AtDTdA: (9) 259

[Jasper]

259 The Chums in Venice (continued)

Page 259
Manchuria?
Manchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in 
northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria 
either falls entirely within China, or is divided between China and Russia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchuria

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"it was happening in South Africa at that very moment"
Referring to the Second Boer War (October 1899 - May 1902) (it had 
actually concluded a month and a half ago, but Randolph might have no 
way of knowing that) between the British Empire and the two independent 
Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic 
(Transvaal Republic).  One of the causes of the war was the discovery of 
gold in the Transvaal; another the desire of the Boers to build a 
railroad through Portuguese territory, bypassing British ports and 
avoiding British tariffs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War

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"gold standard"
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic 
unit of account is a fixed weight of gold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard

and "social unrest":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893
http://www.ellensplace.net/hcg_fac8.html

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"Opium Wars"
The Opium Wars, or the Anglo-Chinese Wars, were two wars fought in the 
mid-1800s that were the climax of a long dispute between China and 
Britain. In the second, France fought alongside Britain. The conflict 
began with the growing trade deficit Britain had with China and the 
smuggling of opium to China by the British.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

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"this strange interval forbidden to him to enter"
Another reference to the Chums' aloofness from the mass of humanity 
personally involved in history rather than simply observing it from afar.

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Trans-Siberian Railroad
a network of railways connecting Moscow and European Russia with the 
Russian Far East provinces, Mongolia, China and the Sea of Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railroad

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"From a high enough altitude, as we have often observed, indeed that 
great project appears like a living organism, one dares to say, a 
conscious one"

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"like a form of architectural prayer, civic plans had been set in motion 
to rebuild the Campanile"

The action and actualization of prayer through Work, yup.

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/dov'era, com'era/
where it was, as it was. See veniceblog[1]. On July 14, 1902 the St. 
Mark's Campanile in Piazza San Marco, Venice, mysteriously and totally 
collapsed. Under the 'battle cry' of /com'era, dov'era/ it was rebuilt. 
The Campanile was reopened on April 25 (St. Mark's Day) 1912.

[1]http://veniceblog.typepad.com/veniceblog/2003/12/comera_dovera.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mark's_Campanile
Also, Cf page 256: the tower collapses.
*wiki*

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'La Marangona
The largest bell in the campanile is called la Marangona. At midnight, 
that massive bell resounds alone from high in the Piazza, and can be 
heard from almost any point in the city. There are four other bells in 
the campanile and they each have a name.
*wiki*

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a significant polarity had been reversed
polarity
1.  Physics.
a. the property or characteristic that produces unequal physical effects 
at different points in a body or system, as a magnet or storage battery.
b. the positive or negative state in which a body reacts to a magnetic, 
electric, or other field.
http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/polarity

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"Bells are the most ancient objects. They call to us out of eternity"
This chapter is bookended by references to bells. It opens, "Across the 
city noontide a field of bells emerged into flower."
*wiki*