMD, I kept
trying to think of any other object that BP could be
referring to…with his references to a “young birch”,
“pass 3” and see a letter on a “proud tall fifth”.
Then his saying that the treasure is at the “southern foot”,
along with the images of tree trunks in image 10…
I cannot see anything in that area, other than trees,
that can fill all those references.
AP

Or the solution to Alchemist dar….

Yes klbt, i did think the stories of mitchell refered to her house in atlanta. i also thought i had a pretty good solve for V1/P2 pairing being at the four corners monument. then the tie in to Herman Park was made, the outline of Charleston was discovered and my theory crashed and burned. i love the new ideas that come out daily. i have never, since latitude longitude_ birth month tie ins_ and city confirmers, even thought about them as anything else. lets stop the bickering, focus on the ‘unknowns’ and find another casque.

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

KLBT, I have not once discounted any ideas that you may have and if you have felt this way…I am honestly sorry.  I dont know how to put this any other way but what upsets me is rehashed discussions on city confirmers; lat/long numbers; and birthmonth stones, flowers & month numbers.  I dont think it is just me on these boards that thinks that these aspects in the I’s are definite.  By all means, throw out ideas (previously brought up or new to the boards).  I  have no problem with that.  Heck, I am about ready to toss out my 4 Corners Monument ideas again {well, maybe not…the map on the Lions head sure looks like Charleston to me….but not definitive until the casque is dug up}.  I would love to see your maps of Niagra Falls matching this SheCrab.
Again, I am sorry if I have come across as closed minded to new ideas.  A brand new poster just put on a very convincing theory that goes against Boogie’s NY V and Blight’s Roanoke I and I am all opened to investigating it.  As I have said in the past on several occasions, I just want this 20+ year old hunt solved.  I dont think anything I have put up is contrary to me wanting casques found.
KLBT, you said “Trohn, Blight, and Fox: I do not WANT to find a treasure.  I want everyone else to find them.”  I am really not sure where this came from and I have never thought that you were out on your own looking for these.  I know that you are freely sharing your ideas.  That is why I love the people on this board working on this hunt.  Your mom knows all about the boards at 12 while working on ATT.  I experienced the secretive tactics and backstabbing firsthand there. That was a whole different ballgame.
Lastly, I do apologize for coming off closed minded.  I never intended on that.  You know how difficult it is to try to glean a person’s intent or mindset through typed words.  Lets find another casque guys

fox

KLBT, I have not once discounted any ideas that you may have and if you have felt this way…I am honestly sorry.  I dont know how to put this any other way but what upsets me is rehashed discussions on city confirmers; lat/long numbers; and birthmonth stones, flowers & month numbers.  I dont think it is just me on these boards that thinks that these aspects in the I’s are definite.  By all means, throw out ideas (previously brought up or new to the boards).  I  have no problem with that.  Heck, I am about ready to toss out my 4 Corners Monument ideas again {well, maybe not…the map on the Lions head sure looks like Charleston to me….but not definitive until the casque is dug up}.  I would love to see your maps of Niagra Falls matching this SheCrab.
Again, I am sorry if I have come across as closed minded to new ideas.  A brand new poster just put on a very convincing theory that goes against Boogie’s NY V and Blight’s Roanoke I and I am all opened to investigating it.  As I have said in the past on several occasions, I just want this 20+ year old hunt solved.  I dont think anything I have put up is contrary to me wanting casques found.
KLBT, you said “Trohn, Blight, and Fox: I do not WANT to find a treasure.  I want everyone else to find them.”  I am really not sure where this came from and I have never thought that you were out on your own looking for these.  I know that you are freely sharing your ideas.  That is why I love the people on this board working on this hunt.  Your mom knows all about the boards at 12 while working on ATT.  I experienced the secretive tactics and backstabbing firsthand there. That was a whole different ballgame.
Lastly, I do apologize for coming off closed minded.  I never intended on that.  You know how difficult it is to try to glean a person’s intent or mindset through typed words.  Lets find another casque guys

Fox, how does it feel to be smited?
Welcome to the club!
My last word on this (I feel like I can not get my ideas across so that someone will take
me seriously so that I can feel the warmth of team-work and companionship) topic:
Its been going on for over twenty-six years.  WE ALL SUCK.  BYRON WINS.
Now lets dig (dirt, not each other).

i have learned from the smite himself how to turn the other cheek mr trohn and am honored to be the first inductee into your club.

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

Unknown

Unknown:
“…does anyone on this board know for sure which meaning each of these double entendre’s represents?”

‘fraid not. But in general I try to imagine non-obvious meanings. These
are
riddles, after all. For example,
“Cast in copper”
may not refer to a copper statue, but rather to a pool where one might toss in pennies. Who knows?
On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine how
“Pass the compass and reach / The foot of the culvert”
could mean anything other than the obvious.

Just an observation: There are so many double entendre’s in verse 8, including “stories,” “beating,” “nature,” “compass,” and “letter,” that it is extremely difficult to devine the intended meaning.  That of course is the point, but does anyone on this board know for sure which meaning each of these double entendre’s represents?  With a definative meaning, it might be easier to solve the the riddle and locate the casque. Note that I said MIGHT be easier!

It wasn’t just that it was flat, it was also behind a large-ish something, and is right next to LMD.  Also, it’s approximately 100 average-step paces from the underside of a bridge.  Granted, that bush may not have been quite as large back then, but it is big enough to suggest that it’s been there awhile.

