Difference between revisions of "ATD 273-295"

Revision as of 16:40, 20 December 2006

Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.

Page 273

the electric
The Denver Tramway Company, beginning in 1886, operated electric railcars between central Denver and outlying communities. Citation

Page 274

Arapahoe
???

drygulched
???

after Repeal in '93
Refers to the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which required the U.S. government to purchase an additional 4.5 million ounces of silver bullion every month with notes that could be redeemed for either silver or gold. Repealed by Congress after the Panic of 1893 to prevent depletion of the country's gold reserves. Wikipedia entry.

Lake County
Colorado county of which Leadville is the county seat.

Haw Tabor
Horace Tabor, a prospector, businessman, politician, and one of the wealthiest men in Colorado in the 19th Century. Tabor moved to Denver in 1859, later settling in Leadville in 1877. With the wealth he accumulated from his silver mine, Tabor established newspapers, a bank, and an opera house in Leadville (which still stands), and the Tabor Grand Opera House and the Tabor Block in Denver. In 1878, Tabor was elected Lieutenant Governor of Colorado and served in that post until January 1884. He served as U.S. Senator from Colorado for two months in 1883. Tabor ran unsuccessfully for Colorado governor in 1884, 1886, and 1888. In 1893, the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act devastated Tabor's fortune and his far-flung holdings were sold off. He died from appendicitis in 1899, and his legend still persists in Colorado.Wikipedia entry.

Matchless
The Matchless Mine in Leadville, formerly owned by Horace Tabor. Oscar Wilde visited the Matchless in 1882. The "widow" is Elizabeth Bonduel McCourt Doe, a/k/a "Baby Doe" Tabor, Horace Tabor's second wife (and his mistress before he married her in 1883). Baby Doe and her stubborn retention of the Matchless Mine is another Colorado legend. When Horace Tabor fell ill with appendicitis in 1899, his final request of Baby Doe was that she "hold onto the Matchless." This she did, with tragic results. After living in a shack beside the mine for 36 years, she froze to death one night in March 1935 after she ran out of firewood. Her body was found frozen with her arms crossed peacefully across her chest. After her death, 17 iron trunks that had been placed in storage in Denver were opened, as well as several gunny sacks and four trunks that had been left at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Leadville. All that was left from the Tabor fortune were several bolts of unique, untouched and exquisite cloth, several pieces of china, a tea service and some jewelry, including a diamond and sapphire ring. Baby Doe's story has inspired numerous works, including a movie and an opera by Douglas Moore, The Ballad of Baby Doe. More on Baby Doe Tabor, including pictures of the Matchless and the shack she lived and died in, can be found at these links: Baby Doe Tabor.com; BabyDoe.org

Zinc Rush
???

some bright engineer
???

Page 275

Molly-be-damned
Molybdenum, which is still mined outside of Leadville.

Wren Provenance
???

heaps
pic?

Sons of Heaven section
???

Page 276

Jennie Rogers's House of Mirrors
Jennie Rogers (1843-1909) was a notorious Denver madam who built the "House of Mirrors" at 1946 Market Street in Denver in 1889 and ran it until her death in 1909. The House of Mirrors embodies the Romanesque architecture of the era, and was specifically designed as a bordello. It was later taken over by the even more notorious Mattie Silks (1846-1929), who operated it until 1915, when it fell victim to so-called "reformers." The House of Mirrors still stands, and today operates as a bar and restauant. (This contributor has been drinking there many times.) More on its history, including pictures, and on the history of Denver's Market Street red-light district, can be found at this website.

dress cavalry helmet
pic?

Page 277

Aztlán
???

thirteenth century
???

images of creatures
pic?

Page 278

the report
???

Albany... bar mirror
???

Booth Virbling
???

Page 279

Bulkley Wells
???

Ice Saw murder
???

sparking
???

Page 280

South Pacific islands
Cf Margaret Mead.

Page 281

first city
???

"Beside the tracks at one bend stood a local lunatic"
Like starting a Disney land ride.

how so? Bleakhaus 14:46, 4 December 2006 (PST)

Page 282

level of hatred
Cf capacitance?

vagging bee
Neologism?

Page 283

"joven"
Young fellow (Spanish).

Ellmore Disco
???

when it was still Leadville
???

Seven-Toed Pete
???

Page 284

jaconet... tartalan... crepe lissé
???

Liberty's of London
???

Grand Rapids style
???

Four Corners Boys
???

Page 285

million apiece
Current values?

wackyzacky
???

Cal Rutan
???

Page 286

Loomis
Loomis Disco.

lowland alkali
???

hardpan
???

Page 287

chicharrones
Fried pork skins.

Ristras
Strings of dried red chiles.

sixty-degree wedges
One-sixth of a pie.

"Por poco te faltó La Blanca"
Translates to "You just missed La Blanca."

Page 288

Montrose
A city on Colorado's Western Slope. Wikipedia entry.

popcorn snows
???

vanning
???

comal
???

Page 289

half a cubic foot
12" by 12" by 6".

Page 290

miner's gad
According to the OED, "1. a steel wedge, 2. a small iron punch with a wooden handle used to break up ore."

McBryan's
???

trick animal
???

Page 291

Cosmopolitan
Cf p260.

Mr. Edison's scheme... static electricity
???

Wetherill's magnet
If electric, that's Kit's domain.

Page 292

Hieronymus Wheel
This may be a stretch but one of the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch is called the Circle of Hell which contains an assortment of odd creatures. As a central image there is a wheel coming out of (or going into) the mouth of a fishlike creature. The reference to hell seems appropriate for Telluride and a Japanese trade delegation in a Colorado bar may suggest the odd creatures. Just to stretch the connection a bit further, there was another Bosch, Robert, a Germany engineer who perfected a magneto ignition device in 1897 that became the standard for creating electrical sparks to start internal combustion engines. The modern Bosch Group is a leading manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology.

Context suggests that this is a roulette wheel.

bellows
pic?

Page 293

"Sumimasen... Bobusan desu... Gonnusuringaa... mottomo abunai desu"
Don't know the rest, but "Bobusan" refers to Bob and "Gonnusuringaa" is likely "Gunslinger."
Translation from e2535:
mottomo abunai desu = "he is extremely dangerous"
Sumimasen = "Pardon me" or "Excuse me"

"Anna koto"
???

fulgurescence
A neologism, I think -- it does not appear in the OED. 'Fulgur' is Latin for lightning, 'fulgurite' being, e.g., according to the OED, "any rocky substance that has been fused or vitrified by lightning. More strictly applied to a bore or tube produced by the passage of lightning into a sandy soil."

"some distant geography where creatures as yet unknown thrashed about, howling affrightedly, in the dark"
See the note for Hieronymous wheel on page 292. This further enhances the Circle of Hell connection for the Hieronymous wheel note above. The painting includes several unknown creatures, including a barrel with legs, while “thrashed about” suggests the central fish monster image of the painting.

packing out pyrites
Mining fool's gold

katana
Japanese samurai sword

Page 294

Baron Akashi
???

Squirrel and sarsaparilla
Squirrel Whiskey and Sarsaparilla Soda. Squirrel whiskey was so called because it was supposedly so strong it would drive its drinkers up a tree. Sarparilla, by contrast, is derived from the roots of the Sarsparilla tree.

Page 295

summer of '89
???

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