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Aug 11, 2005

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Film & TV

Mind & Soul

Alligators in the Sewers of NYC? Yes!

Many people think that tales of alligators in the sewers of New York City is just another urban legend. Doubtless some of the tales are that, but there is documentation that there were real alligators living in the subterranean passages. How did they get in the sewers? The most popular explanation is that people went to Florida and brought back baby alligators as pets. When the animals grew, the people decided that having them as pets was not a good idea, so they flushed them down the toilets. Most likely some of the alligators were caimans, a Central and South American reptile that is related to alligators. During the 1960s, there was a widely told rumor about alligators on New York’s sewers. The basis of the rumor were events that happened in the mid 1930s. One was reported in the New York Times on February 10th 1935.

By: Jill Stefko

Shawnee Chief Cornstalk’s Curse

In 1998, I worked in conjunction with the former Bethlehem Tourism Authority, BTA, in holding walking ghost tours of the historic area. I wrote the scripts and served as hostess and paranormal expert for the tours. Jeff Parks, my cousin, had introduced me to the executive director, Mary Ann Dwyer. She loved the idea. Jeff thought it would be a good idea to tie the tours in with history. Bethlehem was founded by the Moravians, the first protestant religion, predating Lutheranism. I did not have a computer then, but I have a library of books about the paranormal which is more extensive than any of the local libraries. Imagine my delight when I discovered that one of Cornstalk’s ancestor’s was a Native American who converted to the Moravian Church. This story was told by a cloaked tour guide who carried a lantern in front of the Brethren House. The building was built as a residence for single men and used as a hospital during the Revolutionary War. People have seen the ghost of a Revolutionary War nurse in the building which is, now, part of Moravian College.

By: Jill Stefko

V-1 Devarim: Final Words of Moses

Devarim opens the last book of the Torah with "these are the words that Moses spoke..." In the other four books of the Torah, the Israelites are instructed by the words of God through Moses's mouth; but in Devarim, Moses addresses the community of Israel directly. Deuteronomy is a Mosaic repetition of the laws given in Exodus 19-23. Deuteronomy is is associated with the "lost scroll" that was publicly presented with the recostruction of the Temple after the Exile (2 Kings 22:8) and the reforms of Josiah (ca 622) who restricted sacrifice to Jerusalem and removed foreign cult elements from the worship. There is debate regarding the age of the scroll's origin. Devarim opens at the eve of Moses's death and contains a long narrative broken up into speeches covering the nation's history, travels, laws and the importance of loyalty to God. Moses opens his valedictory address with a rebuke regarding the past transgressions of Israel, recalling the disastrous mission of the spies, blaming the children of Israel for his inbility to enter the Promised Land and his death on the plains of Moab.

By: Mary C. Legg

Travel
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