Slappy,
I will surely check “at their southern feet”.
Yesterday, I was able to go and check on the
thawing status of the ground at Lake Park.
It was 25 degrees, and the surface had frozen again.
(Moving toward Spring in Milwaukee is like
“taking two steps forward and
three
steps back…”)
I did learn an interesting and possibly important fact.
P Kupper designed
two
different lion sculptures.
At each end of each bridge, there are two distinct lions.
One faces to the left and one faces to the right.
The woman in image 10 is facing to the right.
If she signifies a particular lion. then BP chose the lion on the East.
If not, then JPP chose the lion whose face he liked better to
paint in image 10.
AP

KLBT,
Your last message came in just as I was leaving for work.
I did take some better photos of the area at Ravine Rd.,
but will not be able to put them up on webshots until
later this evening.
AP

I find this fascinating:
It may not be a locust after all….(don’t laugh at my quasi-photo-shop skills, which are nonexistent at best. I think you get the idea.)

Shecrab,
I like the way you think!
AP

Thanks!!

KLBT,
Here is a link to a webshots album with pictures of the Ravine Rd. area.
They are in a panoramic order from left to right.
AP
http://tinyurl.com/32zaxe

Still in the land of beer and bratwurst.  Checked out building that was once the Emanuel B’ne Jeshurun at 2419 E. Kenwood.  Blank fascade no inscriptions/engravings, except the Star of David at the top.  It is now UWM’s The Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts in the Peck School of the Arts.  It is directly across the street from Mitchell Hall, and I mean directly.  Walked around campus and the neighboorhood again.  Took Kenwood down through Lincoln Memorial Drive.  The Grand Stairway is closed during winter.  You can drive to the top.  Followed the path to the North Point Lighthouse.  The Lighthouse splits two ravines and you pass it when you cross the double bridge (The Lion Bridges).  You can get down into both of the ravines easily from this area.  The nearest ravine runs more south and the other ravine runs SE.  Both ravines run down hill to Lincoln Memorial Drive toward the lake.  Counting 100 paces off from under either of the Lion Bridges S to SE (and its soil and rock paths) takes you out of the wooded area to a grass lawn abuting Lincoln Memorial Drive.  Actually one of my mark offs put me into the street.  There is a good bit of erosion in this area also.  No birch trees, just as Varin had reported.  No yellow, brown, river, paper white or otherwise anything remotely looking like a birch.  No signs on any of the trees in the area either.  Although there was one at the trail head marked with a “
G
irl Scout” sign partially imbedded in the tree, so it had been there a while.  This created alot of discussion about what constituted a culvert “foot”.  I felt it was the furthest area down stream (down hill). Plus going up hill toward the trail head would move us NW, not SE.  Checked out Mitchell Domes, nice park–but I’ve given up my pet theory about this being the starting place.  The Wisconsin Institute of Torah Study is quite off the path, more north on Lake Park Drive away from the park, and again no confirmers in this area.    The way this has shaped up–The Lake Park theory works with the verse the best–but finding the casque will be extremely difficult.  This is what fits with V8,  that we have:  Mitchell Hall (three stories) , the old Emanual B’ne Jeshurun (if that is the beating of the world reference) across the street from Mitdhell Hall, The Grand Staircase (well over a mile or more away from the first two), North Point Lighthouse (compass), the ravines (culvert) and the direction they descend (SE), the Lion Bridges (beneath the bridge).  It does work.  But there is no clear confirmers and fine tuning where to dig will be a guess.  I am here one more day–anyone with any thoughts??

Unknown

Unknown:
Both ravines run down hill to Lincoln Memorial Drive toward the lake … anyone with any thoughts??

I had a thought, perhaps not worth much.
cast in copper
could be a reference to Lincoln Memorial Drive, since Lincoln was “cast in copper” more than any other subject in history – he’s on the cent. Prior to 1982, cents were 95% copper. That would put you at the base of the
92 steps
so that
ascend
makes, uh… cents.
Another thought. The treasure is buried at the southern foot of the “
G
” tree, according to the verse. Is there no way the tree with the Girl Scout sign could be the one?
Hope you’re taking pictures, stercox!
Edit
: Also, be on the lookout for things with the same design as the collar in P10.

forest_blight

I had a thought, perhaps not worth much.
cast in copper
could be a reference to Lincoln Memorial Drive, since Lincoln was “cast in copper” more than any other subject in history – he’s on the cent.

That’s pretty good.  Now, I’m new at this but don’t some of the other verses and pictures reference Lincoln or streets named Lincoln?

What I’ve come to realize is the collar design seems to be a pretty common architectual design piece on buildings in general, I’ve taken pictures of some as they pop up on our travels here.  Have been taking pictures, but going down there again today and will take more, trying to get different perspectives. I have a decent map of Lake Park also.  I’ll try to get stuff posted when I get back home.  The ravine runs down hill SE, the Girl Scout tree (not a birch) is at the very top, the bridge is near the bottom.  Maybe we need to
pass the Compass
a different way and
below the bridge
is a description of the culvert and has nothing to do with starting or being below the bridge.  I’ll check out trying to get down into the ravine on the back side of the Lighthouse today.  Also, I was thinking that maybe we don’t even need to be down in the ravine and we are to stay at the top of the ravine, the verse just says reach the culvert below the bridge, maybe giving a description of the next thing that you will pass getting to the dig site.  Will check out more of the top side today.  I think FB’s thought about Lincoln and
cast in copper
is brilliant.  The Lincoln Memorial Drive borders the park.  Even if it nevers proves to be right–still brilliant.  There are some historic photographs in the Lake Park Bistro we’re going to look at those today as well.  They have a Friends of Lake Park group and I have been on their website–we may be able to put them to work on our behalf to keep testing out theories.  Just a thought.    FB–Talk your lfriend into coming–Milwaukee is a great city, the architecture in these old neighborhoods is worth the trip. Not to mention the microbreweries.

The 200, I thought we established, was the CC-shape to part of the staircase. But I would kill to know what BP was talking about re the harpsichord.

