January 21 Thursday – From “Legislative Proceedings”: HOUSE—TENTH DAY QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE

Mr. Stewart rose to a question of privilege, and said the ENTERPRISE and Union reporters had been moving Ellen Redman’s toll-bridge from its proper position on the Carson Slough to an illegal one on the Humboldt Slough. (I did that. If Ellen Redman don’t like it, I can move her little bridge back again —but under protest. I waded that Humboldt Slough once, and I have always had a hankering to see a bridge over it since.—Mark.)
The Gold Hill Daily News continued to rib Sam about the election, calling him the “historian of the Hopkins family,” referring to the Dutch Nick massacre hoax. It was a common theme for opposing newspapers [Fatout, MT in VC 149].
Charles F. Browne (Artemus Ward) wrote from Salt Lake City:
My Dear Mark,—I have been dangerously ill for the past two weeks here, of congestive fever. Very grave fears were for a time entertained of my recovery, but happily the malady is gone, though leaving me very, very weak. I hope to be able to resume my journey in a week or so. I think I shall speak in the Theater here, which is one of the finest establishments of the kind in America. The Saints have been wonderfully kind to me, I could not have been better or more tenderly nursed at home—God bless them! I am still exceedingly weak—can’t write any more. Love to Jo and Dan, and all the rest. Write me at St. Louis. / Always yours… [MTLP]. Note: Sam’s reply is not extant.