October 25 Thursday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to Mary B. Rogers now in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.
Mariechen dear, it must be a Latin word, as it isn’t in the Unabridged. The U. has only “Accipient (obsolete) a receiver.”
October 24 Wednesday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to Emilie R. Rogers.
Dear Mrs. Rogers, it is lovely of you! Yes, Mr. Coe is the very man. He will know the exact size of the Fairhaven table, & can duplicate it. When he examines this room I think he will say it is large enough: it is 15 feet wide by 18 long, & the 18 can be increased to 18.6 if necessary, by removing a bookcase.
October 23 Tuesday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to Dihdwo Twe, a Liberian who visited Sam several times and was deeply interested in the Congo reform movement. Sam dictated the letter for Twe to use as an introduction to a pamphet calling on the world to help the Congo. Basically, Sam wrote, the human race is made up of humbugs; he felt Twe should deal with the human race as it is, not as he wished it to be—it had “no desire for uncomfortable truths, no appetite for them…” etc. [MTP].
October 22 Monday – In the a.m. at 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam wrote to Mary B. Rogers (Mrs. H.H. Rogers, Jr.).
October 21 Sunday – In N.Y.C. Sam went “Sabbath-breaking” to Urban H. Broughton’s, and beat him five out of seven games at billiards [Oct. 22 to Mary Rogers].
Isabel Lyon’s journal: “All day it has rained hard & Mr. Clemens went out to the Broughtons to play billiards. He is restless & finds a great emptiness in life. He doesn’t like this house & finds no comfort outside of his own room. My own little six sided room is the only place I care for—that & the King’s room” [MTP TS 137-138].
October 20 Saturday – At 21 Fifth Ave, N.Y. Sam inscribed a photo of himself in a rocking chair to Josephine S. Hobby: “Let us save to-morrows for work. / For / Miss Hobby— / Oct. 20, 06.” [MTP].
October 19 Friday – Sam’s notebook: “19th Oct. ’06. This is what Katy is celebrating as her ‘anniversary.’ We also celebrate it, cordially. She has been with us 26 years” [NB 48 TS 5].
Agnes L. Brown wrote from Ottawa, Ontario Canada to Sam appreciating his article on Howells. She sent Sam two books, The Cape Breton Giant by “Mr. Gillis” and another unnamed [MTP]. Note: Gillis not in Gribben.
October 18 Thursday – Isabel Lyon’s journal:
Sack-Cloth & Ashes will have a good home with a Mr. Fisher—a clerk in Mr. Allison’s shop. The dear little cats have been distraught for 2 days now, for they sense the coming of something.
October 17 Wednesday – Sam took “The long railway journey from Dublin” N.H. to N.Y.C. which he later wrote, “destroyed me for 7 whole days!” [Oct. 24 to Emilie Rogers].
Isabel Lyon’s journal: “This morning the King left early for Boston & he was in a dear mood. / Jean left by way of Keene. I took her over & put her on the train” [MTP TS 137].
October 16 Tuesday – In Dublin, N.H. Sam finished his Oct. 11, 12, 13 to Mary B. Rogers.
Tuesday
You hope you will come out of it “a better woman.” You don’t need it, Mary. You have the clean mind & the right heart, & this is a condition which is not really betterable. It is going to carry you far out of Harry’s reach & mine. But I believe—I truly believe—we shall be allowed to call, sometimes, as the aeons drift by on their long course. St. Peter will sniff & say—