A footnote on the
beating of the world
– The congregation with the website containing the welcome got back to me:
“Sorry — no one knows exactly where any of the services on the website originated — they have evolved over time.”

forest_blight

I am uncomfortable with the line
As you walk the beating of the world
referring to the Emanuel B’ne Jeshurun on Kenwood Blvd.

In my mind this is referring to the shoreline, as waves pound the beach.
I’m about 1000 miles from home right now and was going to stop in Milwaukee on my way back but that’s out now.  If no one finds anything I may go in a couple of months.  If anyone does do any digging make sure you put things back so they don’t ban us all together.  Is this area a place where you can dig unnoticed or do you plan on getting permission?  The thing with asking for permission is that they may say no!  Anyway, good luck!

If I am fortunate enough to have an opportunity to dig this May, I will seek permission first.
As for
beating of the world
referring to waves, that would put the verse out of order – the shore isn’t encountered until
after
we get to Lincoln Memorial Drive.

If the schedule holds as indicated above,
you guys will be extracting the ‘fourth’ casque.

Wow, you’ve got it Stercox.  I am very happy for you!
1.  If you are going to dig, you may want to get some digging help, and/or wait for the ground to get softer.  You are going to probably run into some root problems, so bring something to cut through them.  Take more than 1 shovel, in case 1 breaks.
2.  Contact the newspaper ahead of time, so no one will even think of chasing you away while there are reporters around.  If you can tell me when you are going, I will contact the guy who did my story — he may know what to do.  BTW, if you go in May, that will coincidentally be the 2-year anniversary of finding the one in Cleveland.
3.  I would love to see a shot of the 5th tree from the other side — it looks like the “foot” that sticks out is the same as the “foot” of the tree that is part of the woman’s cape.  Good job finding the collar!  You are probably right about the first tree missing — the one you found does not seem to be part of the others.  Coincidentally, I also could not figure out “birch” from the Cleveland verse (free speech, couplet, birch) — I guess those trees can die off easily.

Stercox,
Your pictures are great.  Thanks for posting them with the notes.  This is especially helpful in the ravines.  I had no idea that the footpath down into ravine 1 was so far behind the lighthouse.
My current thinking on “birch” is that it may just be “tree” executed with a little metaphor/poetic license.  Ordinarily I’m quite the literalist, but reading “birch” as “tree” seems reasonable.
Pine Birch

Just completed the virtual tour and all I can say is
HOW did you not get down on your hands and knees at the southern base of that fifth tree and dig up the ground with your bare hands??!!
I was Sir Egg’s partner in Cleveland and I must tell you walking through this masterfully done virtual tour brings me back two years ago to one of the most exciting days I can remember.  For me, the pattern on the Pabst Theater facade across from City Hall that match up with the ladies collar is so incredibly right on that it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up take notice while simultaneously battleing a strong case of goosebumps.  It is like seeing that wall at the Greek Gardens in Cleveland all over again for the first time and KNOWING that you have found the markers putting you in the right place.  Interestingly, when Sir Egg and I met with BP following the find in Cleveland, he mentioned that he was surprised it took so long for the Cleveland treasure to be found as he always felt it was one of the “easier ones to find” and one of the first that he buried.  Comparitively, I think that was very true, for once we found the wall in the center of the Greek Cultural Gardens, the “walk ten paces” part of the treasure hunt was really very minimal, aside from getting our proper bearings as to reference point for walking left to right. etc.  In Cleveland it was 7 or so steps and 10 paces over and whalah (sp?) the casque was buried just a foot and a half below the surface.  Looks like BP decided to make the directions to the actual site much more complicated by the time he got to Milwaukee and thus a much more siginificant degree of difficulty to locating the specific spot.  But kudos to you Sterecox and anyone else who has helped you, as there is little doubt that you have done it.  My advice – get back out there
TODAY
and dig til your arms are tired.  I know that just solving the puzzle seems satisfying, but it pales in comparison to actually prodding the ground with a metal pole and feeling the pole strike something foreign to the soil and then digging ever so gently so as not to shatter the translucent box and unearthing the dirt covered casque that has sat untouched for so many years.  The person who solves it should be the person who unearths it – it is a tremendous rush and the culmination of all your hard work.  A moment to remember for all time, truly.  Don’t waste this chance.  Call in sick to work.  Get to Home Depot and grab two shovels, a long metal pole for probing and a trusted friend (another perspective and an additional set of digging arms and hands are always helpful) and DIG man DIG.
Funny, when I got to the end of the virtual tour, I was confident the final shot would have been Sterecox holding the casque.  I was SO crazed to see just another nice shot of the compass and then some leaf samples.  Sterecox, PLEASE get out to that birch and find the darn thing so that everybody can live vicariously through you and feel good about all the work that has gone into solving yet another puzzle.  As a funny aside, Sir Egg just said to me on the phone that he feels like Mark McGuire and I like Sammy Sosa, both about to be passed by Barry Bonds.  Don’t know how or why he chosed to “inject” these guys names into the equation, but I think I get his reference.  It was exciting to surpass the Chicago finders (the Roger Marises in this analogy, I suppose) and be the title holders for a brief period.  But all records are made to be broken and all finds are just next in line til the next great treasure hunter comes along and lays claim to the next casque.  The heartiest of congratulations on your efforts and enjoy the ride.
Finally, as to the “birch” issue, BP was not able to recall what the reference meant when we met with him and discussed the Cleveland puzzle.  I think it far more likely that the term birch was meant generically, as it has been suggested, since it was at least twice used in differnet verses with no foundation other than the reference to trees.  And for what it is worth, an overhead view of the site, as posted in the final virtual tour slide strikes me as eerily similar to an overhead from the Cleveland Cultural Gardens site.  In both, there is a road that curves around the area in very similar fashions.  Hear it is Lincoln.  In Cleveland I believe it was MLK drive.  Two important Americans, both tragically assassinated.  I can already hear the minds of the conspiracy theorists churning.  To this end, can someone check to see if there is a Kennedy Boulevard running around the perimeter of one of the other suspected treasure sites.  Who knows, it might be worth looking into …  Then again, it might just be another “dead end.”  (please excuse the pun – I couldn’t resist).  Anyway, go get it and post some pix of your success ASAP!!!

