Work of the courts.
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) is one of the defendants in a suit brought in the Supreme court by Hubbard Brothers of Philadelphia, publishers, to recover $25,000 damages for alleged false and defamatory statements made in a circular by the firm of Charles L. Webster & Co., publishers, of which Mr. Clemens is a member. Each firm published a life of Gen. W. T. Sherman. That of Hubbard Brothers had an introduction by Gen. O. O. Howard, the main portion of the book being written by William Fletcher Johnson. Gen. Howard was described as a joint author. Webster & Co. published the Memoirs of Gen. Sherman, by himself, with an appendix by James G. Blaine. In the circular over which the suit has arisen, the latter firm of publishers warned their agents and the public that the Philadelphia firm was making misleading statements to the effect that Gen. Howard was writing a life of Sherman to be published by them, and an extract from a letter from Gen. Howard was given in which he appeared to brand the statements made by Hubbard Brothers as erroneous. Hubbard Brothers have a letter from Gen. Howard saying that it was unfair to pick a single sentence out of his letter. Judge Patterson of the Supreme Court yesterday appointed a commission to take testimony in Chicago and other cities in the suit.
