Great story about NY privy digger

This may have been posted before, but if it was I missed it........

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#/jack_fortmeyer

Cool post, thanks Annie! I also got a kick out of the comments: http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/1in8_jack_fortmeyer.html

One of his storys is on Glass Works web page.If its the same Fireman Jack,and im sure it is.

http://www.glswrk-auction.com/index.htm

hey annie and rick ive watched the vid several times and love it wow!

Mike, we watched it a few times too! It is great! Cool guy! Great pictures. Made me decide to finally approach the neighbors about their privy. Thanks Annie. That was very enjoyable. Now I have to go read the comments!

Yes Cindy,....
Great story,...I think there's a lot to be learned from Jack's story and the robotic responses of the Archeology folks.[:'(] I must admit It seems as though they're missing the point...(although they seem to feel the same towards bottle diggers)...It's difficult for me to see any harmony here...Years ago when I worked for the Forest Service, our crew would plant young trees, mostly in old logging camp clearings...In order to do this, we would need to chop out an area of thick ferns and sod...often exposing artifacts (read bottles)..During our lunch break I would go back and dig, filling my pack. After one of these projects I was approached by one of the "brass" and warned against my activitys....(I simply returned after work and would sometimes dig at night) Sure enough, months later I was at work on a rare Saturday, and was asked to get some records forms from the main office. (Guess who's?) same brass that had really busted on me for digging, had bottles and artifacts all over his office. Since no one was present I took my time examining his finds....He had some decent bottles there, but the hipocracy of it all lingered with me for years. I still remember passing up two aqua crude flasks because of some iron tools being in my pack....I placed them in the crotch of an apple tree, fully intending to return for them someday. They had diagonal cursive writing as embossing. They were oddly from a local pharmacy. I always thought that was strange, being flasks, and I've never found even a shard of another. Hmmm, wish I could remember where they were,..Penn Digger and I tried to locate them last year but had no luck. Perhaps some lucky hunter or fisherman has them on his mantle,...or maybe we just missed the spot, alot has changed since 1980. Thanks for sharing. Joe

I think their obsession with seeds is a little much. We can't all be an archaeologist. I mean, this stuff is old, but not THAT old. Why leave it in the ground?! Those archaeologists don't own it. They're not going to dig it. It is private property. They just wish they could do something that fun in their job, which is usually pretty boring if you ask me. No offense to archaeologists, but this is what I dream about and love doing. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to the evidence!

Or maybe the 'brass' found them.[8D]

This has always been an intresting argument to me. I have some sympathetic feelings for the arch's. But just dont see the reasoning. I think the info they find in what we dig would just be rodundant. What dont they already know about 19th century life? We can not possibly dig everything. Heck they are still finding stuff in egypt after three thousand years.

Most of the suff found is just stored away in a giant warehouse never to see the light of day again. Our collections are usaully very well taken care of, and eventually...sooner or later most will end up in a museum somewehere. Collectors spend more time researching their bottles more then any arch would.

What because they are formally educated gives them some expicit right to dig? I know a few privy diggers I would put up against any arch with a bunch of letters after his name.

Last but least....the majority of the holes we dig dont have a damm thing in them but a bunch of bricks....so to the arch's....I say..have at it. While you record the number of cherry pits in a privy I will be digging for that yellow-olive F L Schaum from Bmore. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

i'll admit this much i use to do alot of backpackin here in established wilderness areas. and there were bottles at old mine camps,,now i'm not sayin i took them[8|] but,,,,