Gaslight Digest Monday, June 14 1999 Volume 01 : Number 076


In this issue:


   Re: metre in railway poem
   What happened at Owl Creek
   Re: What happened at Owl Creek
   Re: What happened at Owl Creek
   Today in History - June 10
   Southern legends: a ride for a bride
   Southern legends: the moaning sisters
   Re: Southern legends: a ride for a bride
   Southern legends: spooks of the Hiawasee
   Southern legends: lake of the dismal swamp
   Bohemia Hall
   Etext avail: Thomas Griffiths Wainewright; Oliphant's _Beleaguered City_
   Re: Etext avail: Thomas Griffiths Wainewright; Oliphant's _Beleaguered City_
   Still another correction: <WAS Etext avail: Oliphant's _Beleaguered 
City_>
   U.S. Library of Congress's book preservation webpage
   Pulitzer prize: _Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_
   Today in History - June 14
   Re: Pulitzer prize: _Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_
   Re: Pulitzer prize: _Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_
   Re: Pulitzer prize: _Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_

-----------------------------THE POSTS-----------------------------

Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 13:16:13 -0600 (MDT)
From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>
Subject: Re: metre in railway poem

Not being a prosodist by training or inclination, I cannot give the
correct name to the metrical structure of the 'railroads' ballad. However,
it is very clearly a street ballad, and can be sung to the tune of "So
early in the morning", with the chorus structured:

"RAILROADS now are all the rage
 With men of every rank and age;
 Pray then get same railroad shares,
 To fill your purse, and ease your cares.
 CHORUS:     Pray then get some railroad shares,
  Pray then get some railroad shares,
  Pray then get some railroad shares,
  To fill your purse and ease your cares."

No doubt there are other ballad tunes which would fit even more easily.
Peter Wood

===0===



Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 20:58:29 -0700
From: Alan Gullette <alang(at)creative.net>
Subject: What happened at Owl Creek

I enjoyed the posts on this story, which had I reread in IN THE MIDST
OF LIFE earlier this year.

Just to point out the obvious, the "Occurrence" at Owl Creek is twofold:
what happens in Farquhar's mind (the escape), and what happens in "fact"
(he dies).  This emphasizes the different spheres of mind and body while
making clear that one (the mind) relies on the other -- Bierce's fatalistic
materialism.  When you reach the end of the rope, it's all over!  That the
title
is "AN Occurrence..." tends toward the objective happening, just as at
the end "Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body ... swung" emphasizes the
undeniable predominance of material conditions over consciousness.

Farquhar's thinking of his family and his hope to escape (towards end of
sect. I) leads us to believe that what he experiences (sect. III) is an
actual
escape, while hopeful thought has only created the illusion of continuance.
This is strengthened by the mundane account of how he arrived at this
critical juncture (sect. II).  Notice how subtly and abruptly we are "told"
that
Farquhar is hung: "The sergeant stepped aside." (end of I)  At the beginning
of sect. III, he falls and "was as one already dead" -- which, of course,
he was!
Then follows the actual sensations of hanging -- tightness in throat, pain
shooting through his limbs, etc.

Other obvious points (also deriving from the title!):

owl = death; also, wisdom; hence, knowledge of mortality

creek = time, the stream of events -- or experience
 (again, occurence divided into inner and outer)

bridge = man's attempt to counter time, conquer nature

The curious device of the plank is perpendicular to the bridge, aligned
rather with the creek, but I wonder how much this can be analyzed...

The entry into the creek is imagined, but would otherwise = life, or
life continued by escape; here it is the entry into the stream of his
own thought or imagining, quite separate from reality.

Reference should also be made to the common notion that in one's
last moments one relives one's life, possibly to grasp it's overall
meaning in a final epiphany (sic! Greek epiphaneia, appearance).
Here, Farquhar reaches out to regain his life.  By dashing that
vision, Bierce seems to rob us of even a final sense of meaning.

