February 11 Tuesday – Sam returned briefly to Hartford [MTL 5: 295].

February 10 Monday – Sam was listed among the arrivals at the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York. He may have viewed dress rehearsals of Augustin Daly’s play of Roughing It, which ran from Feb. 18 to Mar. 15 [The Twainian, July-Aug 1946 p2].

In the evening, Sam gave his revised “Sandwich Islands” lecture at Steinway Hall, New York City [Schmidt].

February 8 Saturday – Sam returned briefly to Hartford [MTL 5: 295].

February 7 Friday – Sam gave his revised “Sandwich Islands” lecture at the Academy, Brooklyn, New York [Schmidt].

Bill dated Jan. 4 paid to H.A. Botsford & Co., Hartford dealers in bailed hay and straw, for $15.68 [MTP].

Nearly half an inch of rain & snow fell on NYC [NOAA.gov].

February 6 Thursday – The Brooklyn Eagle ran an unsigned, teasing announcement on page 3 of Sam’s lecture for the following night. It has that Mark Twain ring to it.

MARK TWAIN

February 5 Wednesday – Sam gave his revised “Sandwich Islands” lecture at Steinway Hall, New York City [Schmidt].

A load of hay was delivered by Paul Thompson for a fee of 5 cents [MTP].

February 4 Tuesday – Nearly an inch of rain fell in NYC [NOAA.gov].

February 3 Monday – George Routledge & Sons, London was paid for duties on books shipped (bill in MTP).

 In Hartford, M. Nott delivered and certified a load of wood had a certain amount of feet [MTP].

February 2 Sunday – Sam wrote from the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York to Livy on their third wedding anniversary.

I am keeping the great anniversary in the solitude of the hotel; & not boisterously, for last night’s whirlwind of excitement has swept all the spirit out of me & I am as dull & lifeless as if I had just waked out of a long, stupefying sleep.

February 1 Saturday – Sam telegraphed from Hartford to Whitelaw Reid, who was a member of the Lotos Club in N.Y. where Sam had agreed to speak. “Andrews and I will go to the club without first going to the hotel.” The dinner was in Reid’s honor. That evening, Sam gave a speech.

“I make it a rule of life never to miss any chances, especially on occasions like these, where the opportunity for converting the heathen is luxuriously promising” [MTL 5: 292].