In May 1919 writer George Wharton James published an article in Physical Culture magazine discussing Mark Twain's news report of the 1866 Hornet disaster first published in the Sacramento Daily Union. The article also appeared in the December 1866 issue of Harper's Magazine under the title "Forty-three Days in an Open Boat." In 1899, Twain again wrote of the incident in "My Debut as a Literary Person."

James' article illustrates how the Hornet incident impacted Twain's later sketch titled "At the Appetite Cure." The Physical Culture article was unique in that it published for the first time some photos of Twain taken by renown photographer A. F. Bradley. James revealed how he was instrumental in convincing Twain to pose for these photos as a fund raising effort to benefit survivors of the San Francisco earthquake disaster. (It was a cause to which Twain had already lent his support). The Bradley photos survive today as some of the most popular of Twain ever taken and continue to be favorite choices for a number book jackets and posters. The following is the complete text of James' article including photos that accompanied it.
- Barbara Schmidt

He began life as Samuel L. Clemens and ended it as Mark Twain. He was America's foremost humorist, philosopher and man of letters.

And now it becomes my pleasure to tell how the accompanying photographs of Mark Twain--never before seen by the public--were obtained. In the early days of Mark Twain's life, as is well known, he lived in San Francisco. Among his intimates there were Bret Harte, Joaquin Miller, Noah Brooks, Charles Warren Stoddard, Prentice Mulford, and a few others of a rare coterie who made California Literature famous throughout the world. The Queen of this little circle was Ina Donna Coolbrith, a poet of no mean order. Then the disastrous earthquake and following fire, of 1906, struck San Francisco, Miss Coolbrith was one of the many sufferers, who was made destitute and homeless. Instantly her friends came to the rescue.

Among other methods followed for raising the money was that of writing to authors to contribute an autographed copy of one of their books or a photograph, which could then be sold. Mark Twain was one of the earliest to respond, and sent three fine autographed photographs, which I speedily sold for ten dollars each.

The main difficulty in the way was to get Mark Twain to pose. Accordingly I wrote to his secretary, Miss Lyon, and received a very courteous note saying that he was overwhelmingly busy upon some work he had pledged himself to accomplish in a given time, and had given positive orders that no one, under any circumstances, was to be given an interview or disturb his privacy. This seemed to be final, but the more I thought about it the more desperate the case appeared. I should be in New York for a short time only, and I could not hope to succeed by a letter. I must see him personally. Accordingly I took the bull by the horns, and one morning appeared at his Fifth Avenue residence, Miss Lyon met me with a reproving as well as reproachful look upon her face:

"I dare not even tell Mr. Clemens you are here. It is contrary to his express and positive orders."

"Never mind," said I, "I'll tell him myself. Where is he?"

Then I pleaded my cause afresh, and to my great joy, though I cannot tell myself it was my persuasive powers that won the victory -- it was merely to get rid of me -- he consented to go. Yet the promise was no subterfuge. I had to leave New York for the West, so could not go in person with a carriage or taxi for him, but in due time, when Mr. Bradley was ready, he appeared, sat on the chair on the revolving stand, and the pictures herewith were made. Mr. Bradley recalls well his white flannel suit, his peculiar drawl, his pleasant conversation, and the real patience with which he sat until some seventeen negatives in all were made.

Of the negatives thus obtained he wrote me that he regarded four as the finest photographs of himself that had ever been taken of him in his life.