In this issue: Children of the Abyss Re: "Have Gun Will Travel" episode Re: "Have Gun Will Travel" episode Re: Children of the Abyss My blushes Re: "Have Gun Will Travel" episode "Ash Hill" Today inHistory - Feb. 10 Re: "Ash Hill" RE: "Ash Hill" Re: Children of the Abyss Book Review Jacques Futrelle's Thinking Machine Stories Today in History - Feb. 11 WWW etext avail: Vernon Lee's "Amore dure" Chat: Poor Stephen! Re: My blushes British Justice RE: Ash Hill and Poor Stephen! Today in History - Feb. 12 Re: "The Desert Islander" again Re: "The Desert Islander" again Thanks Al Musical departure Today in History - Feb. 15 Personal advertisements Re: Unruffled Riders Futrelle's 666th RE: Thanks Al -----------------------------THE POSTS----------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 06:48:08 -0600 From: smdawes(at)home.com Subject: Children of the Abyss Has anyone on the list read "Children of the Abyss" by Jack London, written, I think, in 1903? I was going through the site in California that has all London's work in etext, and just picked this at random. I couldn't quit reading; spent my entire vacation day off with the book. Reminded me how much I like his writing, even though I hadn't read anything of his for years. I had read and heard of the conditions in London's East End, but his report really affected me. The constant roundrobin of workhouses and charity wards was difficult for me to read about; the two older men he spent a night with trying to find a workhouse to sleep in affected me deeply. They were slowly starving to death, and it seemed as if no one in the world cared. In most cases a powerful work. Marta
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 11:32:02 -0500 (CDT) From: MEDS002(at)UABDPO.DPO.UAB.EDU Subject: Re: "Have Gun Will Travel" episode Yes, Bob, that was the episode...starred the ubiquitous John Dehner as Fogg... the final scene that I caught had Palladin pushing Fogg's boat out into the river...and I too loved the show when originally broadcast and the ones I have caught over the past year or so on TVLand hold up well...thanks for the clarification...aj wright
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 13:53:43 -0500 From: Mary Lee Herrick <XSNRG(at)IX.NETCOM.COM> Subject: Re: "Have Gun Will Travel" episode Secrets From My Past: This show was on when I was young, and I thought "Will Travel" was the hero's name. But then, in my adulthood, I thought the name of the book was the name of the rabbit, Pat the Bunny. Think of what I would have done with Les Miserables. Mary Lee Herrick
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 14:10:18 -0900 From: Robert Raven <rraven(at)alaska.net> Subject: Re: Children of the Abyss Marta, Haven't read it, would like to. What's the URL you refer to? Bob Raven
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 14:12:46 -0500 (EST) From: DOUGLAS GREENE <dgreene(at)odu.edu> Subject: My blushes I obviously should have discovered the Gaslight list many years ago if people like Robert G were saying such nice things about my work (and someone in responding managed to reprint his comments another couple times--not, needless to say, that I object). I had a great deal of fun putting together DETECTION BY GASLIGHT--especially re-reading all the books from which the stories came (though in a couple cases--Freeman and Futrelle--I went back to the Edwardian magazines). Dover has accepted a successor volume from me, called tentatively GREAT CLASSICS OF DETECTION--Dover likes titles like that--and I expect it by thie summer. It too will be in the Thrift Series at $2.00 or $2.50. Dover has also published with my introductions some early detective novels in the Thrift Series: Rinehart's THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE, Rohmer's THE INSIDIOUS DR. FU-MANCHU, Bentley's TRENT'S LAST CASE, Christie's THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES, and Milne's THE RED HOUSE MYSTERY. As for L. T. Meade's THE DETECTIONS OF MISS CUSACK, it's available from George Vanderburgh's Battered Silicon Dispatrch Box Press, in both cloth and trade softcover. The co-editor is Jack Adrian whose anthologies from THE STRAND must be familiar to readers of this list. George can be reached by e-mail: gav(at)gbd.com George has also reprinted B. Fletcher Robinson's legendary rarity, THE CHRONICLES OF ADDINGTON PEACE. Although Meade's books for teenage girls are very common, her mystery collections are quite scarce. I have both volumes of STORIES FROM THE DIARY OF A DOCTOR but neither is a first edition, and I have a scattering of her other books. Yes, I am the author of JOHN DICKSON CARR; THE MAN WHO EXPLAINED MIRACLES, but though it was a nominee it did not win the Edgar. but you may keep thinking it did, if you wish! Doug
