Cannonball

Workers digging a ditch for a water line at Union Hospital in Elkton on Tuesday found an odd relic: a rusted, 4-inch cannonball that one of them later took home.But when Abingdon resident Wayne Wienecke telephoned state police about his find, a bomb squad arrived at his doorstep -- and the cannonball was hauled away for destruction at a local landfill."We destroyed it for safety reasons," said Bob Thomas, Maryland deputy chief fire marshal. "Until the device was destroyed, we had no way of knowing whether it contained explosives."

Workers dredging in the Baltimore Harbor Monday afternoon discovered a cannonball that might date to the Civil War era off Hart-Miller Island near eastern Baltimore County, according to the Maryland state fire marshal's office. The 25-pound ball was described as in "very good condition" and was still explosive, according to Deputy Chief Jason Mowbray. Bomb experts with the state fire marshal's office rendered the ordnance safe, Mowbray said. He declined to elaborate on the procedure. The fire marshal's office was called about 4 p.m. Monday after a private contractor disposing of dredged material on Hart-Miller Island discovered the cannonball in the muck being deposited.

Wayne Wienecke Jr. is still a little sobered when he considers that it might have been a live explosive shell -- not a solid cannonball -- riding in the cab of his pickup truck earlier this week.The Abingdon backhoe operator, who unearthed the rusted, softball-sized cannonball while digging a ditch for a water line at Union Hospital in Elkton Tuesday, said the danger only dawned on him while he was driving home with his souvenir that night.That's when he began thinking that the 4-inch metal ball wrapped in an old shirt next to him might be "a live bomb."

Usually it's a glass bottle or an abandoned tire. But workers sorting litter out of the piles of sand and dirt scooped from the bottom of the Patapsco River in South Baltimore this week came across an unusual find - Civil War-era cannonballs. Given the proximity of Fort McHenry, state officials say, it's not uncommon for Baltimore-area barges to return to shore with long-submerged ordnance. But cannonballs are another story. "I've been involved in dredging for 30-some years, and I've seen [munitions]

The Maryland fire marshal's bomb squad detonated a cannonball in Bel Air on Wednesday that may date from the War of 1812.The detonation occurred after Gertrude Depkin, chairwoman of the artifacts committee for the Historical Society of Harford County, learned of a warning from the state fire marshal concerning the potential dangers of old cannonballs.Mrs. Depkin said she knew the society had an old, rusty, flaking cannonball, about the size of a 10-pin bowling ball, at its headquarters in the old Bel Air post office on Main Street.

Ten seconds doesn't seem like a lot of time. But Allan Charles has been obsessed with it for years. The creative director for Baltimore-based Trahan, Burden & Charles Inc., has wanted to make a commercial longer than the standard 30 seconds but less than a minute. "We spend a lot of time editing down to 30 seconds," he said. "I always thought the perfect creative format would be 40 seconds. This gives the creative part a little time to breathe." In NeighborCare Professional Pharmacies, a division of NeighborCare Inc., Charles found a willing client.

The first Towson-to-the-sea Cannonball Run was more radar than racing, but at least two drivers outfoxed a web of police patrols to arrive at the finish line in Ocean City.At 2: 45 a.m., Jack Barranger, a 50-year-old car dealer from Frankford, Del., was the first to finish. He took his charcoal-gray Porsche on a route through Delaware that largely avoided Maryland's patrols. The state put 65 extra troopers on the highways because of the illegal race.But Barranger acknowledged that 33-year-old Chuck Goldsborough, a professional race car driver, won the Cannonball Run by clocking a faster time.

OCEAN CITY -- This is the kind of guy you are: Bold, innovative, sharp crease in the slacks, not afraid of a challenge. So when you heard about the First Annual Cannonball Run, a high-speed, anything-goes race from Towson to Ocean City, your first thought was: This is all me.Only being the maverick that you are, you ran the race a day earlier than everyone else.On a warm, breezeless Friday morning, with the skies the color of swamp water, and every cop on the Eastern Shore just itching to pull out his ticket book, you climbed in your Jeep Cherokee and took 'em all on."

Workers dredging in the Baltimore Harbor Monday afternoon discovered a cannonball that might date to the Civil War era off Hart-Miller Island near eastern Baltimore County, according to the Maryland state fire marshal's office. The 25-pound ball was described as in "very good condition" and was still explosive, according to Deputy Chief Jason Mowbray. Bomb experts with the state fire marshal's office rendered the ordnance safe, Mowbray said. He declined to elaborate on the procedure. The fire marshal's office was called about 4 p.m. Monday after a private contractor disposing of dredged material on Hart-Miller Island discovered the cannonball in the muck being deposited.

Duina Zacchini Norman, human cannonball Duina Zacchini Norman, a member of a famed circus family who joined the human cannonball act when her brothers were drafted, died Wednesday in Nashville, where she had lived after a circus career that began on the trapeze when she was 16. The Flying Zacchinis had traveled Africa and Europe during the 1920s and '30s, performing a cannonball routine perfected by her father, Edmundo Zacchini.

