44 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



Of course, I shall lay in wait for him, to surprise him with 

 his brother's letter, when the time comes. Finally there 

 are two more letters from Eosenstock, one to Emil Bott- 

 eher, junior partner of Gent, Schott, Dunker and Bott- 

 cher, and the other to his brother, Eugen Eosenstock, in 

 which he praised my talents and good qualities in an al- 

 most impudent manner. He has often proved to be a true 

 friend and no matter how fate may deal with me in fu- 

 ture, I shall always bear him and his many kind deeds in 

 grateful remembrance. W. O'Swald has requested Franz 

 Hallmann to further aid me with recommendations. 

 Aside from these, I may be able to obtain one here and 

 there, as I shall be on the lookout, wherever opportunity 

 may present itself, so as to be well provided when I leave, 

 the "Konigsberger Zeitung" is apparently not to be had 

 around here and your clippings and quotations will there- 

 fore be greatly appreciated, the further away I shall find 

 myself from home. 



You mention that the "Nix" stranded at Mauenhaken 

 on the Swin6 river (to be pronounced Sween'ay), which 

 occurrence is not new to me, as I saw it with my own 

 eyes; how it happened, nobody on board seemed to be 

 able to explain. As I told you in one of my first letters, 

 we were almost alongside of the "Nix" and exactly op- 

 posite the pilot's house, weighing anchor about the same 

 time as the great steamer, which had two splendid ma- 

 chines of about 240 horse power, enabling her to speed 

 along rapidly until the time of the accident, which hap- 

 pened while I was standing near the capstan watching 

 the course of the fast moving vessel in whose wake we 

 were cruising, when behold, she turned to right angle 

 course, and, as the Swine near Mauenhaken is not very 

 broad, it took but very few seconds to see her stranded 

 upon the low, shoal-like shore. The assertion that the 

 length of the "Nix" checked the power of the rudder is 

 laughable, as even the largest vessel will obey the steer- 

 ing, provided the mate attends to business and holds 

 tight; the man at the helm of the "Nix" did his best in 

 this respect. Many thanks for Meyhoffer's and Yogt's 

 messages. 



