April 30, 1908 Thursday
April 30 Thursday – Frances Nunnally wrote from Baltimore to Sam.
April 30 Thursday – Frances Nunnally wrote from Baltimore to Sam.
April 29 Wednesday– Sam wrote a sketch unpublished until 2009: “Dr. Van Dyke as a Man and as a Fisherman” [Who Is Mark Twain? xxvi, 87-94]. Note: title assigned by the MTP. Undoubtedly the sketch owes itself to an Atlantic article in the May 1908 issue by Henry Bradford Washburn, “Shall We Hunt and Fish? The Confessions of a Sentimentalist,” where Washburn opens with a quotation from Van Dyke’s “Some Remarks on Gulls, with a Foot-note on a Fish,” Scribner’s Magazine Aug. 1907. In his A.D.
April 28 Tuesday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to Nancy Langhorne Astor.
I am very sorry to hear that you have been sick, & very glad to believe that you are well again.
I wonder if I am really to have the lark of darting over to England & back, in the summer? The thought of it is enticing, but—There’s always a but. I do not suppose I can go—still, it is good enough material to dream upon, till by & by.
April 27 Monday – Helen Schuyler Allen wrote to Sam.
My dear Mr. Clemens, / I was afraid that possibly you had forgotten to write me, so decided I would write you first, and tell you how much I have missed you, I shall always remember the lovely times we had together and particularly our fine swim that last day you were in Bermuda.
When ever I use my camera I think of you, and how kind you were to help me get it. Please do write me soon. I remain you loving and devoted “Angel-fish” / Helen Schuyler Allen
April 26 Sunday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to Eden Phillpotts.
Dear Mr. Phillpotts:
The Human Boy Again has arrived, & I have just begun it & am greatly enjoying it. Meantime (in Bermuda) I read—& re-read—The Mother of the Man, with high admiration. A great book!
I wish I had energy enough to resume work upon one or two of my several half-finished books —but that is a dream, & won’t ever come true. / Cordially your friend … [MTP].
April 25 Saturday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to Helen Schuyler Allen.
I miss you ever so much, you dear Helen. There’s been a queer & constant reminder of you— salt in my hair—ever since that pleasant bath, until an hour ago when I washed it out with 5 separate & distinct soapings & scourings.
April 24 Friday – Clemens and Ralph Ashcroft traveled to Greenwich, Conn. to visit Jean Clemens. Jean, her two nurses, and friend Marguerite Schmidt; the ladies would shortly move to Gloucester, Mass. Meanwhile, Isabel Lyon inspected the construction site of what would be Stormfield at Redding [Hill 197; 203]. Note: the exact date of Jean’s move was not determined, but on May 20, Sam wrote a “welcome to your new home” for her. It becomes apparent that Hill used IVL’s journals for much of his source, though he didn’t always cite it.
April 23 Thursday – The New York Times, p. 13, “Business Troubles” ran a paragraph on the Plasmon Co. of America’s bankruptcy:
April 22 Wednesday – Isabel Lyon’s journal: The King, Dorothy, Ashcroft and I went down to the Aquarium today for a little frolic, but the King was very limp, and didn’t stay there very long, for there weren’t the wonderful fish that you see in Bermuda waters. The angel fish cannot live here at all it would seem. The King cosied-up in the corner of the elevated train, and come home to rest for Zoeth and Grace Freeman came to dine and to meet ABP. AB wasn’t very well, and so not very bright, but Grace was scintillating [MTP: IVL TS 447-48].
April 21 Tuesday – Sam, feeling “in the humor to dance” at midnight, “went round the corner,” but not finding Nancy Langhorne Astor there, decided not to dance [Apr. 28 to Astor].
Isabel Lyon’s journal: “Went to hunt for wall paperings. Santa and her troupe are planning to go to England [MTP: IVL TS 47].
Alice Moran wrote from Oil City, Penn. to Sam.