November 18 Thursday – Sam attended a world premiere of the operetta Blumen Mary (Mary’s Flower Shop) at the Theater an der Wien. He was spotted by a Neue Freie Presse reviewer and his presence was reported the next day on p.6. The operetta was set in New York, with music by Charles Weinberger and book and lyrics by Leo Stein and Alexander Landesburg. Dolmetsch writes:

In the Hofloge (court box) next to Twain’s sat the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg throne whose assassination at Sarajevo plunged the world into war, and Archduke Otto, whose son, Karl, became the last Austrian emperor. The performance was a great success with both the critics and the public, but Mark Twain, asked for a comment on the operetta’s depiction of American life, smiled and diplomatically said nothing [99].