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 12:18:05 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Re: "Have Gun Will Travel" episode >Secrets From My Past: > >This show was on when I was young, and I thought "Will Travel" was the hero's >name. I thought the gun would travel...I couldn't get the break in the phrase. Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 15:12:51 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: "Ash Hill"
Gaslighters who've been around for awhile might remember a poem
I once sent to the list about Ash Hill, the antebellum mansion that
sits opposite my bedroom window. I thought you might be
interested to hear that this poem has been published in the
quarterly periodical _Modern Age_. It appears in the Winter 1999
number and is the first piece in the issue.
Ash Hill was once home to one of the most prominent families
in Prince George's County, Maryland. Buffalo Bill used to stay
here when he was in Washington with his Wild West show, and
Ulysses S. Grant stabled a string of horses on the property
during his presidency. So there's quite a bit of history
associated with the place, to which there are some references
in the poem.
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy; meditate on these things
Philippians 4:8
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 13:47:18 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today inHistory - Feb. 10
1814
Napoleon personally directs lightning strikes against enemy
columns advancing toward
Paris, beginning with a victory over the Russians at
Champaubert.
1840
Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert.
1846
Led by religious leader Brigham Young, the first Mormons begin
a long westward exodus
from Nauvoo, Il., to Utah.
1863
P.T. Barnum?s star midgets, Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren, are
married.
1904
Russia and Japan declare war on each other.
1915
President Wilson blasts the British for using the U.S. flag on
merchant ships to deceive the
Germans. He also warns the Kaiser that he will hold Germany "to
a strict accountability" for
U.S. lives and property endangered.
Born on February 10
1890
Boris Pasternak, Russian novelist--whose greatest novel, Dr.
Zhivago, was rejected for
publication in the U.S.S.R.
1893
Jimmy Durante, ?Schozzel,? American comedian and film actor.
1894
Harold MacMillan, British prime minister from 1957 to 1963.
1898
Bertolt Brecht, German poet and dramatist who is best
remembered for his plays Three
Penny Opera and Mother Courage.
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 16:49:02 -0500 (EST) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Re: "Ash Hill" Congratulations on your poem, Bob! That's wonderful... phoebe
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 19:23:36 -0500 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)gate.net> Subject: RE: "Ash Hill" Bob Champ wrote: > > Gaslighters who've been around for awhile might remember a poem > I once sent to the list about Ash Hill, the antebellum mansion that > sits opposite my bedroom window. I thought you might be > interested to hear that this poem has been published in the > quarterly periodical _Modern Age_. It appears in the Winter 1999 > number and is the first piece in the issue. Congrats, Bob! Bob's poem appeared on February 27, 1998, and can be found in the Gaslight archives at http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/archive/98mar01.htm If you use your browser's search feature (usually Ctrl-F) and search for "Ash Hill" on that web page, you will find it. Cheers, Jim
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 18:40:00 -0600 From: smdawes(at)home.com Subject: Re: Children of the Abyss Here's the link for the Jack London book "Children of the Abyss". I recommend it. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/Writings/PeopleOfTheAbyss/ Marta Robert Raven wrote: > > Marta, > > Haven't read it, would like to. What's the URL you refer to? > > Bob Raven