As a biographical aside, while it is true that Bierce was bitter
about mortality, cynical about society, and pessimistic about
humanity, he was also known to be a warm person -- in person --
and went out of his way to help poets and writers in whom he
saw real talent.  Further, the recent "autobiography" of Bierce
composited from his writings by S.T. Joshi & David Schultz,
A SOUL SURVIVOR: BITS OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY (Knoxville:
Univ. of Tennessee [my alma mater!], 1998), reveals a number
of surprising facts that seem to run counter to his popular
image as a hard, uncaring man: he believed he could reform
(if not improve) his contemporaries "by means of satire" (Joshi);
he expressed concern for the suffering working classes of
England, for the plight of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco,
and for the prejudicial treatment of Jews and Mormons; etc.
There is even the bold confession that he used to pray in his
youth; while in his maturity he appeared to seriously promote
Jesus as a model of ethical behavior!  (Obviously, it is possible
to be highly moral without believing in a divinity.)  But far be it
from me to attempt to reform the image of "Bitter Bierce"!

P.S., I have a long, rather old & somewhat outdated, essay
on Bierce called "Ambrose Bierce, Master of the Macabre"
at my website:

 http://www.creative.net/~alang/lit/horror/bierce.sht

===0===



Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 02:14:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: What happened at Owl Creek

On Wed, 9 Jun 1999, Alan Gullette wrote:

> I enjoyed the posts on this story, which had I reread in IN THE MIDST
> OF LIFE earlier this year.

An intriguing post, Alan, filled with insight.  I believe you live in
San Francisco, which was also Bierce's city.  Does SF honor him in any
way that you know of? Is there a Bierce house, or a Bierce statue, or
a Bierce-related watering hole? Or does SF feel slightly awkward about
honoring a man who mocked the common wisdom so easily?  I'm glad to hear
that Bierce had pleasant moments in his life and even seems to have been
something of a do-gooder. A little sweet to temper the bitter, I guess.

Bob C.
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

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
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

===0===



Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 09:28:14 -0500
From: Moudry <Moudry(at)uab.edu>
Subject: Re: What happened at Owl Creek

At 20:58 09-06-99 -0700, Allan Gullette wrote:
>I enjoyed the posts on this story, which had I reread in IN THE MIDST
>OF LIFE earlier this year.
><snip!>

Excellent submission, Allan, with nice things pointed out to help amplify
the appreciation of the story. Bierce has always been a favorite, even if I
tend to read him in small doses.

Saturnally,
Joe Moudry
Technical Training Specialist & SOE WebMaster
Office of Academic Computing & Technology
School of Education
The University of Alabama (at) Birmingham

E-Mail: Moudry(at)uab.edu
MaBell: (205) 975-6631
Fax: (205) 975-7494
Snail Mail:
901 13th Street South
149 EB
Birmingham AL 35205 USA

Master of Saturn Web (Sun Ra, the Arkestra, & Free Jazz):
<http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~moudry>

Producer/Host of Classic Jazz (Armstrong -> Ayler ->)on Alabama Public 
Radio:
WUAL 91.5FM Tuscaloosa/Birmingham
WQPR 88.7FM Muscle Shoals/NW Alabama
WAPR 88.3FM Selma/Montgomery/Southern Alabama

===0===



Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 10:35:50 -0600
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - June 10

              1801
                  Tripoli declares war on the United States for refusing to pay 
tribute.
            1854
                   First graduation cermony at the U.S. Naval Academy in 
Annapolis, Md.
            1861
                  Dorthea Dix  is appointed superintendent of women nurses for 
the Union Army.
            1863
                  Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats 
numerically superior
                  Union troops at Brice's Crossroads, Mississippi, having gotten
                  there "fustest with the mostest".
            1898
                  U.S. Marines land in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
            1905
                  Japan and Russia agree to peace talks facilitated by U.S. 
President Theodore
                  Roosevelt.
            1909
                  First use of the  SOS signal in an emergency by the Cunard 
liner SS
                  Slavonia, wrecked off the Azores.
            1916
                  Arabs take Mecca from Turkish during the Great Arab Revolt.

