August 5 Sunday – Philip H. Sheridan died. He was only five feet five inches, which gave him the nickname, “Little Phil,” though through high living he did not stay little. Thin as a youth, he blossomed to over 200 lbs. after the war, and suffered from a series of heart attacks, the final one claiming him this day. His burial at Arlington, the ceremony there helped to shape the reputation of Arlington Cemetery as a national place of honor.

In Elmira Sam wrote to Franklin G. Whitmore that he’d received his last letter. More funds were needed for the Paige typesetter, which still wasn’t finished. Sam authorized Whitmore to “look over our small batch of securities, and either “spout them” or borrow on them “for the eternal machine.”

Is there any — even a dim — prospect that the machine will be finished this year? [MTP].