October 20 Saturday – Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900) died of a sudden heart attack in Hartford. He was cheerful earlier in the day at a luncheon. Sam attended his funeral on Oct. 23 [NY Times, Oct. 21, p.1].
October 18 Thursday – At the Hotel Earlington in N.Y.C., Sam replied to an unidentified man’s request, perhaps a reporter’s for an interview:
I would have done it with great pleasure on “interviewing day,” but I have been saying no, ever since, & it would not be fair to those others to say otherwise this time. Consistency is seldom a virtue, but you will concede that in a case like this it is [MTP]. Note: “Interviewing day” likely being the evening they arrived in port.
October 17 Wednesday – Mark Twain wasted no time upon his return to the U.S. to speak in public. In the evening he spoke at a benefit for the Galveston orphans at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (of the Sept. 8 -9 hurricane). From the N.Y. Times of Oct. 18.
BAZAAR FOR GALVESTON ORPHANS
Mark Twain Closes the Benefit—Net Receipts Estimated at $25,000
October 16 Tuesday – At Hotel Earlington, N.Y.C., Sam wrote one sentence to Arthur Lumley (1837-
1912), illustrator, painter. “Gen. Bunker means well, & so I’ll not criticise his history, though I give you my word there isn’t a single molecule of truth in it anywhere” [MTP].
Originally known as the Hotel Gerlach:
One of the residents that year [1895?] was Yugoslavian scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla. His laboratory was located at No. 33-35 South Fifth Avenue. Here he worked on his experiments in fluorescent lighting and wireless transmission of power. The lab and the hotel were approximately 30 blocks apart—the perfect distant for experimenting with wireless transmissions.
October 14 Sunday – Sam’s notebook: “Noon. About 500 miles to make. A spacious ship & most comfortable. Rides the seas level—hardly any motion. No sea-sickness on board. No table-racks” [NB 43 TS 27].
The New York World ran an article, “Mark Twain, the Greatest American Humorist, Returning Home, Talks at Length,” which included Twain’s ideas about autobiography given to reporters before sailing on Oct. 6 in London:
October 13 Saturday – The Clemens family was at sea en route from London to New York on the SS Minnehaha. In New York, the steamer Lucania of the Cunard Line, came into port. Some were disappointed Mark Twain was not on board. Major-General Wesley Merritt, once Supt. of West Point was reported “a close personal friend” of Twain’s, and that there had been frequent interchange of friendly calls between the two” in London [no particulars of visits were found].
October 12 Friday – The Clemens family was at sea en route from London to New York on the SS Minnehaha. Sam wrote a letter to John Y. MacAlister, the only one extant from the voyage. He did not date the letter but headed it, “2,000 miles at sea,” which would have put the ship just short of 2/3 of the way to New York on a ten-day voyage; thus it’s estimated at six days at sea, or Oct. 12. The letter was postmarked Oct. 16 after arrival in N.Y.C.
October 11 Thursday – The Clemens family was at sea en route from London to New York on the SS Minnehaha.
October 10 Wednesday – The Clemens family was at sea en route from London to New York on the SS Minnehaha. Sam’s notebook: “ Captain Robinson—very fine man. Knew him 18 years ago” [NB 43 TS 27]. Note: John Robinson (1856-1922) had a long caereer with the Atlantic Transport Line, and was the first Captain of the Minnehaha, he held that position until 1908, when, at 60, it was customary for Captains of the line to retire.