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Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From:
Richard Henzel <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 2 Dec 2019 08:04:31 -0600
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Hello everyone,

I was reading Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and became obsessed
with the political cartoons distributed throughout the booklet by H. L.
Stephens caricaturing Jay Gould and others involved in the Erie Railroad
Scandal.

In his reworking of the children's nursery rhyme "The House That Jack
Built," Stephens draws various men involved in the scandal as the animals
and people in the story. So I'm trying to figure out is who (whom is whom?)
in the sketches:

Jack, the jackass on the title page has the cock-eyed look of James Fisk. I
thought Jay Gould at first, but the Eyes...

The rat is clearly Fisk (he ordered a military uniform for a photo but
never served), the cat I can't identify, the dog has Jay Gould's beard and
hair, the cow is labeled "The  Courts" (Barnard misspelled "Banad" for some
reason) is the court. The maiden with the long mustache milking the cow
branded TGP has to be Judge Barnard himself, the only figure in the scandal
with such a long dark mustache. The man all tattered and torn has five
heads: in front are (l to r) Gould, Fisk, and Vanderbilt, and behind them
are two more heads. One, the bald one with chin whiskers who I believe is
also the Cat in the previous panels.  And at the wedding, the priest
appears to be Gould again, who is also still one of the five heads on the
groom. So I think I've identified all of them but the cat and the balding
fellow with the goatee in the back...

Any suggestions?

Richard Henzel

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