To
Whitelaw Reid
per Telegraph Operator
8 November 1870 • (1st of 2) • Buffalo, N.Y.
(Paraphrase: New York Tribune, 9 Nov 70, UCCL 11734)
Mark Twain telegraphed last night from Buffalo, in answer to a frantic demand from The Tribune for election returns, that he had a son just born to him and had to play nurse, a vocation which he seemed to think preferable to that of reporter. We congratulate Mark, and know that nothing short of so momentous an event could have interfered with his devotion to our interests, or lured him away from the exciting study of election returns.1
Explanatory Notes
I don’t credit you with as profound a knowledge of
election returns as would be necessary to constitute you editor of
The Tribune Almanac, but you must have
some person who can send us good dispatches on election night. I
append a copy of a letter which we are sending out to friends in
every district in the State. If you can’t do this for us
yourself won’t you please put it into the hands of some
trusty person . . . (Reid’s copy of letter, without
enclosure, DLC) The Tribune report of
Clemens’s telegram was widely reprinted: for details see the
textual commentary.
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L4, 227–228; “Somewhat Personal,”
Elmira Advertiser, 10 Nov 70, 4;
“Personal,” Buffalo Express, 12
Nov 70, 4; “Mark Twain, Junior,” San Francisco Alta California, 18 Nov 70, 1, in addition to the
copy-text.
