Ultimate Home Defense Weapon - The Katana, Hopkins Student Kills Burglar With Sword

Beautiful. Lethal. We love and collect them - the old ones crafted with love and honored by time.

But today a student at Hopkins University used a katana - and probably not one of those late-night Home Shopping Crappo Models - in a to-the-death fight with a burglar. He won.

Antiqueswest is reminded of a tale told by a Pacific War veteran of WWII, who talked about securing a Marine fighting position overrun the night before by Japanese forces and finding an officer's longsword cleaved neatly into the cooling jacket of a .30 caliber machine gun.

The awesome striking power of these swords came into play in the 21st Century early this morning, when a student named John P. (we won't use his last name) confronted a burglar who had just broken into his student housing for the second time in two days.

Apparently the burglar, who has a lengthy record, charged the student who struck a defensive blow that tore into the man's torso and almost completely severed his right hand. The man died of exanguanation as Baltimore Northern Police District officers responded to the scene.

It appears he had burgled the same residence a day earlier.

Antique Dealer Uses Craigslist - And Regrets It

We're not big believers in the "big box" online sales components called Ebay and Craigslist.

Friends left Ebay in droves when their rates climbed and their vetting process slid and now no one we know uses it unless they want a cheap knockoff Tiffany bracelet or rebel belt buckle.

So when those same friends suggested Craigslist as a free alternative to the Ebay/Paypal money machine we thought: "What the heck..."

We posted a saddle. A nice old highback with some history, and kept the description informative and straightforward. We weren't prepared for the response - which was heavy - or the tenor of the replies, which were just this side of insane.

We can't tell you what the first reply said, it was incredibly profane and disconnected. For an instant we considered writing something like "please take your meds" but then saw little sense in that and said nothing.

That didn't stop them. Three Nigerian wire-transfer scammers tried next, promising to send a check they had "mistakenly" cut for three times the price of the saddle if I would wire the difference to them in Lagos. This is pretty much the oldest scam in the book and I was going to ignore them, too, until one guy - probably sitting in his shorts and flip-flops in an internet cafe in Lagos - pushed it and asked when the wired funds would arrive.

We told him to come by the San Francisco field office of the FBI, International Fraud Division (no such thing) and we would personally hand over the money. That resulted in the following email message:

"*uck You You Stupid American Fool."

Then there were the Craigslist "experts." These are people who feel free to weigh in on your post, telling you where you've misidentified your item and how you're a moron for posting it at the suggested price. Oh, and by the way, they'll by it for $25.

We've since heard there are some frustrated individuals out there who like to string sellers along, asking seemingly pertinent questions and attempting to draw them into a meeting to consummate the transaction - and then not show up.

Lovely people.

It Wasn't Us... We Only Fire Our Cannons At Dusk

Well, and at the neighborhood rowdies, of course... but only grape and never solid shot.

It seems a Pennsylvania history buff accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor's home yesterday.

William Maser, 54, fired a cannonball Wednesday evening outside his home in Georges Township that ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards away.

The cannonball, about two inches in diameter, smashed through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. Authorities say nobody was hurt.

State police charged Maser with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

No one answered the phone Friday at Maser's home. He tells WPXI-TV recreating 19th century cannons is a longtime hobby. He says he is sorry and he will stop shooting them on his property, about 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.