28Remember theMaineA “splendid little war”

38 Packed with PowerThe history of the battery

6 Maven of MercyHumanitarianClara Barton

22 ThailandA tale of two cities

C O N N E C T I N G T O I N D U S T R Y

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2asia/pacific – spring/summer 2012

The Right Connection™

HowSweetIt Is

OUR INSATIABLEAPPETITE FOR

SUCROSE KEEPSTHE WORLD’S

SUGAR REFINERIESCOOKING

At Dixon, we’re much more than quality products, people and customer service.We’re the place to go for answers to your processing challenges.

Finding new ways to optimize operations … reduce maintenance downtime … promote better safety and environmentalcompliance. These are the reasons why we opened our Innovation Center – the industry’s newest product R&D resource

featuring state-of-the-art equipment, a dedicated engineering staff, and interactive training facilities.

Bring us your challenges. Let’s work together to develop the new generation of products and solutions.Dixon: The Right Connection for innovation.

GO AHEAD: ASK THE TOUGH QUESTIONS.AT DIXON’S INNOVATION CENTER,

THAT’S HOW WE COME UP WITH THE BEST ANSWERS.

©2012

DixonValve

&Coupling

Company.

Allrightsreserved.

Call: 877-963-4966 dixonvalve.com/innovationcenter

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 3WWW. D I X O N V A LV E . C O M

DEPARTMENTS5 BUILDING CHARACTER

The Golden Rule

6 PROFILEClara Barton

15 FACTS & FIGURESSugar Around the World

21 THE DIXON DRILLER

32 DIXON SPOTLIGHTReinvesting in American Manufacturing

34 KEEPING IT SAFEUse Caution with Compressed Air

36 HEALTH & FITNESS(Es)chewing the Fat

38 INVENTIONSPacked with Power

FEATURES8 SWEET SPOTS

Our insatiable appetite for sucrose keeps the world’ssugar refineries cooking.By Mary K. Zajac

16 HERO OF THE SKIESIn an amazing act of daring and bravery, Butch O’Harebecame the first naval flying ace of World War II.By Greg Rienzi

22 THAILAND: A TALE OF TWO CITIESTourists flock to this country in Southeast Asia for itsrich culture, chaos—and calm.By Jodi Ettenberg

28 “REMEMBER THE MAINE!”How a “splendid little war” put the U.S. on the mapas a world power.By Eugene Finerman

FALL/WINTER 2012ASIA/PACIFIC –SPRING/SUMMER 2012/

8 16 22

FALL/WINTER 2012ASIA/PACIFIC – SUMMER 2012

PublisherDixon Valve & Coupling Company

EditorSue De Pasquale

Editorial BoardRichard L. Goodall, CEOBob Grace, President, DixonTaylor Goodall, Vice President,

Distribution, DixonScott Jones, Vice President, Sales &

Marketing, DixonHazen Arnold, Vice President, DixonMark Vansant, Vice President, DixonJoseph Dawson, Marketing ManagerBill Harr, Global Marketing DirectorKaren R. Hurless, Advertising &

Communications Manager

Editorial & DesignClipper City Media

Director of Custom MediaJeni Mann

Creative DirectorKim Van Dyke

Graphic DesignJamie ConwayCortney Geare

Please submit address changes andrequests for new subscriptions to:Clipper City Custom MediaAttn: Adrienne Gieszl11459 Cronhill Drive, Suite A-BOwings Mills, MD 21117888-257-8558Fax: 410-902-2338

BOSS is produced three times a year by Dixon Valve &

Coupling Company and Clipper City Custom Media. The

acceptance of advertising does not constitute endorse-

ment of the products or services by Dixon Valve &

Coupling Company. The publisher reserves the right to

reject any advertisement that is not in keeping with the

standing or policies of Dixon Valve & Coupling Company.

Copyright 2012, all rights reserved. Reproduction of any

part of BOSS without written permission is prohibited.

Dixon Valve & Coupling Company800 High StreetChestertown, MD 21620877-963-4966Fax: 800-283-4966www.dixonvalve.com

Email questions or comments about BOSSto: boss@dixonvalve.com4 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

Dixon looks forward to 2013. Our commitment to manufacturing, lean

practices and product innovation highlights our dedication to providing the

best possible products and service.

Our industry, like others, depends on the health of the overall economy.

We need our government leaders to ensure policies that promote the free

enterprise system and the values that have made our country great. The fact

is that successful businesses are the engine of job production; without them,

the American Dream of success is beyond our reach. Let’s hold our elected

officials accountable—and together we can look forward to more jobs and

less government interference in the months and years to come.

Thank you for your business! Have a happy and successful year.

Thanks for reading,

LOOKING AHEAD

WWW. D I X O N V A LV E . C O M

The Golden Rule

Dixon800 High Street, Chestertown, MD 21620 ph 877.963.4966 fx 800.283.4966

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> “Do unto others as you would havethem do unto you.”The Golden Rule is an ethical

principle rooted in every major culture.You can find it in the writings ofConfucius and Aristotle as well as in thescriptures of virtually all religions. Youdon’t want to be lied to, yelled at ortreated unfairly, so don’t lie to, yell at orbe unfair to others.It’s a terrific rule to create a more

kind and just society, and it is central tothe ethical principle of respect. But ifwe’re not careful we can twist themeaning of the Golden Rule by treatingit as a rule of exchange rather than a

rule of ethics. In other words, we arehonest, kind or fair to others only sothey will be honest, kind and fair to us.There is, of course, a practical aspect

to the Golden Rule. Kindness oftenbegets kindness, and people are morelikely to be honest with us if we’rehonest with them. The trouble is thatif we anchor our willingness to treatothers well in expectation that they willreturn the favor, what is our moral dutywith respect to selfish, disrespectfuland dishonest people? Can we modifythe rule to “Do unto others as theyhave done unto us,” or “before they doit to us?”

Is it ethical to lie to a liar or cheata cheater? Not for a person of character.We may feel like suckers from timeto time if we’re honest and kind toeveryone, but in the end the best reasonto follow the Golden Rule is not becauseit assures that others will treat us right,but because it is right. You see, how wetreat others is not simply about them. It’sabout us. It defines who we are.

Reprinted from You Don’t Have to Be Sickto Get Better, Josephson Institute of Ethics.©2001. www.josephsoninstitute.com.Permission given by the Josephson Instituteof Ethics.

BY MICHAEL JOSEPHSONBUILDING CHARACTER/

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 5

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Reintroducing

> Clara Barton is most widely known asthe founder of the American Red Cross,the “Angel of the Battlefield” and thenamesake of a busy service area on thesouthbound New Jersey Turnpike.She was much more than that.Barton was a pioneer at a time when

women were expected to stay home andcare for their families, an era whenwomen were barred from working inmany jobs and unable to vote. Bartonworked as a teacher and patent clerk, asearcher of missing persons, nurse andhumanitarian, tirelessly serving thosearound the world who needed help most.

“You must never so much as thinkwhether you like it or not, whether it isbearable or not,” she said once. “Youmust never think of anything except theneed and how to meet it.”Clarissa “Clara” Harlowe Barton was

born in North Oxford, Mass., on Dec.25, 1821, to Captain Stephen and SarahBarton. The youngest of five, she andher siblings were educated from thetime they were small by their father, aveteran of the Indian Wars, about howimportant it was to serve one’s countryand help others.She first showed her devotion to

service through nursing when she was11 and her brother David fell off thebarn roof he was repairing. Doctors toldthe family that David would surely dieof his serious internal injuries within ayear. Barton stepped in and took care ofher brother day and night for two years.He recovered.In 1839 she became a teacher. When

Barton was offered a “promotion” toteach in a more challenging school atthe same $2 weekly salary (about $50

BY MARIA BLACKBURN

Maven of Mercy

PROFILE/

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross,set the standard for selflessness

6 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

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today)—less than what male teachers inthe same job were earning—she toldthe school board, “I may sometimes bewilling to teach for nothing, but if paidat all, I will never do a man’s work forless than a man’s pay.” The school boardagreed and decided to pay her the samesalary as the male teachers.Barton’s strong spirit served her well

when, in 1854, she took a job as acopyist in the U.S. Patent Office inWashington, D.C., and became a civilservant. She was the first woman to geta substantial clerkship in the federalgovernment, and she loved her job.However once the Civil War began, sheresigned in order to volunteer in aidingsoldiers on the front lines of battle.Women had never been allowed on

battlefields or in military hospitals orcamps before, and officials declined herhelp at first. Barton prevailed and wonthe access and support she sought. “I

may be compelled to face danger, butnever fear it, and while our soldiers canstand and fight, I can stand and feedand nurse them,” she said. “My place isanywhere between the bullet and thehospital.” Her courage and dedicationas the “Angel of the Battlefield” wonher much praise and attention, and shewas named the superintendent ofUnion nurses.When the Civil War ended in 1865,

Barton still felt called to serve. “War,although the most tragic, is not theonly evil that assails humanity,” shesaid. At her urging, President AbrahamLincoln granted her permission tosearch for missing soldiers through aletter writing campaign via the Officeof Correspondence.Barton’s schedule was relentless

and taxing and took a toll on her health.A trip to Europe for rest in 1869introduced her to the International

Red Cross. She started the AmericanAssociation of the Red Cross in 1881,at age 60, expanding the concept of theorganization to include assisting in theface of national disasters.Barton was president of the

American Red Cross for 23 years,leading the organization as it assistedvictims of such disasters as the Texasfamine in 1886, the Florida yellow feverepidemic in 1887 and the Galvestonflood in 1900, as well as those injuredin the Spanish American War.She resigned as head of the Red

Cross in 1904 and died in 1912 at theage of 90 at her home in Glen Echo,Md. An obituary of Barton published inthe Detroit Free Press stated simply, “Shewas the most perfect incarnation ofmercy the modern world has known.”Today, Barton’s legacy lives on

through the American Red Cross(www.redcross.org).

