August 1 Sunday – In Lawrence, New York (Long Island), Sam wrote to Livy of his time with the Laffans in their residence:

Livy darling, I am having a divine time here, & am exceedingly glad I came. Have spent an hour & a half in the sea at noon, & we are all going again at 4 pm & finish the day in the water…We undress & dress, at home, then walk down street 300 yards; then wade a ¼ of a mile between two sandbars, & there you are! — splendid beach [MTP].

While staying at the Laffan’s Sam met a Mrs. Ratcliffe and Miss Edith whom he mentioned in a thank you note to Georgiana R. Laffan (Mrs. William Mackay Laffan) on Aug. 6.

Sam’s presence on Long Island may have stimulated an article in the Brooklyn Eagle on this day, page 7, “ONE OF MARK TWAIN’S EARLY EXPERIENCES,” which re-told the tale of Sam discharge from the San Francisco Call. This version may have been related by Sam, or it may be a reprint from the Call as noted. Was it a coincidence that Sam was in that part of New York the same day this ran? In part:

“The fact is, you have come to the conclusion that I am not the kind of man you want.”

“Well, if you will have it,” said Barnes, “you are not. You are the laziest, most shiftless, goof for nothing specimen I ever saw around a newspaper office. I have tried for six months to get some hard work out of you and failed, and I have come to the conclusion that it is useless to keep you any longer.”

“Barnes, replied Twain, in his most placid manner, “you are not as smart a man as I thought you were. You have been six months in finding that out, and I knew it the day I came to work. Give us an order on the office for three days’ pay and I git.” — San Francisco Call.

Orion Clemens wrote a short note to his niece Susy Clemens; it was included in the envelope with a letter to Sam and family postmarked Aug. 2. See entry.