Appendix

Below are transcriptions of text from six stereoscope cards-- T1-star, T26-star, T31-star, T60-star, and T97-star-- from GVSU's Seidman Archives. If you haven't already, visit this page for a contextual analysis of the cards. 

T1-star

32062

When on May 21, 1927 Charles A. Lindbergh, a virtually unknown United States airmail pilot, landed his monoplane, the “Spirit of St. Louis,” on Le Bourget flying field outside Paris after a flight of 33 ½ hours from New York, during which he had covered 3,600 miles over Newfoundland, a vast stretch of the North Atlantic Ocean, Ireland and England, it seemed as if the whole civilized world turned for a moment from its everyday occupations to acclaim this splendid young pioneer of the skies who had been first to accomplish the long dreamed non-stop flight from New York to Paris. Since that day his own country and many foreign nations have bestowed their highest honors upon him, he has received the plaudits of millions of people and reaped financial rewards amounting to perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet through it all he has maintained the modest and friendly demeanor which won for him abroad the name, “America’s ambassador of good will,” and has devoted himself with whole-hearted energy to the promotion of aviation as an instrument for the service of humanity. A glimpse of Colonel Lindbergh and his famous plane, as they stand before us here, is a fitting introduction for any American today to a tour of the world, which has grown so much more like a part of his own country by reason of Lindbergh’s achievement. 

The “Spirit of St. Louis,” in which up to the end of March, 1928, he had flown more than 35,00 miles, is a Ryan monoplane with a wing span of 46 ft. and overall length of 38 ft., powered by a Wright J-5-A (Whirlwind) engine, which fuel capacity of 458 gallons. On its New York-to-Paris flight it made an average speed of 107 ½ miles per hour. 

Copyright by the Keystone View Company 

T26-star

13740

HARVESTING INDIAN RIVER PINEAPPLES, FLORIDA

The pineapple (Annas Sativus) is a native of the American tropics. It is the only fruit of large value which did not originate in Asia. It is called pineapple because of the resemblance of the fruit to the pine cone. For a long time its cultivation was restricted to the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas, though now it is found everywhere in the tropics and particularly in the Hawaiian Islands. 

Pineapples were at one time an important European greenhouse crop and its fruits thus produced were of superior quality; but with the improvement of transportation facilities less attention is given to its culture under glass than formerly. Within recent years pineapples have been grown extensively in Flordia under sheds. The sheds are built of lath spaced two or three inches apart and nailed to a light frame work six to seven feet high. They protect the plants from frost and excessive heat and greatly improve the quality of the fruit. 

The plant is stemless, the fruit growing from the ground in a clump of thick, fleshy and spinous leaves. It is propagated by suckers or by the tuft on top of the fruit. It is a most uncomfortable crop to handle because of its sharp spines, heavy gloves and leggings being required by the workmen. The Florida crop, gathered when ripe enough to ship, is collected in baskets, carried to the packing shed or transported thither on a narrow gauge railway such as we see in the fields before us, and shipped fresh to the northern market. It is a large and growing industry. 

The growing of tropical fruits is Florida’s most important industry. The most important are oranges, grapefruit and pineapples. The latter are grown chiefly along the east coast. 

Copyright by the Keystone View Company. 

T31-star

23657

IXTACCIHUATL AS SEEN FROM THE SACRED MOUNT, MEXICO

We are standing upon Sacre Monte (The Sacred Mount), an enormous pyramid of earth built centuries ago as the site for an Aztec temple. The base of this pyramid covers forty acres of ground and the summit rises 200 feet above the surrounding country. Thousands of men, in the dim and far distant past, toiled in the fierce tropic sun until the task was completed, held to their work by the stern command of some ancient Aztec priest. 

A cave on Sacre Monte harbors a unique image of Christ, loaned yearly during Lent to the parish church below, where the Indians enact annually a Passion Play. The image is returned to the cave by multitudes of pious pilgrims, who ascend to the stone steps on their knees. The city of Amecameca, twenty-five miles from the capital, center of a rich mining and agricultural region, lies at our feet, on the broad table-land which stretches away mile after mile beneath us. It is a pleasant city, with a population of about 12,000. Broad streets, spacious squares and tile roofs of many colors lend it charm in the traveler’s eye. 

Beyond the valley, Ixtaccihuatl, the recumbent “woman in white,” rises 16,900 feet into the sky. The summit is covered with perpetual snow and ice. Packed into the gullies which seam its sides, the snow hardens by its own weight into glaciers which thrust their way downward until heat from the plain melts the ice into mountain cascades. 

To the right, beyond the limits of our view, lies Popocatapetl. The volcano occasionally emits smoke and sulphur, but has not erupted since historic times. Cortez obtained sulphur for gunpowder from it more than three centuries ago. 

