ATDDTA(10) A Screaming Comes Across The Creek [294-295]

[Keith]

The indignant Japanese delegation storms out of the Cosmo. Merle  
points out the anti-Tsarist connection among the Japanese delegate,  
international Sino-Spy, Baron Akashi, and local Finn Towners, as well  
as their envy of the local amalgamation process secrets. Merle  
confirms his date with Frank at Little Hellkite tomorrow before  
abruptly riding out. The dust and chaos settle in the bar, Zack  
Dieter returns to the bar-helm - pouring Frank a bourbon and  
sarsaparilla and telling him tales of Hair-Trigger's screaming across  
the creek and reminiscing about the famous Butch Cassidy hoist of 1889.

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[294:6-9] "international spy Baron Akashi, who's what they call a  
'roving miltary attaché'---circuit-rides the different capital cities  
of Europe, keeping the Russian students over there all cranked up  
against the Tsar."

A native of Fukuoka and a graduate of the 1889 class of the Imperial  
Japanese Army Academy, Akashi was nominally under the Imperial Guard  
Division attached to the staff of General Kawakami Soroku during the  
First Sino-Japanese War. His primary duty was information gathering,  
and in that capacity he traveled extensively around the Liaodong  
Peninsula and northern China, Taiwan and Annam. Towards the end of  
the war, he was promoted to major. After the Sino-Japanese War, he  
was despatched as a military observer to the Philippines during the  
Spanish-American War, and during the Boxer Rebellion, he was  
stationed out of Tianjin in northern China. Around this time, he was  
promoted to lieutenant colonel.

Akashi was sent as an itinerant military attaché in Europe at the end  
of 1900, visiting Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, staying in France in  
1901, and moving to St Petersburg, Russia in 1902. As a member of the  
Japanese Secret Intelligence Services, Akashi was involved in setting  
up an intricate espionage network in all major European cities, using  
specially trained operatives under various covers, members of locally- 
based Japanese merchants and workers, and local people either  
sympathetic to Japan, or willing to be cooperative for a price.

In the period of growing tensions before the outbreak of the Russo- 
Japanese War, Akashi had a discretionary budget of 1 million yen (an  
incredible sum of money in contemporary terms) to gather information  
on Russian troop movements and naval developments. While based at St  
Petersburg, he recruited the famous spy Sidney Reilly and sent him to  
Port Arthur, to gather information from within the Russian stronghold  
on its defenses. After the start of the war, he used his contacts and  
network to seek out and to provide monetary and weaponry support to  
revolutionary forces attempting to overthrow the Romanov dynasty.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi_Motojiro#Trivia

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[294:10-11] "Is who's running their native Finland these days, is the  
same all-powerful Tsar of Russia."

Finland as a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire (1809–1917)

On March 29, 1809, after being conquered by the armies of Russian  
Emperor Alexander I from Sweden in the Finnish War, Finland became a  
semi-autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian Empire until the end of  
1917. Old Finland was returned to the Grand Duchy in 1812. During the  
Russian era, the Finnish language started to gain recognition by both  
the imperial court and the governing bodies, first probably to sever  
the cultural and emotional ties with Sweden and thereafter, from the  
1860s onwards, as a result of a strong nationalist movement, known as  
the Fennoman movement. Milestones included the publication of what  
would become Finland's national epic, the Kalevala, in 1835; and the  
Finnish language achieving equal legal status with Swedish in 1892.

In 1906, universal suffrage was adopted in the Grand Duchy of  
Finland, as the second country in the world. However, the  
relationship between the Grand Duchy and the Russian Empire gradually  
soured when the Russian government made moves to restrict the Finnish  
autonomy. Wishes for national independence gained ground, first among  
radical nationalists and socialists.

The Independent Republic and Civil War (1917–1918)

On December 6, 1917, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in  
Russia, Finland declared its independence. The independence was  
approved by Bolshevist Russia but the Civil Wars that followed in  
Russia and in Finland and activist expeditions, including the ones to  
White Karelia and Aunus, complicated relations.
   http://tinyurl.com/mv4qt

---

"Why did the Finns immigrate?" There are a few answers to be found.   
First, is a quote from the book Finne, The Finns Among Us , this  
quote is written in Finnish and translated to English.

