November 28 Thursday – Thanksgiving – Sam gave a reading for the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) in their reading room, Hartford. A summary and some text of the speech was printed in the Hartford Courant, November 29, 1889, p.1 “Thanksgiving Exercises”:
Every seat at the six big tables in the reading room of the Young Men’s Christian Association was occupied at the annual Thanksgiving dinner of the association yesterday, and it was a dinner to be thankful for, too. The friendly feeling and good cheer formed as important an element as did the elegantly prepared food. There were the savory roast turkeys, the cranberry sauce, celery, vegetables, mince and pumpkin pies, ice-cream, cakes, nuts, raisins and fruit and coffee.
[After it was announced that] Mr. B.T. Briggs…who would tell the party how to make a speech on any subject without any previous preparation, was unable to be present, but he would introduce the junior member of the firm, Mr. “Mark Twain.” There was a suspicion that Mr. “Twain” and the mythical Mr. Briggs are the same man.
Mr. Clemens began his speech by saying “I ought to begin my remarks as no many ought to begin a speech — with an apology. Dr. Hooker told me to come along with the clothes I had on, and here I am in an old gray suit. When I look around and see so many men dressed better than I am, I feel [illegible word]. Well, I took Dr. Hooker at his word that time, but I’ll never do it again. This art that I am to talk about was not invented by Mr. Briggs and me. We simply discovered it. It has been in use always, ever since speech-making first began, but it was not noticed. I have been present on a great many occasions where speeches appeared to be made for their own sake, but it was not so. They were made for the sake of telling anecdotes. The speakers pretend that the anecdotes are intended to illustrate certain points, but they don’t. The next time you hear a public speech notice that point. The anecdotes don’t illustrate anything. They are generally miles away. The speakers little game is to lead up to the anecdote. You don’t notice it, for he has beguiled you, but when you go home and analyze it you will find the speech was made for the sake of the anecdotes. To acquire this art, the pupil must first get perfect confidence in himself. You must believe you can do the thing. You must have in your pocket, as I have here, a little book containing your anecdotes. As you go along you take out your book and look for an anecdote, while the audience thinks you are referring to your notes. The speech is simply the foundation for your jokes.”
To illustrate his lesson, Mr. Clemens asked his hearers to pick out a subject for him to talk about. Several were suggested and “Old Clothes” was the one finally selected. Then the speaker made a rambling talk about clothes, introducing a number of anecdotes, amusing in themselves and exceedingly well told, but with no possible bearing on the subject he was supposed to be talking about. He would introduce his anecdotes with, “this point is illustrated by,” or “this reminds me of,” or “that leads me to remember an anecdote,” etc. His remarks were highly amusing and loudly applauded, and it is supposed his simple lesson has produced a new crop of after-dinner orators.
Remarks were made by Dr. Hooker, Mr. Hersey and others.
In Hartford Sam wrote to Samuel Moffett in Alameda, Calif., enclosing a deed for one royalty on the Paige typesetter. He also sent letters and a telegram to Joe Goodman in Moffett’s care at the San Francisco Examiner office. Sam refers to Goodman’s Nov. 20th letter from Fresno and news of Goodman’s week of suffering from neuralgia. Sam also reported on the status of the typesetter:
When we took the machine apart, the other day, it was perfect enough to satisfy everybody in the world except two people — the inventor & me. When it goes together again, Jan. 15, it will satisfy those two. That is our prophecy & belief. But if it doesn’t satisfy us, the perfecting will go on. It shall not go out of the shop with even the triflingest defect in it. I mean to run it in two or three months in New York 24 hours a day 7 days in the week without an infelicity in any of its functions & without causing 5 minutes delay in all that time. [Note: The complexity of the typesetter, Sam’s perfectionism and Paige’s love of tinkering undoubtedly combined to cause repeated delays with accompanying loss of credibility to potential investors and customers].
Sam also wrote he would have unbound sheets of CY sent to Moffett; and if he reviewed the book, to keep it out of print until Sunday, Dec. 8 [MTP]. Note: This would protect his copyright in England and Canada.
There was an evening of fun in the Clemens house. The family and neighbors, including Charles Dudley Warner, enjoyed a play written by Susy Clemens Clara Clemens described the audience as “a large company of invited friends” [MFMT 57]. In a Dec. 3 to Sylvester Baxter, and also years later, Sam described the evening:
…a brief, little fanciful play which was written by my eldest girl, & was played in the drawing-room by herself & two sisters & a couple of schoolgirl friends. After piece — charades: performers, Charley Warner, other neighbors, & the children & me. Audience — all personal friends. Result — a gay time all around [MTP].
[“The Love Chase”] was drawn upon Greek lines and reflected the spirit of its inspiration, being sweet and simple and light-hearted and pure. The costumes were Grecian. Susy was “Music;” Clara was “Art;” Daisy Warner was “Literature;” Fanny Freese was the “Shephard Boy;” and Jean was “Cupid.”
[The play ended with] “Music” wreathed and draped in fresh roses, holding the curtains apart, and singing her final song with the glow of youth in her face and eyes, and all her heart in her voice, the response of the house was a moving thing to see and hear.
This was perhaps the happiest night that Susie ever knew [Salsbury 269]. Note: MTB 883 gives the title of Susy’s play as “The Triumph of Music.”
After the play there was charades, one of the family’s favorite games with guests:
When that [the play] was over, Father joined us in playing charades, even adding as guest star William Gillette, who was visiting his relatives, the George Warners, neighbors of ours. How the audience rocked and roared with laughter at those two men! [MFMT 57].
William Smith inscribed vol. 2 of Old Yorkshire (1889-91): With the editor’s kind regards, Morley, Nov. 28, 1889 [Gribben 651].
John Brusnahan, foreman for the N.Y. Herald wrote two letters to Sam about the great demand for a reliable typesetter, and including statistics [MTP].