Trohn

If the schedule holds as indicated above,
you guys will be extracting the ‘fourth’ casque.

Did I miss something?  I thought this would be the third.

I just need to schedule my dig once
the supervisor is back on site.
The date should be close to the end of April.
I don’t have a lovely virtual tour but my google
earth pin points the markers.  I also do not have the
elements of weather or erosin to deal with as the
site is well protected and supervised.
I am not down playing the great work in nailing Milwaukee
just keeping the forum updated.

I think what Trohn means is if there is a wait until May for the Milwaukee casque to be unearthed, he feels that he will have already dug up another casque between now and then.  Good luck Trohn…..and Good luck Stercox…….. cant wait to say….
4 down…8 to go!

Ooops, my post was beaten by Trohn himself
Due tell Mr. T, which site are you preparing to dig?  Which V/P pairing?

V/2
P/9.

ahhh…..
And He’s Off…….!
Good Luck Trohn.

Fays delight.
Tron

Just 1 week away from your dig!  I am very excited for all of you who are going.  Please post something as soon as you can.  I will be eagerly standing by my computer!  Good luck!  And no matter what, have a good time

Trust me, the event will be duly chronicled. It may be a few days before it gets the full FB treatment, though, since I will be very busy in Chicago for a week after the dig.
There will not be any press, by the way, at the park’s request.

forest_blight

There will not be any press, by the way, at the park’s request.

That doesnt mean that you cant take your own pix, write your own story & submit it to the local paper does it?

Heh heh. I suppose not, but the park is concerned that media exposure might spawn a rash of midnight hole-diggers in Milwaukee parks. Besides, most of those who would care already read this forum, so they will see pictures aplenty whether we succeed or fail.

When you guys dig this up, it (publicity) will all take care of itself somehow.  At the very least, we should be able to find out if someone has the authority to diclose the secret solves for this casque as well as all the others.  Good luck, and good night!

Just want to let you know, we’re all counting on you!

writing as a charter member of the “frequent digger’s club”, best of luck.
wilhouse

I wonder how the growth of the tree
is going to alter the digging location
as per the clues given were twenty years ago.
As has been documented, six inches either way
mean a lot.

Thanks for all the finger-crossing and positive energy out there from the Q4T Braintrust!  I am in Milwaukee right now, real time, using the hotel’s internet service.  I’ve already scoped out the park tonight.  That tree is bigger than I remember and looking prouder by the minute.  Dig time less than 12 hours away!!  I don’t think I’ll sleep too much tonight!!!
We will try to post something tomorrow as soon as possible. Stay tuned…….

C’mon.  It’s 1:30 here and no 10 page report with 300 pictures yet?  What’s the hold up?  Is it pouring there as it is here?

I am sure they are doing their all…..

Thanks for the good wishes, folks, but we dug and and dug (and dug) with no luck. Just roots, pop-tops, and stones. but I made three great new friends. We’ll post pictures later.

I’m not in Milwaukee, but I’m not so sure the stadium’s totally gone.
Check out the aerial views of the park on terraserver-usa.com (and maybe Globexplorer.com), and you can see the stadium shape in the lawn just South of the base of the Staircase, along the roadway.
Pine

I’m not really sure where you are looking on the map…having hard time finding both the staircase and the stadium.  If the stadium is there..could it be the 200 or……….. 200 Wells (adress) or………. roman numeral 200 CC ?
maybe the stadium doesnt even matter…but I’m quite sure the casque is somewhere in Milwaukee.

If we can narrow this down to a definite place I’ll drive up there, shovel in hand. Right now I wanna dig at the Solomon statue. I feel good about this one. Has anyone checked this site yet? Let’s get on the ball on this one so I can go!

ha, you’ll get lots of input for Lake Park, none for anywhere else except maybe the Juneau Park area.
I personally find this the hardest verse to understand, and that’s saying I just don’t understand it.  There’s a wide range of ideas going through this.  At a distance in space…at a distance in time…what does that mean?  The whole Ken Wood mixer line is practically divergent.  How does something like that fit into this?  And then there’s the Woman with harpsichord, silently playing?  WTF.
I think someone should at least get a utility probe and start ruling out some spots, especially near that Juneau Statue.  Might as well do the Leif Ericcson statue too.

I’ll see what I can do about the time and space line.
I know there’s numerous lamp posts in the city shaped like harps. May be one near a woman (statue, street, etc.).
This is the closest one to me so I figured I would really look into it.

look closely at animal painters posts.
shadowrunner and forest_blight have many good photos to consider.

Found a copy of Three Go Back, by Mitchell.  After reading a bit, nothing jumps off the page.  It’s a lot like the pilot of Lost.  Their ship breaks in half above an island, they wake up on the beach of the island of Atlantis 25,000 years ago and contend with Neaderthal inhabitants.  Ship wreck, time travel, cave men…something tells me I’m way off base here.

Deuce

I’ve always believed that the casque is buried just south of the Solomon Juneau statue given the image of Solomon on this side matches the woman in the pic. After reading your ideas about the first lines being used as a start and end I was a little skeptical but then remembered something I found earlier. From Wiki – “The property that is believed to have once been the site of Juneau’s residence is now the site of the Mitchell Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.”

That’s an interesting link. I’ve been trying to contact someone to look around Juneau Park for ages.
http://www.lemontiger.co.uk/images/misc … waukee.pdf
I’m not aware that anyone has ever visited the place. I’d be particularly interested in getting some photos of the area around the south end of the park which is inaccessible on Google. I suspect the area directly around Juneau himself looks a bit pristine and exposed for a dig spot. I tried emailing the Juneau Park Friends for info but no reply.

