Saturday, February 2, 2013
The Millers of Vermont. (Apologies for pics disorder)
You have to read this to believe it!
A.K. Miller's Front Yard
Consider the strange story of Alex and Imogene Miller of East Orange, VT.
They eked out an existence on a small farm.
Alex would scrounge rusty nails from burnt buildings to repair his roof.
He drove a ratty VW Beetle, and when it died, he found another even more ratty, and another...the rusting carcasses littered his yard.
Alex died in 1993, and Imogene died in 1996.
The local church took up a collection so they could be buried in the churchyard, and the state began the process of taking the farm for taxes.
That would have been the end of a sad story, except...
Forget the VW: a '28 Franklin ($4500 US) and a '23 HCS($14,500 US) lurk inside.
While preparing the estate for auction, the sheriff discovered a cache of bearer bonds taped to the back of a mirror.
That triggered a comprehensive search of the house and outbuildings.
The estate auction would eventually be handled by Christie’s, and it would bring out collectors from all over the world.
1913 Stutz Bearcat went for just $105,000 US. Must have been the bad tire.
It seems that Alex Miller was a Rutgers grad, son of a wealthy financier.
He lived in Montclair , NJ , where he founded Miller's Flying Service in 1930.
He operated a gyrocopter (look it up, it's too much of a digression) for mail and delivery service through the 30's.
But the Millers had a secret, and they moved from Montclair when they needed room for it.
Step behind the wheel of a 1916 Stutz Bearcat ($155,000 US).
Choosing to live low profile, and paranoid about tax collectors, Miller moved to the farm in Vermont , and took his collections with him.
Most of his cash had been exchanged for gold and silver bars and coins, which he buried in various locations around the farm.
He carefully disassembled his gyrocopter, and stored it in an old one-room schoolhouse on his property.
He then built a couple of dozen sheds and barns out of scrap lumber and recycled nails.
In the sheds he put his collection.
Have to remember to clean that '20 Bearcat out of the shed ($50,000 US).
Alex Miller had an obsession with cars.
Not just any cars, but Stutz cars.
Blackhawk’s, Bearcats, Super Bearcats, DV16's and 32's.
He had been buying them since the 1920's.
When Stutz went out of business, he bought a huge pile of spare parts, which was also carefully stored away in his sheds.
A Springfield Rolls Piccadilly Roadster ($115,000 US), made in Illinois .
Sometimes he would stray, and buy other "special cars", including Locomobiles, a Stanley , and a Springfield Rolls Royce.
He never drove them.
He'd simply move them into his storage sheds in the middle of the night, each car wrapped in burlap to protect it from any prying eyes.
Over the years, the farm appeared to grow more and more forlorn, even as the collection was growing.
A snappy car: 1921 Stutz Bearcat ($58,000 US).
Occasionally he would sell some parts to raise cash.
Rather than dipping into his cache, he would labour for hours making copies of the original parts by hand.
Stutz factory spares. Cylinders and pistons from a brass era Stutz in foreground.
Collectors knew him as a sharp trader, who had good merchandise but was prone to cheating.
His neighbours had no clue at all, they thought Alex and Imogene were paupers, and often helped out with charity.
Wheelbarrow blocks a '28 Stutz Blackhawk Boattail Speedster ($78,000 US).
The auction was a three day circus, billed as the "Opening of King Stutz Tomb."
It attracted celebrity collectors, as well as thousands of curiosity seekers.
The proceeds were in the millions, some items went for far more than their value in the frenzy.
In the end, the IRS took a hefty chunk of the cash for back taxes, which proves the old adage about the only two sure things in life.
A vanilla '31 SV16 Stutz Sedan ($10,000)
Bargain of the show: a '29 Stutz Blackhawk sedan for $7000 US
A beautiful Stutz DV32 Sedan ($27,500)
Anyone need a new Stutz engine? Still factory fresh.
A'23 HCS ($12,000 US) lurks in the darkness of the barn.
A Lebaron dual-cowl Stutz from 1929 ($68,000 US)
A '27 Stutz AA Sedan for $6500 US
1925 Stutz Speedway Six ($9000 US)
T-Head engine in a '21 Bearcat
Build a '22 Stutz touring car from this pile of parts for just $10,000 US
Final tally:
$2.18 million at auction
$1 million in gold
$75,000 in silver
$400,000 in stock
And they never got to enjoy it!
Analysis from Canada on the Conn. School Shootings
Editorial
Blood is on The Hands of the LEFT
By: Howard Galganov, Canadian writer December 14, 2012
I was just about to publish my latest editorial... on Canada's Supreme Court decision to suspend Freedom of Speech in favor of promoting one language over all others. THEN THE CONNECTICUT SCHOOL SHOOTINGS HAPPENED.
What happened at Sandy Hook School takes precedence over any language issues in Canada and a failed Judicial System in both our countries.
If you want to stop the sickness . . . IT'S TIME TO STOP THE LEFT.
I won't waste words describing my feelings, because how I feel is indescribable about 27 people murdered, (20 young children and six adults at the school),the murder of the shooter's mother beforehand, then the cowardly suicide of the shooter at the school as law enforcement closed in.
BUT I CAN TELL YOU WITH CERTAINTY WHY IT HAPPENED:
It didn't happen because of the so-called gun culture, or because of poor security at the school. It happened because of the modern leftist culture that has been busy removing all semblance of personal responsibility and respect from our lives.
It happened because of the Hollywood and television types who lecture the conservatives on how people should live, while they make large fortunes producing absolute filth and violence in their movies, videos, and television programs.
It happened because of the reality TV shows that often demean humanity, along with shows that make people laugh at the pain and humiliation of others.
The senseless murders happened because multi-millionaire computer game producers create ugly digital scenarios that poison young minds with abject depravity and gratuitous violence.
It happened because the school system no longer teaches values, and promotes the idea that 'anything goes.' And that all people are equal, regardless of the truth. And that no one ever fails!
It happened because progressive-liberal leaders won't allow concerned and loving parents to discipline their children, or raise their children in the time-honored way they feel is right.
It happened because far too many secular thought leaders and media writers spend their time and effort ridiculing and attacking the people who want to live by the lessons of the Bible and the Torah.
In truth, this and other horrible acts of violence happen because our society-- from the entertainment industry, to schools, to the media, and to our governments-- have created the social and cultural foundation that is eating away at both Canada and the United States like a cancer.
I know that what I am writing is in today's world inflammatory, but that's OK. I want my old country's values back!
Values like standing in school when an adult entered the room. Like being seriously disciplined for bad behavior - at school or at home. Like when we were measured by our successes and failures. When not everyone had to waste years of his or her life going to college and likely going into debt to perhaps learn basket weaving instead of going to a trade course or going to work or the military service right after high school.
In sadness . . . Howard Galganov
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