January 11 Friday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Frederick J. Hall, happy with the change in partnership.

The substitution of brains for guesswork was accomplished when you took Webster’s place last February, and I see by your letter that the use of brains in place of guesswork is to remain the policy of your administration. I cordially approve, detail by detail, of what you have done, & of what you have planned to do. You & I will never have any trouble.

Sam wrote he’d been busy preparing for the Baltimore benefit reading with Richard Malcolm Johnston, and that he’d talked with Mrs. Custer, who felt “much more contented.” She had been dissatisfied with sales of her book (see Dec. 7, 1888) [MTLTP 252].

Sam also wrote a short paragraph to Richard Malcolm Johnston, thanking him “a thousand times for yours of the 9th.” Sam was glad to have enough time to do his reading and thought,

…a body ought to read right, & never mind about economising time [MTP].

Richard Malcolm Johnston wrote to Sam that he was “amused by the letter you sent with your emphatic addendum” [MTP].

Virginia S. Mosby, in Warrenton, Va. “preparing for the press an article on cremation” asked for “a few lines on the subject, for or against the practice” [MTP]. Note: See also Jan. 21 entry on cremation.

Webster & Co. wrote to Sam, enclosing a statement from Slote & Co. together with a check for $600. Mr Whitford would leave Jan. 12 for Keokuk and the R.T. Root trial; Prof. John Fiske had ordered a set of the LAL, and it was known he was working on a History of the U.S. which they might publish if Sam could use his influence [MTP].