November 24 Tuesday – In London Sam wrote to the Players Club. His note ran in the Dec. 31, 1896 N.Y. Tribune.
Oh, thank you, dear boys for remembering me, and for the love that was back of it. These are heavy days and all such helps ease the burden. I glanced at your envelope by accident, and got several chuckles for reward — and chuckles are worth much in this world. And there was a curious thing; that I should get a letter addressed “God-Knows-Where” showed that He did know where I was, although I was hiding from the world, and no one in America knows my address, and the stamped legend “Deficiency of address supplied by the New York P.O.,” showed that He had given it away. In the same mail comes a letter from friends in New Zealand addressed, “Mrs. Clemens (care Mark Twain), United States of America,” and again He gave us away — this time to the deficiency department of the San Francisco P.O. These things show that our postal service has ramifications which ramify a good deal. / Mark [MTP].
Sam also wrote to H.H. Rogers.
In one of your letters of Nov. 10 you favor the execution of the contracts, but in your other of the same date you “urge us to consider carefully the matter of making terms with Harper for all time.” I take this latter to mean, drop Bliss entirely and publish my new book and future books with Harper alone.
Sam outlined three “projects” and wished he could talk them over with Rogers. Was he coming over? Or would Bliss come over? Sam and Livy had discussed the contracts for two days and thought that before signing that they should be amended in four ways, which he detailed. The other “project” was a scheme to have Harper’s issue the Uniform Edition. Under the heading “PROJECT No. 3” it’s as if Sam realized he was muddying the waters and further burdening Rogers:
By gracious, I’m appalled! Here I am trying to load you up with work again, after you have been dray-horsing over the same tiresome ground for a year. It is too bad; and I am ashamed of it.
Tell you what — if you approve, let’s do this. Won’t you put on a separate paper, in legal phrase, the things which I have suggested in PROJECT No. 1 and No. 2, and ship the paper to me and tell Bliss (not his brother) to come over here. Then I will discuss with him, and if there is a result I will submit it to Chatto and his lawyer before letting Mrs. Clemens sign the papers.
How does that strike you? Is it not fair to let you waste any more time on Bliss.
Mrs. Clemens’s leanings are all toward the Harpers — she doesn’t believe in Bliss. I add this in fairness to her. But I keep insisting that if I fail to compromise with Bliss this time I can never get my books together and never get the income from the old books augmented.
After his signature Sam asked if Bainbridge Colby, assignee for the Webster & Co. bankruptcy was on salary.
If so, let us not get in a hurry — it wouldn’t be any use. I’d like to have our Broughton baby educated to succeed him when he dies in the harness of old age.
This letter bears date to-day, but it took me four days to study out the situation. Mrs. Clemens and I thought it best to take time and go into the matter carefully [MTHHR 251-3].
Sam also wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore in what is an obvious response to a letter not extant, but about matters previously corresponded of.
I think you did extremely well in the matter of the furnace. I was dreading the expense, but am relieved now.
I am curious to know what action John Day will take in the matter of that bill. There were breakages — but we shall never get anything out of him on that score, I’m afraid.
Sam was pleased about a dividend paid by “W.U.” (Western Union?) and also enclosed “a little bill” he wanted Whitmore to pay. After his signature he suggested that John Day be solicited to estimate the value of the few pieces of valuable glass breakage; if an offer close or reasonable were offered, Whitmore was advised to “hesitate a little, but take it” [MTP].