May 24 Tuesday – Sam printed under the title “Miscegenation,” an article in the Enterprise explained the hoax with an apology to the ladies of Carson City. Sam also printed all of his letters in the scrape with the Union, plus those of Laird, Wilmington, and Gillis in the Enterprise, numbering them I through VII (See Smith 191-6 for text). He then called Laird a coward, liar and a fool. In 1872 Sam claimed that a duel was averted when Steve Gillis (Stephen Edward Gillis; 1838-1918) during pistol practice, shot the head off a sparrow and conned Laird’s seconds that Sam had done it [MTL 1: 296].
Note: This story has the ring of fiction. Sam’s “Personal Correspondence” ran in the Enterprise [Camfield bibliog.]. Note: this is probably the above mentioned.
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Day By Day Acknowledgment
Mark Twain Day By Day was originally a print reference, meticulously created by David Fears, who has generously made this work available, via the Center for Mark Twain Studies, as a digital edition.