Inefficiencies and ironies

In 1859, “Col.” Edwin Drake drilled the first commercial oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. He hit the “Black gold” at 69 feet below the ground and thus began the age of oil. Today you can visit a replica of his original drilling rig and an associated museum. If anyone has any curiosity as to how drilling and oil “extraction” from the ground really happens, this is an excellent place to learn everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask. The exhibits are excellent at explaining the process. A word to the wise though regarding staying overnight in Titusville; there is ONE motel in town of any decent quality. So, plan ahead instead of wandering around all over town looking for a place like we did. Not fun at the end of a long, tiring day.

A few hours drive north of Titusville brings you to Niagara Falls, New York. We spent most of three days in the area visiting most of the usual things to see and do. What some people may not realize is that there actually are three falls there: Horseshoe Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and American Falls. As well as just looking at them, you can put on a rain poncho and take a walk down a wooden path to the base of Bridal Veil falls for an “up close and personal” experience. It is when standing at the bottom looking up at the water pouring over the ledge and landing practically at your feet that you really begin to understand just how much water comes over that ledge. And I’ll tell you right now though that the poncho is almost useless when it comes to keeping you dry. Also, a cheap disposable camera would also be a good idea instead of exposing your spiffy super whiz bang digital camera to that torrent of moisture. Not a good idea.

Also in the Niagara Falls area, Lockport actually, is a portion of the Erie Canal that is still in use. We took a two hour boat ride up and down the canal, learning its history and lore. One thing that I never knew is that from the very beginning, it has been drained during the winter. It was and still is used only from May through October. If left full of water during the winter, it would freeze solid and damage the lock gates and the embankments that keep the water from flooding the various towns that it passes through. Considering the fact that our government’s super efficient FEMA agency would be in charge of disaster relief if the canal walls collapsed, I think the draining is an excellent idea.

As you might expect, there are several bridges that cross over the canal in the town of Lockport. Most of them are high enough that any passing boats can easily go underneath. There are two bridges though that are so low that they must be raised. Now you would think in this day and age of automation that this bridge raising and lowering would be a smooth process. Guess again. Believe it or not, when you approach the first bridge, a guy raises it, you pass under, he lowers it and then he jumps into his car and races down the street to the other bridge to raise and lower it. Another jewel of efficiency is the fact that one of the bridges was refurbished a few years ago, receiving the latest in electric motors and control equipment. According to our boat captain, it now takes the bridge three times as long to raise and lower than it used to. Don’t you just love governmental efficiency?

Rochester, New York, was next on our route. In the late 1800’s it was a respectable sized town but it really started to develop (pardon the pun) when George Eastman started his Kodak camera industry there. Before him, taking pictures was a very labor intensive and technical process. You had to almost be a Chemical Engineer to mix all the chemicals and apply them properly to glass plates before taking the picture. Then, once exposed, you had to put the plates through another chemical process to develop them. All this was done by you, the photographer.

Eastman developed the “film in a box” process wherein you bought a box camera which contained film for 100 pictures. You took the photos and then sent the box back to Kodak for developing. You got back from Kodak the pictures, negatives and the camera reloaded with fresh film. Although we might chuckle at it today, it was revolutionary at the time and brought the taking of pictures of Aunt Minnie at the family reunion down to a relatively simple though not necessarily inexpensive process. The initial cost of the camera was $25 in 1890 dollars and the developing and reloaded camera was $10. So, in the beginning, not everyone could afford to record Uncle Ernie’s antics but by 20 years later, the cost was down to a more manageable $1 per camera.

Eastman’s house and the co-located photographic museum is open for self guided tours and is a must see if you visit the Rochester area. One rather interesting thing is that for security reasons, almost all of the artwork on the walls of the house, consisting of paintings by many of the old masters, are not the originals but rather are photographs. Now the irony here is that the photographs were taken not by the Kodak Company with Kodak cameras and using Kodak film but rather were taken by the Polaroid Company with their cameras and film. As it turns out, the Kodak Company doesn’t have cameras or film big enough to take full size photos of the larger paintings. Go figure. Pictures in the gallery.