October 21 Monday – In Ballarat, Australia Sam gave his “Mark Twain At Home” (No. 1) lecture at Mechanics’ Institute. — Reviews published Oct. 22: Ballarat Courier, Ballarat Evening Echo, Ballarat Star [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 17]. Shillingsburg writes, “Of all the country towns, perhaps Ballarat felt most kinship with Twain, and he with it.” She goes on to explain the boomtown beginnings of the gold mining town and parallels these with the rough and tumble nature of the California, Nevada, and the Mississippi Valley of Sam’s young manhood [At Home 100-1].