One of my contacts is having a look at this tree in front of Fiesta Garibaldi Restaurant at 821 W. Lincoln Ave. in Kosciuszko Park, Milwaukee.
It’s important that he take a close look to see if it fits the image in the illustration but also to see if it’s an Ash species of tree.  I’ve been looking closely at the verse 8 and I think it makes more sense to separate the two lines “You’ll see a letter from the country” and “Of wonderstone’s hearth”.  We are making a mistake to wrap the word “country” into “of wonderston’s hearth”.  I believe “You’ll see a letter from the country” is just saying “You’ll see a reference to an educated person from Poland”.  The phrase “a person of letters” means a person with a high degree of education.
“Of wonderstone’s hearth” involves looking up the word wonderstone and learning it comes from the word Pyrophyllite which is two Greek words, pyros and phyllos, meaning fire and leaf.  “Of fire” and “of leaves” is a riddle for the Ash tree, since ash is the result of fire and leaves are the result of a tree.  In Greek, the Goddess of the hearth is Hestia.  I think it has to do with the home, perhaps it’s chimney, or the homes in particular next to the park which are a well known style referred to as “Polish Flats”.

FB,
You were able to enjoy Milwaukee on one of its nicest days this year!
Sorry we could not have met up.
I look forward to seeing your recent photos.
AP

Well shucks Forest, that’s now twice you’ve been there and returned without a casque.  >:(

kenwood is not the ave youre looking for because youre starting at the wrong spot…you cant start at mitchell hall cause it brings you to lincoln park (at least in relation to the treasure hunt)…you get to lincoln park and start counting stairs on a kids waterslide. i released the full paths starting at both mitchell hall (leads you to lincoln park) and the wisconsin club (leads you to lake park). via different (and both correct) interpretations of the clues.

oh wait…i didnt use kenwood…i used “beat the world” “down” to send you down downer to get to lincoln park…my bad…the other one takes you down Welles ave via a War of the Worlds interpretation…to get to Lake Park

Sorry, Obi Wan…, But I like Kenwood

Just one more reason to accept Kenwood Blvd. as the explanation of the line in the verse “walk the beating of the world”….
Kenwood was the creator of this new type of electric “beater” in the 1950s.

animal painter

Just one more reason to accept Kenwood Blvd. as the explanation of the line in the verse “walk the beating of the world”….
Kenwood was the creator of this new type of electric “beater” in the 1950s.

I like that way better than the stereos, especially since the mixer company is based in the UK.

Anyone know if these were know in the US? The following ad, allegedly from 1955 is clearly from England, but it claims to have significant exports to “North America.” Of course that may not mean the US.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b0/81/1b/b081 … d-chef.jpg
If it was a recognizable brand here, there may be another clue in the verse that points to this as (perhaps) the double entendre interpretation. “…the beating of the world…”
The Kenwood Chef was world renown for it’s “planetary action” in their mixer. It’s something they still claim in their marketing to this day. (And is mentioned in the ad above). Planetary action mean the “beaters” revolve in one direction, while the bowl revolves in the other. For more complete mixing.
http://help2.kenwoodworld.com/system/te … ary-action
Beaters – beating? Planet – world?
Anyone feeling that one?

forest_blight

I think I’m missing a joke.

its an obscure reference to Forest Fenn and his clues and his treasure. having nothing to do with the secret

So it was published a year after the puzzles were written?

Nov 1982 for my copy.  It doesnt say theee were earlier editions.  You have a 1981 edition?
I’m not putting much weight on this but Rilke was pretty well established before this hunt.  I don’t know whether this translation was offered before this compikation of selected poems.  I own a book by Robert Hass that contains work he released prior to its publication.

Publication
BP said it took several months for the paintings alone and he had all the clues/burials/ done/written before that.
Figure in 1982 minimum 6 months to a year just for get a book to print.
So logically the book was written in 1980/81

Excerpt from a 1982 book,
The Last Evening
And night and distant rumbling; now the army’s
carrier-train was moving out, to war.
He looked up from the
harpsichord
, and as
he went on playing,
he looked across at her
almost as one might gaze into a mirror:
so deeply was her every feature filled
with his young features, which bore his pain and were
more beautiful and seductive with each sound.
Then, suddenly, the image broke apart.
She stood, as though distracted, near the window
and felt the violent
drum-beats
of her heart.
His playing stopped. From outside, a fresh wind blew.
And strangely alien on the mirror-table
stood the black
shako
with its ivory skull.
Translated by Stephen
Mitchell
Rainer Maria Rilke

erexere

It occurs to me an option for the line “silently playing” can be about letters. Letters in words may be silent in some cases. In written form they are essential, but when spoken they are audibly non-existent or “silent”. Playing with a word in such a way as removing non-essentials so that only the sound applicable letters are used might be the key role for HARPSICHORD. Let H P S I be silent. Play with the letters and form the word ORCHARD.

pls stop

Glad I wrote that note. It’s probably wrong but thinking about silent letters as part of a word game isnt the worst idea. What ideas do you have?

In the situation where you start at the Wisconsin Club and walk east on W. Wisconsin (WWI), if the verse is calling out “second” street with “at a distance in time”, are we faced with continuing on Wisconsin or are we being told to turn? Which direction, north or south? If we turn north we are going TOWARDS “Kilbourn/Plankington/Marquette”. The line “From three who lived there” might be best applied by turning south so we are going away FROM “Kilbourn/Plankington/Marquette”. Then we are heading south on 2nd and faced with dealing with the next line of verse.
If HARPSICHORD is meant to be anagrammed, then we can have SHIP + ORCHARD. If we turn east on Orchard we are going towards the shipping docks. I wonder if the word SHIP is needed to say we go away FROM the docks, meaning we turn west.

i never finished mapping full southern path, i got up to appell joyce and kinda stopped working on it after that, but you would come up past the italian renaissance adler building owned by the family that sold cars and shit. and youd think the adler building would be the stairs but they only add up to 82 or 96 depending on which mini sets at top or bottom you include…that place is pretty rad. its how you know the kenwood electronics is a correct reading btw. mapped out complete north path perfect, including the red herring path to lincoln park.

