There is another possibility for 'shake', though I suspect not the one for
Shake Rag Street.
A large number of lead miners went Wisconsin to mine or farm. A common term
in the Yorkshire Dales for a natural sink hole, is Shake Hole.
Regards
Ian
In a message dated 28/09/2011 20:54:28 GMT Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
Dear Tim,
What you propose is feasible. Who knows if is it accurate... however.
There
are certain points that make sence, it might need some professional
imagination... please don't take this the wrong way, since my thinking
might be
so!!! - but I am not going to chance my luck in this!!!
Regards, Bernard
In a message dated 27/09/2011 18:51:05 GMT Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
Dear List,
I write for advice on a curious tradition. I have already searched the
Mining-History email list archive to be sure this has not been discussed.
Mineral Point, Wisconsin, in the United States, is part of an area that
became a famous lead mining region in the 1820s-1850s. The mining,
milling,
and smelting were all small scale during this period and the mines were
dominated by Cornish immigrants, along with Germanic and other ethnic
groups.
Later in the 20th century, zinc mining became equally important in the
region.
The town of Mineral Point has a street called "Shake Rag Street." The
street was originally named Hoard Street, and the name was changed
sometime in
the 1930s, supposedly formally adopting the local nickname "Shake Rag."
Local folklore holds that the name Shake Rag came from the practice of
women
waiving rags to signal to men working the windlasses on the ridge east of
town, telling them that their meals were ready. Indeed, I have read a
claim that the entire town was once nicknamed "Shake Rag Under the Hill."
I have always been pretty skeptical of this claim, which sounds to me
like
an invention of the 1930s heritage interests.
Most list members can anticipate my reservations. My skepticism stems
from the fact that a "ragging table" (and ragging by hammer more
generally,
and "rag" as a term for a rough and hard stone) is a common variant of
"racking table," the common method for concentrating tin ore in Cornwall.
In
Mineral Point, ragging could have been commonly work for women and men,
presumably somewhere near to both the shaft and a water source.
As the table technology evolved, shaking tables became common, making the
job much easier. I don't know if the terms "ragging" and "shake table"
were ever combined, however.
I write to the list to learn if anyone has ever heard the term "shake
rag"
used to describe a shaking table for concentrating ore, in galena or lead
mining or simply in general usage. Pardon my error if I have miss
interpreted a technical term in my request.
Thanks very much,
Timothy Scarlett
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=402
8&term_type_id=2&term_type_text=places&letter=S=
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