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 20:04:49 -0500 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)gate.net> Subject: Book Review This review appeared in the London Times recently. I don't think this book is available in the U.S. yet, but should be here soon. As long as we're taking the week off, I thought others might enjoy reading about this Gaslight era-inspired book. THE UNBURIED By Charles Palliser Phoenix House, ?16.99 (Fiction) ISBN 1 861 59127 6 At Christmas 1880, Dr Edward Courtine, a Cambridge don, travels to the ancient cathedral close in Thurchester to stay with an old university friend. Dr Courtine is looking for a manuscript that will shed light on the role played by Alfred the Great in the death of his tutor. He also becomes keenly interested in mysterious deaths in the cathedral in the 1630s, and the various interpretations of the killing of the Dean there during the Civil War. On top of that, he soon becomes witness, alibi and detective, when a rich and reclusive old man is murdered during his stay. The Unburied is value for money as historical murder-mystery: victims are variously dropped, crushed, hung, hacked to death and buried alive from the 9th century to the 19th. Every death is linked to, or reflected in, one other; each is open to misinterpretation and every sleuth makes the mistakes of his age. Among other things, it is a discourse on historicism, on the dangers as well as the usefulness of imagination in complementing the baldness of fact. Charles Palliser's first novel, The Quincunx, was noted for its erudition and opacity; The Unburied is from the same mould. Once again, Palliser is playing with the Victorian novel form. This is pure Gothic - the days are short, the fog clings, the cathedral looms and a "stench of something ancient and rotten" fills the ecclesiastical air. But the structure is modern. The bulk of the story is told in Courtine's private record of his stay. Around this is wrapped a 20th-century "Editor's Foreword and Afterword", with a fairy tale thrown in. The plot turns on the niceties of cathedral construction, the use of the superlative in medieval Latin and the politics of the post-Reformation church, and once it has delved into the layers of Thurchester's past, the only way out is a labyrinthine one. At several points, however, the novel - or the reader - feels overburdened. And because the pre-19th century stories are told in reported speech, while the murdered might haunt they never quite live and breathe. Still, it is immensely satisfying to watch the tying up of such a multitude of loose ends, and see that even this is done with a narrative flourish - the traditional last chapter of the genre is here right at the start. Palliser is back on baffling good form. GILL HORNBY - -------------------------------- Jim Kearman mailto:jkearman(at)gate.net http://www.gate.net/~jkearman
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Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 11:31:31 -0500
From: bluepencil <bluepencil(at)earthlink.net>
Subject: Jacques Futrelle's Thinking Machine Stories
Hello:
Since we have been cataloging lately, thought I would share my ongoing
work toward a complete bibliography of Jacques Futrelle's Thinking
Machine stories. This is a long post but thought that for those
interested in the subject it would be best to put all the data in a
single post to avoid total confusion.
Most well known for his often anthologized short story "The Problem of
Cell 13" Futrelle wrote a total of 45 stories, one novel, and reputedly,
two novelettes with this character during the years 1905-1912 .
At first blush, it appears that anywhere up to a dozen or more stories
may still be sitting in a decomposing newspaper file somewhere in
Massachusetts, being the old (Boston) American newspaper files or those
of the Sunday Magazine, a newspaper supplement in many larger cities of
the day. Six others were lost with Futrelle on his fatal Titanic voyage,
which his wife May survived.
If anyone is interested in trying to help dig up a definitive list, or
even better, unearthing some of these lost stories, feel free to
respond. Currently trying to locate files for the (Boston) American
newspaper from the years 1905-1912 as well as any files containing the
Sunday Magazine from those years. Also searching for copy of book, or
more specifically the table of contents for the second compilation of
Thinking Machine stories published during Futrelle's lifetime, entitled
The Thinking Machine on the Case, 1908 (UK title: The Professor on the
Case, 1909).
Below is a full detail of the current uncorrected list for those
interested in the particulars.
All the very best,
Robert G.
