The Gilded Age - Mark Twain [222]
THE AUTHORS.
NOTES
CHAPTER 1
1. Translations of chapter-head mottoes may be found on page 475.
2. Nazareth: reference to the biblical home of Jesus. Specifically, see John 1:45–46, where Nathanael asks of Philip, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”
3. cote-house: a small shed for holding livestock.
4. linsey-woolsey: simple cloth made of wool blended with either cotton or linen.
5. coal: liquid petroleum fuel.
CHAPTER 3
1. mud-valve: valve by which mud is discharged from a steam boiler.
2. Hebrew chil’en: reference to Daniel 3.
CHAPTER 4
1. gauge-cocks: instruments attached to steam engine boilers that indicate the height of the water in the boiler.
2. vergè-sta f: pole located at the bow of a ship from which flags are hung.
3. hog-chain: a chain running fore to aft on a steamboat functioning as a tension rod.
4. guards: the part of the deck overhanging the hull.
5. mark twain: steamboatman’s call for two fathoms of water (twelve feet). Interestingly, this signal has two meanings: when a boat is moving out of water shallower than two fathoms, “mark twain” is the call for “safe water”; when a boat is moving from deeper water into water two fathoms or shallower, “mark twain” is the call for “dangerous water.”
6. fantail: a narrow extension from the stern of a steamboat.
CHAPTER 5
1. a hundred and thirty miles: The distance of 130 miles is the same distance between St. Louis and Hannibal, Missouri, the town where Samuel Clemens spent his youth.
2. “store” furniture: furniture bought at a store as opposed to being homemade.
3. “rag” carpeting: a crude floor covering pieced together from scrap fabric materials.
4. Godey’s Lady’s Book: a popular monthly magazine of the late nineteenth century that featured articles on manners and fashion as well as stories by prominent American writers.
CHAPTER 6
1. cheapen: to buy.
2. deep man: a person who is contriving, deceptive, insidious.
CHAPTER 7
1. portmonnaie: a change-purse.
CHAPTER 8
1. wild cat banks: banks in the early- and mid-nineteenth century that issued notes backed by risky or fraudulent securities. These institutions were notoriously unstable and would frequently go under during periods of economic panic.
2. lucifer matches: early form of friction matches made with potassium chlorate and antimony sulphide.
3. Yedo: Tokyo, Japan.
CHAPTER 11
1. Roderick Dhu: character from the poem The Lady of the Lake (1810) by Sir Walter Scott.
CHAPTER 12
1. Astor Library: division of the New York Public Library.
2. Chambers’ Street box: the Chambers’ Street Theatre (1848–64); Burton: comic actor and playwright William E. Burton (1804–60).
3. Lt. Strain or Dr. Kane: nineteenth-century explorers Isaac Strain (1821–57) and Elisha Kent Kane (1820–57).
4. giant swing: a complete body swing around a horizontal gymnasium bar.
5. whipping the devil round the stump: overcoming adversity in roundabout fashion.
6. Atlas: The New York Atlas (1828–81), long-running New York Sunday newspaper.
7. St. Jo: St. Joseph, Missouri.
8. Trautwine: The Civil Engineer’s Pocket Book (1871–72) by John Cresson Trautwine.
9. suits of India-rubber: nineteenth-century version of weatherproof clothing.
CHAPTER 13
1. profile paper: graph paper used for engineering and architectural plans.
2. Otard: brand name of an expensive cognac.
3. “hanging it up”: to put it on a tab.
CHAPTER 14
1. Girard College and Fairmount Water Works and Park: along with Independence Hall, major tourist attractions in Philadelphia. Girard College is a school founded for orphans by Stephen Girard (1750–1831); Fairmount Water Works and Park is the nation’s first public fountain located in Philadelphia’s largest municipal park.
2. Eighth street: fashionable shopping district in Philadelphia.
3. Arch Street Meeting: the well-known Society of Friends meetinghouse in south Philadelphia.
4. Kick-a-poos: Native American