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Sugar beets being delivered on a conveyor belt,for processing at a sugar mill.

SweetSpotsBY MARY K. ZAJAC

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 9WWW. D I X O N V A LV E . C O M

OUR INSATIABLEAPPETITE FOR SUCROSE

KEEPS THE WORLD’S SUGARREFINERIES COOKING

JUST

INTS

UC

ALA

S

TThe air smells sweet in the courtyardunder the giant Domino Sugars sign visible from allangles of the Baltimore harbor. The ship that dischargedthe current batch of raw sugar for American SugarRefining’s Baltimore refinery (formerly the DominoSugar Corporation) has left the port. In a warehouse,a man in a front loader pushes piles of tawny, inedibleraw sugar into what looks like giant sand dunes. A fewbees, fat and drunk on sugar, buzz about lazily. Dressedin hard hat and safety glasses, his hair (and beard)encased in netting, refinery manager Stu FitzGibbonclimbs the refinery’s metal steps, pausing only to greetan employee by name or to take in a quick view of theharbor filled with sailboats and swooping Seagulls.“I love sugar,” says the 32-year industry veteran. The

world would agree.Imagine a world without refined sugar. No candy,

no jam, no pickles. Bread rises with difficulty withoutsugar to boost the yeast. Medicines become a challengeto swallow in their unadulterated state. Forget thatmorning doughnut.

Imagine a world without refined sugar. Difficult,isn’t it?As Michael Pollan acknowledges in The Botany of

Desire, his exploration of the complex relationshipbetween plants and human desires, humans are wiredfor sweetness. “A taste for sweetness appears to beuniversal [among different cultures],” writes Pollan.“This goes for many animals, too, which shouldn’t besurprising, since sugar is the form in which nature storesfood energy.” Mammals get their first taste of sweetnessfrom their mother’s milk, explains Pollan, and the tastefor sugar only grows from there. Since sugar was firstintroduced to England in the 13th century, the world’staste for sugar hasn’t ceased.In recent decades, high fructose corn syrup and

artificial sweeteners (from saccharine to Splenda® andaspartame) have made inroads into the sugar market.Yet old-fashioned sugar has prevailed. According tothe USDA, in 2010, Americans consumed roughly 66pounds of sugar per capita, the highest amount since1999, whereas high fructose corn syrup consumption

at 64.5 pounds hit its lowest levelssince 1986.“There’s been some migration

back to sucrose as a sweetener,” saysFitzGibbon. “The public started torealize that simpler is better. [Sugar]tastes better too.”Sugar, or sucrose, is a naturally

occurring product derived from bothsugar cane and sugar beets—one- totwo-foot-long white root vegetablesweighing three to five pounds.Incredibly, the sugar produced fromeach source is virtually identical, butonly an expert in the sugar industrymight be able to tell the differencebetween the two sugars, concedesMark Whitford, vice president of sales

and marketing for Sweeteners PlusInc., a sugar distributor in Lakeville,N.Y. “Beet sugar has more of an earthysmell, while cane has a clean, sweetsmell,” he explains.Still, says Jack Roney, director of

economics and policy analysis for the

American Sugar Alliance (ASA), “noother commodity in the world thatcomes from such different plants hasan outcome that is so indistinguish-able. It’s the same outcome from grassand tuber.”Sugar is produced on six continents

and in more than 100 countries,including Brazil, the largest producerof sugar worldwide, as well as India,China, Thailand, Poland, Ukraine,Pakistan and the U.S. Eighty-one per-cent of sugar worldwide is made fromcane (grown in tropical and subtropi-cal areas), while sugar beet productionis relegated to cooler climes.Approximately 72 percent of the

world’s sugar stays within each countryof production, with the remaining 28percent available on the internationalmarket. In the United States, nearly allthe sugar produced in the 18 sugar-producing states is consumed byAmericans.In the U.S., however, the amount

of sugar made from sugar beets versussugar cane is roughly equal—55percent comes from sugar beets, while45 percent comes from cane. Sugarbeet production is centered west of theMississippi in cool climate states likeCalifornia, Washington, Colorado,Idaho, Minnesota, Montana andNorth Dakota. Sugar cane, on theother hand, needs a warmer, more

humid climate and thrives in areas likeFlorida, Hawaii, Louisiana and Texas.Production costs for each method

of refining are highly dependent onweather, explains Roney. Monsoonscan severely damage a cane crop inthe Philippines, while drought canaffect the sugar beet crop in Russia.“In most years with good rain, lowercost productions are associated withsugar beets,” says Roney. Both sidesof the industry are interdependent onthe other’s harvest, and will make upfor shortfalls if necessary.“In our industry, we never have

two years that are the same,” saysWhitford. Still, according to the ASA,sugar producers generate nearly $20billion a year for the U.S. economy.In Brazil, the sugar cane industrycontributed $50 billion, or 2.4 percentto the country’s GDP in 2010.

Sugar, says FitzGibbon, “is an oldindustry that’s thriving.”

A Powerful HistorySucrose has been part of the humandiet for more than 12,000 years. It was“first domesticated in New Guinea,

“Beet sugarhas more of anearthy smell,while cane hasa clean, sweetsmell.” — Mark Whitford

Above: A sugar beet. Right: A worker stands among sugarcane plants on aplantation in India in 1929.

10 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

S U MM E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 11

� Sugar’s name originated from theSanskrit sarkara, which means“material in granule form.”

� Sweet is the only taste humansare born desiring.

� Sugar cane stalks can reach upto 30 feet high.

� One teaspoon of sugar equals15 calories.

� White sugar is pure sucrose.Brown sugar contains molasses.Dark brown sugar has moremolasses content than lightbrown sugar.

� Confectioners, or powdered, sugaris sugar ground to powder, sifted,and then blended with cornstarchto prevent caking.

SugarFunFacts

first processed in India and firstcarried to the New World byChristopher Columbus,” explainsJohns Hopkins University ProfessorSidney W. Mintz, a world authorityon sugar and the author of Sweetnessand Power.Before sugar reached the New

World, the Crusaders brought it backto England in the 13th century. Thereit was used as both a spice and formedicinal purposes. In the 15th and16th centuries, both sugar and honeywere used as sweeteners, but by the18th century, Mintz reports, “sugar—sucrose—won out over honey as anitem ofmass consumption… and hasnever retreated.” In the 19th century,he adds, sugar consumption in theUnited Kingdom quintupled.The sugar that Britons and other

Europeans were stirring into their tea

and using to sweeten their chocolatecame primarily from colonies in theCaribbean or West Indies. ChristopherColumbus brought sugar cane fromthe Canary Islands to Santo Domingoduring his second voyage in 1493. By1516 Dominican sugar was being har-vested and refined via slave labor andshipped back to Spain. In turn, Dutch,British and French sugar plantationsdependent on slave labor would followon islands like Jamaica, the Antilles,Cuba, Puerto Rico and Antigua.Sugar would become an invaluable

international commodity, and untilthe abolition of slavery in Europe andthe United States in the 19th century,it was part of the insidious “triangletrade” that swapped human capital forgoods like sugar and rum, made fromsugar’s byproduct, molasses. After slav-ery was abolished, Europeans turnedto sugar beets, something previouslyrelegated to cattle feed, as a source fortheir sugar, establishing factories inGermany, France, Poland and othercool-climate countries.In the United States, sugar refining

from cane began in earnest inLouisiana in the late 18th century,with an influx of expert planters andrefiners who were fleeing Haiti after itsrevolution. By 1812, Louisiana boasted75 sugar mills. Sugar beet productionwas attempted in the U.S., mostly onthe East Coast, soon after, but failed toflourish. It wasn’t until 1870 that the

first successful sugar beet factory wasestablished in central California. By1917, the U.S. operated 91 sugar beetfactories in 18 states. Today there are22 sugar beet refineries in 11 states.All the refineries are cooperatives,allowing smaller operators to pooltheir collective resources for equipmentand better buying power.

Refining: From Field to FactoryOn paper, the process of makingsugar sounds easy: You simplyremove sucrose from the sugar beetor cane and then separate molasses,a byproduct, from the raw sugar.In reality, the process is a lot morecomplicated and slightly different foreach product being produced. Sugarbeet harvesting is nearly 100 percentmechanical worldwide, whereassugar cane harvesting varies, withdeveloping countries more apt touse more manual labor. In Brazil,mechanization accounts for roughly55 percent of the harvest.“Once a beet is out of the soil or

cane is cut, it has to be processedquickly because the sucrose depletesquickly,” explains Jack Roney. For thisreason, most beet and cane refineriesare located close to the beet orcane fields.Although sugar beet refineries

operate year-round, the process beginsin earnest in the U.S and in mostinternational beet-growing locations

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Cultivating a sugar beet field. A truck unloads sugar beets at a sugar plant in Groningen, Netherlands.

12 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 13WWW. D I X O N V A LV E . C O M

with the October harvest, when sugarbeets are harvested by machine. Adefoliator removes the green tops andslices a portion from the top of thebeet, which contains a high levelof impurities, while a pinch wheelharvester pulls the beets from the soilat the root. Beets are weighed and asampling is tested for sugar content,which can vary between 10 percentand 20 percent. Then the beets aremoved to storage and stacked in pilesmeasuring 18 feet tall and 1,500 feetwide. Although beet sugar refineriesare busiest during the fall harvest,technology has made it possible forbeets to be kept under controlledconditions for up to six months sothat refining can occur throughoutthe year.

