reach (?)

[George Thompson]

I had considered the possibility that the passage from the Mercury was a typo, hence my own typo in the subject header -- I meant to have it read "peach (?)".  I hadn't thought of "porch" as the intended form.

That lighthouse group was offering a conjectural emendation, as we English majors (some of us) say.  The Mercury's reading is absolutely "peach".  But Joel's contribution from OED supports "porch" as the correct reading.  What does DARE have?  I only own vols. 1 & 2.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
Date: Friday, November 5, 2010 10:34 am
Subject: Re: reach (?)
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

> Interesting, although as Garson suggests we don't know why
> lighthousefriends.com made this modification.  "Porch"  at least has
> the same number of letters.  And under "porch" in the OED I find:
>
> 1929 Amer. Speech 5 124 'Piazzer' was the only term applied to a
> veranda [sc. in the dialect of Maine]. The 'porch' was a sort of
> extra shed-kitchen used as a laundry.
>
> Perhaps someone can tell us from this article when it was that
> "porch" was used to describe this structure.  However, this seems to
> equate the "porch" with the "shed-kitchen/laundry".  In George's 1766
> quotation the "Peach *belong[ed]* to the Kitchen".
>
> I don't offhand see any definition under "porch" in the OED that
> helps understand why one might belong to a kitchen.
>
> Joel
>
> At 11/4/2010 09:53 PM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> >In the following version the word is "Porch". I have no idea where
> >lighthousefriends.com found this text. They may have modified the text
> >given by George since they say it is from the "New York Mercury":
> >
> >The tall lighthouse on the low-lying sandy spit was easily seen by
> >mariners, but being the only structure of any height for several
> >miles, it apparently was also susceptible to lightning strikes. In
> >June of 1766, the New York Mercury reported:
> >
> >The 26th Instant, the Lighthouse at Sandy Hook was struck by
> >Lightning, and twenty panes of the Glass Lanthorn broke to pieces; the
> >chimney and Porch belonging to the kitchen was broken down, and some
> >people that were in the House received a little Hurt, but are since
> >recovered. 'Tis said the Gust was attended with a heavy shower of
> >Hail.
> >
> >http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=378
> >
> >
> >On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 6:57 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > > Subject:      Re: reach (?)
> > >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > I see that the Newport Mercury of July 7 and the Georgia Gazette of
> > > Aug. 6 of the same year of 1766 have the same story -- and quite
> > > clearly reproduce the "peach"!  *They* must have known ... or both
> > > had particularly robotic typesetters.
> > >
> > > Perhaps "peak"?  "The kitchen chimneys pass up through the peaks of
> > > their respective roofs ..."  From The Western literary messsenger
> > > ..., 1853, vols. 20-21, page 137, in an article titled "Design for
> a
> > > Farm House".  [GB, Full view.]  Perhaps the light house had a kitchen
> > > shed with a peaked roof (and a kitchen would need a chimney), and
> the
> > > chimney and kitchen were a high point on the light house, so
> > > susceptible to a lightning strike?
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
> > > At 11/4/2010 05:24 PM, George Thompson wrote:
> > >>I don't see anything in OED that explains this:
> > >>
> > >>         The 26th Instant, the Light House at Sandy-Hook was struck
> > >> by Lightning, and twenty Panes of the Glass Lanthorn broke to
> > >> Pieces; the Chimney and Peach [sic] belonging to the Kitchen, was
> > >> broke down, and some People that were in the House received a
> > >> little Hurt, but are since recovered.  'Tis said the Gust was
> > >> attended with a heavy Shower of Hail.
> > >>         New-York Mercury, June 30, 1766, p. 2, col. 3
> > >>
> > >>GAT
> > >>
> > >>George A. Thompson
> > >>Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre",
> > >>Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
> > >>
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> > >
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> > >
> >
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