George:
I kinda doubt it. Almost all of the lanterns I have seen from mining operations have been water-carbide. It's a brighter cleaner light and there's no wick to worry about.
When I saw your expression my immediate thought was that it had something to do with pulling up one's underwear.
I just grabbed my unfortunately one-volume American Heritage Slang dictionary (unfortunate because the bastards only published the first of three volumes, A-G) and left us hanging. Anyway, there is no elucidation under cotton, but there is the phrase "have had the cotton" which means doomed. "You've bought it, you've had the cotton."
This volume has dozens of these slang phrases in it. "Come off the grass" is stop talking foolishness.
And other oddities: Baby-snatcher; who woulda thunk it meant the brakeman on a passenger train.
Come out of a bag = behave in an objectionable manner
Give the bag = leave a person suddenly
TEd
