January 22 Tuesday – Sam’s notebook: “Be at Helmer’s, 5 p.m. & wait for Mr. Rogers / Dr. Rice’s 7.45 Carriage at 7.35” [NB 44 TS 4]. Note: Clemens and H.H. Rogers had an appointment at Osteopath George J. Helmer’s, Madison Ave. and 31st Street [Jan 21 to Rogers].
At 1410 W. 10th in N.Y.C., Sam wrote to E.T. Abbott, railroad engineer in Duluth, Minn. thanking him for newspaper clippings: “It is always an advantage to me to know how I stand with the pulpit” [MTP].
Sam also wrote to John T. Devine (d.1914) manager of the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.: “Am very sorry we did not hear from you in time. If we had done so, we should have been glad to take shelter under your roof” [MTP]. Note: Devine’s 1914 Washington Post obit. does not give his age, but says he “was one of Washington’s oldest residents.”
Sam also wrote to Edmund B. Kirby in Rossland, B.C.
I cannot deny myself the pleasure of saying a word of thanks to you for the hearty things you have said about my books, and also I wish to thank you for your outspoken approval of that “Red Cross” blast of mine, and for the “enthusiastic gratitude of that crowd of silent men who welcome the clear voice when it speaks for them.” In speaking for the silent men, you do me a helpful office; we can always speak with more courage when we know that we have backers. The silent approval of straight men is a prodigious support; we only need to know that it exists [MTP].
Note: the “Red Cross blast” refers to “The Salutation to the 20th Century” that was initially sent and then withdrawn for the Red Cross Society watch-meeting, postponed until March. Paine gives the postponement as the reason Clemens withdrew the piece and submitted it to the North American Review [MTB 1127].
Sam also wrote thanks to James W. Pryor, City Club, N.Y.C. for “sending me those proofs”[MTP].
Sam also sent his autograph to an unidentified person: “Truly Yours, Mark Twain, Jan.22, 1901” [MTP].
Sam also wrote to Emilie R. Rogers (Mrs. H.H. Rogers).
Oh, thank you ever so much for my dear old patriarch’s picture—it is in safe & appreciative hands. You may be sure of that.
This family—by special request of Mr. [Charles] Major, author of the play—are booked for the Criterion Theatre to-morrow night—the Madam and Clara will arrive from Washington at 3 p.m.
Can you hold the two places at your table for 2 of us—that is, for me and one other in case Jean should be ailing? Or me alone—then I could join the family at the theatre after dinner [MTHHR 457-8].
Sam also autographed a slip: “Truly Yours, Mark Twain, Jan. 22, 1901” Note: The slip was in a copy of The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, and Other Stories and Essays [MTP: American Art Assoc. catalogs, Jan. 20, 1914, Item 174].
The New York Times, Jan. 23, p.8 ran a special from Washington, reporting Clara Clemens’ afternoon debut at the Columbia Theatre.
DE SOUZA AT THE CAPITAL.
The Titled Baritone Received with Enthusiasm—Miss Clemens’s Debut
Special to the New York Times.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22.—A large and fashionable audience, including many representatives of the Diplomatic Corps in Washington, this afternoon heard the Portuguese baritone singer, Marquis de Souza, in a concert at the Columbia Theatre, in which Miss Clara L. Clemens, daughter of Mark Twain, made her American debut. … Miss Clemens, who is a slender and graceful brunette, with sufficient self-possession, met with a cordial reception, and her French and German songs were sung to the manifest satisfaction of the audience…