October 8 Friday – At the Metropole Hotel, Vienna, Austria, Sam wrote to John Fletcher Hurst, thanking him for his efforts to secure them housing, but daughter Clara “has reached the conclusion that she would rather live near the centre of the city.” Sam added he was “well satisfied” where he was and had “ceased to be restless” [MTP]. Note: John Fletcher Hurst (1834-1903) was father of (Carlton) Bailey Hurst (b.1867) consul-general who had made prior attempts to find housing for the Clemenses. See Oct. 1. See Gribben 342.

Sam also wrote to H.H. Rogers

We have been here nine days and I have spent seven of them in bed—with gout. I am up and around, yesterday and to-day, but the rainy and snowy weather keeps all of us except Mrs. Clemens in the house— colds, coughs and gout-possibilities the reason. …

The mail is made up of letters that are written in the difficult German script. This blocks off all possible idleness and keeps us busy; for it takes us as long to spell out a German letter as it does to answer it. All the gouty people in Austria and Germany write me and tell me what is good for gout, and some of the remedies are good. I mean to try the whole lot the next time I get the disease. They can’t all fail.

So far I’ve seen nothing of Vienna except what is visible from the hotel windows [MTHHR 302].

Sam also wrote his aphorism on economizing valuable truth, in English and German, to an unidentified person [MTP]. Note: a facsimile of the aphorism was published in the Oct. 10 issue of the Neus Wiener Journal.