February 16 Sunday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to William Augustus Croffut.

My dear Croffut:

You will see by this morning’s clipping that there is hardly any likelihood that the Knickerbocker will resume business. My deposit is $51,199, & I am not expecting 15 per cent of it to escape alive.

It is lovely of you to want to have a foreign Ambassadorship conferred upon me as a refuge— with the usual salary, which pays part of the house-rent but doesn’t include board & clothes— but no, although the Knickerbocker hasn’t hurt me much I am a candidate for increased gain, increased luxury, augmented pomp & show. I want to be made a Permanent Receiver. Then I can live beyond my means for ten years & still come out a millionaire at the end.

Yours ever,  / Mark

Private. Publish it if you can. Every little helps, in this Knickerbocker fight. / SLC

Later. One of the Satterlee committee has called. He read this, & was appalled! And said—

“Oh, for goodness’ sake, don’t think of publishing it. Everything is going well; we are absolutely not going into the hands of a permanent receiver, & so you mustn’t antagonize anybody. Keep still; everything is as right & sure as any one could wish”  [MTP].

Adele Burden wrote to invite Sam to luncheon on this day at 1:30 [MTP].

Isabel Lyon’s journal: The King’s eye is still very much inflamed. He lunches today with Mr. Burden. He dines tonight with the Coes.

Friday the King got a letter from W.A. Crofutt [sic Croffut; see above letter to] suggesting that he be made an Ambassador to some big foreign country, because probably the Knickerbocker is going into a permanent receivership. Oh hell, it makes me so sick, but the King never winces.

Later & Mr. Lauterbach came in to say that the articles in the paper are put in for a purpose and the Knicker seems to be promising all good things.

Tonight the King dined with the Coes & when he came home I went to his room to find him seated on the edge of the bed & figuring with the calendar. He said that he was going to Bermuda on Saturday with Mr. Rogers if it could be arranged & of course it can be, & best of all I am to go with him to Bermuda, that darling island way from this cold, but heated, fretted dusty place [MTP: IVL TS 23-24].