May 16 Saturday – Sam went to Fairhaven, Mass. to visit H.H. Rogers, who was recovering from an appendectomy. The men played billiards, went on a ride, then after dinner Rogers took to his bed; Sam and William E. Benjamin (Rogers’ son-in-law) played more billiards till 11:30 p.m. [May 17 to Livy].

James B. Pond wrote to Sam that he was suffering his 12th week with an ulcer on the ball of his foot that would not heal. He wanted to hear from him. He had heard at the dinner table that Mark Twain had “been let in on so many tips by his friends, Rogers, Morgan, Harvey, & others that he had forgotten all the friends he ever had that did not control millions” [MTP]. On the env. Sam wrote, “Write him—& roast him.”