Pellot ovat palijaina, vainiot vaikeroivat, silla sato on tuhotta,  
viini kuivunut oljy ehtynyt.
-translated-
The field is wasted, the land mourneth, for the corn is wasted: the  
new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.


This is the main reason why many Finnish people emigrated to better  
land, they believed that if they were to make a prosperous living it  
would no longer be in Finland. Another reason the Finnish people left  
their homeland was due to "increasing demands for "Russification" by  
the hated Czarist government. This created visions among the Finnish  
subjects of ever increasing numbers of conscripts for the Russian  
army and diminished civil rights at home."  We very often tend to  
forget the Finland that was our forefatherís home was governed by  
class distinctions and racial prejudice.  It was rare that you would  
ever see a wealthy family emigrate, but at the same time the poorer  
classes were left with very few other options.
  While Jacob and Elizabeth had come from a wealthy line, the fire  
destroyed everything they had and thrust them into a class with a  
much lower rank in their society. At this time of despair Jacob was  
subjected to the misgivings of Matti Kurikka, a man who would be  
responsible for the immigration of thousands upon thousands of  
Finnish people. He was a Russian educated man with a passion for  
words. He talked of the mystic nature of the ancient Finns. He took  
his knowledge of Kalevala, a work written by Helena P. Blavatsky on  
the her belief that the "archaic oral traditions of the Finns was in  
perfect Harmony with the mystic Wisdom Religion of her revealed  
philosophy."  With her teachings in mind Kurikka spread this  
knowledge and encouraged the Finnish people to move to a place where  
their glory could be worshipped, out from under the rule of the  
Russian Government.
   http://www.fawi.net/ezine/vol3no3/emerson.html

---

Finn Town--Ah, the Finns. No one talks about the Finns when they talk  
about immigrant labor. But throughout the West at least, Finnish  
immigrants were used for the worst jobs. There were thousands in  
logging in the Pacific Northwest and a lot in Leadville too. They had  
their own settlement outside of town. Finns were seen by  
industrialists as among the hardest working immigrants and thus  
desirable. On the other hand, they were also known to be the worst  
radicals and the most given over to IWW sympathies. This did not  
endear them to industrialists. What was particularly interesting  
about Finn Town was not necessarily the old buildings but the sign  
that talked about the saunas they used after work. Just curious--what  
was in that water they used in the sauna. Bad stuff, but then again  
how much worse could it have been than they what the breathed in  
while at work?
   http://alterdestiny.blogspot.com/2005/07/leadville.html

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[294:13-15] "Not that they don't also show more than average trade- 
delegation interest in the doings up at Little Hellkite, especially  
chemical, on or about bullion day (Cf., [291:24]."

BULLION BUSINESS DAY
A bullion business day means any day on which commercial banks are  
open for
business (including dealings in foreign exchange and foreign currency  
deposits)
in London and New York, the location where payment is to be made and,  
in the
case of where payment in gold applies, which is also a scheduled  
trading day
(meaning a day on which such markets are ordinarily open) in the gold  
market in
the delivery location.
   http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.vdfp.htm

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[294:16] "Maybe they're planning a hoist?"

hoist
Etymology: alteration of hoise
transitive verb : slang : STEAL
               (Webster's Unabridged)

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[294:33-34] "Zack stepped nimbly up next to him"

The barkeep's name is "Zack Dieter."

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[294:37] "My usual Squirrel and sarsaparilla"

Squirrel = bourbon:

"Most of those who'd taken a chance on this burgeoning neighborhood  
cut lesser figures in town than Rice and Steunenberg, but they were  
eager young strivers with boots firmly planted on the ladders of  
mobility. In brash new towns like Caldwell, saloonkeepers were men to  
reckon with, and Cleveland Boulevard could boast the homes of three:  
Dan Brown, a husky man with a bushy black beard, who ran the Caldwell  
Club, a murky cavern redolent of stables, tobacco juice, and stale  
beer; Perry Groves, co-owner of the Palace saloon, a slightly more  
upscale establishment, which advertised itself as "headquarters for  
stockmen and farmers" and touted its "fine line of wines, liquors and  
cigars...[and a] first class lunch counter" (serving fresh oysters,  
hot tamales, and fish and game in season); and Rasmus Christenson,  
who ran the Board of Trade saloon, offering "clubrooms and pool  
tables," and doubled as agent for Kellogg's Old Bourbon, which, with  
Squirrel and McBryan, was one of the West's most popular brands."
   http://tinyurl.com/2mssp9