Unknown

Unknown:
92 steps is correct.

I’m shocked…
On a more serious note, and looking at the first picture, I keep asking myself why Preiss didn’t bury the Milwaukee casque here on the Grand Staircase. It has a lot of similarities to the Cultural Garden in Cleveland. To answer my own question, this is where I would have put the casque, all other things being equal. But he didn’t, and knowing that should make the rest of the puzzle (this one and the rest) a little bit easier to understand when we find ourselves questioning a final treasure ground. It doesn’t have to make sense to us, and our present day sensibilities. It just had to make sense to Preiss, and the constraints that he was under at the time.

If “from woman, with harpsichord” establishes a musical act, it could be that the woman is a singer, such as a soprano accompanied by harpsichord, or simply an opera house or place suchbas the performing arts center. The next line, “silently playing” might then follow the sense that a womans voice, normally audible, but in this case has been diminished to a point of quietude, leading to the word “hoarse”.
There is the word “horseplay”, so maybe this is an obtuse way to hint broadly at recognizing the position if the performing arts center onnthe map but also to derive some connection to a horse.

That sight is in Grant Park LOL. Seven Bridges. Great Trails and a popular hangout.
Grant Park in South Milwaukee that is…not Chicago 😉

Len,
I’ll reply to your post, but I would like to first point out that my intent is not to bash your theory and promote the one I favor. There is a lot of creativity there, and the forum could certainly use more of that (but IMO, not on this solve). More importantly, I’m not really the one you need to convince. In order to achieve success, someone has to be willing to dig in a certain spot that they, or people like us identify. Those are the people that are in the best position to comment on the relative merits of any given theory, since in most cases, they are able to follow leads directly. Having said that…
The picture that you posted of the Grand Staircase is pretty dated. The pictures of the Grand Staircase that Animal Painter posted on page 68 are more representative of what Preiss would have seen in 1981, and that staircase has exactly 92 risers. And if we count the one covered by the brick walkway, the staircase still has exactly 92 steps today. It’s a verifiable fact that no one who is on this forum and is in Milwaukee questions, even a little bit. Doesn’t make it right, but it puts a significant burden of proof on any better theory for this line. Moving on.
At the top of the stairs, we encounter our only real decision point in the whole verse, and that is, which direction do we go next? Right on the bridge over Ravine Road, straight past the lawn bowling pitches, or left, to the parking lot. The last one seems the least likely, but as it turns out, is the only one that takes us past the golf course and all those red balls in groups of two (I’m pretty sure someone has confirmed that the tee markers in Lake Park used to be red). It’s not notional at all. In fact, it couldn’t get any more exact. We also have the similarities between the lion’s and the juggler’s face, but since by that point the light house is in view, I’m not sure we need this match to advance the theory. We have the red balls right where we need them to be if we are following the verse.
On the other hand, we have a hand, or two. But the left hands don’t match at all, and there are enough differences in the right hands (recognizing that there are only so many ways that you can draw an open-palmed hand) that if Palencar was supposed to replicate the treasure ground confirmer exactly, then he missed by more than a little bit here IMO, and for no good reason that I can see. It doesn’t have the same precision that the rendering of City Hall does, which as you suggest, could just be a city confirmer and doesn’t need to be as exact as it is, and yet, Palencar got this almost exactly right. The Laureate is a reasonable match (again, not picture perfect, but close) but that’s on Kilbourn, not on Wells. As for the collar, that’s pretty exact, but the Mitchell Mansion isn’t the only place in Milwaukee where you could find this type of cinder block, is it? Is it possible that this ubiquitous building material was also found on some building between Mitchell Hall and the park, or even Mitchell Hall itself back in the day? So given a choice, I’d have to say that I’m not as convinced as you seem to be that these are clear-cut image matches that need to be reconciled.
The bottom line is that the Cleveland solve shows us that with one small piece of the image, and a few lines of verse, we have all the information we need to dig up a casque. I believe the same is true for the Milwaukee solve (in reverse; lots of verse and a little bit of image, assuming we have the right starting place). The notable exception is that I believe the treasure ground locaters are gone (multi-trunked tree and letter from the country on the PTF), and therein lies the only remaining challenge to fully resolving the puzzle and digging up the casque; finding historic evidence of where these locators once stood. So that’s what I choose to focus on, and what I am encouraging the diggers in Milwaukee to focus on as well.

Unknown

Unknown:
That’s not just a “if you squint, it almost maybe matches” kind of a thing. It’s a “Eureka! I guess any theory that starts at Mitchell Hall must be regarded as wrong,” kind of a thing. I’m not sure why Atomic’s find hasn’t made everyone shift their energy in this direction!

Unknown

Unknown:
It’s too easy for a local to say “I know – the Grand Staircase! Let me skip the whole first part of the verse, and ignore the image too.” That’s not how any of these puzzles work.

That’s exactly how I feel about the Grand Staircase. We have proven (time and time again) that it has exactly 92 steps (ascend
THE
92 steps), the verse leads logically to it and from it (IMO), one of the most prominent things in the image can be found (several times over) within 50 feet of the top, and we can be certain that what we are seeing today is almost exactly (landscaping notwithstanding) what Preiss saw in 1981. For me, it just doesn’t get any more “Eureka” than that.
Too obvious? Maybe. Not the way the puzzles work? Well, if memory serves, Sir Egbert just needed the columns, and half the verse to dig up the Cleveland casque. Methinks this was exactly the way the puzzles were designed to work, and the main reason that Preiss thought they would be solved quickly. The difficulty we are having is a direct result of time and change, and to a certain extent, the unfortunate passing of the author (and before that, his unwillingness to provide the same guidance that he showed in the early years of the hunt).