     Birthdays
             1895
                  Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American actress to win an 
Oscar - Best
                  Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in _Gone With the 
Wind_.
                  [For a moment I thought I had seen her once in person, then 
remembered
                  that it was her costar Butterfly McQueen, who in 40 years had 
grown to
                  Mammy proportions, that I had seen in a touring production of 
_Show
                  Boat_.]

===0===



Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 13:02:02 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Southern legends: a ride for a bride

from _Myths and legends of our own land_ (1896)
by Charles M. Skinner

A RIDE FOR A BRIDE

WHEN the story of bloodshed at Bunker Hill reached Bohemia
Hall, in Cecil County, Maryland, Albert De Courcy left his brother Ernest to
support the dignity of the house and make patriotic speeches, while he went to
the front, conscious that Helen Carmichael, his afficanced wife, was watching,
in pride and sadness, the departure of his company. Letters came and went, as
they always do, until rumor came of a sore defeat to the colonials at Long
Island; then the letters ceased.

  It was a year later when a ragged soldier, who had stopped at the hall for
supper, told of Albert's heroism in covering the retreat of Washington. The
gallant young officer had been shot, he said, as he attempted to swim the
morasses of Gowanus. But this soldier was in error. Albert had been vexatiously
bogged on the edge of the creek. While floundering in the mud a half-dozen
sturdy red-coats had lugged him out and he was packed off to the prison ships
anchored in the Wallabout. In these dread hulks, amid darkness and miasma,
living on scant, unwholesome food, compelled to see his comrades die by dozens
every day and to be flung ashore where the tide lapped away the sand thrown over
them, De Courcy wished that death instead of capture had been his lot, for, next
to his love, he prized his liberty.

  One day he was told off, with a handful of others, for transfer to a stockade
on the Delaware, and how his heart beat when he learned that the new prison was
within twenty miles of home! His flow of spirits returned, and his new jailors
liked him for his frankness and laughed at his honest expletives against the
king. He had the liberty
of the inclosure, and was not long in finding where the wall was low, the ditch
narrow, and the abatis decayed ? knowledge that came useful to him sooner than
he expected, for one day a captured horse was led in that made straight for him
with a whinny and rubbed his nose against his breast.

  "Why!" he cried, "it's Cecil! My horse, gentlemen ? or, was. Not a better
hunter in Maryland!"

  "Yes," answered one of the officers. "We've just taken him from your brother.
He's been stirring trouble with his speeches and has got to be quieted. But
we'll have him to-day, for he's to be married, and a scouting party is on the
road to nab him at the altar."

  "Married! My brother! What! Ernest, the lawyer, the orator? Ho, ho! Ah, but
its rather hard to break off a match in that style!"

  "Hard for him, may be; but they say the lady feels no great love for him. He
made it seem like a duty to her, after her lover died."

  "How's that? Her own ? what's her name?"

  "Helen ? Helen Carmichael, or something like that."

  Field and sky swam before De Courcy's eyes for a moment; then he resumed, in a
calm voice, and with a pale, set face, "Well, you're making an unhappy
wedding-day for him. If he had Cecil here he would outride you all. Ah, when I
was in practice I could ride this horse and snatch a pebble from the ground
without losing pace!"

  "Could you do it now?"

  "I'm afraid long lodging in your prison-ships has stiffened my joints, but I'd
venture at a handkerchief."

  "Then try," said the commandant.

  De Courcy mounted into the saddle heavily, crossed the grounds at a canter,
and dropped a handkerchief on the grass. Then, taking a few turns for practice,
he started at a gallop and swept around like the wind. His seat was so firm, his
air so noble, his mastery of the steed so complete, that a cheer of admiration
went up. He seemed
to fall headlong from the saddle, but was up again in a moment, waving the
handkerchief gayly in farewell ? for he kept straight on toward the weak place
in the wall. A couple of musket-balls hummed by his ears: it was neck or nothing
now! A tremendous leap! Then a ringing cry told the astonished soldiers that he
had reached the road in safety. Through wood and thicket and field he dashed as
if the fiend were after him, and never once did he cease to urge his steed till
he reached the turnpike, and saw ahead the
scouting party on its way to arrest his brother.