In preparation for extraction, beetsare washed several times before beingsliced by large drum slicers (industrialgraters equipped with pairs of rotatingopposed groove knives) into thinstrips called cossettes, making themlook a little like raw shoestring Frenchfries. The cossettes are placed in largediffuser tanks filled with hot water andthen agitated in a process called coun-tercurrent flow—this extracts sugar,turning the water into a thick liquidmix of water and sugar called juice. Toremove impurities in the juice, a slurryof calcium hydroxide called “milk oflime” is added and then the entiremixture is carbonated in large tanks

for 20 minutes to an hour. The milk oflime bonds with the impurities and isfiltered out, leaving a thin syrup, whichis first evaporated and then crystallizedand spun in a centrifuge to dry. Theresult is refined white sugar; thebyproduct is molasses. Some of themolasses is sold as food grade. In a

process called molasses de-sugariza-tion, a small quantity of molasses isrun back through the system forfurther extraction, which often yieldsaround 10 percent more sugar. Thelargest portion is sold to supplementcattle feed (yes, cows have a sweettooth, too).Sugar beets can yield 70 percent to

86 percent of the sugar already withinbeets when the process started, anda sugar beet cooperative like theSouthern Minnesota Beet SugarCooperative in Renville, Minn., canprocess 6,500 tons of sugar beets perday, and 562.5 tons of sugar per day.Unlike sugar beet production, cane

refining is a two-step process that takesplace at sugar cane mills and then atcane refineries. The first step in canesugar refining is extraction, where the

cane is put through rollers similar toan old-fashioned laundry mangle andcrushed to extract the juice. Slakedlime is added to the juice to filter outimpurities, and then the juice is thick-ened into a syrup through evaporation.The syrup is then boiled until condi-tions are right for the sugars to form

crystals, and the resulting crystals arespun in a centrifuge to separate themfrom the remaining liquid. Nextcomes step two: The raw sugar, aninedible product that results fromcane extraction, is sold to canerefineries, like American SugarRefining Inc. (ASR), where it will beturned into 40 different sugar prod-ucts—including white, confectionersand various browns—and sold underfamiliar labels like Domino, FloridaCrystal, C&H and Redpath (ASR alsopackages sugar for other customersunder their labels).American Sugar Refining is the

world’s largest sugar company, withmore than 17,000 employees (includingmanufacturing and distribution) and10 refineries in the United States,Canada, Mexico, England, Portugal

Unlike sugar beet production, canerefining is a two-step process thattakes place at sugar cane mills andthen at cane refineries.

Processing raw sugar and molasses from sugar cane in Bais City, Philippines. A technician works inside a sugar factory inthe Mexican town of Ameca, Jalisco.

and across the Caribbean. The companyfarms 439,000 acres of sugar caneand harvests 12.5 million tons of caneannually. The Baltimore facility issecond in production only to theNew Orleans refinery; in 2011, theBaltimore plant produced 885,000 tonsof refined sugar. It is, as refinerymanager Stu FitzGibbon describes it,“a major operation.”Still, on first glance, it’s also easy

to understand what FitzGibbon meanswhen he says that the public perceptionof sugar refineries is that they areold and outdated. The 29-acre ASRBaltimore refinery opened in 1922 andmany of its darkened brick buildingsare still in use (its iconic neon sign waserected in the 1950s). But “just becausesugar refineries are old does not meanthe technology and equipment are old,”says FitzGibbon. As he points outfrequently throughout a tour of theBaltimore facility, jobs that oncerequired mostly manual skills nowrequire critical thinking.“The main thing our employees do

is think,” says FitzGibbon, pointing toa 10-year employee who is monitoringa computer screen that regulates “affi-nation centrifuges”—tanks that spin900 pounds of raw sugar that has beenblended with a small amount of waterand molasses (also known as magma)every three minutes. “It’s a more

thoughtful process than it used to be,”he adds.Raw sugar is 98 percent sucrose,

and the Baltimore refinery is “a hugefacility for 2 percent removal,” jokesFitzGibbon wryly. The refiningprocess is a series of melts, rinses and

evaporations all designed to separatethe molasses from the sugar crystals.This refinery produces 6.5 millionpounds of sugar (or melt, as theindustry calls it) per day. It even hasits own powerhouse.

Opportunity … and ChallengesConsumers across the U.S. andaround the world can choose fromwhite, brown, confectioners and otherspecialty sugars in their supermarkets,and the industry continues to introducenew products and packaging. Ademand for organic products has led

to a limited production of organicsugar. Domino has also begun to offeralternative packaging in the form offour-pound plastic tubs of refinedsugar rather than the familiar five-pound bags.Although the American sugar

industry receives no governmentsubsidies, it is heavily regulated, andboth the domestic and internationalsugar industries pay close attention todiscussions of free trade agreementssince such agreements—as well asweather and supply—affect both theinternational commodity marketand pricing.The sugar industry will also

continue to face competition fromthe artificial sweetener industry aspeople worldwide face the conundrumof trying to cut calories withouteliminating sweetness.“Sugar-free has taken a huge bite

out of the sugar industry,” admits MarkWhitford of Sweeteners Plus Inc. “Butwhile you get sweetness from sugar,you also get body. Take that away fromsoft drinks and you’re left with waterand sweet. It’s not the same.“Sugar will never go away.”

A trio of sweeteners: regular, cane and high fructose corn syrup. An advertisementfrom the United States Food Administration, ca. 1918.

The refiningprocess is a seriesof melts, rinsesand evaporationsall designedto separate themolasses from thesugar crystals

14 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

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� Global consumption of sugar increased steadily

by 2.5 percent per year between 2000 and 2010.

� Global sugar production for the 2011–12

marketing year is forecast at roughly 185 million

tons, up 4 percent from 2010–11, according to

the USDA.

� The U.S. is the largest consumer of natural

sweeteners, consuming around 10 million tons

of refined sugar each year.

� India is the largest consumer of sugar in Asia

(roughly 17,000 tons), followed closely by China.

� Brazil is the largest exporter of sugar (accounting

for 53 percent of world trade), followed by India,

China and the United States.

� The U.S. produces approximately 70 percent of

the sugar it consumes, importing the remaining

30 percent from other countries like the

Philippines, Zimbabwe, Belize and Fiji.

Concentrating squeezed sugarcane juice at a small, rural sugarfactory in Myanmar, Burma.

Sugar Around the World

FACTS & FIGURES/

16 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

Heroof the SkiesIn an amazing act of daring and bravery,Butch OʼHare earned his place in history asAmericaʼs first naval Flying Ace of World War II

On Feb. 20, 1942, Navy Lieutenant Edward“Butch” O’Hare hopped into his Wildcat fighterplane aboard the USS Lexington aircraft carrier.This was no reconnaissance mission, flight drillor exercise. Duty, danger and fate beckoned.The Lexington sat some 450 nautical miles

from New Guinea and Japan’s Pacific navalheadquarters at Rabaul harbor.Earlier that afternoon, the Lexington had been

discovered by a four-engine Kawanishi flyingboat. A U.S. fighter shot down the spotter plane,but not before it had radioed the carrier’s position.A full squadron of Mitsubishi G4M “Betty”

bombers flew out of Rabaul to take out theLexington. To counter, the Lexington dispatchedsix Wildcat fighters, which took down mostof the enemy planes. The ship’s anti-aircraftguns finished off the rest before any damagewas done.A second wave of bombers, however, was

soon incoming. O’Hare and five other pilotsroared off the carrier’s deck to stop them.These were the times when heroes were made.Although just 27, O’Hare was already a sea-

soned and senior pilot who had established him-self as a favorite with crew members. The hand-some Irish-American was popular for his senseof humor and his modesty. A man’s man, who

took his crew on fishing and swimming trips, hesmoked Camel cigarettes and often flashed aHollywood smile.O’Hare also possessed remarkable stick-and-

rudder and gunnery skills that made him astandout pilot and—on that fateful Februaryafternoon in 1942—a nation’s knight inairplane armor.

Edward O’Hare was born in St. Louis, Mo.,on March 13, 1914, to Edward Joseph O’Hareand Selma O’Hare. Young Butch, as he quicklybecame known, had two sisters, Patriciaand Marilyn.Butch’s father was a lawyer who early in his

career met a St. Louis inventor, Oliver Smith,who developed a mechanical rabbit for use indog racing, a new and popular pastime. EdwardO’Hare helped Smith take out a patent for thedevice, and the two later toured the countryintroducing the rabbit (later popularized in aBugs Bunny cartoon) at several racetracks.When Smith died in 1927, the elder O’Hare

allegedly swindled Smith’s widow out of anyrights to the mechanical rabbit and took all theearnings for himself. “Fast Eddie,” as he wouldbe known, was born.Butch’s parents divorced that same year,

BY GREG RIENZI

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Lt. Edward H.“Butch”O’Hare in his Grumman F4F-3Wildcat giving a thumbs-up atNaval Air Station Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii, on April 10, 1942. Note the five Japanese flagsrepresenting the five enemy bombers he was credited with shooting down. Courtesy ofThe National Archives.

when Butch was 12. His sisters stayedwith their mother in St. Louis, whileButch and his dad moved to Chicago.It was here that Fast Eddie met AlCapone, the American gangster whosecrime syndicate was at the height of itspowers. Capone brought on O’Hareto help run his horse and dog trackoperation in Chicago. The two struckup both a partnership and friendship.Despite his father’s dealings with

such a notorious figure, Butch had afairly normal childhood, with summervacations to river camps, where Butchlearned to sail and fish. His father alsobought him a .22-caliber rifle that heused to shoot tin cans and other targets.By all accounts, the elder Eddie

doted on his son and praised him atevery turn. But perhaps knowing theextent of Capone’s villainy, he worriedfor the boy’s future. At age 13, O’Harewas sent to Western Military Academy,

a private military preparatory schoollocated in Alton, Ill.—an academy thatin addition to O’Hare turned out severalwar heroes, including Paul Tibbits, whowould go on to pilot the Enola Gayover Hiroshima.O’Hare graduated from the

Western Military Academy in 1932,and the following year enrolled at theUnited States Naval Academy inAnnapolis, Md. Around this time,Fast Eddie provided incriminatingevidence during Capone’s infamoustax evasion trial, which helped finallyto put the gangster behind bars.In 1937, O’Hare graduated from the

