May 7 Friday – Sam finished the May 6 letter to Howells. He’d had a telephone call from Warner that Howells could not come to Hartford due to his own trip to Washington, and Sam told him that he was “doing the right thing; when one is short for time, he should be free to alter arrangements with friends, without prejudice or cussedness” –language he claimed, humorously, that Livy used (he often ascribed his language to Livy). Sam had given up the trip to Washington, as he had a “letter from a Congressman this morning” (probably Daggett (see May 1 entry) dissuading him. Sam ask Howells to offer his “most sincere & respectful approval to the President” [MTLE 5: 99].

D.S. Brooks & Sons, Hartford dealer in “hot air furnaces, cooking ranges, stoves and tin ware, low down grates and Marbelized slate mantles,” invoiced Sam $4 for a soup digester; paid July 7 [MTP].

Plimpton Mfg. Co., Hartford paper dealer invoiced Sam $12 for envelopes, blue cloth, to order; payment May 8 [MTP].