landmine found in Arkansas, bomb squad to the rescue

[Lamar]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/20-arkansas-homes-evacuated-because-of-civil-war-landmine/ar-BBrcZqL?li=BBnb7Kz

[jonpatterson]

A second, more detailed article and picture:

http://www.hotsr.com/photos/2016/apr/01/466789/

[emike123]

It doesn't look anything like a landmine to me, but the guy and folks who advised him appear to be the missing links from the evolutionary tree.  If that so called Civil War historian has the balls to make himself public, I will happily tell him to renounce his credentials and go study Precious Moments figurines for which he is obviously more qualified.  I am tired of these ignorant April fools destroying stuff out of their own stupidity.

[alwion]

just email him and tell him it was worth 300k and its too bad he gave it away, because you had cash. at least someone would think the april 1st joke was funny if he cried

[Selma Hunter]

http://www.wbtv.com/story/31618916/crews-safely-detonate-civil-war-era-land-mine-in-arkansas

Another treasure from our ever more distant history is lost to ignorance!

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

"lice spokesman Cpl. Kirk Zaner said a Hot Springs man dug up what he thought was a cannonball near Danville. The man put the 32-pound landmine in the back of his pickup and drove about 65 miles home"
   AND THEN, evacuated 20 homes to prevent their destruction.   Something wrong with this picture!!
   This is how so called "bomb squads gain publicity and money for budget. And yet they are called the "professional", here to save the day. Just like Mighty Mouse
I will even sign this,
Regards,
John

[emike123]

This cartoon cell hangs in my office.  I am told it shows the Arkansas bomb squad saving the planet from destruction and bringing renown to their state which heretofore many (not me of course) thought to be backward and full of stupid rednecks.

[emike123]

Speaking of stupid, this solid shot 12pdr was owned by Sam White at the time of his demise.  The Virginia bomb squad took it to a quarry, affixed a shaped charge (which created the hole that looks like a fuse channel but isn't) and blew it up.  Then they returned it to Sam's grieving family, and a few years later I got it from his son.

I am having a plaque made to go on the stand that holds this.  The plaque will read, "Monument to the stupidity of Man.  Solid shot cannon ball blown up by the bomb squad."

[redbob]

The same thing happened at Lawrence Christopher's place, except that I think that those may have been military EODs. When I offered to show my local Bomb Squad some of my collection and the difference between a shell and a solid shot, I was warned that this was a very bad idea if I wanted to keep my collection without interference.

[emike123]

It may just be me, but this clown from Arkansas bears an uncanny resemblence to another guy in the news:

http://41.media.tumblr.com/f12afa49e25cceb005563b069da8ea9f/tumblr_o4tlns1VCq1u5f06vo1_1280.jpg

I think they were separated at birth perhaps.

[24thMichigan]

I had a 10 inch shell on hold with Lawrence that got blown up with the rest of his projectiles.  Idiots.  I donated the $100. deposit to his medical care.

[redbob]

I had picked up a ball shortly before the accident and the two things that I remember was him drilling a 30# Parrott Shell on his workbench with a hand drill and that he mentioned that he had just picked up one of the largest collections that he had ever bought.

[24thMichigan]

Yes, the 10-inch shell was from that collection.

[Jim J.]

I just spoke with a local archaeologist, who was brought into the picture after the EOD boys had done their work.  Evidently a couple of blocks of C4 were used to "save us" from this hazard.  The artifact was solid iron, and has the wrong dimensions for a 32 pdr ball.  The current more knowledgeable "guess" is that it might have been a counter weight of some type, or possibly a rock crusher ball.  Anyway, it was not a shell / landmine and definitely did not have a fuze.
All the best,
Jim J.