December 15 Sunday – Isabel Lyon’s journal: Prof. Sloane and his daughter Margaret (debutante) came in today for tea. The talk ran onto Washington and the political rottenness of the place. “No man can be himself there.” Mr. S. said. “Mr. Cleveland alone shook his fist in the faces of the corrupt politicians and made himself hated. Pres Arthur went down, McKinley had to protect himself by a great and intricate system of wire-pulling; he was suave (a pious man always) and discreet, but he went under.” And then the King said that Roosevelt had disintegrated until he had become a heap of sand. Prof. Sloane spoke of the splendid man he had started out [as], and said that Senator Spooner in summing up the present moral state of Roosevelt called him a “rope of sand.” Then they talked about various world powers and Mr. Sloane told of how the “Kitchen Cabinet” at Berlin had [entry unfinished] [MTP TS 120]. Note: William Milligan Sloane was a professor at Columbia University. John Coit Spooner (1843-1919) Republican senator from Wisconsin (1885-1891) and (1897-1907); a foe of fellow Wisconsin Senator Robert M. LaFollette, whose progressive politics inflamed many conservatives.

W.T. Larned wrote from NYC to remind Sam of his interest shown in Tuxedo a month back, when in the company of George Johnathan Bain, in Larned’s “deadly parallel” between the works of Mrs. Eddy and the meditations of Manus Buselius [sp?]. Larned had obtained a back issue (not specified) of Life, which contained his remarks on the subject, and enclosed a copy for Sam (not in file) [MTP]. Note: Lyon wrote on the letter, “Answd. Dec. 23, ‘07”

E.O. Vaile wrote from Oak Park, Ill. to express her “gratification” to Sam for his “hit at Mr. Carnegie’s hydrophobic frenzy against even any discussion of reforming our alphabet” [MTP].