I See A Kindle on Steroids in Our Future

Science Magazine just published a paper by some of the researchers at IBM about a new form of data storage. They are calling it racetrack memory and it has two big advantages over the more rudimentary digital storage mehtods we use today. First it operates on much less power, second it has no moving parts. A third big plus for business and consumers is that it should be much cheaper to produce and maintain.

Seems racetrack memory is similar to flash memory, but it has the advantage of being able to write data, and rewrite if much more often. Racetrack memeory has no moving parts to wear out.

The article I read on FOXNews used the field of music for it's examples. My MP3 player stores about 2500 song right now, some ipods have space for as much as 40,000, but racetrack technology could one day provide us with similar palm devices that could handle upwards of a half million songs. Imagine that, 500,000 songs in your pocket.

Of course the first thing that occured to me was, racetrack memory could give us five volumes of the Standard Catalog of World Coins in our pocket. Now that's really something to imagine!

D. Hillman & Sons an Iron Clad Mystery

The next lot to catch my eye in the upcoming Smythe Schingoethe sale is lot 1901. This Obsolete note is denominated at 5 cents, printed in blue ink and hosts an oustanding vignette of the Tennessee Rolling Works. This is a large mill scene which streches over most of this unissued remaider note, making it most attractive to anyone interested in building vignettes. Also of interest to collectors of Iron Works items and ofcourse, a nice item for any Obsolete or Scrip collector. There is a lot of cross appeal working for this numismatic item.

In addition there is a good deal of mystery to solve. Under the main title, a note reads D. Hillman & Sons, who were the original owners of the mill, which later seems to have passed to Ewald Iron Company. The Internet offered a few references to a D. Hillman & Sons located in Trigg county Kentucky running a mill under the name Empire Iron Works, but I'm not sure when, or if, this changed to Tennessee Rolling Works, or if this is even the right D. Hillman & Sons. A quick check of the History of Trigg County revealed quite a bit of background on Daniel Hillman, with ties to Cumberland Furnace, Trigg County and Lyon County. Daniel established a company which eventuall became known as D. Hillman & Bros., so it's a short, but logical guess that it may have evolved over time into D. Hillman & Sons, the issuers of this note.

Ewald Iron Company ran at least two mills, one in St. Louis and one in Louisville. The St. Louis mill was called Tennessee Rolling Works and was established in 1846. According to the 1881 buisness directory of St. Louis, the Tennessee Rolling Works was located at 519 North Main Street near Washington Avenue, though I also found an address of 801 North Second Street. These may be the offices of the company, as I noticed a works location in Lyons county. The Louisville location was built later in 1869 and originally opened under the name Kentucky Rolling Mill, later changed to Tennessee Rolling Mills. A third mill mentioned in one source ran under the name of Tennessee Iron House. Maybe this one was on the Cumberland?

As you can see, there's plenty of mystery to go around on this note. But I'll leave further research for the new owner to enjoy after the auction closes on April 9th