Naval Academy and was appointed anensign. Though he longed for navalaviation, like all new officers of the timehe had to spend two years on surfacewarships before he could specialize.He served two years aboard the

battleship USS New Mexico, and quicklymoved on to flight training at Naval AirStation Pensacola in Florida. There he

learned the basics on such naval aircraftas the Factory N3N-3, or Yellow Peril,and the Stearman NS-1 biplane trainer.He trained in aerobatics on the BoeingF4B-4A, an agile pursuit aircraft, as wellas in aerial gunnery. He also flew theSBU Corsair and the TBD Devastator.During his training, O’Hare

received heartbreaking news fromhome. On Nov. 8, 1939, his father wasgunned down by some of Capone’smen, just weeks before the famousmobster was released from Alcatrazprison. Fast Eddie was killed instantly.He was 46.Butch O’Hare finished his naval

aviation training in May of 1940 andwas assigned to the USS Saratoga’sfighter squadron, then transferred tothe carrier USS Enterprise. O’Harespeedily mastered the fine art of carrierlandings, a pulse-raising maneuver hecould not get enough of, impressing

even more experienced pilots.During the summer of 1941,

O’Hare returned to St. Louis. Duringa hospital visit to a friend, he met anurse named Rita Wooster and fellhead over heels in love. He proposedon the spot. She said yes, but with acatch. O’Hare had to convert to RomanCatholicism so that they could marryin a Catholic Church. Butch agreedand the two married on Sept. 6, 1941.The couple honeymooned in

Hawaii, and then moved to Coronado,Calif. where Butch was reassigned untilhe was called to duty the day after theJapanese attacked Pearl Harbor onDec. 7, 1941.In January 1942, after the USS

Saratoga was struck by a Japanesetorpedo off Hawaii, O’Hare’s squadronrelocated to the USS Lexington, andO’Hare was temporarily promoted tolieutenant. One month later, O’Harewould cement his legend in militaryaviation history.

On Feb. 20, the Lexington was deepin enemy waters in preparation for asurprise air strike against the Japaneseships in the harbor of Rabaul. Withtheir position spotted, the mission hadto be aborted. Now it was just a matterof self-preservation. The second waveof enemy Japanese bombers took theLexington off-guard, and O’Hare andhis squad had to scramble.The launch from the carrier, how-

ever, was far from ideal; four of theWildcats quickly found themselves too

far from the Japanese planes to reachthem before they released their bombs.Only O’Hare and his wingman werewithin intercept distance, but thewingman’s guns jammed.O’Hare and his plane were all that

stood between the eight enemy bombers,roughly 12 miles away from the carrier,and the Lexington’s 2,000-man crew.As if these odds weren’t long enough,O’Hare had only enough ammunitionfor 34 seconds of firing. He had to

A recruiting poster, ca. 1942, appeals to thepatriotic fervor of the day. Butch O’Hare’sheroism undoubtedly inspired many youngmen to join the ranks of U.S. naval aviators.

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O’Hare speedily mastered the fine art of carrierlandings, a pulse-raising maneuver he could not getenough of, impressing even more experienced pilots.

make each round count.Squinting into the sun, he quickly

spotted the V-shaped bomber formationand took the enemy by surprise. On hisfirst pass, O’Hare dived full throttledirectly at the formation and tookout two bombers in mere seconds. Aburst from his plane’s Browning M2.50-caliber guns made a direct hit on abomber’s wing, and the engine rippedright out of its mountings.O’Hare came around for another

pass and took out another crop ofbombers, which were now in completedisarray. With five bombers now takenout and another badly damaged,O’Hare was out of ammunition. MoreU.S. fighters joined the battle. Althoughthree Japanese bombers managed to get

through, none of their bombs wouldscore a direct hit on the Lexington.It was estimated that O’Hare used

only 60 rounds per enemy bomber, animpressive display of marksmanship.O’Hare’s bravery and skill that day

made him the first true naval “ace” ofWorld War II (a designation for thosewho shoot down five or more enemyaircraft) and earned him the nation’shighest military decoration. He wouldreturn to the United States to officiallyreceive his honors. On April 21, O’Hareand his wife visited the White House.President Franklin D. Roosevelt pro-moted O’Hare to the rank of lieutenant

commander and awarded him theMedal of Honor. With the presidentlooking on, Rita placed the medalaround her husband’s neck. The citationlaid out his daring in dramatic detail.“Without hesitation, alone and

unaided, he repeatedly attacked thisenemy formation, at close range in theface of intense combined machine-gunand cannon fire. Despite this concen-trated opposition, Lieutenant O’Hare,by his gallant and courageous action,his extremely skillful marksmanship inmaking the most of every shot of hislimited amount of ammunition, shotdown five enemy bombers and severelydamaged a sixth before they reachedthe bomb release point. As a result ofhis gallant action—one of the most daring,

if not the most daring, single actionin the history of combat aviation—heundoubtedly saved his carrier fromserious damage.”On Saturday, April 25, 1942, O’Hare

received a hero’s welcome in his home-town of St. Louis. With confetti rainingdown, a beaming O’Hare rode downWashington Avenue with his wife andmother beside him, as some 60,000took to the streets to cheer him home.As a token of appreciation, the workersat the Grumman plant in New York,where O’Hare’s Wildcat was manufac-tured, took up a collection and boughthim 1,150 cartons of Lucky Strike

cigarettes. The Camel smoker acceptedthe gift and wrote a letter of thanks tothe Grumman employees: “You buildthem, we’ll fly them and between us,we can’t be beaten.”

O’Hare would later embark onseveral war bond tours and other publicrelations duties throughout the country.In June 1942 he was relocated to Maui,Hawaii, to instruct other pilots incombat tactics. His daughter, Kathleen,was born in February 1943, but hedidn’t get to meet his firstborn until amonth later.O’Hare was kept out of combat until

late October 1943, when he flew inattacks on Wake Island. In November,as Air Group Six commander on theUSS Enterprise, O’Hare participated in

the Gilbert Islands invasion.Then, his good fortune ran out. On

Nov. 26, O’Hare volunteered to lead anight interception to counter Japaneseattacks with torpedo-armed Bettybombers, which attacked at night atlow level. The pilots of the Enterprisehad developed a clever counter tothese attacks: Once an enemy planewas spotted, the carrier would launchAvenger bombers equipped with radarthat would lead them into a positionwhere the Hellcat fighters could spotthe enemy bomber’s exhaust flares.O’Hare led one of these teams of

two Hellcat fighters and one Avenger.

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A squad of Grumman F 4F-3Wildcat fighter jets on a mission (plane in foreground piloted by Lt. Commander John S. Thach; pilot ofplane in background is Lt. Commander Butch O’Hare) on July 3, 1942. O’Hare and Thach shake hands in front of aWildcat fighter planeat an Oahu air base, ca. April-May, 1942.

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It is not clear what went wrong, but aconfused dogfight in the darkness tookplace, with the Avenger taking down twoJapanese bombers. O’Hare was lost toradio contact.Despite a search, Butch O’Hare’s

fighter was never found. He wasofficially listed as dead one year later.What happened that night in

November remains a mystery, but threetheories persist. Some military historiansbelieve that a Japanese bomber killed

O’Hare outright with a lucky burst,others that O’Hare was shot down bythe other Hellcat in the darkness, or thatO’Hare took evasive action and clippedthe ocean, crashing his plane into thewaters. The surviving two U.S. pilots inthat night raid defended the carrier andwere awarded the Navy Cross. RitaO’Hare received her husband’s posthu-mous Purple Heart and Navy Cross onNov. 26, 1944.In 1945, the U.S. Navy destroyer

USS O’Hare was named in his honor.Four years later, in September 1949,

Chicago’s Orchard Depot Airport wasrenamed O’Hare International Airportin memory of the fallen flying ace.O’Hare officially opened to commercialair traffic in 1955. In March 1963,President John F. Kennedy laid a wreathat O’Hare International Airport in ButchO’Hare’s honor and spoke of his bravery.“I remember as a young naval officer

myself how the extraordinary feat ofButch O’Hare captured the imaginationnot only of our armed forces but alsoof the country,” Kennedy said. “Hisextraordinary act in protecting his ship,shooting down, while he was alone, fiveof the enemy during difficult days in theSecond World War, gave this countryhope and confidence not only in thequality and caliber of our fighting menbut also in the certainty of victory.”

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Despite a search, ButchO’Hare’s fighter wasnever found. He wasofficially listed deadone year later.

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DRILLERTHE DIXON

“Published once a moon since 1932”

WINTER 2012To read The Dixon Driller on a monthly basis, visit our website:www.dixonvalve.com

Dates inHistory1787 - On Dec. 7, Delaware becomesthe first state to ratify the Constitution,doing so by a unanimous vote.

1823 - During his annual address toCongress, on Dec. 2, President JamesMonroe proclaims a new U.S. foreignpolicy initiative that becomes knownas the “Monroe Doctrine.” Primarilythe work of Secretary of State JohnQuincy Adams, the Monroe Doctrineforbade European interference in theAmerican hemisphere but also assert-ed U.S. neutrality in regard to futureEuropean conflicts.

1884 - On Dec. 6, in Washington, D.C.,workers place a 9-inch aluminumpyramid atop a tower of white marble,completing the construction of animpressive monument to the city’snamesake and the nation’s firstpresident, George Washington.

1921 - On Dec. 9, a young engineer atGeneral Motors named ThomasMidgeley Jr. discovers that when headds a compound called tetraethyl lead(TEL) to gasoline, he eliminates theunpleasant noises (known as “knock”or “pinging”) that internal-combustionengines make when they run. Midgeleycould scarcely have imagined theconsequences of his discovery: Formore than five decades, oil companieswould saturate the gasoline they soldwith lead—a deadly poison.

1965 - On December 9, the CincinnatiReds traded outfielder Frank Robinsonto the Baltimore Orioles, in exchangefor the pitchers Milt Pappas andJack Baldschun and the outfielderDick Simpson. The trade was widelyregarded as one of the worst inMajor League Baseball history.

