January 31 Monday – In Hartford Sam wrote to Richard Watson Gilder, editor Century Magazine. Did he want a “powerful readable short article (about 5,000 words at a rough guess?)”; Would he pay more than “of yore”? And would Gilder “crowd it into the March No.?” [MTP]. Sam was working on “English As She Is Taught,” which would appear in the Century in the April issue. “…this article demanded little of Clemens since he merely provided a framework and running commentary for the children’s misstatements and malapropisms sent to him by Caroline B. Le Row, a Brooklyn schoolteacher” [MTNJ 3: 226]. (Editorial emphasis.)

Lockwood De Forest, N.Y. vendor, wrote an estimate of $25 for “3 strips of brass for fireplace perforated according to design left with us…” [MTP].