per Telegraph Operator
21 August 1868 • En route fromNew York to Elmira, N.Y. (Jervis Langdon, 5, UCCL 02746)
Train stops every fifteen minutes and stays three quarters of an hour, figure out when it will arrive and meet me.1explanatory note
On Friday, 21 August, Clemens took the train to Elmira, New York, to visit for a “few days” with the Langdon family (17 Aug 68 to Fairbanksclick to open link). Charles Langdon’s son, Jervis, recalled that “without further consulting the time table Mr. Clemens characteristically chose that train with the biggest sounding name (the Cannon Ball, I believe it was), and towards the middle of the day my father received this telegram.” According to Paine, Clemens “meant to go by a fast train, but, with his natural gift for misunderstanding time-tables, of course took a slow one, telegraphing his approach from different stations along the road. Young Langdon concluded to go down the line as far as Waverly to meet him” (Jervis Langdon, 5; MTB , 1:367). If Clemens had taken the “Day Express,” which departed New York at 7:30 a.m., he would have reached Elmira at about 6:00 that evening, but he seems instead to have taken the 10:00 a.m. “Express Mail,” which did not reach Elmira until almost midnight (advertisement, Elmira Advertiser, 20 Aug 68, 2; advertisement, New York Evening Post, 20 Aug 68, 1). Jervis Langdon added:
Accompanied by an old friend, my father went down the road to meet the new friend, whose entertaining humor and irresistible magnetism he hoped would balance up with the family for all the uncouth manners and looks, and make a short visit endurable. They found him in the smoker, in a yellow duster and a very dirty, old straw hat. His wardrobe was compressed into such small compass that it didn’t really appear he had brought any. (Jervis Langdon, 5)
Langdon intercepted the train at Waverly, some fifteen miles from Elmira; Paine described the moment:
Langdon greeted him warmly but with doubt. Finally he summoned courage to say, hesitatingly:
“You’ve got some other clothes, haven’t you?”
The arriving guest was not in the least disturbed.
“Oh yes,” he said with enthusiasm, “I’ve got a fine brand-new outfit in this bag, all but a hat. It will be late when we get in, and I won’t see any one to-night. You won’t know me in the morning. We’ll go out early and get a hat.”
This was a large relief to the younger man, and the rest of the journey was happy enough. True to promise, the guest appeared at daylight correctly, even elegantly clad, and an early trip to the shops secured the hat. ( MTB , 1:367)
The Elmira Advertiser reported Clemens’s arrival:
Mark Twain arrived in the City last evening, to be the guest of Charles Langdon, for a few days. It is hoped—indeed, it is the on dit, that he will be induced to give a lecture at the Opera House during his stay. He has already attained a great notoriety in California, as a writer and editor, and his Quaker City experiences gave him a wide reputation throughout the country. It will be remembered, that he was one of the excursionists on the Quaker City to the Holy Land, last year, and at the time, established a close fellowship with Charles Langdon, of this City. (“Personal,” Elmira Advertiser, 22 Aug 68, 4)
Clemens did lecture in Elmira, but not until 23 November.
Jervis Langdon, 5.
L2 , 242–243; none known except the copy-text.
The actual document received has not been found; it was presumably owned by Jervis Langdon (Charles Langdon’s son) when he published it in 1938.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.