Toronto Star article:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/art...pled-papers-found-in-century-old-time-capsule
Coin, crumpled papers found in century-old time capsule
September 01, 2010
Liam Casey
All that was found in the time capsule was what appears to be newspaper and a coin or token of some kind. (Sept. 1, 2010)
KEITH BEATY/TORONTO STAR
Retired military personnel didn’t know what a century-old time capsule would contain, and after opening it Wednesday, they still didn’t know.
A heavily oxidized coin and crumpled papers, part of which turned to dust when touched, were the only items inside the tin can.
When the Royal Canadian Military Institute moved into its current location on University Ave. in 1907, Earl Grey, then Governor General of Canada, laid the cornerstone in a ceremony on Aug. 29. Technically, it wasn’t a time capsule, according to Paul Hudson, co-founder of the International Time Capsule Society.
“Cornerstones are like first cousins to the time capsule,†said Hudson, who is also a history professor at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia.
The term time capsule was first used in 1939 by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in a promotional stunt for the World’s Fair in New York, according to Hudson. That time capsule is buried at Flushing Meadow and won’t be opened for another 5,000 years. Cornerstones, however, have been used for centuries.
Another important difference: Time capsules are meant to be retrieved, usually on a certain date, while cornerstone treasures can only be retrieved when a building is demolished, due to its structural importance.
Retired Lt. Col. Arthur G. Manvell, honorary librarian for the institute, speculated on the identity of the contents.
“Well, I don’t think it’s a coin of the realm,†Manvell said. “It’s probably a token or medallion of some sort.â€
The rolled up papers, with no visible ink, will be more difficult to identify.
“They’re so fragile and disintegrated that maybe we’ll never know,†Manvell said.
The plan is to have a conservator examine and refurbish the items, according to retired Lt. Col. Bruce Savage, honorary curator at the institute. A new time capsule will be stored when the new building is completed in 2012.
Time capsules aren’t just for this world either. The late Carl Sagan, an iconic planetary studies professor at Cornell University, launched a time capsule into space with NASA’s help in 1977. It included a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk that contained images and natural sounds such as whale calls and rolling thunder, designed to show aliens what life is like on Earth.
In 1976, then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau sealed a time capsule when the CN Tower opened in 1976.
“The tower has been officially screwed,†Trudeau said with a smile as he wound the capsule into the wall of the observation deck.
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