May 19 Saturday – Sam wrote two drafts of a telegram to be sent from Hartford to John Douglas Sutherland Campbell (Marquis of Lorne; 1845-1914), apologizing for his delay after receiving a confused message second hand by telephone. After a:

“…long delay it has come to me correctly & lucidly in manuscript form & I hasten to accept your lordship’s kind invitation & say I shall do myself the honor to report in Ottawa” [MTP].

The Chicago Tribune, p. 9, “Mark Twain Produces Another Compound of Fiction, Humor, and Fact,” concluded LM was “one of the best, if not the best, this writer has given to the public” [Budd, Reviews 235].

Samuel E. Dawson (telegram on behalf of Lord Lorne) wrote “Governor General wants you to be his guest at meeting of Royal Society try and go.” He also sent a letter about the event and advised he’d sent the Gov. “your book with autograph” [MTP].

George P. Lathrop wrote from NYC about his wife’s plans to go to Europe foreclosing them from visiting Hartford. He PS’d that he was reading LM “with great satisfaction” [MTP].