October 20, 1901 Sunday

October 20 Sunday – In N.Y.C. Sam wrote on “Order of Acorns” letterhead to Joseph Johnson, Jr.

“Dear Mr. Johnson: / I forgot to say don’t do anything with the article without first giving me a chance to read the proof” [MTP].

October 17, 1901 Thursday

October 17 Thursday – The New York Sun, Oct. 18, p.3, reported Sam’s anti-Tammany talk for policemen in front of his Riverdale house, followed by a trip downtown for his speech at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for the Order of Acorns, a group of independent voters organized to defeat Tammany candidates and elect Seth Low mayor. The New York Times Oct. 18, p.5 reported only on the hotel speech:

MARK TWAIN MAKES A SPEECH.

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October 16, 1901 Wednesday

October 16 WednesdayWilliam Dean Howells replied to Sam that he would “gladly come to your feast of acorns tomorrow evening,” but was concerned they might “poke” him out without an invitation. He also poked Sam about the upcoming Yale event publicity:

“In the notice of the Yale guests, as I noted with my usual grouch where you are concerned, your name came first, with some laudatory type round it, and mine followed with the “and others,” and nothing attached to it. So I think there is some mistake” [MTHL 2: 731].

October 15, 1901 Tuesday

October 15 Tuesday – In Riverdale, N.Y. Sam wrote to George Washington Cable.

Your book came three days ago, your note [not extant] this morning. I finished reading the story night before last. From start to finish it kept me electrically a-tingle with its rush & go, & charmed with its brilliances of phrasing & its other manifold fascinations. Thank you cordially! [MTP]. Note: See Gribben 123. Cable’s book referred to was The Cavalier (1901)

October 14, 1901 Monday

October 14 MondayWilliam Dean Howells wrote to Sam [MTHL 2: 730]. Note: letter dated Oct. 15; postmarked Oct. 14; Howells was likely confused as to the date.

Michael P. O’Riley wrote from NY to Sam. He was a policeman and had read Sam’s interview in this day’s Herald. He wanted Sam to know that policemen were with Seth Low almost to the man, and wished Sam success in his canvass for votes for Low [MTP].

October 13, 1901 Sunday

October 13 Sunday – In the evening Sam finished reading The Cavalier, George Washington Cable’s new book [Oct. 15 to Cable].

Sam inscribed a flyleaf of Russell Alexander Alger’s (1836-1907) The Spanish American War (1901): “S.L. Clemens, Riverdale-on-Hudson, Oct. 13, 1901” [Gribben 20].

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