My bad. I hadn't been paying much attention to that part of the
chapter. That is an interesting bit on the quality of the water. I've
been pondering how to fit more about geophagy into this and this example
of Southern folklore fits nicely. Thanks....
On 9/9/22 18:49, David Foster wrote:
> Try page 113 of the 125thn anniversary edition from the UoCalifornia Press.
> In that edition it is near the illustration of "An
> Old-fashioned Break-down." The paragraph begins "You look at the
> graveyards, that tells the tale." The Child of Calamity is speaking.
>
> David
>
> On Fri, Sep 9, 2022 at 6:52 PM Scott Holmes<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> An interesting selection as I have been poring over this chapter in my
>> digging into the history of Cairo. This is the chapter wherein Huck and
>> Jim pass Cairo. It is also the chapter that contains the restored
>> material of Huck on the log raft. I have found no references to St.
>> Louis or Cincinnati, however.
>>
>> On 9/9/22 13:23, David Foster wrote:
>>> Try Huck Finn, chapter16 - the comparison of a St. Louis and a Cincinnati
>>> graveyard.
>>>
>>> On Fri, Sep 9, 2022 at 2:34 PM Scott Holmes<[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>>> He was not entirely joking. Charles Dickens reports drinking
>>>> Mississippi River water while in St. Louis. This event with Twain also
>>>> occurred in St. Louis in April of 1882, at the outset of his return to
>>>> the Mississippi. Thank you, Taylor, for the reference. It also serves
>>>> to indicate that the muddy nature of the Mississippi River derives from
>>>> the Missouri River, often referred to as "The Big Muddy", an appelation
>>>> mistakenly applied to the Mississippi on occasion.
>>>>
>>>> On 9/9/22 10:04, Taylor Roberts wrote:
>>>>> From LOM ch 22 (surely a joke!):
>>>>>
>>>>> 'What is a person to do here when he wants a drink of water?—drink this
>>>>> slush?'
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 'Can't you drink it?'
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 'I could if I had some other water to wash it with.'
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Here was a thing which had not changed; a score of years had not
>> affected
>>>>> this water's mulatto complexion in the least; a score of centuries
>> would
>>>>> succeed no better, perhaps. It comes out of the turbulent, bank-caving
>>>>> Missouri, and every tumblerful of it holds nearly an acre of land in
>>>>> solution. I got this fact from the bishop of the diocese. If you will
>> let
>>>>> your glass stand half an hour, you can separate the land from the water
>>>> as
>>>>> easy as Genesis; and then you will find them both good: the one good to
>>>>> eat, the other good to drink. The land is very nourishing, the water is
>>>>> thoroughly wholesome. The one appeases hunger; the other, thirst. But
>> the
>>>>> natives do not take them separately, but together, as nature mixed
>> them.
>>>>> When they find an inch of mud in the bottom of a glass, they stir it
>> up,
>>>>> and then take the draught as they would gruel. It is difficult for a
>>>>> stranger to get used to this batter, but once used to it he will prefer
>>>> it
>>>>> to water. This is really the case. It is good for steamboating, and
>> good
>>>> to
>>>>> drink; but it is worthless for all other purposes, except baptizing.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Sep 9, 2022 at 12:47 PM Dave Davis<[log in to unmask]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I think no one in their right mind would fill a glass with it --
>> except
>>>> for
>>>>>> demonstration purposes -- below Minneapolis/St. Paul. (I've seen it
>>>> there
>>>>>> -- it is still mostly clear.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, Sep 9, 2022 at 12:44 PM Scott Holmes<[log in to unmask]>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I suspect I could search this out in his autobiography but Twain-L
>> may
>>>>>>> be quicker - Did he ever mention drinking Mississippi River water?
>> If
>>>>>>> so, when might this have occurred? This is certainly not something
>>>>>>> anyone would choose to do today but in the eighteenth
>> (pre-industrial)
>>>>>>> century this was considered as quite healthful.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/
>>>>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/
>>>>
>> --
>> /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/
>>
>
--
/Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/
|
