September 21 Friday – In N.Y.C. Sam began a letter to Mary B. Rogers (Mrs. H.H. Rogers, Jr.) that he added to after reaching Norfolk, Conn. Sept. 22, where he finished it on Sept. 23. Daughter Clara was to make her American debut as a concert singer in Norfolk on Sept. 22.
[first page of letter written between typewritten lines of letter to SLC from W. M. Vanderweyde:]
September 20 Thursday – At 21 Fifth Ave., N.Y.C. Sam wrote to Isabel V. Lyon in Dublin, N.H.
Clara & I have just come in from dinner at the Grosvenor, & I am gone to bed.
Day before yesterday I told Mrs. Johnson frankly & in detail our judgment of the Joan play, & she took it in good part.
Yesterday on the yacht I read 10,000 words of the story, & to-day I read 10,000 more—both batches with great admiration & continuous & strong interest.
September 19 Wednesday – Sam left Fairhaven, Mass. on the Kanawha for New York City. On board he read 10,000 words of Charlotte Teller Johnson’s play [Sept. 20 to Lyon].
In the evening Sam spoke at the Associated Press Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in N.Y.C. The NewYork Times, Sept. 20, p. 4 reported on the event:
SPELLING AND PICTURES AND TWAIN AT DINNER
The Associated Press Men Hear a Plea for Phonetic Forms.
September 18 Tuesday – Isabel Lyon’s journal:
AB came back today, came back tired & brought me “Madame Butterfly”. He’s a thoughtful creature. I was so glad to see him—so very glad for when the King is away the loneliness of this place can be screaming, because I’m not alone. I can endure myself. It’s the rest of the world that chokes me so—a certain spirit world that is disastrous to me [MTP TS 120-121].
September 17 Monday – Sam, likely in Fairhaven, Mass., inscribed a picture of a house to an unidentified person. “No, it is too stylish, it is not my birthplace” [MTP: MS facsimile: Paine’s 1912 Mark Twain: A Biography].
September 16 Sunday – Isabel Lyon’s journal:
Jean, 10:30—porch. 2 weeks & 2 days.
A dreadful kind of day, for Jean would not let me out of her sight. We tried to walk a little but she was not equal to it. Then I dressed up in a clown costume to cheer her up & then she began to read “Kim” aloud to me. But it was a dreadful kind of a day, for she couldn’t keep it up [MTP TS 120].
September 15 Saturday – Sam left Dublin, N.H. for Fairhaven, Mass. [Sept. 14 to Twichell].
September 14 Friday – In Dublin, N.H. Sam replied to the (not extant) Sept. 12 letter of Joe Twichell in Blue Ridge, N.Y.
It’s all right about the Westminster, I am hoping to get converted, & I don’t wish to leave any promising bait unswallowed. I see that you wish me to help you deceive the guide into believing that you enjoy the distinction of being acquainted with me, & so, out of the weakness of inherent good-nature I consent, though I’m damned if I think it is good morals.
September 12 Wednesday – Isabel Lyon’s journal: “On the train between Boston & New York somewhere. Mrs. George Harvey & Dorothy are in the 2nd parlor coach ahead. I’ve been in to see them” [MTP TS 119]. Note: judging by this and her Sept. 14 entry, Clemens did not go on this trip, the purpose of which is not stated.
September 11 Tuesday – In Dublin, N.H. Sam wrote to Mary B. Rogers. Only the envelope survives [MTP].
Sam also sent a night telegram to Frederic Chapin in Oak Park, Ill. relative to Chapin’s Aug. 19 concern about producing a play of P&P there: “My contract is in the Safe deposit New York. I do not remember the terms—My secretary goes down tomorrow—Wednesday— empowered to examine it & decide definitely with Miss Marbury” [MTP].