Euhirudinea

That’s exactly how I feel about the Grand Staircase. We have proven (time and time again) that it has exactly 92 steps (ascend
THE
92 steps), the verse leads logically to it and from it (IMO), one of the most prominent things in the image can be found (several times over) within 50 feet of the top…

Euhirudinea

Too obvious? Maybe. Not the way the puzzles work? Well, if memory serves, Sir Egbert just needed the columns, and half the verse to dig up the Cleveland casque. Methinks this was exactly the way the puzzles were designed to work, and the main reason that Preiss thought they would be solved quickly. The difficulty we are having is a direct result of time and change, and to a certain extent, the unfortunate passing of the author (and before that, his unwillingness to provide the same guidance that he showed in the early years of the hunt).

Can you remind me what it is from the image that can be found within 50 feet of the top of the GS? Reading through the threads, it seemed like the only matches were “notional” (like putter representing golf course). What was it that actually visually matches (as if a picture had been taken?) Let me know if I’ve missed something…
Again, I really don’t think the Lake Park theory is ridiculous. Just not nearly as certain as others think it is. One more example of why I seriously question it: I think you’re one of the folks who assumes that “cast in copper” is LMD. (Which, by the way, I agree is very logical. I think there’s a good chance “cast in copper” means LMD even if Lake Park turns out to be wrong, since LMD runs a very long way). But if you’re standing on LMD, then how do you justify discounting the bottom portion of the stairs that comes before you start counting the 92? I know the staircase has changed over the years. But all the old pictures folks have posted have shown some non-zero number of stairs *between* LMD and the start of the 92. E.g.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scallywag … 709486983/
If you were supposed to be arriving at the bottom of the stairs from the grass, or some place other than LMD, then I could see some justification for ignoring that bottom set. But if you interpret the verse as arriving at the stairs from LMD, I can’t see BP citing a number of stairs that omits the bottom set. Why wouldn’t he have said “ascend the 98 stairs” or however many there are including the bottom set?
Honestly, I’m not as well versed as you on the Cleveland solution. But even there, I believe it was really the image that pinpointed a location. No line(s) of the verse would have gotten them to the right park alone. In the Boston puzzle, there’s only one part of the verse that could be interpreted in *any* way at all without understanding the rest of the puzzle: “Near those Who pass the coliseum With metal walls”. This part of the verse can be interpreted as “near a road that passes Fenway Park,” without knowing anything else about the puzzle. But that doesn’t pinpoint a location or even a park nearly well enough to be a good clue on its own.
To me, the bottom line is that images can pinpoint specific locations with must more certainty than lines of the verse, because image elements can be matched exactly (like Milwaukee City Hall, or the Spearman and Bowman statue, or the Storrow Memorial in Boston, etc.)
So let me ask you this: You know City Hall is in the image. But of course that could just be a city confirmer, not a specific area confirmer. But what about the other elements of the image? The brickwork on the Mitchell Mansion (Wisc. Club)? The Laureate statue in the hair? The bronze pattern and juggler pose from the Juneau statue? In order to believe a Lake Park theory, you either need to believe that a) those visual references don’t actually point to those things, or b) that they do, but that for some reason it doesn’t matter. Not sure which of those two views you hold, but to be logically consistent, you have to hold one of those two. Assuming it’s b), I’m wondering what explanation you might offer for why BP/JJP would include so many images that are all in the same area (along the same street even), even though the treasure is someplace else entirely – around 3 miles away? Because that’s the part that doesn’t make sense to me.

MrSeabass

You’re a HTML godsend, thanks!

Thank you, I never knew that option existed. That makes the threads a bit easier to read.
I wonder if this option should be put in the “All newcomers, PLEASE READ” thread?

Egbert

I wonder if this option should be put in the “All newcomers, PLEASE READ” thread?

No, it should be promoted that he be put on the “Friends” list to newcomers.

erexere

Can someone please verify where exactly is the entrance to the Performance Arts Center? Is it on the same side as the sculpture? I’m wondering if the sculpture had been moved since c.1980 since a news article from 1969 says the sculpture was commisioned for the entrance to the building and there was once a plaque on its base. Does anyone have evidence of what was said on that plaque?

Answering of my own question. I found another 1969 Milwaukee news article that was more descriptive of the Laureate dedication. It describes the podium as being along the riverwalk. The sculpture was probably never located at the main entrance to the Performance Arts Center as the other news piece suggested.

Four21, where does your theory lead after your theory leads to the Germania building?
Decibalnyc, you’ve laid out how simple the clues are, where does your theory eventually lead you? It would be great if you could continue explaining your ideas.
Which 92 steps are ascended?

erexere

Four21, where does your theory lead after your theory leads to the Germania building?

erexere

Decibalnyc, you’ve laid out how simple the clues are, where does your theory eventually lead you?

erexere

It would be great if you could continue explaining your ideas.

erexere

Which 92 steps are ascended?

To the Light building, to the Harp, to City Hall, to Juneau, to Lincoln, to the 92 steps…
To the casque.
No explanation needed… the clues are literal and direct and lead from physical object to physical object.

erexere

Four21, where does your theory lead after your theory leads to the Germania building?
Decibalnyc, you’ve laid out how simple the clues are, where does your theory eventually lead you? It would be great if you could continue explaining your ideas.
Which 92 steps are ascended?