Duina Zacchini Norman, human cannonball Duina Zacchini Norman, a member of a famed circus family who joined the human cannonball act when her brothers were drafted, died Wednesday in Nashville, where she had lived after a circus career that began on the trapeze when she was 16. The Flying Zacchinis had traveled Africa and Europe during the 1920s and '30s, performing a cannonball routine perfected by her father, Edmundo Zacchini.

In an old episode of The Simpsons, America's favorite cartoon dad, Homer, lands an upaid gig in a Lollapalooza-like rock music show. His job: to go onstage between acts, display his ample, middle-aged gut and absorb a cannonball in the breadbasket. In the crowd, two kids are puzzled. "Oh, here comes that cannonball guy," says one with a nose ring. "He's cool." "Are you being sarcastic, dude?" asks his flannel-clad buddy. There is a pause. "I don't even know anymore," he says. That's pretty much how you're liable to feel if you choose to treat yourself to the unique postmodern experience that is Inspiration, the new CD/DVD featuring the vocal artistry of one William Hung, the 21-year-old California grad student who, thanks to a wildly popular television show, has come to embody a Huey Lewis adage that is by now so dusty it has to be au courant: "It's hip to be square."

By the time senior Mark Lampman had swallowed his 11th cannonball, Naval Academy slang for a softball-sized apple turnover, his face had contorted and turned ghost-white, and his stomach had stretched out over his pants. It didn't look good. Moments later, as a hundred of his classmates chanted, one yelling "Focus, Lampman! Focus!" he doubled over in distress. Four other students, hands covered in apples and pastry dough, also failed the challenge of the Cannonball Run. It was a lone freshman who successfully completed the run, safeguarding an academy tradition for another year.

Ten seconds doesn't seem like a lot of time. But Allan Charles has been obsessed with it for years. The creative director for Baltimore-based Trahan, Burden & Charles Inc., has wanted to make a commercial longer than the standard 30 seconds but less than a minute. "We spend a lot of time editing down to 30 seconds," he said. "I always thought the perfect creative format would be 40 seconds. This gives the creative part a little time to breathe." In NeighborCare Professional Pharmacies, a division of NeighborCare Inc., Charles found a willing client.

TODAY'S TOPIC, in our popular "Practical Homeowner" series, is: Dealing With Common Plumbing Problems.Common problems can strike your plumbing at any time. For instance, I have here a Kansas City Star story that was sent in by alert reader Sam Fey, concerning an incident that occurred in a Jefferson County, Mo., town called House Springs. This story, which I am not making up, states:"A House Springs mobile home was damaged when a Civil War-type cannonball smashed through a window and two interior walls Thursday night before crashing into a toilet and lodging in a bathroom wall."

The first Towson-to-the-sea Cannonball Run was more radar than racing, but at least two drivers outfoxed a web of police patrols to arrive at the finish line in Ocean City.At 2: 45 a.m., Jack Barranger, a 50-year-old car dealer from Frankford, Del., was the first to finish. He took his charcoal-gray Porsche on a route through Delaware that largely avoided Maryland's patrols. The state put 65 extra troopers on the highways because of the illegal race.But Barranger acknowledged that 33-year-old Chuck Goldsborough, a professional race car driver, won the Cannonball Run by clocking a faster time.

Last weekend's J/30 North American Championship, sailed out of Annapolis Yacht Club by 34 boats, was challenging and difficult for virtually all the sailors involved -- partly because of tight competition and the weather.Winds held nicely for the three-day, five-race event, which began on Sept. 17, but strong ebb current opposing the generally northerly winds all three days and wet weather and fog, especially on Saturday, put racers to the test.Winning overall was the Annapolis father-son team of Bill Wallop Sr. and Bill Wallop Jr. and their crew on Cannonball, who sailed most consistently of any team, and posted a pair of bullets in the last two races on Sunday to secure the victory.

TODAY'S TOPIC, in our popular "Practical Homeowner" series, is: Dealing With Common Plumbing Problems.Common problems can strike your plumbing at any time. For instance, I have here a Kansas City Star story that was sent in by alert reader Sam Fey, concerning an incident that occurred in a Jefferson County, Mo., town called House Springs. This story, which I am not making up, states:"A House Springs mobile home was damaged when a Civil War-type cannonball smashed through a window and two interior walls Thursday night before crashing into a toilet and lodging in a bathroom wall."

OCEAN CITY -- This is the kind of guy you are: Bold, innovative, sharp crease in the slacks, not afraid of a challenge. So when you heard about the First Annual Cannonball Run, a high-speed, anything-goes race from Towson to Ocean City, your first thought was: This is all me.Only being the maverick that you are, you ran the race a day earlier than everyone else.On a warm, breezeless Friday morning, with the skies the color of swamp water, and every cop on the Eastern Shore just itching to pull out his ticket book, you climbed in your Jeep Cherokee and took 'em all on."

The Maryland fire marshal's bomb squad detonated a cannonball in Bel Air on Wednesday that may date from the War of 1812.The detonation occurred after Gertrude Depkin, chairwoman of the artifacts committee for the Historical Society of Harford County, learned of a warning from the state fire marshal concerning the potential dangers of old cannonballs.Mrs. Depkin said she knew the society had an old, rusty, flaking cannonball, about the size of a 10-pin bowling ball, at its headquarters in the old Bel Air post office on Main Street.