Full detail below:
ROUGH BIBLIOGRAPHY OF JACQUES FUTRELLE?S
THINKING MACHINE STORIES:
Novel: The Chase of the Golden Plate, short intervention in this novel,
1906
First Compilation: The Thinking Machine, 1907 (The Problem of Cell 13,
1918) seven stories
Second Compilation: The Thinking Machine on the Case, 1908 (UK:The
Professor on the Case, 1909 ) thirteen shorts and an introductory
chapter relating how the Thinking Machine earned his sobriquet.
Two reprint compilations with some newly reprinted material, edited by
E.F. Bleiler/Dover in the 1970s. For sake of non duplication, these are
not referenced here except when they contain newly discovered or
reprinted works not contained in two original compilations.
THINKING MACHINE STORIES: Listed by series, of which there are four,
three were published, one was left for publication at time of Titanic
accident.
FIRST SERIES 1905-6, ten stories
Seven stories published as The Thinking Machine, 1907 (see above). List
of contents in Jacques Barzun?s Catalogue of Crime.
Previously uncollected:
- -Kidnapped Baby Blake (reprinted for first time since its original
newspaper publication of 1905-6 in the [Boston] American in E.F.
Bleiler?s The Best Thinking Machine Detective Stories, 1973)--from the
first (1905-6) series of TM stories.
- -The Fatal Cipher (reprinted for first time since its original newspaper
publication of 1905-6 in the [Boston] American in E.F. Bleiler?s The
Best Thinking Machine Detective Stories, 1973)--from the first (1905-6)
series of TM stories.
{Apparently one short story from the first (1905-6) series is still
unaccounted for if editor of EQMM is correct in stating that the first
series contained ten stories, seven of which were reprinted in The
Thinking Machine, 1906/source: EQMM Oct 1955, p. 104. This story may be
reprinted in Bleiler?s Best Cases of the Thinking Machine: not
specified. I would need to identify this story by process of
elimination. Currently do not have table of contents for second
compilation, The Thinking Machine On the Case, so cannot determine with
exactitude.}
SECOND SERIES 1906-8, thirteen shorts and an introductory chapter
Reprinted in their totality as The Thinking Machine on the Case, 1908
(see above), originally appeared as shorts in the Sunday American,
supplement to several major newspapers in larger cities of the USA.
(Some of these were also reprinted in E.F. Bleiler?s Great Cases of The
Thinking Machine, 1976.)
Three stories, ?The Stolen Rubens,? ?The Leak? and ?The Vanishing Man?
were also republished in EQMM during 1940s/1950s. Of these three, only
one story [?The Leak?] does not appear in the 1976 Bleiler compilation
Great Cases of the Thinking Machine but was reprinted in Feb. 1949 EQMM.
THIRD SERIES 1906-8, eighteen stories
Originally published in the Sunday American, supplement to several major
newspapers in larger cities of the USA. Some of these were reprinted in
E.F. Bleiler?s Great Cases of The Thinking Machine, 1976. As I do not
have a copy of the table of contents nor a copy of the The Thinking
Machine on the Case so am still unsure which ones from this third series
are accounted for and reprinted in Bleiler?s Great Cases of The Thinking
Machine, 1976.
Two novelettes: First novelette: The Haunted Bell, (reprinted for the
first time in E. F. Bleiler?s Great Cases of the Thinking Machine,
1976/ original publication was as supplement to 1912 edition of the
novel Diamond Master). A second novelette is mentioned in EQMM October
1955 and a Futrelle novelette is mentioned in this issue as scheduled to
be reprinted soon. (?)
FOURTH SERIES, ten stories: only four surviving stories with six lost on
Titanic voyage
The Case of the Mysterious Weapon (published for first time in Ellery
Queen?s Mystery Magazine/October 1955--from this fourth series of TM
stories, four of which remained in London before fatal Titanic voyage
and six of which supposedly were lost with the sinking of the
Titanic/source: EQMM Oct 1955, p. 105. Three still unpublished (?)