  Turning into a path that led to the rear of the little church they were so
dangerously near, he plied hands and heels afresh, and in a few moments a
wedding party was startled by the apparition of a black horse, all in a foam,
ridden by a gaunt man, in torn garments, that burst in at the open chancel-door.
The bridegroom cowered, for he knew his brother. The bride gazed in amazement.
"'Tis the
dead come to life!" cried one. De Courcy had little time for words. He rode
forward to the altar, swung Helen up behind him, and exclaimed, "Save
yourselves! The British are coming! To horse, every one, and make for the
manor!" There were shrieks and fainting ? and perhaps a little cursing, even if
it was in church, ? and when the squadron rode up most of the company were in
full flight. Ernest was taken, and next morning held his brother's place on the
prison list, while, as arrangements had been made for a wedding, there was one,
and a happy one, but Albert was the
bridegroom.

(End.)

===0===



Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 13:17:53 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Southern legends: the moaning sisters

from _Myths and legends of our own land_ V.2 (1896)
Lights and shadows of the South

by Charles M. Skinner

   THE MOANING SISTERS

ABOVE Georgetown, on the Potomac River, are three rocks,
known as the Three Sisters, not merely because of their
resemblance to each other ? for they are parts of a submerged reef ? but because
of a tradition that, more
than a hundred years ago, a boat in which three sisters
had gone out for a row was swung against one of these
rocks. The day was gusty and the boat was upset. All
three of the girls were drowned. Either the sisters
remain about this perilous spot or the rocks have
prescience; at least, those who live near them on the
shore hold one view or the other, for they declare that
before every death on the river the sisters moan, the
sound being heard above the lapping of the waves. It is
different from any other sound in nature. Besides, it is
an unquestioned fact that more accidents happen here than
at any other point on the river.

  Many are the upsets that have occurred and many are the
swimmers who have gone down, the dark forms of the sisters being the last shapes
that their water-blurred eyes have
seen. It is only before a human life is to be yielded that
this low wailing comes from the rocks, and when, on a
night in May, 1889, the sound floated shoreward, just as
the clock in Georgetown struck twelve, good people who
were awake sighed and uttered a prayer for the one whose doom was so near at
hand. Twelve hours later, at noon,
a shell came speeding down the Potomac, with a young
athlete jauntily pulling at the oars. As he neared the
Three Sisters his boat appeared to be caught in an eddy;
it swerved suddenly, as if struck; then it upset and the
rower sank to his death.

(End.)

===0===



Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 14:26:30 -0500
From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu>
Subject: Re: Southern legends: a ride for a bride

This reminds me very much of the stories Louisa May Alcott turned
out for the newspapers in the 1870's, even to the aristocratic
but not Southern-sounding "De Courcy", which is so reminiscent
of the typical romance hero of that day.

Kiwi Carlisle
carlislc(at)psychiatry.wustl.edu

===0===



Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 13:23:52 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Southern legends: spooks of the Hiawasee

from _Myths and legends of our own land_ V.2 (1896)
Lights and shadows of the South

by Charles M. Skinner

  SPOOKS OF THE HIAWASSEE

THE hills about the head of the Hiawassee are filled with
"harnts," among them many animal ghosts, that ravage about
the country from sheer viciousness. The people of the
region, illiterate and superstitious, have unquestioning
faith in them. They tell you about the headless bull and
black dog voices, each faint and hollow, by itself, but
loud in of the valley of the Chatata, the white stag of the
Sequahatchie, and the bleeding horse of the Great Smoky
Mountains ? the last three being portents of illness, death, or misfortune to
those who see them.

