August 7 Tuesday – In New York on Players Club stationery, Sam wrote a paragraph to his brother Orion in Keokuk, Iowa, asking his forgiveness for losing his temper.

…I was infernally provoked to reflect that I had written 200 letters trying to settle that picayune trade & then hadn’t accomplished it.

Sam couldn’t write “for low pay,” not with “family expenses $1,700 for a month, scrimp & economise as we may” [MTP]. Note: the “picayune trade” may have been an attempt to sell a small amount of stock in the new Paige Compositor Co., to a contact of Orion’s.

Sam also wrote a note of thanks to Henry Gilsey (1845-1908), son of Peter Gilsey, founder of the Gilsey House in New York, and Players Club member. Gilsey’s gift of a billiard cue was appreciated:

I am very proud of that cue, & very fond of you for giving it to me. I did not know you had done it, till three or four days ago; & since then I have been looking out for you to thank you…[MTP].