January 17 Thursday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam replied to daughter Jean, whose incoming is not extant:
Why yes, dear Jean, your character—as I saw—had indeed softened, but the other day, it seemed to have hardened (temporarily only, I think) toward Anna & the others, on account of what you regarded as unjust conduct toward you. But I did not seem to blame & reproach you, did I? I could not mean that; in my heart I have no reproaches for you, but only mournings for your unearned estate.
What I would like, for your best sake, would be for you to force your mind away from your self & concentrate it upon a trying but valuable task: the task of making some difficult subject happy—Anna, for instance. The very best part of the Christian Science philosophy is that very thing: driving one’s mind away from its own concerns and riveting it upon something else—& closely watching it & keeping it there. You can do this—we all can—and it brings healing to the spirit & is inestimably valuable.
I do hope you are happy, dear—out of my heart I hope it. I welcome this snow-storm, because its flakes are falling about you & you are already outside & getting joy out of them.
We are not forgetting nor neglecting the horse-&-carriage matter—& shan’t. We are telegraphing George to come down here & consult; also we are on the track of a carriage.
With boundless love, dear heart, / Father [MTP]. Note: Anna Sterritt, Jean’s maid.
Sam also inscribed his photo to Edith Draper and enclosed it in his Jan. 15 note: “To / Mrs. Edith Draper / with the best wishes of / Mark Twain / New York / Jan. 17/07” [MTP].
Isabel Lyon’s journal: I didn’t expect to find her [Helen Keller] as she is. I believed she would be blasé & spoiled a little because of her great fame; but she isn’t spoiled a bit. The signs of her great afflictions are always present, because she is so dependent on others. She waits with a sweet, almost breathless attention, while Mrs. Macy spells with inconceivable rapidity the sentence or remark that has just been uttered, & when it is finished her face ripples with delight & she gives a sweet little shiver of pleasure, & in her expression you can see that she has understood perfectly. Helen & Mrs. Macy are the guest of Mrs. Lawrence [sic Laurence] Hutton & while we were waiting for Mr. Macy who is staying in some other place, to appear, it was suggested that I play something on the orchestrelle to see if Helen could detect the musical vibrations. I took the Erlkönig & at the first deep trembling of the bass, she turned instantly to Mrs. Macy & said “Music”. She was fully conscious of its shadings, for she said that it reminded her of the rising and falling of winds or waves. She wore a white gown trimmed with a great deal of soft lace, & a string, a long double string of coral beads. Her face, particularly the left side of it, is very noble, as Mrs. Percy Grant pointed out to me later. But I had been struck with the nobility & the womanliness & the great play of intellect & affection & emotion & seriousness that make it what it is. The King says of her that “she is a mine” [MTP: IVL TS 13-14].
Claire Oddie wrote from 124 W. 11 St. NYC to Sam. “My faith in you remains unshaken, though it ‘niggled’ just a bit! / I am glad to know that your prayers ascend at midnight—mine will go then, sothattehy always creep in, under the mantle of yours [MTP]. Note: Lyon wrote on the letter: “They’ll set the dog on ‘em in a minute—St. Peter will—“
Sam also inscribed in Eve’s Diary to Claire Oddie. “Jan. 17. 1907. / Dear Miss Oddie: / I was born lazy & procrastinacious, but if I had known you were kin to Uncle Joe I would have gotten up at midnight & interrupted my prayers to attend to this matter. You didn’t tell me you were kin to anybody, & so I didn’t suppose you were. Forgive! / Sincerely Yours / Mark Twain” [MTP].
George Iles wrote on Park Ave. Hotel notepaper to Sam.
You gave me one of the great treats of my life as you entertained Miss Keller and the rest of us last night. How her face beamed at your stories, expecially as you told about the miraculous kerosene!
You were so kind as to say that you would sign a portrait for Mrs. James Sutherland who will, I trust, send a check to Mrs. Treasurer Barnes in aid of the Association for the Blind [MTP].
Frank Nicholls Kennin wrote from Toronto, Canada to Sam.
“In a collection of poems, ‘Beyond the Hills of Dream’ by the Canadian poet William Wilfred Campbell, at page 66 (Houghton, Mifflin, The River Site … 1899) is a poem, ‘Love’, I think it is called, —I haven’t the book at hand and write from a careless memorandum—which consists of the two verses which you found in one of Miss Susy’s own books, with the quotation marks inadvertently omitted” [MTP]. Note: Lyon wrote on the letter:: “Thank him very sincerely; I shall at once make the correction in the book— / Send & get the book”; at the top, “Used Jan. 22”. Editorial emphasis.
Joseph Robinson wrote to Sam on Franklin College, Dept. of English, Franklin Indiana notepaper to ask for an autograph they might frame for the walls of the English Dept. [MTP].
Note: Lyon wrote on the letter: “Mr. Clemens wrote: Consider well the proportions of things; it is better to be a young June-bug than an old Bird-of-Paradise.”
Clemens A.D. for this day is listed by MTP.