The Straight Dope 12/05/2003

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/05/2003

Dear Cecil:

My wife is about to take a group of Girl Scouts camping and
needed a propane lantern. When I went to install the wicks,
a warning label informed me that the wicks were radioactive.
Being a nuclear medicine tech, I had access to a Geiger
counter, and brother, they weren't kidding. Is Saddam taking
his vengeance by slowly wiping out campers in this country?
What gives? --Rick Stobaugh, Memphis, Tennessee

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Cecil replies:

Life is full of little surprises, isn't it? Your wife was
probably looking forward to a night under the stars, far
from the worries and threats of modern society. Now she
finds out that the camp lantern hissing cheerfully on the
picnic table is pumping out alpha particles. Makes one long
for the good old days, when all a Girl Scout had to worry
about was poison ivy and curious bears.

But you know what? Radioactive lantern wicks aren't a
modern threat.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031205.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 05/05/1978

Dear Straight Dope:

On a recent pilgrimage to Troy Grove, Illinois to visit the
home of Wild Bill Hickok, one of our company happened to
mention that according to legend Wild Bill was shot while
holding "black aces and eights." This hand has come to be
known as the "dead man's hand." Is the story apocryphal,
and if it is true, what was the fifth card in Wild Bill's
hand? --Larry N., Chicago

Dear Larry:  

You've settled on one of the few bits of Western lore that
has some basis in fact. Wild Bill was indeed holding black
aces and eights when he was plugged by Jack McCall on the
fateful day of August 2, 1876, in the charming suburb of
Deadwood, deep in the Dakota Territory. Bill's fifth card
was the deuce of spades, which must have made for a pretty
grim-looking hand. I'm surprised he didn't commit suicide. 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_307.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 09/28/1979

Dear Cecil: 

I'm a rabid baseball fan, and often my friends depend upon
me to provide the wisdom from on high when it comes to the
grand old game. But the one thing people invariably ask is:
"Why is the shortstop called the shortstop? I get all the
other ones, but that's the weird one!" I've got enough
problems with self-esteem as it is, and I don't need it
undercut any further by not being able to answer that
question. I look to you for the answer. I promise to credit
you every time I repeat your reply. --Curt L., Los Angeles  

Dear Curt:  

That's the spirit. The origin of the word "shortstop"
appears to have been lost in the mists of antiquity, but
the absence of the facts has never prevented me from making
something up, and the present case is no exception. I have
here a Currier & Ives lithograph that purports to depict
the first officially recorded baseball game, which occurred
on or about June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey, between
the Knickerbockers and the New York Nine. Notwithstanding
the fact that the Knickerbockers had made up the rules,
they lost. Not what you would call a team of destiny. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_299b.html
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