atddta 32: abduction

[grladams at teleport.com]

In the train abduction attempt scene--Zaharoff and/or Crouchmas are
indirectly involved in Dally's attempted abduction. Erno and Irmi wearing
the hats of mafia style criminals, the Trilby -peculiar _central European
ones_. Because of unrest in Budapest Kit and Dally's trains stop in Szged. 

According to NTY May 4, about 2 months ago to the action, "The campaign in
the Hungarial elections, which will be in June, is rapidly approaching
fever heat. A political meeting at Karansebes to-day broke up in a fight
between the supporters of the Nationalist and Labor Parties which one
Laborite was killed and two were fatally injured. Further trouble is
feared. There are already 950 candidates in the field for 413 seats"

They plan to make him pay for her through ransom. I thought the dialogue
was unlikely, that they would be referring to Zaharoff's apparent well
known infatuation with red hair, and Kit offered up some apparent common
knowledge that they would know that his girls always come from Vienna, that
so much would be known-this is a scene that bugged me. Crouchmas had hoped
that the market for white slaves would still be going strong despite the
pious moslem pendulum swing happening there. The logic in the scene,
someone wanted us to think, is weak enough for these dumb Balkans, but in
Gottingen sharp Westerners there would have seen through Kit's trickery
easily enough this seems to say.

Once on the train together, we're transported back to Kit's period between
his last scene with Fleetwood Vibe, and this section, Kit tells Dally how
he lived bartending in Pera (outside of Istanbul somewhere) among activists
of several stripes

The Young Turks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Union_and_Progress

and a workers' union "Army of Freedom":
The Fédération Socialiste Ouvrière,  mentioned under this person:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avraam_Benaroya

In the bar, he's seems to be talking to Viktor Mulciber about recruitment
into airplance engineering in Turin, p.912 and because he accidentally
"stepped into the wrong argument" and is urged to leave. It feels wrong for
us to see Kit being talked into a job building the next weapon delivery
system doesn't it? 

I was perusing an encyclopedia of World War I today, and torpedo ships were
the sneaker thing that would be able to bring down the War Ships and at the
present moment, torpedo technology was more advanced that airplane
technology.

Side note, to get an idea of the state-of-the art in airplane engineering
at the time, I check this out!!!  http://tiny.cc/sJQ7g  
I also found that there was an aviation meeting planned in Budapest in
June, and Orville Wright would not be attending it, according to the NYT
April 22, 1910. Another NYT article June 10th reports an accident that
happened at it--"Frey, the German aeronaut, while making a flight here
to-day, lost control of his biplane, and dashed into the grand stand. Six
women were injured, two probably mortally. Frey was not hurt. The aviators
Latham, Andree, and Biallovuci had similar accidents, but no one was
injured."

As Kit headed toward Italy back towards this Turin, however he's probably
considering Dally, since as he learns about Crouchmas, he reminds her of a
promise he had made to come back to her. Slightly jealous of her
involvement with the Englishman, but not too much to forget about it,
addled, almost doubled-over with lust of new love, they can barely walk to
a restaurant without stopping to screw. 


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