Questions and New Vocabulary in Mark Twain's Personals

1.Main Entry: strum·pet
Pronunciation: 'str&m-p&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English
Date: 14th century
: PROSTITUTE 1a

2. Main Entry: 2lout
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from Old Norse lutr bent down, from luta
Date: 1542
: an awkward brutish person

3. Main Entry: 1dodge
Pronunciation: 'däj
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1575
1 a : an artful device to evade, deceive, or trick b : EXPEDIENT
2 : an act of evading by sudden bodily movement 

4. Main Entry: 1squib
Pronunciation: 'skwib
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: circa 1525
1 a : a short humorous or satiric writing or speech b : a short news item; especially : FILLER
2 a : a small firecracker b : a broken firecracker in which the powder burns with a fizz
3 : a small electric or pyrotechnic device used to ignite a charge

5. Main Entry: flab·by
Pronunciation: 'fla-bE
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): flab·bi·er; -est
Etymology: alteration of flappy
Date: 1697
1 : lacking resilience or firmness : FLACCID
2 : weak and ineffective : FEEBLE
- flab·bi·ly /'fla-b&-lE/ adverb
- flab·bi·ness /'fla-bE-n&s/ noun

6. Main Entry: cir·cum·lo·cu·tion
Pronunciation: "s&r-k&m-lO-'kyü-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin circumlocution-, circumlocutio, from circum- + locutio speech, from loqui to speak
Date: 15th century
1 : the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea
2 : evasion in speech
- cir·cum·loc·u·to·ry /-'lä-ky&-"tOr-E, -"tor-/ adjective

7.Main Entry: per·di·tion
Pronunciation: p&r-'di-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English perdicion, from Late Latin perdition-, perditio, from Latin perdere to destroy, from per- through + dare to give -- more at PER-, DATE
Date: 14th century
1 a archaic : utter destruction b obsolete : LOSS
2 a : eternal damnation b : HELL

8.Main Entry: 1whelp
Pronunciation: 'hwelp, 'welp
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwelp; akin to Old High German hwelf whelp
Date: before 12th century
1 : any of the young of various carnivorous mammals and especially of the dog
2 : a young boy or girl

Questions:

1. How does Twain portray New York as a "splendid desert- a domed and steepled solitude, where the stranger is lonely in the midst of a million of his race"?

2. What is his attitude towards the personals in Herald?