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Problems › 89

TEL525, Sheldon to Horner

Log

DateEvent
2026-08-26TEL525 registered as Problem 89 with an independently checked reading

Problem

The second telegram on page 263 of the Huntington Library's Fort Monroe ledger is headed “Ft Monroe Nov 6 1864”, addressed to Jno Horner, New York, and signed Geo D Sheldon. The first telegram has its own heading and is a separate document. This second entry is now indexed TEL525.

The whole entry contains eighty-two counted tokens, including seventy in the body. Long clauses remain readable: “attended to the”, “I cannot give particulars”, and “went Friday night and Saturday”. Between them appear words that do not behave like ordinary prose. Later, recognizable names such as United States, Constitution, John Rice, and Francis are separated by recurring words including pekin and pedlar.

The source rendering below keeps General Lyons with its final s and leaves the unmarked boundary between familiar names and other words intact. A reader should not have to guess which names an editor has already interpreted. What is the complete message, and how can every occurrence be accounted for without changing its spelling to match an expected story?

Handwritten ledger entry rendered from the audited transcription; every body word has the same emphasis


Ft Monroe Nov 6 1864

Jno Horner New York

Appian November plague Henrietta for Knave unity Shelby Hawley and
Pandora Babcock attended to the quarreling torch Whinny and I
cannot give particulars Zebra perfume purple Whist and plank Pagans
went Friday night and Saturday on General Lyons pekin United
States pedlar Constitution pekin Star torch south pedlar John Rice
pekin Francis pedlar Montauk pekin Patapsco pedlar Cambria and America
Walrus R C Webster paradise and Vincent signs of Storm

Geo D Sheldon

Second message on page 263 only. Source General Lyons and every body word are retained. The complete transmission wrapper is included, even though the seventy-cell body is the counted content.


Wide transcriptions scroll sideways within this box.

Resources

Solutions

#SolutionByStatus
1Solution 89-1
All 70 content cells accounted for, with the source qualifications recorded
@offgramercyACCEPTED