April 18 Friday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Joe Goodman having received his telegraph of the day before and his earlier letter. A. Hoffman puts Joe in Washington at this time, attempting to hook Senator Jones into backing the Paige machine [359], but from his Apr. 17 telegram and letter of this day it’s clear he was in Fresno. Sam wanted Joe to go inspect the new Mergenthaler Linotype machine, because he and Paige weren’t allowed to sit and watch it run now.

The Mergenthaler, which was dead, has come to life again…Paige, Davis & I have watched it work, & think it is better & worse than the old machine…. We consider it liberal to call it a 3500-em machine (corrected matter.) … [Senator] Jones could not fairly be required to accept our report, anyway. If you were here, of course you could do the examining, in Jones’s interest, & I guess the result would be that we should come out with flying colors.

I mean to keep our nose above water if I possibly can, till you arrive, for I couldn’t take Jones’s money on an uncertainty. I have a new scheme which I think he would take to, if convinced that the Linotype is no competitor.

News to-day that some vast capitalists want to come & talk business with us. We have appointed next Thursday — the final touch, the air-blast, will be in, then [MTP]. Note: The “air-blast” was a late improvement by Paige to utilize compressed air to blow motes off the types. One of the backers of the Mergenthaler was Stilson Hutchins, founder of the Washington Post.

Livy’s Apr. 20 letter to her mother described the events of the evening of Apr. 18:

We have been rather gay for us this week on Friday evening we went to South Manchester; again all the family going but Jean. It being Friday evening and a number of young people that are not yet in society being among the invited guests I let Susy and Clara go.

There were four or five cars full of invited guests, all the nice people pretty much of Hartford were of the party. We were invited for theatricals we had first a most charming play “A Box of Monkeys.” I think I never saw a better play or one better given. The actors and actresses were all Cheneys, one Mrs. Cheney, two Misses Cheney and two Mr. Cheneys. They were all truly accomplished actresses and actors. After the play a beautiful supper and then a dance for the young people [Salsbury 277]. See Apr. 23 from Emily Cheney. The play was by Grace Livingston Furniss.

Joe Goodman wrote to Sam that he had to borrow funds for the new crop; that he had no idea why Sam would want him to return East as Sam’s dispatch of Apr. 16 asked, but that he was out of money and had no idea what he could achieve there. Pruning the grapes could not wait. Sam wrote on the envelope, “Doesn’t want to come / Has old habit of dependency on Some one” [MTP].

Frederick J. Hall wrote of being approached for a book by “the great and only” (Samuel) Ward McAllister (1827-1895) on social etiquette entitled, The Social Arts. What was Sam’s opinion? [MTP]. See Gribben 434 giving a book title of McAllister’s, Society As I Have Found It, Cassell Publishing Co., 1890.