Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1868-01-02

MFR. Stewards Real Estate Transactions
In the following extract from recen
letter by Mark Twain, he happily hits Of
the folly of Mr.. Stewards last investment Il
real estate for the benefit ~ of the nation
Could you give me any information re
specting such islands, if any, as the Govern
ment is going to purchase? 1t is an uncl
| of mine that wants to know. He is an in
dustrions man, and well disposed, and want
to make living in an honest, humble way
but more especially he wants to be quiet
He has been to the new island-St. Thomal
but he says he thinks they are unsettled
there. He went there early, with an attacht
of the State Department, who was sem
down with the money to pay for the island
My uncle had his money In the same box
| and so when they went ashore, getting 0
receipt, the sailors broke open the box and
tnnk all the money, not making any distinc-
iion between Government money, which
was legitimate money to be stolen, and my
uncle's, which was his own private property
and should have been respected. But he
came home and got some more, and went
back. And then he took the fever. There
are seven kinds of fever down there, you
know, and as his blood was out of order by
reason of loss Of sleep and general wear and
tear OF mind, he failed to cure the first fever,
and then somehow he got the other six.
He is not kind of man that enjoys fevcrs,
though he is well-meaning and always does
what he thinks is right, and so he was a
good deal annoyed when 1t appeared that
he was going TO die. n5
But he worried through and got well, and
started a farm. He fenced it in, and the
next day that great storm came and washed
tho of II fr ntt,roltar ,I
there somewhere. He only said, In his pa
tient way, that it was gone, and he wouldn't
bother about trying to find out where it
went to. though 1t was his opinion it went
to Gibraltar. eg 44l -,gtf .fl
Then he invested in q mountain, and start
ed farm up there, so as TO be out Of the
way when the sea came ashore again. It
was good mountain and good farm-but
1t wasn't any use--an earthquake came the
next night and shook it all down. 1t was
oil fragments, you know, and 30 mixed up
with another mans property that he could
not tell which were his fragments without
going to law, and he would not do that, be-
cause his main object in going to st. Thorn
as was to be quiet. All that be wanted was
to settle down and be quiet.
He thought 1t all over, and finally he con-
cluded to try the low ground again, especi-
ally dS he Wantcu TO SLart DrlcK-ydrQ InlS
time. He pougnu nat ana put out ten
thousand bricks to dry, preparatory to bak-
ing them. But luck appeared to be against
him. A volcano showed itself through there
that night and elevated his brick yard about
two thousand feet in the air. 1t irritated
him great deal. He has been up there,
and he says the bricks are all baked right
enough, but he can't get them down. AT
first he thought may be Government would
get the bricks down for him, because if Gov
eminent bought the island it ought to pro-
tect the property where man has invested
ia good faith; but all he wants is quiet, and
SO he Is not going to apply for the subsidy
he was thinking about.
He went back there last week in a couple
of ships-of.war to prospect around the coast
for safe place for farm, where he could
be quiet but another earthquake came and
hoisted both of the ships out into one OF the
interior counties, and he came near losing
his life. So he has given up prospecting in
the ship and is discouraged. s,4n fs..t.
Well, now he don't know what to do. He
has tried Walrussia but the bears Kept after
him so much and kept him so on the jump,
as it were, that he had to leave the country.
That ia how he came to go to the new island
we have bought--St. Thomas. But he is
getting to think st. Thomas is nst quite
enough for man of his turn Of mind, and
that is why he wishes me to find out if the
Government Is likely TO buy some more is
lands shortly. He has heard that Govern
ment is thinking about buying Porto Rico.
If that is true, lie wishes to try Porto Rico,
If it is q quiet place. How is Porto Rico
for his style of MANI Do you think the
Government will buy il?
u'Aa ''a ~ : s'i MARK TWAIN.