  Other ghosts are those of men. Near the upper Hiawassee
is a cave where a pile of human skulls was found by a man
who had put up his cabin near the entrance. For some reason,
which he says he never understood, this farmer gathered up
the old, bleached bones and dumped them into his shed.
Quite possibly he did not dare to confess that he wanted
them for fertilizers or to burn them for his poultry.

  Night fell dark and still, with a waning moon rising over
the mountains ? as calm a night as ever one slept through.
Along toward the middle of it a sound like the coming of a
cyclone brought the farmer out of his bed. He ran to the
window to see if the house were to be uprooted, but the
forest was still, with a strange, oppressive stillness ?
not a twig moving, not a cloud veiling the stars, not an
insect chirping. Filled with a vague fear, he tried to
waken his wife, but she was like one in a state of
catalepsy.

  Again the sound was heard, and now he saw, without, a shadowy band circling
about his house like leaves whirled
on the wind. It seemed to be made of human shapes, with
tossing arms ? this circling band ? and the sound was that
of many voices, each faint and hollow, by itself, but loud
in aggregate. He who was watching realized then that the
wraiths of the dead whose skulls he had purloined from
their place of sepulture were out in lament and protest.
He went on his knees at once and prayed with vigor until
morning. As soon as it was light enough to see his way he
replaced the skulls, and was not troubled by the "haunts" again. All the gold in
America, said he, would not tempt
him to remove any more bones from the cave-tombs of the
unknown dead.

(End.)

===0===



Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 13:28:27 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Southern legends: lake of the dismal swamp

from _Myths and legends of our own land_ V.2 (1896)
Lights and shadows of the South

by Charles M. Skinner

  LAKE OF THE DISMAL SWAMP

DRUMMOND'S POND, or the Lake of the Dismal Swamp, is a
dark and lonely tarn that lies in the centre of this noted Virginia morass. It
is, in a century-old tradition, the
Styx of two unhappy ghosts that await the end of time to
pass its confines and enjoy the sunshine of serener worlds.
A young woman of a family that had settled near this marsh
died of a fever caused by its malarial exhalations, and was
buried near the swamp. The young man to whom she was
betrothed felt her loss so keenly that for days he neither
ate nor slept, and at last broke down in mind and body. He
recovered a measure of physical health, after a time, but
his reason was hopelessly lost.

  It was his hallucination that the girl was not dead, but
had been exiled to the lonely reaches of this watery wilderness. He was heard to
mutter, "I'll find her, and
when Death comes I'll hide her in the hollow of a cypress
until he passes on." Evading restraint, he plunged into the
fen, and for some days he wandered there, eating berries,
sleeping on tussocks of grass, with water-snakes crawling
over him and poisonous plants shedding their baneful dew on
his flesh. He came to the lake at last. A will-o'-the-wisp
played along the surface. "'Tis she!" he cried. "I see her,
standing in the light." Hastily fashioning a raft of cypress
boughs he floated it and pushed toward the centre of the
pond, but the eagerness of his efforts and the rising of a
wind dismembered the frail platform, and he fell into the
black water to rise no more. But often, in the night, is
seen the wraith of a canoe, with a fire-fly lamp burning on
its prow, restlessly urged to and fro by two figures that
seem to be vainly searching for an exit from the place, and
that are believed to be those of the maiden and her lover.

(End.)

===0===



Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 16:18:38 -0400
From: Linda Anderson <lpa1(at)ptdprolog.net>
Subject: Bohemia Hall

I don't personally know of a Bohemia *Hall* in Cecil County, Maryland.  But
I should, if it were there.  I'm from Cecil County, Maryland.  Near
Cecilton (Hack's Point, actually).  There is a Bohemia Manor (large farm)
on the Bohemia River by the bridge Route 213 uses to cross the river.
Right where Little and Big Bohemia creeks meet to form the river.  St
Augustine School is up Big Bohemia Creek.  James Michener mentions the
school etc in his book "Chesapeake."

