July 22 Friday – In Bad Nauheim, Germany Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall, having just received his letter of July 5 (not extant) — the very day Sam sailed. Hall had added a time limit on the option with Augustin Daly for the dramatization rights for The American Claimant. Sam approved. He also advised to give Burbank ten per cent of the profits until $2,500 was reached, as payment for his rights to the play.

Sam also wrote that he was enclosing (but did not) the “Ship” article, some 8,000 words. This was the article, “About All Kinds of Ships,” which was included in 1893 in £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New Stories. He preferred to sell it to Samuel McClure for $1,000, though Harper’s would pay $80 or $100 per magazine page, or about $800 to $950 per article. Sam added that he would leave out the bit about Noah’s ark if they wanted to [MTLTP 311-2]. Note: Budd writes “About All Kinds of Ships” was first published in the collection [Collected 2: 1001]. From the article:

It would not be possible for Noah to do in our day what he was permitted to do in his own…The inspector would come and examine the Ark, and make all sorts of objections.