May 2 Thursday – The Clemens family traveled by rail through the Harz Mountains, to Cassel (Kassel) [MTLE 3: 49-50]. They took rooms at the Hotel du Nord in Cassel [MTNJ 2: 73]. From Sam’s notebook:
Who is buried here?
Nobody.
Then why the monument?
It is not a monument. It is a stove.
We had reverently removed our hats. We now put them on again.
In Europe they use safety matches & then entrust candles to drunken men, children, idiots, &c., & yet suffer little from fires, apparently. The idea of an open light in one of our houses makes us shudder.
The hatefulest thing in the world is a cuckoo clock [73-4].
Entry Date
Links to Twain's Geography Entries
Editor Note
Unable to find any information about the Hotel du Nord except that it was located in front of the Hauptbahnhof .