Iceberg: corncob pipe ans more

pg 10

Lt. Commander Lee Koski clamped his teeth a notch tighter on the stem of his corncob pipe.

"corncob" pipes made from corn cobs are cheap and effective, even if some regard them as inelegant. The cobs are first dried for two years. Then they are hollowed out to make a bowl shape. The bowls are dipped in a plaster-based mixture and varnished or lacquered on the outside. Shanks made from pine wood are then inserted into the bowls. The first and largest manufacturer of corncob pipes is Missouri Meerschaum, located in Washington, Missouri in the USA.^[1] Missouri Meerschaum has produced the pipes since 1869. General Douglas MacArthur, Mark Twain, and Norman Rockwell were perhaps the most famous smokers of this type of pipe, along with the cartoon characters Popeye and Frosty the Snowman.
Corncob pipes remain popular today because they are inexpensive and require no "break-in" period like briar pipes. For these two reasons, corncob pipes are often recommended as a "Beginners pipe." But, their enjoyment is by no means limited to beginners. Corncob pipes are equally valued by both learners and experienced smokers who simply desire a cool, clean smoke. Pipesmokers who wish to sample a wide variety of different tobaccos and blends also might keep a stock of corncobs on hand to permit them to try new flavors without "carryover" from an already-used pipe, or to keep a potentially bad-tasting tobacco from adding its flavor to a more expensive or favored pipe.

 It sent the men who were above deck scurrying for their oilskins.

Oilskin can mean:

• A type of fabric: canvas with a skin of oil applied to it as waterproofing, often linseed oil. Old types of oilskin included:-
  • Heavy cotton cloth waterproofed with linseed oil.
  • Sailcloth waterproofed with a thin layer of tar.
• Oilskins, a garment made of oilskin, or of other heavy waterproof material (but excluding gabardine and similar). Such garments include:
  • Sailor's waterproofs
  • Some other wet-weather clothes
  • Coats, vests and chaps for use on the stations of Australia.

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These days, oilskins or oilies means the foul-weather gear worn by sailors, made of modern synthetic and often quite advanced fabrics. (At sea, wet can come from sea spray as well as from rain.)

Design

Oilskin trousers are very high-cut for a large overlap with the jacket and prevent water entering through the join. Often in moderate weather, however, only the trousers are worn (as in the right of the photo) and their high cut then keeps wind and water off the lower part of the torso. It has shoulder straps to hold the trousers up. Straps around the bottom of the trouser legs let them be tightened around seaboots, providing a semi-watertight join. This does not let them be used like fishing waders, but a wave sweeping briefly across the deck will generally not penetrate. All but the cheapest oilskin trousers will be reinforced across the seat and the knees
Oilskin jackets are similar in many ways to waterproofs used for walking. The most visible difference is that they usually have a much higher collar to keep out spray, and in many cases to warm the ears or the whole head. A fold-away hood will be provided, almost always in a high-visibility colour since the head will be the only part showing above the water if the sailor is lost overboard. It often has retroreflective patches on the shoulders for the same reason. Its tails are very long to keep water off the legs.
The cuffs of better oilskin jackets include an inner seal, something like that on a scuba diver's drysuit, to stop water getting in if a wave is forced up the sleeve. This is less important in walking jackets since in walking on land the arms usually point down away from the rain; but this nuisance can happen in motorcycling where the arms holding the handlebars point forwards into a wet headwind.
Pockets on trousers and jackets are often lined with a synthetic fleece material designed to be quick-drying and warm even when soaked. Most sailing consists of bursts of hard work between periods of relative inactivity; hunched up with hands in pockets is a common pose in bad weather during the inactive parts, and soft linings help keep the hands warm. A recent innovation is removable soft linings, enabling them to be washed.
Some oilskin jackets include built-in harnesses; typically just a strap around the chest which a lifeline can be clipped to during very bad weather. This avoids the need to wear a separate harness, but may be less safe than a modern separate harness which includes a lifejacket. More expensive oilskin jackets may also act as a lifejacket. A few jackets contain equipment like lights, flares, and an emergency radio beacon.

"I signaled the pilot right after he left St. Johns."

 St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America.^[3] It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.^[4] With a population of 196,966 as of 2011, the St. John's Metropolitan Area is the second largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Atlantic Canada after Halifax and the 20th largest metropolitan area in Canada. Its name has been attributed to the feast day of John the Baptist, when John Cabot was believed to have sailed into the harbour in 1497, and also to a Basque fishing town with the same name.

Newfoundland was claimed as an English colony in the name of Elizabeth I in 1583, temporarily captured by the Dutch in 1665, and attacked three times by the French who captured and destroyed its settlements in 1689 and 1707. St John's was retaken each time and re-fortified. British forces used St. John's fortifications during the Seven Years' War in North America, the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. St. John's served Allied needs in World War ll by providing an air base for the US Army Air Corps and a harbour for antisubmarine warfare ships.

 St. John's, and the province as a whole, was gravely affected in the 1990s by the collapse of the Northern cod fishery, which had been the driving force of the provincial economy for hundreds of years.^[8] After a decade of high unemployment rates and depopulation, the city's proximity to the Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose oil fields has led to an economic boom that has spurred population growth and commercial development. As a result, the St. John's area now accounts for about half of the province's economic output