April 28 Friday – At 21 Fifth Ave. in N.Y.C. Sam wrote to Andrew Carnegie.

Dear St. Andrew: / For thirty-eight years I have striven for the position of world’s benefactor, but you have gotten the start of me, I am too old to struggle longer—take the place, you’ve won it fair! If you had told me of this great thing when you were at my bedside the other day I would have resigned without waiting till now; & you could have had my halo, too. It may be tin, but no matter, it’s good tin, & paid the duty when it came down.

In a fine & appreciative editorial the Times of this morning speaks of you as the “insatiable benefactor.” Isn’t it good? If that doesn’t please you you are a hard saint to satisfy. / Ys Ever / St. Mark II., (retired) [MTP].

Note: The N.Y. Times article, p.8 “Carnegie’s Latest,” dealing with his donations to educational pensions, begins with “Mr. Carnegies’s latest discovery of an unoccupied field for his insatiable benevolence…”, nearly the same as “insatiable benefactor.” Sam’s reference to being “retired” seems like a poke at Carnegie with a spoof request for his own pension.

Sam also wrote to Robert Underwood Johnson with his picks for nomination to the American Academy of Arts & Letters (Johnson was a secretary for the Academy at this time): I shall be in New Hampshire for the summer, by the 6th of May.

I nominate— [Francis] Marion Crawford / William Gillette / Edward Everett Hale / Joel Chandler Harris / Bronson Howard / Thos. Nelson Page / CARL SCHURZ / Augustus Thomas / and / A. T. [Alfred Thayer] MAHAN (if he is the naval historian.) // I will leave Art & Music to the gentlemen of those guilds to nominate—but I would like to vote Abbey & John W. Alexander. / Ys sincerely SL Clemens

Carl Schurz should have been elected at the recent meeting—& should not fail this time [MTP]. Note: John White Alexander, artist.

Isabel Lyon’s journal # 2: Copyright meeting at Century Office, 4.30.

Mr Renwick called to talk with Katie about new heating—He wasn’t very obliging—will give answer in ten days—

At the Copyright meeting, Mr. Clemens made the suggestion that authorship be separated from photography copy right [MTP TS 16].

James D. Campbell for the Plasmon Company of America wrote to Sam, notifiying that the adjourned stockholders meeting of April 27 would reconvene on May 29 at 2:30 p.m. to elect five directors [MTP].