DC dreams and News blues

[KingLeon]

Eh... why is there a southern paper in DC?

And what's with the freaky article... "larger force of the invaders' horse"? Of course. Makes no sense.
"Northern metal proved unable to withstand Southern mettle"
Maybe the General hides her 'poet' side... Or one of her loyal Espins does, at least. Maybe... Respin.
So... Propaganda to make the South appear to be winning. Neet to see the old-style threads, though...
Hearts and Minds? Kinda Pres. Johnson?

And that line sounds weird coming from Rikk...

[FrustratedPilot]

They aren't in DC. They are in Billberg.

[Lordjulius]

On 2002-04-19 18:54, KingLeon wrote:
Eh... why is there a southern paper in DC?

Because Washington was essentially a southern city that happened to be the capital of the north. Weird situation. D.C. was located smack dab between Virginia -- which housed the Confederate Capitol at Richmond -- and Maryland, which was Union, but a slave slate until late in 1864. Indeed, slavery was legal in D.C. at the beginning of the war. The city was full of southern sympathizers, and it would have been more surprising if the Richmond paper had NOT been available there.

And what's with the freaky article... "larger force of the invaders' horse"? Of course. Makes no sense.
"Northern metal proved unable to withstand Southern mettle"
Maybe the General hides her 'poet' side...

Nah. That's just 19th century journalism, T style -- or Espin style, if it is her. But if it's phony, she's doing a good job. They would often wax poetical in news accounts back in those days. Lots of flowery prose and even rhyme and meter.

So... Propaganda to make the South appear to be winning. Neet to see the old-style threads, though...

Not propaganda, necessarily. As has already been pointed out, in the early days of the war the South was, in fact, winning most of the battles, so it's quite possible "the battle of Billberg" is the real goods. And I've found at least one contemporary reference to using a telegraph to "broadcast" a message, although that was a newspaper telegraph, alluding to the fact that a message sent by telegraph to a newspaper would be widely disseminated on the other end. Still, it's at least possible that the anachronism Kath and Rikk think they've found is innocent.

(On the other hand, why would T have brought it up unless they're right? So they probably are.)

Hearts and Minds? Kinda Pres. Johnson?

Nope he's not until after the war, after Lincoln gets assassinated.

And that line sounds weird coming from Rikk...

Which line? "Hearts and Minds" is Kath. All Rikk says is:

"The General may be using a pincer attack, Shanna."

"She's here, then."

"I wasn't aware there was a good way to itch."

None of these seems particularly un-Rikk-like (unless he and Kath are wrong about the anachronism, in which case the simple act of being wrong is "unlike Rikk," since he's usually perfect. )

The itch line is, I think, perfectly innocent on his part. I think.

[KingLeon]

The itch line. He normally is more serious about things when... the weird things are happening.
Considering one friend was almost just killed, and he was just told his wife can't be cured unless he wants to doom other people, that's a very... odd thing to hear him say. Er... Will, saying it as a comeback to Shanna, or Tim saying it while grinning sounds alot more likely. But it's Rikk saying it.

[Maccabee]

Newspapers both northern and southern would reprint articles from other papers -- including articles from the other side. The article about the fight at Billberg is reprinted from a Richmond newspaper.

Washington was a southern town at the outbreak of the war, especially in its "upper crust," but that changed rapidly as ardent secessionists fled south and Yankee Republicans moved in to take government jobs.
An act of Congress abolished slavery in D.C. in 1862, several months before our story takes place. Washington also had a larger free black than slave population in 1860 -- the only southern state, district or territory except for Delaware where this was the case.

Maccabee

Maccabee