Known Total: 45 short stories, 1 novel and 2 novelettes.
If interested, pls. contact: bluepencil(at)earthlink.net
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Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 09:31:15 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Feb. 11
1805
Sixteen-year-old Sacajawea, the Shoshoni guide for Lewis &
Clark, gives birth to a son,
with Meriwether Lewis serving as midwife. John Colter, a fur
trapper and explorer fresh
from the Lewis and Clark expedition, traipsed through Wyoming
back in 1807.
1809
Robert Fulton patents the steamboat.
1815
News of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, finally
reaches the United States.
1858
Bernadette Soubirous, a French miller's daughter, claims to
have seen an apparition of
the Virgin Mary at Lourdes.
1903
Congress passes the Expedition Act, giving antitrust cases
priority in the courts.
1904
President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims strict neutrality for
the United States in the
Russo-Japanese War.
1910
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and Eleanor Alexander announce their
wedding date--June 20,
1910.
Born on February 11
1833
Melville Weston Fuller, eighth U.S. Supreme Court Chief
Justice
1847
Thomas Alva Edison, "Wizard of Melno Park." The inventor of
the first electric light bulb
and pioneer of the motion picture industry. Inventor at least
1,300 other items.
1907
William J. Levitt, U.S. businessman and community builder who
led the postwar housing
revolutions with his Levittowns.
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Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 10:37:20 -0600 (MDT)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE" <SDAVIES(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA>
Subject: WWW etext avail: Vernon Lee's "Amore dure"
I've been home for several weeks battling my chicken pox.
Meantime, here's a strange love story for next week's discussion:
(AMORDURE.HTM) (Fiction, Chronos, SCHEDS)
Vernon Lee's "Amore dure: passages from the diary of Spiridion Trepka" (1887)
This is the story of a professor funded to research
in Italy, and who uncovers the strange history of a
fascinating woman.
Visit the Gaslight website at:
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/amordure.htm
Stephen D
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Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 10:51:52 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Chat: Poor Stephen! >I've been home for several weeks battling my chicken pox. Sorry to hear this! It's bad enough as a kid! I was struck down with "Fifths", another kids disease similar to measles, December and it came back in January. It get's that lovely name because it is fifth in the list of kid's diseases after Measles, mumps, scarlet fever and chicken pox. Hope you are doing better--being covered in red rashes or itchy poxes is no fun thing. Don't read any of the following books: Little Women Bleak House The Copper Beeches Any other books to avoid that mention severe childhood diseases? Gaslight era, of course! Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 15:24:26 -0500 (CDT) From: MEDS002(at)UABDPO.DPO.UAB.EDU Subject: Re: My blushes anyone know if Dover Pubs has a WWW site? Or do I need to [gag] send off for a PAPER catalog?? thanks...aj wright
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Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 21:34:40 -0500 From: "James E. Kearman" <jkearman(at)gate.net> Subject: British Justice From the London Times Web Edition for 12 February 1999, the makings of a cracking good Gaslight story: Killer is sought 160 years after his execution BY ADRIAN LEE A SEARCH began yesterday for the body of a murderer who was hanged more than 150 years ago. The remains of John Adam have already been exhumed three times to comply with the orders of a 19th-century judge that he should forever lie beneath the police cells in Inverness. Development in the town means that, once again, he is on the move. But the apparently simple task of removing Adam's bones from beneath the Northern Constabulary headquarters, which are to be redeveloped, has been complicated by an oversight when they were last reburied, in 1975. No one bothered to note exactly where he was interred. Radar equipment used to locate the bodies of murder victims is being used in the hunt. It should pinpoint the spot where Adam lies in a wooden casket, encased in concrete. It is proposed to rebury the murderer's bones when the building of new headquarters is completed. If the Crown Office approves, Adam will lie beneath the police station car park. Adam, an army deserter, was sent to the gallows in 1835 with the command from the judge that he should be buried in unconsecrated ground "within the said Tollbooth prison at Inverness". The last man to be hanged in public in Inverness, he was executed for the murder of his wife. The crime was committed in Millbuie, where Adam used to visit a mistress. His suspicious wife had insisted on accompanying him on the day she met her death. Colin Sutherland, a former police inspector who has researched the case, said: "I think the reason his remains have been moved about so much is that the judge's order still has legal authority." But Sheila MacKay, chairman of Inverness Local History Forum, said it was time that Adam "was finally left to lie in peace". - -------------------------------- Jim Kearman mailto:jkearman(at)gate.net http://www.gate.net/~jkearman