There would be no place on the Delaware River that would be within 20 miles
of Bohemia Manor.  The state of Delaware may be within the 20 mile radius,
but that's Middletown, DE and not on a river.  Elkton, MD is about 20 miles
north on route 213.  The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal goes thru Chesapeake
City about 10 miles north of the manor.  I've not heard of any stockade in
Delaware during the revolution but if someone can supply me with a city or
township, I may be able to give mileage.


Linda Anderson

===0===



Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 16:28:05 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Etext avail: Thomas Griffiths Wainewright; Oliphant's _Beleaguered 
City_

From: Stephen Davies(at)MRC on 06/11/99 04:28 PM


To:   Gaslight-announce(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
cc:
Subject:  Etext avail: Thomas Griffiths Wainewright; Oliphant's _Beleaguered
      City_

(HUNTDOWN.HTM) (Fiction, Chronos)
Charles Dickens' "Hunted down" (1859)

(PPPGREEN.HTM) (Nonfic, Chronos)
Oscar Wilde's "Pen, pencil and poison: a study in green" (1889)

(BLGCMENU.HTM) (Nonfic, Chronos)
Mrs. Margaret Oliphant's _A beleaguered city_ (1879, 1900 ed.)


*****************************************
These three etexts are still only drafts.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone
who spots errors.  -  Stephen
*****************************************


               huntdown.sht
                 pppgreen.non
     Next week (99-jun-14), we will look at two texts about an aesthete,
     forger and murderer, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.  The first is a
     fictionalization of his career, by Charles Dickens, called "Hunted
     down" (1859).  The second is an overview of Wainewright's career
     by Oscar Wilde, "Pen, pencil, and poison" (1889).



For Fr. John and Phoebe, who asked:

               blgc*.nvl
     Mrs. Oliphant's _A BELEAGUERED CITY BEING A Narrative of Certain
     Recent Events in the City of Semur, in the Department of the Haute
     Bourgogne A Story of the Seen and the Unseen_ (orig. ed. 1879,
     this ed. 1900).

     This novel will be the text for discussion starting 99-jun-21

 To retrieve all the plain ASCII files send to:  ftpmail(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA

 with no subject heading and completely in lowercase:


 open aftp.mtroyal.ab.ca
 cd /gaslight
 get huntdown.sht
 get pppgreen.non

 get blgcmenu.nvl
 get blgctyX1.nvl
 get blgctyX2.nvl
 get blgctyX3.nvl
 get blgctyX4.nvl
 get blgctyX5.nvl
 get blgctyX6.nvl
 get blgctyX7.nvl
 get blgctyX8.nvl
 get blgctyX9.nvl

 or visit the Gaslight website at:

http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/huntdown.htm
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/pppgreen.htm
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/blgctymn.htm

                                   Stephen D
                            mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca

===0===



Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 16:37:59 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Re: Etext avail: Thomas Griffiths Wainewright; Oliphant's _Beleaguered 
City_

In the Haste Makes Waste Dept., my announcement needed correcting.  Here's an
improved version:


(HUNTDOWN.HTM) (Fiction, Chronos)
Charles Dickens' "Hunted down" (1859)

(PPPGREEN.HTM) (Nonfic, Chronos)
Oscar Wilde's "Pen, pencil and poison: a study in green" (1889)

(BLGCMENU.HTM) (Fiction, Chronos)
Mrs. Margaret Oliphant's _A beleaguered city_ (1879, 1900 ed.)


*****************************************
These three etexts are still only drafts.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone
who spots errors.  -  Stephen
*****************************************


               huntdown.sht
                 pppgreen.non
     Next week (99-jun-14), we will look at two texts about an aesthete,
     forger and murderer, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.  The first is a
     fictionalization of his career, by Charles Dickens, called "Hunted
     down" (1859).  The second is an overview of Wainewright's career
     by Oscar Wilde, "Pen, pencil, and poison" (1889).



