M&D: on South Mountain.

Sat Jan 20 17:15:29 CST 2007

Hey Folks,

Since M&D is about reading lines and intersections on the land, I thought
a land-based analysis would be fruitful.

Here is a spacial entry I made today for "South Mountain" I used both
Pynchon and Mason and Dixon's Journal.
It's interesting to me how the palce seems really consistent in it's power
in the story. Also I never realized that Pynchon made a lunar eclipse out
of what was really a solar escipse!

let me know what you think

-Jordan
==========================================

West Line: From 86 miles 44 chains to 94 miles 63 chains.: South Mountain
----
MD 276  Mention of a parcel out past the South Mountain by George
Washington which he spotted quite early in the [French and Indian] war
----
MD 478  Passage on Trans-Susquehanna S. Mt. in among all the ghosts
already thick in those parts referred to 10 minutes before.
----
MD 486  At the Rabbi of Prague home of the local headquarters of the
The Cohen of T.W.I.T. After a mention of the Golem and other things that
are invisible one person says Nor is it any Wonder here by South
Mountain, anyway. Sometimes the Invisible will all at once appear, -
sometimes what you see may not be there at all.
----
(9/4/65-9/21/65)

pages MD491- 496  At South Mountain the last concentration of
Apparitions that last stop before wilderness that whichever precedeth
Ghostliness.... Coonskin cap joke. Punch and Judy. Hats. Everyone awaken
by noise. Is it the Black Dog? No it's the Glowing Indian of South
Mountain wading down toward Antietam (following the path of future Civil
War Battles)

>From the American Philosophical Societies summary:
August, 1765... At 86 Miles 44 Chains the foot of South Mountain was
reached. On the thirtieth day of the month the part was at 88 miles 00
chains of the Post marked west.

September, 1765. ...at 94 miles 62 Chains... [a] spring was at the foot
of South Mountain on the west side. At 94 miles 63 Chains 10 links the
astronomical transit was again set up and a series of latitude
observations was carried out over a period of nine nights. Reduction of
the observations showed the point of observation to be 0.56 second of arc
of 56 feet south of the true parallel. A table of offsets was calculated
to give the distances to be measured off at the various mile points west
of the position where observations were made on the seventh of August at
71 miles 43 chains. The boundary points would be establish later

>From The Journal of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon:
1765...
August
29        Continued the Line
        86 miles 41 chains Mr. William Brown's House 2 chains North
        86 miles 44 chains. Crossed Tom's Creek. The foot of the South
Mountain.
        86 miles 72 chains. Mr Phineas Davidson's House 1 chain North.
[http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=39.71979&lon=-77.34407&s=48&size=l&u=4&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25]
30        Continued the Line
        87 miles 75 chains. Crossed Friends Creek in the South Mountain.
[http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=39.71985&lon=-77.36313&datum=nad83&u=4&layer=DRG25&size=l&s=48]
        88 miles 00 chains. Mr John Chohorn's House one chain North in Ditto.
31        Continued the Line.

September
4         Continued the Line
        At 93 (miles) 63 chains crossed the 1st spring running into Antietam.
[http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=39.71985&lon=-77.481&s=25&size=l&u=4&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25]
         94 (miles) 62 chains crossed a spring running in to Ditto. This
Spring
is at the foot of the South Mountain on the West Side
[http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=39.71972&lon=-77.49978&size=l&u=4&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25]
        94 miles 62 chains 68 links. The Post on which the Transit
Instrument was
fixed to Find the Direction
5        Brought the Sector to the West Side of the Mountain.
6         Set up the Sector in our direction at the distance of 94 miles 63
chains 10 links from the Post marked West in Mr. Bryan's field, and the
following observations. Cloudy
[obs... from 9/7- 17]
18        Computing our observations...
19        Packing up the Instruments, &c. &c.
20        Began to run the Line in the direction found by the stars on the
9th
instant Corrected by 9 links laid off to the North at the distance of 2
miles 32 chains to account for the error at the Sector 85 links South,
that is, to be in the Parallel at 20' West
21        Continued the Line
        95 miles 38 chains crossed a spring running into Antietam.
        96 miles 3 chains. Mr. Staphel Shocky's House 7 chains North...
----
 (10/30  10/31 on the way east)
>From the Journal:
1765
October
29        Set off [on our return]...to the 96 Mile Post.
30        Set off Ditto to the 87 Mile Post.
31        Set off Ditto to the 74 Mile Post.

