Redcoat Finds His Resting Place

--Construction workers in Philadelphia who uncovered the remains of a man while clearing the site of an old post office thought they had come across a victim of foul play. But the medical examiner’s office determined otherwise. Researchers identified buttons bearing the number 52 found with the remains as those worn by members of the 52nd British Infantry in the Revolutionary War. And so it was that an unknown British soldier, who experts believe was killed in the Battle of Germantown in 1777, was finally laid to rest. “The burial is a symbolism of those who gave their life in any war,” said Maj. Peter Stone of the British Officers Club of Philadelphia. Pipers played the Scottish march “Going Home” and the coffin was draped in the Grand Union flag as the soldier was buried with military and civilian honors at Northwood Cemetery. Among the mourners were representatives of American veterans groups and British Col. Anthony E. Berry, whose regiment, the Royal Green Jackets, descended from the 52nd.

--Domingo Linale knows about coups. He hails from Bolivia, which has averaged about one a year since the South American nation won its independence from Spain in 1825. Linale himself served as a provincial governor in Bolivia after a 1971 coup, and played a role in the last successful military takeover in that nation in 1980. Now a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Miami, Linale has found a way to market his hard-won expertise. He has invented a board game called International Intrigue. As in real life, player-plotters can choose either to defend the government or take it over--and to be either right-wing or left. A roll of the dice can land a player on squares such as the Capital City, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Army and, of course, the Secret Police. A hint for players: The game slightly favors pro-government and right-wing forces. The reason? “That’s the way the real world is,” said Linale, who fled Bolivia in 1982 when the regime he backed was overthrown. “At least in Latin America.”

--Some people can just feel the weather in their bones. Others look to groundhogs or bears for clues. In Montana, the preferred method for predicting the weather for some is inspecting animal spleens. Trouble is, the signals are often mixed. Junior Germann of Plentywood says a wide pig spleen is a sure sign of cold weather and that this year they’re plenty wide. But R.A. Dempewolf of Dawson County, 60 miles southeast of Plentywood, says his cattle and pig spleens are indicating the opposite. “Maybe it’s going to be cold up there and mild down here,” he said.