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Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 10:22:39 -0800 From: Patricia Teter <PTeter(at)getty.edu> Subject: RE: Ash Hill and Poor Stephen! Congratulations, Bob, on the publication of your poem "Ash Hill"! This is fantastic news. And, thanks for your additional comments on the Benson story. Stephen, sorry to hear about your chicken pox. Hope you are feeling better now. Patricia (who has been ill as well this week, battling flu/bronchitis) Patricia A. Teter PTeter(at)Getty.edu
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Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 11:56:45 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Feb. 12
1818
Chile gains independence from Spain.
1836
Mexican General Santa Anna crosses the Rio Grande en route to
the Alamo.
Born on February 12
1809
Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President of the United State. Led
the Union during the Civil
War, Published the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves.
He was assassinated by
John Wilkes Booth.
1809
Charles Darwin, naturalist who developed the theory of
evolution through natural selection
while exploring the Galapagos Islands. His book, Origin of
Species changed the
interpretation of man's origins.
1893
Omar Bradley, U.S. army general who lead the largest
concentration of ground troops in
Europe during World War II.
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Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 13:15:55 -0700 From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org> Subject: Re: "The Desert Islander" again Bob Champ wrote: > She >presents us with the absurd but cannot quite bring herself to >draw the absurd as an occurence in the lives of everyday men and >women. > I don't know about the absurd, but I do see a great deal of Constantine's mental makeup in the "everyday man" writing this reply. I, too, tend to settle for less if I can do it myself. Yes, my wife can buy better bread than I can make, or better vegetables and flowers than ever appear in my desert of a garden, with much less cost and effort; but they are my own. It's the process that counts, not the product. As Cyrano de Bergerac put it in Rostand's play, "I stand not high, but I stand alone." It took a severe tongue lashing from my research adviser (this was in my former life as a biochemist) on the low quality of my final presentation to make me even think of asking others for help in doing a better job of something (I thought) I knew a way to do myself. It's still tough whenever I find that getting help from others often means getting their agendas imposed on mine as well. Jerry gmc(at)libra.pvh.org
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Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 16:21:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: "The Desert Islander" again
On Fri, 12 Feb 1999, Jerry wrote:
> Bob Champ wrote:
>
> > She
> >presents us with the absurd but cannot quite bring herself to
> >draw the absurd as an occurence in the lives of everyday men and
> >women.
> >
>
> I don't know about the absurd, but I do see a great deal of Constantine's
>mental makeup in the "everyday man" writing this reply.
By the absurd, I mean the senseless way in which White died--killed
for no reason, save that he was in the way of a bullet, while
helping a man who has little appreciation for what he is doing and
who actually wishes for his death. It is this that reminds me of
some of the tales of Camus especially.
I agree with you, Jerry, that many of us are, to some extent, desert
islanders--if only because no other human being can crawl around inside
our consciousness and know us completely (or even partially, in many
cases). I do think that Constantine is pathological. Yet what is
mental pathology but some part of the personality grown inflated,
dominating all the rest? Behind Constantine's outrageous conduct,
and thoughts, is (I believe) enormous fear, especially of what others
think of him? Benson reminds us here that a desert island is really
a prison separating us from others, and yet giving others an undue
importance in our lives. This is Constantine's position exactly,
and it twists completely his sense of reality. He would almost rather
die than be known (or at least have someone else die), and thus all of
his acts become ways of avoiding being known.