>From Pynchon: no description. We hear about Emerson as they travel East.
----
(3/17/66 on the way west)
>From the Journal:
1766
March
15        Left Annapolis and proceeded for the North Mountain to continue
the Line.
17        At Frederick Town near the South Mountain in Maryland.
18        J.D. (Jeremiah Dixon) left Philadelphia to attend the Gentlemen
Commissioners the 20th Instant at Chestertown in Maryland. [I believe this
is written after the fact]
21        Received our Instructions to proceed with the Line to the Allegany
Mountain.
----
>From Pynchon:
Pynchon tells a different story from the Journal. On page 562, he has
Dixon not going to Chester Town but instead heads north for the lighted
Streets of New-York. Pynchon Starts up in the area already at North
Mountain on page 575.
----
(8/4/66-8/9/66 way east)
>From the Jounral:
1766...
August...
4        Continued the Line. A great Storm of Thunder and Lightning: The
Lightning in continued streams or streaks, from the Cloud to the ground
all round us; about 5 minutes before the hurricane of wind and Rain; the
Cloud from the Western part of the Mountain put on the most Dreadful
appearance I ever saw: It seemed to threaten an immediate dissolution to
all beneath it.
5        Continued the Line.
        The Sun Eclipsed
        [obs. Regarding the eclipse. Descriptions of the methods]
6        These observations were made in the South-Mountain 768* yard
North of
the Line and 92 Miles 20 chains from the Post marked West in Mr. Bryan's
field. * Latitude = 39° 43' 41 North
Continued the Line This day went to the Summit of the South Mountain, but
there was such a thick Blue mist in the Valley I could not see the visto
to the North Mountain.
7        Continued the Line.
8        Continued the Line.
9        Continued the Line to the 73rd Mile Post.

Pynchon:
MD618- Full entry of the 4th. Ware-Beaver. August 5: full moon logging
contest. Pynchon has an eclipse of the moon rather than the sun (!) turns
ware beaver into a human. Story of Hsi and Ho which DOES have an eclipse
of the sun. Eclipses indicate for to see that something is wrong in the
very Heart of the State... MD 624
----
(some point between 6/18/67 at Chestertown, MD and 7/7/67 at Fort
Cumberland going west)

>From the Journal:
1767...
June
18        Attended [Gentlemen Commissioners]...and received our
Instructions to
proceed with the West Line to the End of 5 degrees of Longitude from the
River Delaware.
July
7        The Waggons arrived at Fort Cumberland with the Instruments...

>From Pynchon:
The way back west is not located. There are voices and reunions.
Pynchon only starts in with the events of the 7th.

MD 643  South Mountain Dog compared to a dog named Snake

(some Point between 12/5/67 near Hagerstown, MD and 12/10/67 at
Brandywine, going East)

>From the Journal:
1767
December
4        In Coneeocheague...
10        At Brandywine

>From Pynchon:
MD 684-686 Return to the Rabbi of Prague. Timothy Tox rides the Golem from
South Mountain east to Philadelphia.
----
Mountain range information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Mountain_%28Maryland_and_Pennsylvania%29

Civil War Battle of South Mountain (happened south along the ridge of
South Mountain):
Not too far from Gettysburg
http://www.americancivilwar.com/statepic/maryland.html
http://www.americancivilwar.com/statepic/md/md002.html