Weed a northern California mining town.
welter short for "welterweight," a boxer between a junior welterweight and a junior middleweight.
whitewashed painted with a mixture of lime, whiting, size, water, etc.
work card a card with a job assignment usually given to workers by an employment agency. It is then presented to the employer by the worker.
"writin' to the patent medicine houses" here, meaning that Curley is writing to mail-order businesses for medicines that increase sexual performance.