I do believe that "Desert Islander" is quite a remarkable story--as
you might be able to tell <g>.
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy; meditate on these things
Philippians 4:8
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
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Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 15:40:18 -0500 From: bluepencil <bluepencil(at)earthlink.net> Subject: Thanks Al Many thanks to Al Hubin for his time-saving tip about the bibliography listed in Freddie Seymour and Bettina Kyper's The Thinking Machine: Jacques Futrelle Discovering the Titanic Talent of a Pioneer American Mystery Author. This book contains a complete listing of all the Thinking Machine tales by title. Coincidentally, I had this book on special order and lo and behold it appeared in my mailbox this morning so the stars must be in alignment for us aficionados of dusty old detective stories ;) By the way, Al, this book also mentions the elusive tale "The Mystery of Room 666" classifying it as a non-Thinking Machine tale yet, at the same time, as "an intriguing page-turner with a startling conclusion" and then adds that, according to Hugh Greene, it was "discovered by Jack Kelson of Tunbridge Wells, England in the Story-Teller, a now defunct British magazine." Hmm... Going now to check my Greene anthologies to see if Mr. Greene included this tale in one of his Rivals of Sherlock Holmes series. The mission remains to try to find the missing dozen or so Thinking Machine tales that may have escaped reprint. And I'm still hunting for a copy of the original compilations to try to get these tales scanned and on the Net, pending copyright verifications. If anyone has access to the alternately titled compilations The Thinking Machine, 1907/Problem of Cell 13, 1918 or The Thinking Machine on the Case, 1908/The Professor on the Case, 1909, I'd love to hear from you so maybe we can make this project a reality. One new break: Recently read on a Futrelle family webpage that a newspaper chain named Beaverbrook apparently reprinted many of the Futrelle stories more than a decade after his death, which would place this publication sometime in the 1930s I surmise. No idea where Beaverbrook is located nor if they still exist but shall continue the search. Still trying to verify if the (Boston) American or Sunday Magazine file alluded to by E.F. Bleiler still exists somewhere. Given the amount of time since Futrelle's death, these missing stories may have already been salvaged by some caring soul but my queries-to-date have yielded no results. Hopefully we can locate Mr. Bleiler or his son (thanks again to Al for this tip) and get to the bottom of this. It would be a shame if these tales (inferior or not) were to be lost to mildew or some other force of nature, particularly since six of the final tales have already been consigned to the ocean depths. The hunt continues... Robert G.
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Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 17:33:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Musical departure
Heard an interesting story on the radio just now about American pianist
and composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk (a friend of Fitz Hugh Ludlow).
While Gottschalk was in Europe, a young Spanish woman heard him
play and was thereafter smitten with him, and his music. Not long
afterwards she became deathly ill, and talked so often in her illness
about Gottschalk's wonderful playing that her parents informed the
great man about it. Gottschalk, showing why he won many a heart in
his day, immediately went to the young woman's bedside and
thereafter played constantly for her. Indeed, it was while he was
playing that she died. A grand send-off!
Bob C. (who hopes everyone in the US is having a fine holiday--and
that's as nice where you live as it is around Washington DC)
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy; meditate on these things
Philippians 4:8
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
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Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 11:24:41 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Feb. 15
1804
New Jersey becomes the last northern state to abolish slavery.
1862
Union General Ulysses S. Grant launches a major assault on Fort
Donelson, Tenn.
1869
Charges of treason against Jefferson Davis are dropped.
1898
The U.S. battleship Maine blows up in Havana Harbor, killing
268 sailors and bringing
hordes of Western cowboys and gunfighters rushing to enlist in
the Spanish-American.
