October 26 Monday – Sam’s notebook: “There being nothing to pass, in mid-ocean a ship going 16 knots seems to stand still—the sea-tale which makes a ship visibly fly, is a misleader./ 1400 Italian steerage at $34 each; 2,000 booked for Dec. 1” [NB 46 TS 28]
John Bigelow (father of Poultney), in Highland Falls, NY, typed a letter to Sam. He had heard that the Clemenses were headed for Florence, and wanted Sam to know he would be missed; being Sam’s senior, he advised him not to “give publishers or book sellers any lien upon the use of your brain for more than three hours of any day, and besides, take off one whole day of every week at that.” John wrote he was 86 and so the typewriter gave him ability to write a longer letter; he added in his own hand that he’d just rec’d a letter from Poultney, who was bicycling in Munich, Germany [MTP].