Mark Twain on Potholes and Politics: Letters to the Editor

225 Pages·2014·0.904 MB·English

by  Gary Scharnhorst (editor)

Mark Twain
on Potholes and Politics
Mark Twain and His Circle Series
Edited by Tom Quirk and John Bird
Mark Twain
on Potholes and Politics
LeTTers To The ediTor
EdiTEd by
Gary Scharnhorst
UnivErSiTy of MiSSoUri PrESS
ColUMbia
Copyright © 2014 by
The Curators of the University of Missouri
University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri 65201
Printed and bound in the United States of America
All rights reserved
5 4 3 2 1 18 17 16 15 14
Cataloging-in-Publication data available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-8262-2046-2
∞ ™ This paper meets the requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48, 1984.
Typesetter: K. Lee Design & Graphics
Typeface: Minion
To the alr editorial assistants over the years:
Andy Smith, Becky Chalmers, Matt Teorey,
Cindy Murillo, Jennifer Nader, and Vinnie Basso

Contents
Introduction 1
1. “Explanation of a Mysterious Sentence,” San Francisco
Examiner, February 7, 1866 3
2. “The Moral Phenomenon,” Californian, August 25, 1866 6
3. “‘Mark Twain’ Explains the Mexican Correspondence,”
San Francisco Alta California, December 10, 1866 7
4. “Female Suffrage / Views of Mark Twain,” Missouri
Democrat (St. Louis), March 12, 1867 8
5. “Female Suffrage / A Volley from the Down-Trodden,”
Missouri Democrat (St. Louis), March 13, 1867 11
6. “Female Suffrage,” New York Sunday Mercury,
April 7, 1867 14
7. “Letter from Mark Twain / Cruelty to Strangers,”
St. Louis Sunday Republican, March 17, 1867 17
8. “From Mark Twain / Explanatory,” St. Louis Sunday
Republican, March 24, 1867 19
9. “Information Wanted,” New York Tribune,
December 18, 1867 21
10. “The Facts Concerning the Recent Resignation,”
New York Tribune, December 27, 1867 23
11. “The Holy Land Excursion. Did the Pilgrims Keep Sober?”
Brooklyn Eagle, December 31, 1867 29
vii
viii Contents
12. To the Editors of the Washington Morning Chronicle,
January 11, 1868 32
13. “Important to Whom It May Concern,” San Francisco
Newsletter and California Advertiser, June 13, 1868 33
14. “Concerning Gen. Grant’s Intentions,” New York Tribune,
December 12, 1868 34
15. “Back from ‘Yurrup,’” Buffalo Express, December 4, 1869 36
16. “Mark Twain on Agriculture,” Buffalo Express,
April 12, 1870 39
17. “Street Sprinkling,” Buffalo Express, May 27, 1870 40
18. “The Famous Sanitary Flour Sack,” New York Tribune,
December 13, 1870 40
19. “John H. Surratt,” New York Tribune, January 4, 1871 41
20. “A Substitute for Rulloff,” New York Tribune, May 3, 1871 43
21. “Mark Twain and His English Editor,” London Spectator,
September 21, 1872 45
22. To the Editor of the Hartford Evening Post,
December 6, 1872 47
23. “Views of Mark Twain / A Characteristic Letter from
the Humorist,” New York Tribune, January 6, 1873 48
24. “The Sandwich Islands / Concluding Views of
Mark Twain,” New York Tribune, January 9, 1873 54
25. “Foster’s Case,” New York Tribune, March 10, 1873 62
26. “A Horrible Tale / Fearful Calamity in Forest Street,”
Hartford Courant, March 31, 1873 64
27. “Life-Rafts / How the Atlantic’s Passengers Might Have
Been Saved,” New York Tribune, April 11, 1873 67
28. “‘Mark Twain’ to the Editor of ‘The Daily Graphic,’”
New York Daily Graphic, April 22, 1873 69
29. To the Editor of the London Evening Standard,
October 9, 1873 71
Contents ix
30. To the Editor of the London Morning Post,
December 11, 1873 72
31. “American Notes / The Temperance Insurrection,”
London Evening Standard, March 26, 1874 73
32. “Mark Twain’s Banquet,” Hartford Courant,
April 14, 1874 77
33. To the Editor of the Dubuque (Iowa) Herald, April 28, 1874 78
34. “Those Imperishable Fishers Again,” New York World,
May 31, 1874 79
35. “A Postal Case,” Boston Advertiser, June 23, 1874 82
36. “Mark Twain and His Cold,” New York Times,
October 12, 1874 83
37. To the Editor of the Hartford Evening Post,
November 3, 1874 84
38. To Jerome B. Stillson, January 19, 1875 86
39. Hartford Courant, May 20, 1875 87
40. “N.B.,” Hartford Courant, June 25, 1875 88
41. “Information Wanted,” Hartford Courant,
September 29, 1875 88
42. “‘Information’ from ‘Professor A.B.,’” Hartford Courant,
October 25, 1875 90
43. “Miraculous Disappearance of Niles Street,”
Hartford Courant, April 6, 1876 96
44. “The Niles Street Sufferers,” Hartford Courant,
April 7, 1876 97
45. “The Secret Out!” New York Evening Post, July 25, 1876 98
46. “Mark Twain on His Muscle / Emulating Macbeth,
He Kills Duncan Over Again,” New York World,
February 18, 1877 99
47. “Mark Twain Once More,” New York World,
February 25, 1877 103