1993 - On Dec. 8, the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signedinto law by President Bill Clinton.NAFTA, a trade pact between the U.S.,Canada and Mexico, eliminated virtu-ally all tariffs and trade restrictionsbetween the three nations.www.history.comwww.history.com

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 21

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TRIVIA

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Did you know that...

Both π and the letter p are the16th letter in the Greek and Englishalphabets, respectively.In 2002, a Japanese scientistfound 1.24 trillion digits of pi usinga powerful computer called theHitachi SR 8000, breaking allprevious records.The country with the largest num-ber of World War II casualties wasRussia, with more than 21 million.The Air Force was part of the Armyin World War II and didn’t becomea separate branch of the militaryuntil after the war.Although initially created forcollege students, Facebook usersover age 26 now represent 60% ofthe total U.S. Facebook population.

Curtis Institute of Music inPhiladelphia has the lowestacceptance rate among U.S.colleges, at 4%.Ancient Greeks and Romansoriginally used the term Africato apply only to the northernregion of the continent. In Latin,the word Africa means “sunny,”and the word Aphrike in Greekmeans “without cold.”Since vampire bats have to drinkas much as their own weight inblood every day, a human vampirelike Dracula would have to drinkthe blood of a whole tablefulof guests every night just tokeep going.

Presidents William McKinley,Grover Cleveland, and JamesMadison are on the $500, $1,000,and $5,000 bill, respectively. Thebills are still used as legal tenderbut are no longer being printed.On average, the moon is 238,750miles (384,400 km) from Earth, orabout 30 Earth widths away.Although Nova Scotia was grantedthe British Empire’s first flag byKing Charles I in 1625, Canadadid not have a national flag untilFebruary 15, 1965, when its mapleleaf flag was adopted by its parlia-ment. Before that, the red ensign,a British maritime flag, was ingeneral use.

Ways Annoy People• Specify that your drive-through

order is “to go.”• Push all the flat Lego pieces

together tightly.• Leave your turn signal on for

50 miles.• Declare your apartment an

independent nation, and sue yourneighbors upstairs for “violatingyour airspace.”

• Follow a few paces behindsomeone, spraying everythingthey touch with Lysol.

• Holler random numbers whilesomeone is counting.

• Staple papers in the middle ofthe page.

• Decline to be seated at arestaurant, and simply eat theircomplimentary mints by thecash register.

• Write “X - BURIED TREASURE”in random spots on all ofsomeone’s roadmaps.

• Drive half a block.• Leave your Christmas lights up

and lit until September.

• Sit in your front yard pointing ahair dryer at passing cars to seeif they slow down.

• Chew on pens that you’veborrowed.

• Select the same song on thejukebox 50 times.

• Make appointments for the 31stof September.

• While making presentations,occasionally bob your head likea parakeet.

www.facts.randomhistory.com

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTFrac Fittings

22 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

A weathered stone statuein theWat Po Templepart of the Grand Palacein Bangkok.

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THAILAND IS A COUNTRY OF SUBTLELAYERS, a complicated onion of history,culture and food that can be best exploredby gradually pulling away pieces. With oneof the highest rates of tourism in SoutheastAsia, it has remained a top vacation spot forbackpackers and luxury travelers alike. Withits bustling capital of Bangkok, its culturalheart in the northern city of Chiang Mai anddozens of islands to explore in the south,the country packs a seemingly dizzyingnumber of sights into a relatively smallgeographic area.To truly appreciate its cities, beaches and

lush green forests, however, it is worthwhile

digging under the surface to discover whatmakes Thailand such a unique destination.As the only country in Southeast Asia to haveavoided colonial rule, its story and traditionsare deeply intertwined with its monarchy anddominant religion, Buddhism. In recent years,the country has been in the news for a numberof coups, a series of violent protests in thecapital, a festering insurgency in Thailand’sdeep south and a massive flood that inundatedlarge swaths of several provinces, includingparts of Bangkok. Despite these struggles,tourism has thrived. It is partly Thailand’sresilience that makes it such a fascinatingdestination.

ThailandA TALE OF TWO CITIES

BY JODI ETTENBERG

Tourists flock to this country inSoutheast Asia for its rich culture,chaos—and calm

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Taxis, known as “tuk tuks,” on Khao San Road, a popular landmark featuring a street-side market and many bars.

Don’t miss:� A trip on the public boats

along the Chao Phraya river,offering a very different viewof the city.

� A morning at Wat Pho, oneof the largest and oldesttemples in Bangkok andthe resting place for thehuge reclining Buddha,his feet encrusted inmother-of-pearl.

� A weekend trip toChatuchuk, one ofthe world’s largestoutdoor markets.

Name means: Where the oliveplum trees grow. (The official

city name is Krung ThepMahanakhon AmonRattanakosin MahintharaAyuthaya Mahadilok PhopNoppharat RatchathaniBurirom UdomratchaniwetMahasathan Amon PimanAwatan Sathit SakkathattiyaWitsanukam Prasit, one of thelongest in the world.)

Where to stay: The Eugenia(267 Sukhumvit Soi 31,tel. +66 2259-9011,theeugenia.com), a colonial-inspired mansion with onlya dozen rooms, tucked awayon Soi 31. A quiet break fromthe chaos of Bangkok, it is

decorated with quirky art andfurniture and offers a beautifulpool to counter the heat ofthe city.

Where to eat: American chefand food writer Jarrett Wrisleystarted Soul Food Mahanakorn

(56/10 Sukhumvit Soi 55[Thong Lor], tel. +66-85-9042691, soulfoodmahanakorn.com) as an outlet for his loveof Thailand’s street food andits many nuanced flavors. Onany given day, his menu is avariety of perfectly braisedmeats, rich coconut curriesand spicy, tangy papayasalads. With sleek décor anda location right next to theSkytrain, this restaurant is theperfect spot for an eveningmeal. Don’t miss his signaturecocktails.

Bangkok

For those who want beachesas well as cities and moun-tains, Ko Samui is an easyoption from Bangkok, withflights on Bangkok Airways(bangkokair.com/eng) andThai Airways (thaiairways.com)plying the route several timesa day.

While Samui is built upand fairly developed compared

to some of the smaller islandsin Thailand, it is also easy toaccess and has some stunningbeaches. For those looking for aplace to stay, Rocky’s BoutiqueResort (rates available atrockyresort.com) is on Lanaibeach, Samui’s second-biggest shorefront and aquieter choice than the packedChaweng beach.

An Escape from the Cities:Ko Samui

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The Kingdom of SiamThe country’s recent era can be tracedback to the mid-14th century, when severalkingdoms were jockeying for power in theregion. The Kingdom of Ayutthaya emergedas a strong monarchy, channeling itsenergies along the Chao Phraya River nearThailand’s central plains and establishing thecity of Ayutthaya as the capital. Eventuallycalling the territory Siam, a name thatheld until the late 1930s, the Kingdom ofAyutthaya ruled until its fall at the handsof the Burmese in 1767.With the city of Ayutthaya in ruins,

Siam’s new king, Taksin, moved the capitalto Thonburi, across the river from Bangkok.Just over a decade later, Taksin was removedin a coup (and subsequently executed), andthe new king, Rama I, relocated the capitalyet again to Bangkok proper, where it hassince remained.The Chakri Dynasty, Rama I’s

descendants, have ruled Thailand eversince, shifting from absolute monarchy (inwhich the monarch rules with total power)to constitutional monarchy (limiting themonarch’s power since he/she must rulealong with a governing body) after a 1932coup. In the years following the abolition ofabsolute monarchy, Thailand’s politics haveseen an uptick in political protests, coupattempts and charges of lèse-majesté (insultsto the monarchy). Notwithstanding thecycles of occasional violence, the mostrecent in 2010, tourism in Thailand consis-tently bounces back. When violence doesoccur, it is almost always confined to theepicenter of the protests. For example, in2010 as Bangkok was under curfew andemergency rule, the islands to the southwere unaffected by the clashes.It is worth noting that the country is

extremely sensitive to any criticism of itsmonarchy, and lèse-majesté laws are someof the strictest in the world. See “ThailandBasics,” on page 27 for more informationabout complying with lèse-majesté as theselaws also affect travelers.

Don’t miss:� The beautiful, old temple

of Wat Chedi Luang in thecenter of town, with one ofthe oldest trees in ChiangMai in its courtyard.

� An afternoon visit to thetemple on the hill, Wat DoiSuthep, which overlooks thecity below.

� A trip to the Elephant NaturePark, a rehabilitation centerfor abused and abandonedelephants. Volunteers canstay one day or a full week.Strongly recommendedinstead of an elephant rideat a closer camp.

� The Sunday night walkingmarket on Ratchadaemnonroad. Bring your appetitesince every temple courtyardbecomes a mini food court ofits own. Cap off the night witha foot massage on the streets.

Name means: The newwalled city.

Where to stay: 3 Sis Bed andBreakfast (1 Phra Pokklao Soi 8,tel. +66-5327-3243, 3sisbedandbreakfast.com). Located in theheart of Chiang Mai and aroundthe corner from Wat Chedi

Luang, 3Sis is meticulouslydecorated in traditional northernLanna style and features anattached restaurant and café,free WiFi, spotless rooms anda very friendly staff. The B&B isa short walk to Chiang Mai’shuge Sunday night market.

Where to eat: The Riverside Barand Restaurant (11 CharoenratRd., tel. +66-5324-3239,theriversidechiangmai.com) islocated at the edge of the PingRiver, with beautiful nighttimeviews of the city just over thebank. Its expansive menu ofcurries, khao soi (local coconut-based soup) and noodles offerssomething for everyone.

Getting there: Air Asia(airasia.com), Thai Airways(thaiairways.com) and BangkokAirways (bangkokair.com/eng)fly to Chiang Mai from Bangkokseveral times a day.