For Fr. John and Phoebe, who asked:

               blgcty*.nvl
     Mrs. Oliphant's _A BELEAGUERED CITY BEING A Narrative of Certain
     Recent Events in the City of Semur, in the Department of the Haute
     Bourgogne A Story of the Seen and the Unseen_ (orig. ed. 1879,
     this ed. 1900).

     This novel will be the text for discussion starting 99-jun-21

 To retrieve all the plain ASCII files send to:  ftpmail(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA

 with no subject heading and completely in lowercase:


 open aftp.mtroyal.ab.ca
 cd /gaslight
 get huntdown.sht
 get pppgreen.non

 get blgctymn.nvl
 get blgctyX1.nvl
 get blgctyX2.nvl
 get blgctyX3.nvl
 get blgctyX4.nvl
 get blgctyX5.nvl
 get blgctyX6.nvl
 get blgctyX7.nvl
 get blgctyX8.nvl
 get blgctyX9.nvl

 or visit the Gaslight website at:

http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/huntdown.htm
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/pppgreen.htm
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/blgctymn.htm

                                   Stephen D
                            mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca

===0===



Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 22:16:30 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Still another correction: <WAS Etext avail: Oliphant's _Beleaguered 
City_>

O.k., so haste actually makes not just waste, but landfill.

My previous announcements of the _Beleaguered_ plain ASCII files for the ftpmail
included large Xs in the filenames, but the files were named with little xs in
the ftp archives.  I have renamed the files and now the commands will actually
work.  (There's a joke in here somewhere which I can see is percolating in your
mind too.)

_Beleaguered_ is a fascinating novel and well worth the read.  Take advantage of
the files as soon as you can so that you'll know what the excitement is about
when we begin discussion in a week's time.

Thanks to Linda A for pointing out my administrative errors.

                                    Stephen

===0===



Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 09:36:03 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: U.S. Library of Congress's book preservation webpage

     The U.S. Library of Congress maintains a webpage for its preservation dept.
  The section called "Care, Handling and Storage of Books" may be of interest to
 some Gaslighters.

http://lcweb.loc.gov/preserv/care/books.html

     I'd be happy to mail a copy of this page to anyone who doesn't have web
access.

                                   Stephen D
                          mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca

===0===



Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 10:42:56 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Pulitzer prize: _Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_

Has anyone any comments regarding this year's Pulitzer prize for nonfiction?

This precis appears on Galenet:

                Gotham: A History of New
                York City to 1898 (1998)

                Edwin G. Burrows
                Mike Wallace

                This is the first installment in a historical chronicle of the
Big Apple,
                from its humble beginnings through times of great political and
social
                change. It discusses scores of famous, infamous, and unknown
                individuals who helped establish New York's unique culture. The
                authors manage to balance an enormous amount of factual
information
                with detailed portrayals of personal experiences and the effects
 that
                major events had on a human level.

Copyright: Gale Research (1999) All rights reserved.
http://www.galenet.com/wdirn/june/gotham.htm

                                   Stephen D
                          mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca

===0===



Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 13:31:47 -0600
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - June 14

            1846
                Settlers in California declare it a republic. It becomes known 
as the Bear Flag Revolt gets its name from the
                grizzly bear on their proposed banner.
            1864
                Confederate General Leonidas Polk is killed by a Union 
cannonball at the Battle of Pine Mountain, Georgia.
            1893
               The first Flag Day is observed in Philadelphia, home of Betsy 
Ross.
            1907
                Women in Norway achieve voting rights.
            1919
                John William Alcot and Arthur Witten Brown begin the first 
nonstop transatlantic flight, flying from St.
                John's, Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland.

      Birthdays
            1811
                Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist, author of Uncle Tom's 
Cabin.
            1855
                Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Governor of Wisconsin, U.S. 
Senator, and Progressive Party
                presidential candidate. [My father-in-law insisted for years 
that there was a plaque at Longfellow's
                Wayside Inn in honor of a visit La Follette had made there, 
until we showed him a photo of the plaque
                in honor of Lafayette's visit.  BTW, it's an interesting place 
to visit, and I can still taste their chicken
                pot pie in my mind with great pleasure.]

