Mast

The fall hunting season for wild turkeys opens Saturday with an extra day of hunting, an extended hunting area and habitat conditions that game managers say might favor the birds more than the hunters.The nut of the matter is acorns, the seeds from which white and black oaks grow and the staple of the mast (fruits of forest trees) that turkeys and many other animals feed on.This year the Department of Natural Resources' mast surveys in the state's four western counties -- including Garrett, Allegany and Washington, the only counties where fall turkey hunting is permitted -- found a strong overall crop.

From The Sun March 31-April 6, 1841April 2: The dwelling house of the Misses Shears, or Shires, on Federal Hill was entered on Sunday morning last, while the family were at church and robbed of between sixty and seventy dollars in money.April 6: The national flag floated from the Washington Monument and all our public buildings during the day yesterday, at half-mast, as a token of respect to the deceased President. The shipping in port also had their flags at half-mast.From The Sun March 31-April 6, 1891March 31: Baltimore County -- Snow fell so thickly in the upper districts of the county that persons when driving to church Sunday were obliged in many instances to leave the traveled road and go through the fields in order to avoid the snow drifts.

HELEN -- The painted-plywood sign poked into the ground outside Mother Catherine Spalding Elementary School yesterday read more like a warning than an invitation: "Church Dinner Here -- Sunday."Days after hundreds of people became violently ill and two died after eating tainted food at the fall dinner at Our Lady of the Wayside Church, three nearby churches were preparing to hold dinners this weekend.Old-timers including V. H. "Dutch" Mast take pride in the yearly slew of turkey-and-ham church dinners that are as much a part of Southern Maryland's autumn as football and the kale harvest.

One of our articles has quoted a gentleman saying "jerry-rigged," and of course we let that stand. Our job is to report what people do and say; making them look good is a flack's task.  But if you wish to be precise, you will observe a distinction between jury-rigged  and jerry-built , even though the two terms are frequently confused.  Any thing that is jury-rigged  is an improvised solution to a problem. It's originally a nautical expression, deriving, the Oxford English Dictionary says, from jury-mast , a temporary mast put up to replace one that has broken off or been swept away.

Even when your boat sustains a direct hit by lightning, it's unlikely anybody on board will get hurt, according to research done by Chuck Fort, an associate editor at a newsletter put out by BoatU.S. Marine Insurance. After reviewing 998 lightning-related claims submitted to the insurance company in the past five years, Fort found that nobody had died and only "a handful" of people had been seriously hurt when lightning damaged their boats. "The people who are injured are in open boats - runabouts and bass boats," Fort said.

A top Navy admiral has decided against courts-martial in the Greeneville submarine disaster but will order the sub's captain to an administrative hearing that will force his departure from the service, according to Navy sources. In a decision that may be announced as early as today, Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of the Pacific Fleet, will conclude that the deadly collision between the submarine and a Japanese trawler was the result of unprofessional conduct by Cmdr. Scott Waddle and lead sonar analyst Petty Officer Patrick Seacrest.

Somewhere, the 60-footer sailed by Marc Thiercelin of France, was dismasted yesterday northwest of the Falkland Islands during the Around Alone race.Thiercelin, the leader in Leg 3 before the mast toppled, was not injured in the incident, and race officials said he is making for Port Stanley in the Falklands for repairs.Last night, Thiercelin was making 4 knots before 30-knot winds from the northeast. However, weather forecasters expect the wind to move to the south-southwest over the next 10 hours, which would mean Thiercelin would have to battle head winds for at least part of the trip to Port Stanley.

Mega MeggettNew York Giants assistant general manager Harry Hulmes couldn't remember how much money running back David Meggett (Towson State), a contract holdout, asked for in a contract counterproposal."

MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blake's office recently issued a press release applauding the restoration and preservation of the Baltimore Battle Monument honoring the sacrifices of Baltimore's citizens through the War of 1812. But overlooking the Inner Harbor there is another memorial, one dedicated to the Pride of Baltimore and to four adventuresome crew members lost at sea on May 14, 1986 - captain, engineer, carpenter and deck hand. Eight crew members were rescued after four days adrift in one life raft.