Previously, I had been pondering the "vexatious visit from sanitary officers and compliance with annoying regulation" following Livy's death in Florence, Italy. It seemed tome to be a classic example of bureaucratic interference. On reading Hamlin Hill's "Mark Twain God's Fool", I find a different story. Hill writes of a clash with Dr. Kirch over the final bill for services to Olivia. As the ship was about to depart it appeared as if the death certificate and consular papers were missing. Sam believed that Dr. Kirch had withheld the documents pending final payment of his bill. Hill writes that the Hamburg-American Steamship Company had, in fact, forwarded the documents to New York on an earlier ship. Twain had, unnecessarily, obtained duplicate documents from Francis B. Keene, the U.S. Consul in Florence. An interesting book, "God's Fool". I'm sure neither Paine nor Clara would have approved...