ChiangMai

Chiang Mai elephants

Wat Chedi Luang

BangkokDespite cycles of politicalintrigue and occasionalviolence, Bangkok’s econo-my continues to flourish. Like manycapital cities, it receives an influx ofresidents from around the region,contributing to the bustling chaos thatfuels the city from dawn until dusk.At first glance, Bangkok’s 21st-centuryadditions shine through: The ultra-modern Skytrain whisks travelers fromthe airport to the downtown business

district, offering an air-conditionedrespite from the oppressive humidityoutside. Bangkok’s large intercon-nected malls near Siam stationboast movie theaters and meticu-lous food courts. And Thais

and foreigners alike populate trendydance clubs and swanky rooftop bars.But it would be a mistake to rely

on such initial judgments because thebeauty of Bangkok lies in all of itsmovement taken together, a dance thatmesmerizes. Commuters flow in andout of the city on the Chao Phraya’spublic boats, on buses and in minivans.Dozens of motorcycles huddle at thefront of any given traffic light, impa-tient to get moving again. Throughoutthe day, the hectic rhythm of the citystays constant. At dinnertime, officebuildings and shops empty into thestreets and Bangkok’s food stalls arefull of life, with sizzling woks and tinyplastic tables and chairs for those whowant to grab a meal on the go.

Though the city appears extravagantfrom afar, its spirit lies in the confluenceof its many disparate groups of people.Each back alley has a different feel, aspecific type of food, a different clusterof residents. Like many capitals, Bangkokhas an overabundance of sights andsmells and noise, offering up miniatureversions of the many provinces thatmake up the country of Thailand.

ExpatWritersOne of the more interesting waysto learn about a foreign countryis through the eyes of its expats.Here are several websites and blogswritten by Bangkok residents:

� Mark Wiens: Arizona-born writerwho grew up in Kenya and theStates. Wiens’ site emphasizesphotography of food and themany attractions in Thailand andelsewhere in Southeast Asia.Though based in Bangkok, healso writes about his travelsthrough Asia and Africa.migrationology.com

� Greg Jorgenson: Canadian expatwho has lived in Thailand formore than a decade. He writesabout the quirks and chaos in hisnew home. gregtodiffer.com

� Newley Purnell: Americanjournalist living in Thailand andwriting for a slew of differentpublications. His personalwebsite focuses on the back-ground to the stories he coversand other interesting happeningsin Thailand. newley.com

� Austin Bush: An Americanphotographer who traveledto Thailand in 1999 and hasremained there ever since.His photoblog, focusingprimarily on food, is not to beperused on an empty stomach—it will make you hungry.austinbushphotography.com/blog

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Chiang Mai

If Bangkok’s strengths lie in its chaos,Chiang Mai’s assets are its relativecalm, emphasis on culture and itstantalizing proximity to the mountains.Chiang Mai sits about 600 kilometers(372 miles) north of Bangkok. Despitehousing more than a million people,Chiang Mai remains a quieter alterna-tive to Bangkok, with a history thatdeveloped in tandem with the south.Starting in the 13th century, the LannaKingdom ruled the north, flourishingas a trade point between Yunnan inChina and Burma. It fell to theBurmese in the mid-1500s and waslong ignored as Bangkok and its sur-roundings flourished. It was only dur-ing the last century that Chiang Maisaw a surge in development.The Lanna Kingdom left its imprint

on Chiang Mai, both on the templesand the ancient walls that trace a squarearound the old city. Northern Thailandhas a different feel, a language closer toKhmer and a Lanna style of architecturewith curled teak roofs and crumblingstupas (large moundlike burial structures

used as a place of worship).Chiang Mai and its surrounding

areas provide days’ worth of sights tosee. The city’s ancient walls flank thecenter of town on all sides, with fourmain gates (and several smaller ones)still intact. They are not only a beautifulsight, lit up at night and glowing againstChiang Mai’s tiny moat, but also excel-lent markers for navigating the city.Within the walls, it is easy to explorethe many temples by foot; the roads areset out in a grid with tiny alleywaysconnecting the main thoroughfares.Allocating a week to Chiang Mai

allows for a thorough exploration of thecity but also the flavors of the valleysand towns that surround it. With nowater artery, getting around outside themoat is best effected with a motorbiketaxi or a songthaew, a shared ride in theform of a red covered pickup truck.The Mae Tang valley is a short day tripout of the city, an adventure traveler’sparadise with mountain biking, raftingand more. In addition, smaller sur-rounding villages provide a shopper’sdelight with handicrafts, Northern Thai

silk weaving and umbrella making.Further adventures are recommend-

ed for those with more than a week tospare. To the north is Mae Hong Son,close to the Burmese border. The firstroad connecting it to Chiang Maiopened in 1960, and today’s version hasa nauseating 1,864 curves to maneuveron the six-hour drive (about 285 kilo-meters or 177 miles). The sleepy townfeatures several temples, including thetwinned temples of Wat Jong Klang andWat Jong Kham, many small family-runrestaurants with Shan-style Burmesefood and an evening market around itstiny lake. It also presents an ideal jump-ing-off point to learn about the hilltribes of Northern Thailand, away fromthe clusters of tourists that breezethrough Chiang Mai.Bangkok and Chiang Mai are both

popular tourist destinations in Thailand.With distinctive foods, opposingurban architecture and captivatinghistories, taken together they providea small snapshot of a complicated andbeautiful country.

THAILANDBASICS

WHENTOVISIT: The most popular time to visit Thailand is betweenNovember and February, with a spike in pricing around Christmastime. Rainy season begins in earnest in early June, with the hottestmonths just prior, April and May. The islands to the south ofBangkok are affected by separate monsoon cycles.

ENTERINGTHE COUNTRY: Thailand offers free 30-day visas toAmericans upon arrival in any of its international airports, with15-day visas offered for land entries. Overstaying your visa is notrecommended.

CURRENCY: Thailand’s currency is the Baht, available at ATMsthroughout the country, with several large banks to choose from(1 USD=30 Thai Baht). Higher-end hotels and restaurants will acceptcredit cards but carrying Baht is recommended for day-to-day trans-actions, and will be appreciated at smaller stalls and lunch spots.

PROCEEDWITH CAUTIONWHENDISCUSSINGTHEMONARCHY: Given thecountry’s strict interpretation of its lèse-majesté law, travelers arestrongly advised not to voice any negative thoughts about themonarchy. This includes statements about not just the king, but alsoothers within the royal family.

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 27

OOn January 25, 1898, the USSMaine sailed into the harbor ofHavana, Cuba. The battleship wasto anchor there for an unspecifiedtime and had the vague assignmentof protecting American interests. Infact, the presence of theMaine wasa challenge to the Spanish rule ofCuba. Spain would have had everyright to protest the American trans-gression—but the weak Europeanpower chose not to provoke a war it

would certainly lose. Yet, threeweeks later, on February 15, theUSSMaine was blown apart by anexplosion; the ship and 260 of itscrew were lost. A faulty boiler wasmost likely the cause, but Americapreferred to blame Spain. In amatter of months, Spain hadsurrendered its empire, Americaemerged as a world power, and theU.S. secretary of state described itall as “a splendid little war.”

To the American public, thewar could have been a Victorianmelodrama: a fair Cuban damsel inthe clutches of a snarling Spanishvillain but rescued by the nobleAmerican hero. Indeed, this was howAmerican newspapers depicted theconflict, and the underlying storywas fairly accurate. Cuba, PuertoRico and the Philippines werethe last remnants of the SpanishEmpire. That empire once extended

Remember the Maine!How a “splendid little war” put the United States on the map as a world power

BY EUGENE FINERMAN

Will

iam

J.G

lack

ens

WWW. D I X O N V A LV E . C O M

from Colorado to Tierra del Fuego, butSpanish misrule had lost most of itscolonies to rebellion.Worse, Spain had learned nothing.

It was as repressive and corrupt as ever.In response, Cuba was in continualrevolt; since 1835, there had been 11attempts to overthrow Spain. The first10 had proved heroic fail-ures. However, the latestrebellion, beginning in1895, had a strategy togoad American interven-tion: the destruction ofthe tobacco and sugarcrops. Between 1894 and1896, Cuba’s tobacco cropdecreased from 450,000bales to 50,000. Its sugarexports dropped by80 percent. DeprivingAmerica of its pleasureswas tantamount to anact of war.In 1896, the United

States Congress passedresolutions supportingthe rebels and demand-ing Spain’s withdrawalfrom Cuba. Despitethe demand, whichproved popular withthe American public,President GroverCleveland would not becoerced into a war. His successor,William McKinley, was also reluctant.The decorated veteran of the Civil Warsaid, “I have been through one war.I have seen the dead piled up, and Idon’t want to see another.”But the war had already begun,

at least in the American press. Thenewspapers were competing with oneanother to report the latest Spanishoutrage in Cuba. The accuracy of thereports was irrelevant. This was the ageof yellow journalism, and facts werenever allowed to ruin a good story.To cover the atrocities in Cuba—orconcoct them—New York Journalpublisher William Randolph Hearstassigned writer Richard HardingDavis and artist Frederic Remington.There is a popular account of Hearst’s

assignment to Remington: “You furnishthe pictures and I’ll furnish the war.”Davis, a novelist as well as a reporter,showed no qualms about writingfiction. One of his most sensationalreports told of an American citizen,“a refined young woman stripped andsearched by brutal Spaniards.”