WHY ON EARTH would you have me explain my theory again, when you can just go back and look at it above, and WHY would I continue to explain it when you just stated you were looking for an alternate method of solving the puzzle…it makes no sense at all, you are awarded no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.
Also….Thanks for the tip Miles! I always enjoyed your sub sandwich at Suburpia!

milesstandish

Click “User Control Panel” in the upper left, then the “Friends and Foes” tab, add the username of any user whose posts you would rather not see anymore in your “Foes” list. Their posts will now be hidden from your view. I’ve found this setting to be very helpful.

Maybe we should all solve the Message Board before we try to solve The Secret

You guys are being weird and dramatic.
Working on an alternate theory doesnt mean I cant ask questions about other theories. There doesnt seem to be a lot of unity in people’s ideas. People are flip flopping at times.
For the longest time people were attached to Mitchell Hall on Kenwood and tied that to Lake Park, nearest in the distance and its Grand Stair. Now (some) people are anchored at the Wisconsin Club on Wells/Wisconsin, poke around Pere Marquette a bit, then follow the blue ribbon eastbound towards Lincoln and poke around Juneau Park, then what, back to Lake Park?

So four21’s answer to the casque location is hard to understand. After Juneau and Lincoln he says “to the 92 steps…” and no explanation needed.
Mr. Seabass’ answer is go to Pere Marquette which has bridges and culverts all over the place, but thats just the beginning and not the ending spot…
Decibalnyc’s answer (when four21’s not answering for him) is “look at my explanation in the previous posts”, and thinking I missed it, I couldnt find it after review.

decibalnyc

Lets start here…. YOU don’t see a necessity for the connection because you don’t want to, nor do you have any clue as to how these puzzles work. The book says that you might be able to find the locations FROM YOUR HOME…in 1981 without the internet. Maybe you would have a set of encyclopedias, and a common knowledge of pop culture and us history. Maybe if you were an EXTREMELY well read person you MIGHT stumble onto some of these literary references, but BP made it so it wasn’t necessary to know this stuff in order to find a casque. He used simple puzzles and clues that ANYONE would be able to figure out using only the book and some common sense.

Rather than saying I have no clue how these puzzles work, how about understanding that I am choosing an alternate approach to their solutions? I’m making a concious effort to avoid a random scavenger hunt style solution. If the first line places us in view of the three stories of Mitchell that is the Wisconsin Club, then I suspect there’s some reasoning behind that. It may be only that it’s BP’s way of promoting the governing focus on Germany, but that might not be all there is to it. I want to investigate a bit further and see if there’s any consistency to something which may be hiding beneath the surface of that choice. Could be a link to the builder of the Mitchell Mansion, or that the Pabst Theater was the original location for the Deutscher Club. That sort of thinking promotes the fluid and intelligent kind of treasure hunt I think we’re up against.

Until the folks who think the puzzle is easy find a casque or as long as they continue to put all their faith in birch trees that no longer exist, I’ll continue to respect the challenge this puzzle presents.
I can accept that a few of these puzzles are much easier or require much less focus on their verse. Chicago’s finders did a great job tackling things, found the corner Grant Park over L’s shoulder and the ten by thirteen. They fumbled a bit and for reasons unclear they needed help from BP to recover the casque. Cleveland’s finders also did a great job, but as simple as the brick counting seemed to be, there was still some difficulty. (BTW, thanks Egbert for sharing more pics of the dig and answering questions). Now we have this Milwaukee puzzle, a pretty good little rebus and some strong visuals, along with a verse that sounds like quite a trek.
I’ve been puzzling over a very slight set of references that involves piecing together mere bits as they appear loosely in the verse. I’m considering a connection to playing cards. I have scant to go on, and this may seem as fucking stupid as my recent interlude into football, as if the logo of the Green Bay Packers (Big Letter “G”) could be a letter from the country, and despite the use of the word ‘foot’ in the verse and the tiny red balls (or four21’s nuts if you prefer) in the image. I suppose we’d have have a different view if the balls were green…
So cards,
1st line solves as the site of the Wisconsin Club. A club may be a walking stick (i’m thinking of the Irish thing), and also a suit in cards.
2nd line uses the word beating. Perhaps another reference to a club, the verb means “to beat”. Also, I like that a heart, something which may also be beating, is another suit in cards.
14th line uses the word bridge. Bridge is a type of card game. Oxford Dictionary says the name of the card game, Bridge is the English pronounciation originating from the Russian Whist game called “Biritch”.
17th line uses the word birch. Perhaps this supports a veiled set of connections to Biritch/Whist.
Definitions of the word ‘whist’ include “to become silent”.
17th line, “silently playing”, seems reasonable as a reference to Whist.
This card game idea seems beyond the fringe, but when I take a closer look at the line “from woman, with harpsichord” I noticed an almost impossible anagram that works for where I’m stuck in my previous narrative where I’ve taken south 2nd street into the Clock Tower Acres neighborhood. While I was cross referencing the street names with the word harpsichord, I noticed ORCHARD street could be spelled from the same letters with the letters HPSI leftover. If I include the rest second part of the line WITH HARPSICHORD, I can form the anagram ORCHARD WHIST HIP.
It looks awkward and bulky to take
“From woman, with harpsichord” and derive “From woman, HIP/ORCHARD/WHIST” as an indicator for “turn onto Orchard street”. I don’t see how the letters HIP fit into it unless they’re just leftover after BP puzzled out what he wanted to do with the words WHIST and ORCHARD. The word HIP doesn’t seem specific to gender. The alternative PHI, a greek letter, doesn’t either.
So that’s as far as my thought experiment for the day. I hate anagrams.
E: hey, maybe someone local can help determine if Orchard street going west from 2nd street went through in 1982. I’m not sure how/when the construction of the North-South freeway interrupted the minor streets. Currently, Orchard is cut off from continuous travel, so it seems odd that BP wouldn’t just pick a major street if his intent was to turn west from 2nd.