[Northkeep] Trivia

[david langston]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]

 This was sent to me, and I had to send it along,

Wynfrith


> In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried
>
> iron cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was
> necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon, but prevent them from
> rolling about the deck. The best storage method devised was a square
> based > pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine
which
> rested > on sixteen. Thus, a supply of thirty cannon balls could be
stacked in a
> small area right next to the cannon.
>
> There was only one problem - how to prevent the bottom layer from
> sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate
> called a, "Monkey," with sixteen round indentations. If this plate was
> made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to
> the > rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys."
>
> Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much
> faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped
>
> too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the cannon
> balls > would come right off the monkey.
>
> Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a
> brass > monkey!" {And all this time, you have had dirty thoughts, haven't
you?}





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