End of ADS-L Digest - 28 Nov 1997 to 29 Nov 1997 ************************************************ Subject: ADS-L Digest - 29 Nov 1997 to 30 Nov 1997 There are 9 messages totalling 347 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. G-String; Melon Head; Ward Heeler 2. of(t)en and "is all" (4) 3. of(t)en 4. goo (2) 5. Nova (the car) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 05:19:29 -0500 From: "Barry A. Popik" Subject: G-String; Melon Head; Ward Heeler G-STRING I have a nice "G-String" cartoon in my files. It's from the Seattle Times, 9 July 1909, pg. 7, cols. 2-4, called "THE DICTATOR OF IGORROTE FASHIONS." (Seattle Fair) President Chilberg is holding out pants and saying, "HERE. BE DECENT." An "IGORROTE VILLAGE" is shown. A native is up a tree, wearing only a "POCKET HAT" and a "6 STRING." I looked closely at that. It says "6 STRING," not "G STRING." My copy cuts off the article. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer must also be checked for the same story. The Times's story is this: IGORROTES DO NOT PINE FOR PANTS Management of Village Says If Worse Comes to Worst Part of Settlement Will Be Immune. THE management of the Igorrote Village is congratulating itself that should worse come to worst and the threatened "pants" edict be promulgated by the exposition directorate, there are at least ten memebers of the tribe that are immune. Richard Schneidewind holds that the feminine side of the village cannot rightly be brought within the meaning of the ruling. To be sure, Madame Igorrote does not go heavily on more than one layer of clothing, but what she does use is enough for all Igorrote purposes and the widest stretch of Filipino sensibilities cannot possibly create a necessity for added adornment. "Besides," says Mr. Schneidewind, "the Igorrote woman has not gone so high in the scale of civilization, that she desires to wear them. If pants must be worn in this village, the women are quite content to grant the privilege exclusively to their men folks, and this goes both figuratively and literally, We have weaverettes, and workerettes, and cigarettes, but there is not a suffragette in the village. "Bring on the pants if you have to; we will try to make the worst of them." (Copy cut off-ed.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------- MELON HEAD The RHHDAS has "melonhead" from 1932. This--a large antedate from my file-cleaning--is from the Oxford Gazette (N.Y. state), 25 September 1818, pg. 2, col. 2: The profound editor of the Advocate has deigned to notice us as a "devotee" of MR. CLINTON and the State Government, and bestows upon us a few stale and hacknied epithets, such as "small fry," "melon head," &c. which are peculiarly characteristic of his intellectual acumen, deep research, brilliant and inventive imagination. (...) What may we next expect when we find in the train of his auxiliaries the evil genius of Kinderhook _melon_ patches,* a man well drenched in crime, and his superior in every thing but native perfidy and hollow hearted sycophany, and in that his equal. (...) * Thereby hangs a _Tale_ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- WARD HEELER William Safire's Sunday "On Language" column mentions the Chicago term, "ward heeler." Safire still won't even talk to me, but if he did, he'd know that a fine definition can be found in the Chicago Tribune, "ENCYCLOPEDIA CHICAGOANA" (a wonderful, comic series), 4 August 1901, pg. 4, col. 4: (A fat man is shown in the cartoon, asking "ARE YOU WIT US?") WARD-HEELER--_(WARD-HEAL-ER)_. (A boss. One who has influence, authority, control, or leadership over the sovereign voters of a ward or subdivision of a city or municipality. One who knows how, when, and where to get votes and how much they will cost. The residuary trustee, or envoy extraordinary, or resident representative of a political leader, man of destiny, or favorite son. The lieutenant of a candidate for office.) A WARD-HEELER holds his office not by appointment or election, but by his ability to corral the boys, as the sovereign voters of a ward are called. The ward-heeler must know all the keepers of groggeries in his ward and drop around frequently and buy the boys beer with somebody else's money. The ward-heeler keeps the boys in line and sees on election day that they vote once anyhow, and twice if they can. It used to be a part of his official duty to kick over the ballot box and walk off with the ballots if there were too many votes cast for the opposition candidate. That is not so much the fashion at present, but still followed in many localities. The ward-heeler gets his friends jobs on the police force or in the Street Cleaning department. He wears a quiet suit with a diamond in his necktie and a large ring with glass setting on his finger. He always talks in a husky voice and usually says: "Say, fellers, are you wid us or against us."