Mark Twain's "Stolen White Elephant"

Greetings, all:

We just recently concluded Mark Twain's detective farce, "The Stolen White Elephant". Thanks to the bravery and ingenuity of the New York Detective Force, under the sagacious leadership of Chief Inspector Blunt, the giant white elephant Hassan Ben Ali Ben Selim Abdallah Mohammed Moist Alhammal Jamsetjejeebhoy Dhuleep Sultan Ebu Bhudpoor has finally been apprehended.

If you'd like to learn more about the real Jumbo, and his owner P.T. Barnum, who makes a cameo in the story, go to http://www.ptbarnum.org/. You might also visit the celebrity morgue, which tells the tale of Jumbo's sad (and bizarre) death. The Tufts website concludes the strange post-mortem journey of our gargantuan friend.

If you'd like to read more about the infamous case of body-snatching that Twain based the story on, specifically the theft of millionaire Alexander T. Stewart's corpse and a nationwide effort by detectives to find it, click here.

Just for fun, take a look at the Pinkerton Detective Logo in the upper left. Notice anything familiar? (Hint: remember the NYDF's slogan?)

We'll be posting articles on the case from several student journalists. The first comes from Tina Tiny Teena. Stay tuned for more.