Sarsaparilla (Smilax regelii and other closely related species of  
Smilax) is a vine that bears roots with many useful properties. These  
vines have long prickly stems and shiny leaves, and numerous reddish- 
brown roots up to 3 m long. Several species of Smilax are used, but  
the Jamaican S. regelii (syn. S. officinalis) is the species  
preferred for commercial use. Sarsaparilla is also grown in Mexico,  
Central America and parts of South America. It is also grown in parts  
of South India, known in Telugu as Sugandhi-pala and in Tamil as  
Nannaari. The main uses include the flavoring of beverages, and  
homeopathic medicine.

Before treatment, the roots are bitter, sticky, and has a strong  
odor. Then they are dried and boiled in order to produce the extract.  
For use in beverages, oil of wintergreen or other flavours may be  
added in order to mask the natural bitterness of the root. Root beer  
made from sarsaparilla roots is generally more "birchy" than the more  
popular, commercial brands.

A carbonated sarsaparilla beverage produced by several different  
companies in Australasia is called Sars. A sarsaparilla-flavoured  
drink in the South East Asia is named Sarsi, but it is not linked to  
the Australasian Sars.

Sarsaparilla in its carbonated beverage form is available in the  
United Kingdom, produced for over 115 years by Fitzpatrick's Herbal  
Health, Britain's "Last Original Temperance Bar", noted for being the  
oldest known producer of the Sarsaparilla drink.[1]

---

  Though cowboys like their whiskey and sarsaparilla, Denver’s urban  
cowboys have become well-known nationwide for some of the finest  
brewpubs in the country. Visit the brewpub that made the name ‘John  
Hickenlooper’ famous before he became Denver’s mayor. Yes, hizzoner  
founded Wynkoop Brewing Company in 1988. ( 1634 18 th Street, at  
Wynkoop; http://www.wynkoop.com; 303-297-2700). Opened in a formerly  
down-at-the-heels location, it now has among its appealing neighbors  
the LoDo (lower downtown) branch of the Tattered Cover Bookstore  
( 1628 16th Street; 303-436-1070; http://www.tatteredcover.com).  
Though the Mayor has much on his mind these days, the Wynkoop is  
still a great place for tasty food, unique beer brews made on  
premises, and pool playing.
   http://www.nasig.org/conference/2006/MetterTour.htm

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[294:39] "going back to Baggs"

Baggs is 76 miles from Rawlins, Wyoming and 41 miles from Craig,  
Colorado.  The distance to Cheyenne, the state capitol, is 152 miles  
as the crow flies.  We are part of Carbon County. Wyoming highway 789  
running through Baggs was commissioned in 1954 as part of a multi- 
state route that traveled through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado,  
Wyoming and Montana.  The highway goes over the Continental Divide  
between Creston Junction and Baggs. Baggs was reputed to be the a  
former home of one of the most notorious outlaw bands of the old  
west:  Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and their 'Wild Bunch".  The  
Gaddis/Mathews cabin on Highway 789 in Baggs was a local hangout of  
Butch Cassidy.
   http://www.townofbaggs.com/id2.htm

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[295:5-6] "Now, back in the summer of '89, the day Butch and his gang  
come riding in . . ."

"The first major crime attributed to Cassidy is the robbery of the  
San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, on June 24, 1889. He and three  
cowboys got away with $20,000 by thoroughly casing the joint first.  
The bandits then made their way over a choice hideout, Brown's Park,  
along the Green River at the Utah-Wyoming border. They made forays to  
Green River and Vernal before moving north to Lander, Wyo.

Cassidy was one of the first to break ground on the Outlaw Trail, a  
meandering ghostlike path that began in Mexico, ran through Utah, and  
ended in Montana. The unofficial trail linked together a series of  
hideouts and ranches, like the Carlisle Ranch near Monticello, where  
ranch owners seemed willing to give jobs to outlaw cowboys. The  
Carlisle, actually, was close to Robber's Roost, and it was here  
where Butch camped out for a night or two before and after the  
Telluride holdup."
   http://www.utah.com/oldwest/butch_cassidy.htm

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