As a Carson City resident of 40 years, I have hesitated to offer a comment
of the "bar tab" version of the monicer "Mark Twain." However, having been
in attendance at such establishments, imbibing moderately of course, I
think it is, to be polite, "not plausible." In a busy, noisy bar, a "regular"
would not shout at the bartender, he would make a "V for victory" type two
finger wave at the barkeep. Possibly then pointing at the glasses to remind
the barkeep of what he is drinking, or to insure he gets drinks, not cigars
or some other item he regularly orders. And in a quiet bar, would he
really say, sotto voce: "Mark Twain, John" (or Joe or Mike or. . .) Seems to me
not.
On the other hand, reversing the roles: the barkeep initiates the issue,
asking if they wanted refills, which does lead to the bartender asking
"Mark twain?" [with "more of the same" implied.) California newspapers of the
day, searchable online, are rife with the use of "twain" as "two". "larger of
the twain" "after twain hours' notice" "alleged that the twain are owners
of..." Those papers are also full of pseudonyms, the requirement for
publication being that the editor knows the real name of the letter-writer.
Sadly, Nevada newspapers surviving from that early day in our Carson City
history are few. There are, however, references to reading "old magazines"
on the trail; Kevin's search for someone having old Vanity Fair issues is
not unreasonable. Carl Sagan was the first speaker I heard admonish me (on
"Cosmos") that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
Bob Stewart
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