Remington provided the accompanyingsketch. We see a beautiful, naked womansurrounded by those leering Latinsatyrs. So what if the story was untrue?Remington had drawn a masterpiece ofpropaganda: an irresistible appeal topatriotism and prurience.And in this fevered atmosphere,

the USSMaine was orderedto Havana. A monthafter the explosion, theU.S. Navy’s board ofinquiry concluded thata Spanish mine sank theship. Modern scholarsdoubt it. Would Spain, apoor nation of 19 million,provoke a rich industrialpower with a populationof 72 million? A modernAmerican fleet was buthours from Cuba, readyto blockade its portsand destroy any meagerreinforcements thatSpain could send acrossthe ocean. Strategicallyand materially, Spain washopelessly inferior; itwould never have daredto start the war. Butin the spring of 1898,America was not soanalytical and rational.A rallying cry resounded

across America: “Remember the Maine!To Hell With Spain!”On April 20, the United States

confronted Spain with an ultimatum.If Spain did not immediately agree toCuban independence, America wouldundertake a “forcible intervention.”Spain responded, four days later, witha declaration of war. Ironically, the firstmajor battle in the crusade to freeCuba was fought in the Philippines.In the early morning of May 1, anAmerican flotilla of four cruisers andtwo guns sailed into Manila Bay. TheSpaniards were taken by surprise; theiranchored fleet was a collection of oldand unarmored ships. After the firsttwo hours of battle, noting the feebleSpanish defense, American CommodoreGeorge Dewey suspended the attack so

The accuracyof the reportswas irrelevant.This was theage of yellow

journalism, andfacts were neverallowed to ruin

a good story.

Left: American troops boarding transport steamer during theSpanish-AmericanWar. Above: Amasterpiece of propaganda:artist Frederic Remington’s front-page sketch forWilliam RandolphHearst, of Spanish officials strip-searching an American womantourist in Cuba.

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 29

that his men might have breakfast.Afterward, the Americans resumed thebattle and destruction of the Spanishfleet. Spain lost eight ships and controlof Manila Bay; one American sailordied of heat stroke. Manila itself wasbesieged. An army of Filipino insur-gents, supported by the Americans,was surrounding the city. ThroughoutJuly, American soldiers landed in thePhilippines, tightening the siege ofManila. Its fall was inevitable, only amatter of time or negotiation.The war in Cuba began in mid-

June when the American army landednear Santiago, the island’s secondlargest city. An American fleet block-aded Santiago’s harbor while thearmy advanced on the hills that sur-rounded the city. The Spanish armyhad dug in and established a gooddefensive position on San Juan Hill.On July 1, the Americans attacked.Accompanying the American troopswas Richard Harding Davis. If ashameless propagandist, he was alsoa heroic correspondent. He was thereat “the charge up San Juan Hill” anddescribed how…

They walked to greet death at everystep, many of them, as they advanced,sinking suddenly or pitching forward inthe high grass, but the others wadedon, stubbornly, forming a thin blue linethat kept creeping higher and higherup the hill. It was as inevitable as therising tide.In his reports, Davis made special

note of one American officer: a NewYork socialite, Harvard scholar andformer cowboy who was second-in-command of a cavalry regimentknown as the Rough Riders. For once,Davis was not exaggerating. Lt. Col.Theodore Roosevelt would return toNew York, be elected governor andwithin three years be president of theUnited States.With the Americans on San Juan

Hill and the surrounding heights,Santiago was at the mercy of U.S.artillery. The Spanish fleet wasordered not to surrender; so on July 3its four cruisers and two destroyerssailed out on a quixotic ventureagainst an American fleet of five

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30 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

battleships and two cruisers. All theSpanish ships were sunk or runaground. One American was killedin the battle; 300 Spaniards died and1,800 were captured. Two weeks later,the city of Santiago surrendered. OnJuly 24, Spain asked for a cease-fire;

an agreement was signed on August12. However, the news arrived a daylate in the Philippines; on August 13a combined force of Americansand the Filipino insurgents hadcaptured Manila.So ended the “splendid little

war”—an absolute American triumph.Spanish and American diplomatsmet in Paris to negotiate the peacetreaty. Spain signed away the last ofits empire, ceding Cuba, Guam andPuerto Rico to the victor. It sold thePhilippines for $20 million ($560 mil-lion today). While ostensibly liberat-ing Cuba, the United States hadacquired its own empire. But PresidentMcKinley could rationalize this wind-fall. “Territory sometimes comes to uswhen we go to war in a holy cause.Shall we deny to ourselves what therest of the world so freely and justlyaccords to us?”America had emerged as a world

power, and relished its strength and

importance. In the ensuing decade,America established itself as thechampion of free trade in China, theimpartial arbiter of the Russo-JapaneseWar, and the engineer and masterof the Panama Canal. The GreatWhite Fleet, a force of 16 battleships,demonstrated America’s reach bysailing around the world.

The United States did honor itscommitment to Cuba, recognizingthe island in 1902 as an independentrepublic. Yet America insisted on afew unique prerogatives: until the1930s the United States had the

right to military intervention, andCuba could not enter into any treatieswithout American approval. As for theother acquired colonies, a restlessFilipino population was pacified byboth military force and the promise ofeventual independence; that was finallygranted in 1946. Puerto Rico andGuam are still American territories.The age of imperialism is over, but

a sense of global responsibility remains.President Theodore Roosevelt said,“Even if we would, we cannot play asmall part.”

WWW. D I X O N V A LV E . C O M

Theodore Roosevelt gained fame during the Spanish-AmericanWar as a “Rough Rider.”Illustration by Udo J. Keppler; July 27, 1898.

Lt. Col.Theodore

Roosevelt wouldreturn to NewYork, be electedgovernor andwithin threeyears be presi-dent of theUnited States.

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 31

Reinvesting inAmerican Manufacturing

DIXON SPOTLIGHT/

32 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

Dixon’s new 100,000-square-foot facility in Gaston County, N.C., set for completion in early 2013, will bring more than 130 jobs to the area.

>Dixon Quick Coupling will replaceits plant in Charlotte, N.C., with a newfacility in nearby Gaston County, N.C.,that is on track to open during the firstquarter of 2013.“We had outgrown our existing

facility in Charlotte,” which was part ofthe acquisition of Perfecting Couplingin 1993, says Dixon President BobGrace. With the new 100,000-square-foot facility in the Gastonia TechnologyPark, “we are gaining 40 percent capacityto handle increased demand. We alsohave room to expand the building asdemand requires,” says Grace.The new plant will be home to

Dixon Quick Coupling’s manufacturing,customer service, warehouse anddivisional headquarters, and will bringmore than 130 jobs to Gaston County.Grace expects that many of Dixon’semployees at the Charlotte plantwill move to the new facility. Agood number had already beencommuting from homes in Gastonand Cleveland counties.

“We had added 20 jobs in Charlotteover the past 18 months,” Grace says.“We expect to hire more people toprovide more American manufacturingjobs as business increases.” Dixon QuickCoupling manufactures pneumatic

and hydraulic fittings used in the oiland natural gas, agricultural, construc-tion and industrial sectors.When Dixon began to search for a

site for the new plant, Gaston Countyemerged as the clear winner, Grace says.Gaston College, the local communitycollege, is working with Dixon on avariety of training programs, includingemployee development, lean manufac-turing and machine-specific training.

Moreover, the county’s economicdevelopment team put together a veryattractive package—including equippingthe property with backup powergeneration to provide guaranteeduninterrupted power.

“They put a lot of time and moneyinto this land to attract businesses toprovide jobs for Gaston County,” saysGrace. Dixon will be the fifth businessto locate in the Gastonia TechnologyPark, next to Gaston College.“From the big strategic point of view,

it is our desire to be a U.S. manufacturer,to keep making our products in theUnited States,” says Grace. “That’s ourvision as we move forward.”

“WE ARE GAINING 40 PERCENT CAPACITY TO HANDLEINCREASED DEMAND. WE ALSO HAVE ROOM TO EXPANDTHE BUILDING AS DEMAND REQUIRES,” SAYS BOB GRACE.

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> If you’ve ever endured road con-struction (and who hasn’t) while mak-ing the daily work commute or duringthe family vacation trip, you may havenoticed burly men creating quite a bitof dust while using tools that soundlike machine guns. Congratulations—you’ve just encountered a pneumaticjackhammer.Air-driven tools powered by

portable compressors can be found atmany job sites such as construction,mining, quarries and, yes, road repair.These tools make quick work of whatotherwise would be a back-breaking

task. One such task is bridge mainte-nance. Surface repair is the mostvisible use. Structural maintenance,such as cleaning and painting metalsurfaces, is less visible but far moreimportant to the safety of thosetraversing the bridge. Repainting is anecessary step for retaining structuralintegrity. Without paint, metal oxidizesand weakens over time. Preparingthe metal for paint is a hazardousjob; workers must contend with anawkward work space high abovethe ground or body of water, whilewheeling around a heavy air-driven

tool that kicks like a mule. The workis even more dangerous when certainregulations aren’t followed.One particular crew, behind sched-

ule before they started, was scurryingaround making final preparations tobegin the cleaning phase of the bridge-painting contract they had landed.After securing the scaffolding underthe bridge, two workers climbed downonto the catwalk and awaited theirchipping hammers to be lowered tothem. As was their common practice,the workers didn’t secure their safetyharnesses until they had their toolsand were in position to begin work.With chipping hammer in hand, oneworker began crossing to the far sideof the scaffolding.About two-thirds of the way across,

the air supply line snagged. Withoutthinking, the worker began to violentlyjerk on the tool’s whip hose (connectedto the air supply line) in an attempt tofree it. But instead of freeing the airsupply line from the snag, he pulled

34 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

BY PHIL KIMBLEKEEPING IT SAFE/

Compressed air is powerfully useful—and potentiallydeadly, unless proper protective measures are taken

Airing on theSide of Caution

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 35WWW. D I X O N V A LV E . C O M

the fitting out of it. Almost instantly,the whip hose recoiled violently, strikinghim in the chest. The impact knockedhim off the scaffolding and he plungedseveral hundred feet to his death in theravine below. Meanwhile, the air supply

line, moving with blinding speed,struck the other worker in the back,knocking him off the scaffolding aswell. Luckily, he had anchored his safe-ty harness just moments before. Otherthan severely rattled nerves, he escaped

this ordeal with just a few bruises.Compressed air is a very useful

form of energy at remote locationsbecause of its portability and its abilityto travel great distances without powerloss. But because of its compressibility,

this energy source has grave dangersassociated with it. As a result, regula-tions have been established to protectthose working with and around it.Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration (OSHA) regulation

29 CFR 1926.302 (a)(10) states: Safetychains or equivalent means shall beprovided for each hose connectionto prevent the line from thrashingaround in case the coupling becomesdisconnected. Safety devices, such asKing Safety Cable, are designed tocomply with OSHA regulations forportable compressed air and toprevent accidents like this fromoccurring. Anyone working withor near compressed air should befamiliar with these regulations andthe proper use and installation ofrequired safety devices. Let’s KeepIt Safe by following established safetyregulations and using proper safetyequipment and devices. Failure to doso can have life-changing, or life-ending, consequences.