===0===



Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 16:06:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Pulitzer prize: _Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_

Yes, Stephen, I posted--or at least believe I posted--some excerpts of a
review by ex-New York City mayor Ed Koch, which appeared in the _Times_ of
London. This must have been a couple of months ago.

The mayor seemed to like the book just fine and reported some of its more
entertaining tidbits.

Bob C.

On Mon, 14 Jun 1999 sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA wrote:

> Has anyone any comments regarding this year's Pulitzer prize for 
nonfiction?
>
> This precis appears on Galenet:
>
>                 Gotham: A History of New
>                 York City to 1898 (1998)
>
>                 Edwin G. Burrows
>                 Mike Wallace
>
>                 This is the first installment in a historical chronicle of 
the
> Big Apple,
>                 from its humble beginnings through times of great political 
and
> social
>                 change. It discusses scores of famous, infamous, and 
unknown
>                 individuals who helped establish New York's unique culture. 
The
>                 authors manage to balance an enormous amount of factual
> information
>                 with detailed portrayals of personal experiences and the 
effects
>  that
>                 major events had on a human level.
>
> Copyright: Gale Research (1999) All rights reserved.
> http://www.galenet.com/wdirn/june/gotham.htm
>
>                                    Stephen D
>                           mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
>
>
>


_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

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
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

===0===



Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 13:56:00 -0700
From: Jack Kolb <kolb(at)UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Pulitzer prize: _Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_

It's received very adulatory reviews in several magazines I've seen,
including not just The New Yorker, but also Newsweek and The Atlantic.

Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu


>Yes, Stephen, I posted--or at least believe I posted--some excerpts of a
>review by ex-New York City mayor Ed Koch, which appeared in the _Times_ of
>London. This must have been a couple of months ago.
>
>The mayor seemed to like the book just fine and reported some of its more
>entertaining tidbits.
>
>Bob C.
>
>On Mon, 14 Jun 1999 sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA wrote:
>
>> Has anyone any comments regarding this year's Pulitzer prize for 
nonfiction?
>>
>> This precis appears on Galenet:
>>
>>                 Gotham: A History of New
>>                 York City to 1898 (1998)
>>
>>                 Edwin G. Burrows
>>                 Mike Wallace
>>
>>                 This is the first installment in a historical chronicle 
of
>the
>> Big Apple,
>>                 from its humble beginnings through times of great
>political and
>> social
>>                 change. It discusses scores of famous, infamous, and 
unknown
>>                 individuals who helped establish New York's unique
>culture. The
>>                 authors manage to balance an enormous amount of factual
>> information
>>                 with detailed portrayals of personal experiences and 
the
>effects
>>  that
>>                 major events had on a human level.
>>
>> Copyright: Gale Research (1999) All rights reserved.
>> http://www.galenet.com/wdirn/june/gotham.htm
>>
>>                                    Stephen D
>>                           mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>_________________________________________________
>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
>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
>_________________________________________________
>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>

===0===



Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 18:12:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: Donna Goldthwaite <dgold(at)javanet.com>
Subject: Re: Pulitzer prize: _Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_

Stephen,

 I picked this up (very carefully, this is a _large_ tome); wasn't
able to get too far into it because of time constraints, but what I did
read was very good. The section on New Amsterdam history was fascinating.

 All the reviews I read were most enthusiastic.

Donna Goldthwaite
dgold(at)javanet.com

>Has anyone any comments regarding this year's Pulitzer prize for nonfiction?
>
>This precis appears on Galenet:
>
>                Gotham: A History of New
>                York City to 1898 (1998)
>
>                Edwin G. Burrows
>                Mike Wallace

------------------------------

End of Gaslight Digest V1 #76
*****************************