October 10 Wednesday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to Charles H. Webb about the failure of Webster & Co. The letter is obviously a response to an inquiry (not extant) by Webb. Sam included an etched portrait of himself made by Wall (not further identified) and signed by the artist.
October 7 Sunday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote a humorous letter to H.H. Rogers. It seems Sam had to make a quick trip to the bathroom at 2 a.m., and got lost in the dark, unable to tell which floor he was even on. He drew a layout of the hotel with a staircase zigzagging up the middle.
October 5 Friday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.
We are stalled here, tight and fast. We left Etretat last Monday. Susy was not well; so we came four hours and stopped over here to let her have a rest. It turned out to be congestion of the right lung. Temperature during three days, 104, 103, then 101. Necessarily we were a good deal alarmed, but she is ever so much better now. We shall be captives here indefinitely, of course.
October 4 Thursday – At the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, Sam discarded his first attempt at the Paul Bourget article and began a new one at noon, which he worked on till 2:10 a.m. [Oct. 5 to Rogers].
October 2 Tuesday – H.H. Rogers wrote to Sam, the letter not extant, but mentioned in Sam’s Oct. 13 to Rogers. Rogers included samples of the Paige typesetter’s work in the Chicago Herald.
October 1 Monday – The Clemens family left Etretat bound for Paris, but after four hours travel, they stopped at the Hotel d’Angleterre in Rouen, France, due to Susy’s fever and congestion of the right lung [Oct. 5 to Rogers].
October – Borderland magazine (London) I, p.558-60, ran an unsigned article, “Test Readings of Mark Twain’s Hands,” about the blind readings of Sam’s right hand by “Miss Ross,” “J.E.,” “Lucis,” and “E.L.C.” The article announced hope that in their next edition they might publish Sam’s “opinion upon the accuracy or otherwise with which strangers have hit off his distinguishing characteristics” [Tenney 22]. Tenney notes that Sam’s comments appeared in the Jan. 1895 issue, along with clear photographs of the front and back of his right hand.
September 30 Sunday – In Etretat, France Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.
As your letter hasn’t come, I judge that there wasn’t any news in the locker. There isn’t any at this end, either. Four days ago I got to the point I was struggling for and anxious about, and now that bridge is behind me and all right. It foots up 40,000 words since I arrived. Since then we have had visitors — relatives. I got through exactly in time for them. In front of me now is a long course of study and not much production — on the book.
September 29 Saturday – An agreement of this date gave Frank Mayo sole rights to dramatize PW in the U.S., England and Canada. Sam was guaranteed 20% of the net profits [MTHHR 139n2]. Note: The play would open in Hartford on Apr. 8, 1895.
September 26 Wednesday – Sam was working on his JA manuscript and wrote H.H. Rogers on Sept. 30 that he’d reached a point in the work on Sept. 26 that he’d been anxious about and “struggled for.”