Copyright by the Keystone View Company

T60-star

13315

DELIVERING MILK IN NARROW STREETS OF LA GUAYRA, VENEZUELA. 

La Guayra is the port of the city of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, which is located six miles over the mountains, but by railroad is about 30 miles away. It is said to have been established as a protest against the too rigid rule of the Spanish governor of Caravalleda, once a thriving city to the westward. When in 1856 the people of Caravalleda found his restrictions intolerable they abandoned his city and founded La Guayra. One can scarcely commend their judgment, for the city had no natural harbor, and is situated on a narrow flat of land backed by a perpendicular mountain wall which reflects the fierce afternoon sun. It is shut in from the prevailing northeast winds by the cape which juts out of the mountain. The temperature of La Guayra night and day, winter and summer, remains at about 100° F. With heat so intense and continued it is little wonder that milk to be sweet must be delivered from the “original package.” 

La Guayra is small, its unfavorable climate limiting its population to workmen and business men. The English have constructed a breakwater and piers, which have greatly improved the port. The houses are built in the Spanish style, around open courts, beautiful with flowers, shrubs, and singing birds, entrance to which is usually made by a single archway. These inner courts or patios so characteristic of residential architecture in Spanish countries are the places of hospitality and of the life of households. Usually they are delightfully furnished with easy chairs, tables, and the like. 

Copyright by the Keystone View Company

T87-star

W281-16

WESTMINSTER ABBEY, SEEN FROM THE DEAN’S YARD, LONDON. 

No wonder England regards Westminster Abbey as its National Valhalla. When we recall the long lines of kings from Edward the Confessor to George III and the still more glorious company of poets, artists, statesmen and men of letters whose bones are sheltered in this historic pile, the Abbey is no longer merely a place of wonderful sculpture, architecture and antiquities, but becomes instinct with the memories of England’s greatest souls. 

The church was built in the customary form of a Latin cross and the famous chapel of Henry VII is an addition at the farther end of the nave. The whole length is 513 feet. The Gothic roof is more than 100 feet above the pavement. The towers, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, are 225 feet high. 

In early times this spot was surrounded by the waters of the Thames. Here, on the introduction of Christianity into Britain, a monastic institution was founded, and upon the site of its ruins an abbey was raised by Edward the Confessor about the year 1060. William the Conqueror was the first sovereign crowned here. 

Everywhere within are imposing monuments, sepulchral tablets, statuary and tombs and the banners of chivalry. The Poets’ Corner in the south transept contains the memorials of authors eminent in English literature, including one of our own, Longfellow. 

Many writers have recorded their impressions of the Abbey. Washington Irving wrote years ago: “The spaciousness and gloom of this vast edifice produce a profound and mysterious awe. We step cautiously and softly about, as if fearful of disturbing the hallowed silence. We feel that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of the great men of past times who have filled history with their deeds…” 

Copyright by the Keystone View Company

T97-star

13422

This milking scene is in one of the front dooryards of a Norweigian home near Odde. At night the herd is housed in a stable near by. They have been brought out for the morning milking— a process interesting to the tourist and profitable to the peasant, for by it he derives much of his food and considerable revenue. Note the home-made wooden pail, and other evidences of primitive methods. The attitude of the young woman shows the customary position of holding the goat. 

The milking once over, the goats seek their pasture on the rocky slope of the mountain behind the house, till the light shades of the Norweigian evening bring them again to their night’s retreat. Owing to the mountainous surface of the country and the scanty vegetation, goats are more easily raised than cows. 

Norway has only 740 square miles of arable land, but one-seventieth as much as the state of Illinois. This cannot be spared for pasturage. Hence, nearly every Norwegian farm must have its saeter, or mountain diary, which may be many miles from the homestead. Late in the spring some of the family, usually the younger women, start with the cattle and goats on the narrow, tortuous paths which lead up the mountain side to the little log hut with its mud floor, thatched roof, and coarse furnishings. 

“The life up there in the vast solitude, with the snow-capped mountains in the distance, often with a mountain lake close by, with the cowbells, the baying of dogs, the sound of the mountain horns, and the hallooing of the girls— life up there with its peaceful work and the solemn stillness of the evening after the work is done— is the happiest a Norwegian peasant knows.” — Björnson.

Below are some visualizations of these texts, as a whole, from Voyant. 

A couple of the most frequently used words in the transcripts included miles and feet, units of measurement that reflect the narration's status as a kind of informational writing. 

Each transcript ends with "Copyright by the Keystone View Company," which prompted some concern on my part as the transcriber. I don't think I have to fear much legal repercussion, however, as Keystone became defunct in the early seventies. 

Voyant drew connections between units of measurement and several seemingly unremarkable nouns and adjectives.