November 2 Monday – In London Sam wrote to Bram Stoker, asking that a man be fired:

As you may know, I have lately lost my eldest daughter. For this reason I & my wife go nowhere & see nobody; otherwise I would call upon you or ask you to visit me.

      My object in writing this note, is, to say to you that the large blonde man with spectacles who was selling seats in your box office this afternoon at half past 4 or 5 grossly insulted my two daughters by his brutal & surly behavior, & I wish to ask you if it is your intention to discharge him, & if it is your purpose, to do it at once.

Sam asked for the name of the man so he might “make future use of him in print,” and called the man a “mangy cur” and “a hog” The “offense” of the Clemens girls was to try and buy cheap seats for 4s. “He shall not die uncelebrated, if I can help it” [MTP].

Sam’s notebook for this day:

Nov. 2, the first cook applied yesterday. Good but not honest. When I was busy making statistics to show that the 4 or 5 cooks per day who advertise for places are all that the 5,00,000 of London have to choose from, & that that was the reason my ad was not answered, a Londoner said, “23 Tedworth Square — you say that is all the address you gave?” “Yes.” “Well, that accounts for it. Tedworth is only 12 years old — a new name, you see — nobody has ever heard of it — not even the cabmen. You shd have added Chelsea — then you’d have an applicant or so…[NB 39 TS 13].