Vol 3 Section 1139
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As the story goes, Mr. Twain stood on a platform of the machine while Tesla set the oscillator into operation. Twain was enjoying himself greatly and exclaimed: “This gives you vigor and vitality.” After some time Tesla warned the writer that he should come down, but Twain was having fun and refused. Tesla again insisted, but Twain stayed on the machine for several minutes more until, suddenly, he exclaimed: “Quick, Tesla. Where is it?” Tesla directed his friend to the restroom. Twain had experienced first hand what had been known to laboratory workers for some time: the laxative effect of the machine’s vibrations [3-4]. Added Oct. 27, 2010
May 11 to July 14 1894 addition – Sam was en route to Southampton, England when the Pullman Strike began. The American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, called a boycott of all Pullman railway cars. By the time President Cleveland dispatched troops to Chicago after railroad owners asked the Federal government to intercede, Sam was in France. Riots resulted, peaking on July 6, 1894; at this time Sam was in Paris. On July 7, 1894 when Debs and others were arrested, Sam was boarding the S.S. Paris bound for New York, and news of the 24 killed in the riots with many others injured, would have reached Europe. A single page of notes undated by Sam likely took place just before or on his voyage home. He arrived in New York on July 14, 1894. These notes seem to be a summary of research about loss of life, including an increasing number shot in the Pullman Strike, probably from various dispatches received:
FIRE
Abuse our fire-engine system which we are so proud of.
We ought to be ashamed of buildings which necessitate it.
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And Johnstown Dam 78
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Shot at Pullman —— 78
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79 |
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80 |
81 |
All this is legitimate work & entitled to thanks.
[www.historyforsale.com Sept. 13, 2009, Document 65491]
October 19, 1894 addition – Sam inscribed and autographed the back side of a lithograph picturing the cathedral at Rouen, France: “With the best respects of / Truly Yours / Mark Twain / Rouen, Oct 19/94” [eBay item 400104782549 Feb. 21, 2010]. Note: For some reason the seller of this item thought it was worth $44,500. What would Twain think? See insert for cathedral side
December 25, 1894 addition – Sam inscribed a green half-morocco copy of PW to Mrs. Helen Hopekirk Wilson: “To Mrs. Hopekirk Wilson / with comp’ts of / Pudd’nhead Wilson / by the hand & with the affectionate regards of / Mark Twain / Paris, Xmas, 1894” [Bleak House Books, catalogue one, item 117, 1995].
April
1895 addition – Century Magazine included “Tesla’s Oscillator and Other Inventions,” by p. 916-33, by Thomas Commerford Martin, which featured several photographs made
for the first time with phosphorescent light; one with Robert Underwood Johnson, one with Francis Marion Crawford, one with Joseph Jefferson, and two with Mark Twain. See Mar. 1, and Apr. 26, 1894 entries in addenda.