STRUCTURAL MAINTENANCE, SUCH AS CLEANINGAND PAINTING METAL SURFACES, IS LESS VISIBLE,BUT FAR MORE IMPORTANT TO THE SAFETY OF THOSETRAVERSING THE BRIDGE.

Use safety clips. Donʼtrisk dangerous hosewhip from an accidentaldisconnection.

>Most of us find it easiest to maintaina healthy diet when we dine at home,where we have some control over whatwe eat, how it’s prepared and the size ofour portions.But in our time-crunched world,

eating out has become the new reality.On average, Americans eat 4.2 mealsper week in a commercial setting,according to the National RestaurantAssociation. For men ages 18 to 34, thatfigure is closer to six meals a week.The good news? With a little

thought (and advance planning) it ispossible to enjoy a fast food lunch orrestaurant dinner several times a weekwithout packing on extra pounds. Sometips for what to order—and avoid:

Fast Food: Hold the FatWe’ve all been conditioned to look tochicken or fish as a healthier substitutefor beef. But when it comes to fast foodsandwiches, you might want to think

again. Consider that a doublecheeseburger at Burger Kingis 370 calories (18 grams offat), while a TENDERCRISPchicken sandwich comes in ata whopping 750 calories—with 45grams of fat. Almost as bad is theAlaskan Fish Sandwich (590 calories;31 grams of fat). Holding the mayo or

tartar sauce can cut these fat countsby more than half and shave about200 calories off each sandwich.But a better strategy still is to avoid

any sandwich fillers that are breadedand fried. Instead, go for the grilled andeschew the goopy toppings. Withoutmayonnaise, BK’s TENDERGRILLchicken sandwich is just 360 calorieswith 6 grams of fat. McDonald’s

offers a similar option, withsimilar stats, with its PremiumGrilled Chicken Classic

Sandwich. And don’t turn yourback on the beef. A regular roastbeef sandwich at Arby’s, forinstance, can sate your appetite

while staying well within healthycalorie limits, at 320 calories and14 grams of fat.

Now That’s Italian!Is there anyone left in the world whodoesn’t recognize Fettucine Alfredo(aka “heart attack on a plate”) as theultimate fat and calorie buster? Sofirst things first: Run from anythingwith “Alfredo” in the title—includingOlive Garden’s 1,440-calorie ChickenAlfredo dinner, with its artery-clogging82 grams of fat.Also on the list to avoid: Lasagna

(the twice-baked dinner version atMacaroni Grill carries a calorie countof 1,360, with 80 grams of fat) andChicken Parmesan (1,490 caloriesand 68 grams of fat at Macaroni Grill).Fortunately, there are some tasty

Italian dishes that aren’t smothered incream, or bubbling with cheese.“Primavera” options, made with lightlysautéed spring vegetables, can be yourbest friend here. Olive Garden’s shrimpprimavera dinner, at 730 calories,12 grams of fat, won’t break yournutritional bank for the day.“Pomodoro” sauce (thicker than

marinara, with chunks of tomatoes,garlic and basil sautéed in olive oil)affords another flavorful choice. Youcan enjoy a satisfying bowl of SpaghettiPomodoro at Carrabba’s and consume530 calories and just 1.5 grams of fat.Take a similar tack when orderingpizza. A Margherita pizza, with its freshslices of mozzarella, tomatoes and basil,is a filling but reasonable alternative

BY SUE DE PASQUALEHEALTH & FITNESS/

FORTUNATELY, IT’S EASIERTHAN EVER THESE DAYSTO GET A HANDLE ONTHE NUTRITIONAL STATSOF FOOD SERVED BYRESTAURANT CHAINS.

36 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

(Es)chewing the FatDining out needn’t derail your diet

F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2 � BOSS 37WWW. D I X O N V A LV E . C O M

(280 calories/slice; 11 grams of fat atBertucci’s) to a pizza loaded with cheeseand meat.

Mexican: Go NakedTo borrow a popular catch phrase usedby Mexican eateries, it’s best to “gonaked” when navigating the fixingslines of Mexican casual dining restau-rants: Simply skipping the soft flourtortilla on your burrito shaves morethan 300 calories off your meal.Along similar lines, follow your

good health instincts by orderinga salad—but don’t eat the bowl!Despite its satisfying crunch,a tortilla bowl packs on morethan 20 grams of fat and about350 calories. Much better toorder along the lines of the nakedMango Grilled Chicken Salad atQdoba (with no cheese or sour cream),

which comes in at a heart healthy280 calories and 10 grams of fat.Whatever protein you choose

(chicken, pork, steak), be sure to bulkup on the numerous veggie optionsnow available at Mexican chains, andopt for brown rice over white ricewhenever possible for more fiber. Youcan dig into a heaping burrito bowl at

Chipotle, for example, with steak, blackbeans, brown rice, fajita vegetables,fresh tomato salsa, cheese and lettuce,for a reasonable 580 calories and20 grams of fat.

Plan AheadFortunately, it’s easier than ever thesedays to get a handle on the nutritionalstats of food served by restaurant chains.Many already post calorie counts ontheir food items, and McDonald’sjumped on the bandwagon this pastfall, in advance of an expected federalmandate for menu-labeling that isexpected to go into effect in 2013.Go online before heading out thedoor (or check the menu or yoursmartphone while standing in line)to make sure your order isn’t a fat

and calorie bomb.

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>Most of us don’t think twice whenpopping a few AAA batteries into ourflashlights, TV remotes and clocks.Our only expectation is that theykeep the devices going and goingand going—just as promised by theiconic bunny rabbit in the populartelevision commercials.But like many things we take for

granted in our modern lives, the batteryhas a fascinating history—a history thatdescribes the development of electro-chemical cells, which were crucial forindustrial applications of electricity.Until the advent of electrical generatorsand electrical power grids in the late 19thcentury, people depended on batteriesas the main source of electricity.Many credit Italian Alessandro

Volta with inventing the first battery inthe late 1700s—but an archaeologicaldiscovery, made in what today is Iraq,puts that into question. In 1936, railroadworkers dug up a clay jar, which heldan iron rod surrounded by a coppercylinder. The object puzzled the finders.In 1938, German archaeologist WilhelmKonig suggested that this device, ifsuffused in an electrolytic food acidlike vinegar or lemon juice, could havebeen an early battery. Subsequentexperiments showed that the “BaghdadBattery,” dating back 2,000 years, wouldhave been capable of generating 1.1 to2 volts of electricity.Fast forward 1,600 years and thou-

sands of miles west, where a numberof ingenious European and Americaninventors were hard at work on theproblem of generating and transmitting

electricity. Enter the afore-mentioned AlessandroVolta, of Milan, Italy. In1800, Volta discovered that some fluidscould conduct electricity. After muchtrial and error, he learned that he couldgenerate even more power by stackingpairs of copper and zinc disks on top ofeach other, separated by brine-soakedcloth or pasteboard (the electrolyte), ina “voltaic pile.” When the plates wereconnected by wire, they producedelectricity. Volta proudly presented thisbreakthrough at the prestigious RoyalAcademy of London and published theresults, making him famous. Today weuse the term “volts” to describe thestrength of a battery.Volta’s battery was the first to emit a

steady, lasting current, but it didn’t lastfor long and there were other drawbacks:The metal disks corroded quickly,and the height of the voltaic stackwas limited. England’s John FrederichDaniell solved that problem with his“Daniell Cell”: a jar half filled withcopper sulfate solution, with a copperplate at the bottom. A zinc plate washung at the jar’s top and zinc sulfatesolution was added, which, being lighter,floated to the top and surrounded thezinc plate. A wire connected to the zincplate represented the negative terminal,while a wire leading from the copperplate was the positive terminal. Thisworked well enough to power the tele-graph and other stationary 19th-centuryelectrical inventions. But even theDaniell Cell had its shortcomings,including that it was not rechargeable.

Swedish scientist WaldemarJungner addressed this issue in 1899by inventing the first nickel-cadmiumrechargeable battery. Unfortunately,cadmium was expensive, so famedAmerican inventor Thomas Edisonreplaced it with less pricey iron. Thismay have been an example of theaxiom “You get what you pay for”because the Edison battery didn’tperform very well. German scientistsSchlecht and Ackerman overcame suchproblems by inventing something calledthe “sintered pole plate,” which carriedlarger currents longer.The nickel-cadmium battery

was used for many years, and formany purposes. (Duracell, a companywhose name is recognizable today,began operating in 1964.) In the 1970s,the first lithium batteries came intouse, but they had the disadvantageof being nonrechargeable. (Lithiummetal is inherently unstable.) Effortsto create a rechargeable version failed,and research moved to a lithium-ioncombination, with the Sony Corporationcommercializing the first lithium-ionbattery.Today, there are a variety of

compact batteries of various types—alkaline, lithium, carbon zinc, silveroxide and more—for different uses.These handy devices power many ofour modern-day conveniences, fromhearing aids to cellular telephones todigital cameras.

The development of the battery reflected thecurrents of the time

BY LISA DeNIKEINVENTIONS/

Packed with Power

38 BOSS � F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 2

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