1900
The British threaten to use natives in the Boer War fight.
Born on February 15
1797
Henry Steinway, piano maker
1820
Susan B. Anthony, suffragette.
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Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 17:25:58 -0700 (MST) From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> Subject: Personal advertisements A column reprinted from the New York Times in today's Edmonton Journal recounts some intriguing differences between Personal Advertisements in "The London Review of Books" and "The New York Review of Books". Examples: London Review "Illiterate old bastard with not a single book in sight seeks someone to read poetry and wash away the interminable cynicism that comes with reading this magazine. Must harbour profound hatred of Tuscany." New York Review "Vivacious bookworm seeks literate, brilliant man, 45-plus, who knows 'The Magic Mountain' is not just a roller-coaster park. We're aliens in this cultural desert, seeking soulmates who enjoy Sunday in bed reading the NYT and more physical pleasures." Group members are invited to submit comparable advertisements for a possible Personal Advertisements column in the Baker Street Journal, The Sherlock Holmes Society Journal or similar specialised literary magazine. There are no prizes, though entrants may be asked to allow their submissions to be reprinted elsewhere. Peter Wood
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Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 22:15:33 -0500 From: "S.T. Karnick" <skarnick(at)INDY.NET> Subject: Re: Unruffled Riders Bob Champ wrote, in part: quoting Civilization magazine: >. . . So wrote war correspondent Richard Harding Davis upon >witnessing the First Volunteer Cavalry maneuvering on the >sandy wastes of Tampa, Florida, before the invasion of Cuba. . . . Many of Davis's writings are available on the internet, and I have found them very enjoyable. (We read his terrific short novel "In the Fog" on Gaslight a couple of years back, and had a very good discussion of it.) Does anyone perchance know whether his writings on the Spanish-American war are available on the Net anywhere? I would like to read them and would appreciate knowing if they're available electronically. Best w's, S.T. Karniick
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Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 22:09:47 -0500 From: "S.T. Karnick" <skarnick(at)INDY.NET> Subject: Futrelle's 666th Robert G. wrote, in part: >By the way, Al, this book also mentions the elusive tale "The Mystery of >Room 666" classifying it as a non-Thinking Machine tale yet, at the same >time, as "an intriguing page-turner with a startling conclusion" and >then adds that, according to Hugh Greene, it was "discovered by Jack >Kelson of Tunbridge Wells, England in the Story-Teller, a now defunct >British magazine." Hmm... Going now to check my Greene anthologies to >see if Mr. Greene included this tale in one of his Rivals of Sherlock >Holmes series. I vaguely remember discussing this story around the time Gaslight reached message #666. (The messages used to be numbered, which may no longer be the case.) I had recently read the story in some anthology or other -- think I may still have a copy somewhere -- and found it quite enjoyable. Very good locked room impossible crime, as I recall, with an interestingly sinister atmosphere. I don't recall whether the story was ever released to the Gaslight list, but it may well have. Perhaps Bob or Deborah or another, well, _vintage_ member of the group recalls better than I. Best w's, S.T. Karnick
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Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 08:49:25 -0500 From: "Roberts, Leonard" <lroberts(at)email.uncc.edu> Subject: RE: Thanks Al This may not be of any assistance, but this may refer to Lord Beaverbrook, the British newspaper, the news mogul of the first part of this century. I know nothing else about him but England (or maybe Canada, my memory is hazy) is the place to start looking. Hope this helps and the best of luck, Len Roberts > One new break: Recently read on a Futrelle family webpage that a > newspaper chain named Beaverbrook apparently reprinted many of the > Futrelle stories more than a decade after his death, which would place > this publication sometime in the 1930s I surmise. No idea where > Beaverbrook is located nor if they still exist but shall continue the > search. > > > The hunt continues... > > Robert G. > > > > > > ------------------------------ End of Gaslight Digest V1 #42 *****************************