End of ADS-L Digest - 16 Nov 1997 to 17 Nov 1997 ************************************************ Subject: ADS-L Digest - 17 Nov 1997 to 18 Nov 1997 There are 4 messages totalling 231 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Fast Racker; "Jazz" Water; Merzouri 2. subcategories of people 3. Merzouri 4. project ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 06:20:00 -0500 From: "Barry A. Popik" Subject: Fast Racker; "Jazz" Water; Merzouri FAST RACKER Not quite "fast track," but this pun is from the Louisville Daily Courier, 7 January 1859, pg. 1, col. 7: HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE--"Eddy," said a mother, a friend of ours, to her hopeful son, as she was reading to him of Pocahontas in the history of Virginia, "do you know who Pocahontas was?" "Yes, mother," said the lad, whose thoughts were upon the coveted pony, "she was a fast racker!"--Boston Transcript. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------- "JAZZ" WATER I recently discovered about the "jazz" water of Fez, Morocco. Here's a reposting of what I wrote here last year, from the OTHER Barbary Coast. This is from the San Francisco Chronicle, 9 November 1919, pg. B7, col. 1: BAND LEADER SAYS JAZZ IS PUBLIC DEMAND Ensign Alfred J. Moore Tells Why, Vox Populi Rules in Music World By THOMAS W. BAILY NOAH WEBSTER, delineator of words and pronunciations, failed to mention "jazz" in the early productions of his fertile brain. One or two dictionaries of the less expensive kind contain such a thing, but the majority of them do not. As a result, jazz is considered slang. Most likely "pep" may be classified in a similar manner. However, both words are used to advantage by persons who wish to express ginger and snap. Art Hickman, of the St. Francis orchestra, once said that the word jazz originated some time ago when the San Francisco Seals were training at Boyes Springs. One member of the ball-tossing team commented on a stream of water bubbling from the side of a bank, casting upon it the then unknown word, "jazz" water. Then, as the little old world slowly moved around, one unit of the nine urged a friend: "Come on, George, show some jazz, willya!" Then "jazz" sprang into being. At least, Hickman believes so. It cannot be proven, however, so the argument on that score ends. (...) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------- MERZOURI This is from The Besom (Univ. of Cal.-Berkeley), 6 November 1876, pg. 2, col. 1: "THE CHAP FROM BARKALEE" A LEGEND OF POKER FLAT, WRITTEN BY A RESIDENT. (...) His clothes wuz new, o' the Frisco cut, His shirt was new an' biled, An' the way he jingled his coin around, The fellers some'at riled. So ole Bill Smith, a Merzouri man, Wot lives way up on the Run, He smiled out loud, an' all the crowd, Woke up to see the fun. (...)