20 September 1877 • Hartford, Conn. (MS, author’s copy, in pencil: CU-MARK, UCCL 01483)
(Copy of telegram to President of U. S.[)]
The starving crew of tThe Jonas Smith can be found in a very little while if your excellency will order the cutter Colfax to search again. The crew are good men, subjects of a friendly power (England) & are only starving, not committing crime. The Smith is a sailless, chartless, foodless unmanageable hulk, & has been drifting helpless for four months from Bermuda, begging her bread as she goes. IⒶemendation know the ship & her history. OurⒶemendation government has moved to the relief of distress like this before, hence I am emboldened to make this appeal. With great respect. Signed S. L. Clemens, Hartford.
References
- University of California, Mark Twain Papers, The Bancroft Library, Berkeley
- Machlis, Paul, ed. Union Catalog of Clemens Letters. Edited by Paul Machlis. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. [In some cases, UCCL catalog numbers cited in this volume supersede those assigned in 1986 and reflect corrections or additions to the catalog since publication. An updated version of the catalog can be consulted via the Letters Search page at MTPO.] 1986
- Microfilm Edition of Mark Twain’s Previously Unpublished Letters. Prepared by Anh Quynh Bui, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Robert H. Hirst, Lin Salamo, and Harriet Elinor Smith. 8 vols. Berkeley: The Bancroft Library. 2001
MS, author’s copy, in pencil, CU-MARK.
MicroPUL, reel 1.
See Mark Twain Papers in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.