September 6 Friday – In Saranac Lake, N.Y. Sam wrote, forwarding Joe Twichell’s Sept. 5 to H.H.
Rogers: “From Twichell. Needn’t return it, Mr. Rogers; —don’t need it. Waste-basket it” [MTP; not in MTHHR].
Sam also finished his Aug. 29 to Rogers, having been sidetracked by the writing of “The Double-Barrelled Detective Story,” which would run in Jan.-Feb. 1902 Harper’s Monthly.
Sept. 6. I broke off, there, Aug. 29, because I happened upon a text for a story. Up to yesterday evening I had written 104 pages like this upon it; an average of 18 pages a day—20,000 words altogether—magazinable at 20 cents a word. Am getting wealthy. I have been revising & correcting all day, & shall add a final chapter to-morrow, then take a rest.
Sam also suggested a parody of Samuel Woodworth’s (1785-1842) old poem, which would begin, “The old broken Mugwump, / The iron-bound Mugwump,” and asked Rogers, “Do you remember the words of the Old Oaken Bucket?” [MTP].
President William McKinley was shot; he would he would die Sept. 14, 1901