Day By Day Dates

September 10 Tuesday – Next Day. Sure enough, it has happened. Yesterday it was September 8, Sunday; to-day it is September 10, Tuesday. There is something uncanny about it. And uncomfortable. In fact, nearly unthinkable, and wholly unrealizable, when one comes to consider it [FE Ch. IV p.75].

September 11 Wednesday – Sept. 11. We are moving steadily southward — getting further and further down under the projecting paunch of the globe. Yesterday evening we saw the Big Dipper and the north star sink below the horizon and disappear from our world. No, not “we,” but they. They saw it — somebody saw it — and told me about it. …My interest was all in the Southern Cross. I had never seen that….We saw the Cross to-night, and it is not large. Not large but strikingly bright.

September 13 Friday – At sea on the Warrimoo, Sam’s notebook:

September 14 Saturday – At sea on the Warrimoo, Sam added to his Sept. 13 a letter to H.H. Rogers, that he would finish Sept. 15: “Shuffleboarding is rather violent exercise for me,” and related that he won the best two of three games with another tournament winner, and was dubbed “Champion of the South Seas” [MTHHR 187: See NB 35 TS 49].

September 15 Sunday – At sea on the Warrimoo, Sam finished his Sept. 13-14 letter to H.H. Rogers:

Atlantic seas on to-day — the first we have had. And yet not really rough. Satchels keep their places and do not go browsing around….Clara “fetched away” from the piano stool while playing the hymns at divine service.

September 16 Monday – Sydney was then a city of about 380,000. In Sydney Harbor, after breakfast aboard the Warrimoo and with a reporter for the Sydney Evening News, the Clemens party disembarked and arrived at the Circular Quay, Sydney Harbor, at about 7 a.m. [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 6]. Paine writes they “landed in a pouring rain the breaking up of a fierce drought. Clemens announced that he had brought Australia good-fortune, and should expect something in return” [MTB 1009].

September 17 Tuesday – In Sydney, Australia, Sam gave an interview, possibly fabricated, with “Asmodeus” of Sunday Truth. The Australian Star, p.4 ran an editorial against Sam’s free trade opinions. In the afternoon, Livy and Clara joined a crowd of the Society of Artists at a private showing of Ethel A. Stephens’ work at her studio.

September 18 Wednesday – In Sydney, Australia, Sam gave an interview at 2 p.m. with Louis Becke whose book By Reef and Palm (1895) was a gift (See Sept. 11 entry). Another interviewer waited. Becke inscribed the title page of his book for Sam: To S.L. Clemens / from Louis Becke / Sydney Sept. 1895 [Gribben 54]. See Sept. 24 to Becke.

September 19 Thursday – In Sydney, Australia, Sam gave the first of some 30 performances down-under at Protestant Hall on Castlereagh St. The lecture was titled, “Mark Twain at Home” (No.1). The hall “easily seating 2000,” the “best hall in Sydney”. Tickets sold from 1-5 shillings. Fatout writes of Sam’s Sydney engagements:

September 20 Friday – In Sydney, Australia, the Clemens family went sightseeing around the city, and lunched with H. Pateson, manager of the New South Wales Fresh Food and Ice Co. on Harbor St., with several other ladies and gentlemen. In Ch. 11 of FE Sam commented on the market; refrigeration used there was only about twelve years old at the time, and made it possible for meat to be shipped to England. Sam gave an interview to a Sunday Times reporter, which was published on Sept.

September 21 Saturday – In Sydney, Australia, Sam gave the second performance of “Mark Twain at Home” No. 2 at a filled Protestant Hall on Castlereagh St. Shillingsburg estimates Sam grossed about £300 from each Protestant Hall performance [At Home 52].

September 22 Sunday – In Sydney, Australia, several interviews were published:

“A Chat With Mark Twain” in the Sunday Times; “Our Telephone,” also in Sunday Times (possibly a fabrication), and “Our American Cousin,” Sunday Truth. The Sunday Times also reviewed “Mark Twain at Home” lecture [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 9].

September 23 Monday – In Sydney, Australia the Clemens family were again guests of Admiral Cyprian A. Bridge and the officers of the H.M.S. Orlando. Livy and Clara stayed on the ship for the six o’clock dance with the band of the H.M.S. Oriana. They met the wife and daughters of Lt. Gov. Darley, Lt. Gov. Madden’s wife and daughter of Victoria Province; Mr. & Mrs. S. McCulloch and others.

September 24 Tuesday – In Sydney, Australia Sam wrote a paragraph of thanks to journalist and author Louis Becke for his inscribed gift copy of By Reef and Palm. Sam declared that the book “stands the test of a third reading, whereas few are the books that can do that” [MTP]. Shillingsburg writes that the columnist “Asmodeus” from the Truth, claimed to have “strolled around to interview the man” on this day [At Home 37].

September 25 Wednesday – In Sydney, Australia the Clemens family spent the day packing for a trip to Melbourne. Sam was trying to “stave off an attack by a new carbuncle on his calf” [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 10; At Home 52].

September 26 Thursday – At 5 a.m. in Albury, Australia, the Clemens party switched trains to a different track gauge train for the remainder of the trip to Melbourne. On a “bitterly cold night,” Livy had an attack of rheumatism.

September 27 Friday – In Melbourne Sam gave his “Mark Twain At Home” No.1 lecture at the Bijou Theatre on Bourke St. Livy and Clara were in the audience. The lecture was attended by Edward FitzGibbon, Hon. James Service, Sir James Patterson (all former premiers); Hon. C.J., Mrs. and Misses Ham; Mr., Mrs., Miss Aitkin. Sam’s program was listed in his NB 35.

September 28 Saturday – Sam gave his second Melbourne performance of “Mark Twain At Home” No.1 lecture at the Bijou Theatre on Bourke St. After the lecture Sam attended the Yorick Club supper at Cathedral Hotel with 85 members — from the medical, legal, journalism, academia, military, public service, and dramatic arts professions were there. Sam met Harry Foster, Minister of Mines. Toasts were given by E.G. FitzGibbon, Mr. Deakin, Theodore Fink, Judge Molesworth, Prof.

September 29 Sunday – The Clemens party rested at the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne.

September 30 Monday – Sam gave a Melbourne performance of “Mark Twain At Home” (No.2) lecture at the Bijou Theatre on Bourke St. Harry Foster sat on stage due to an overflow crowd. Sam included his “Australian Poem.” 

Reviews of the lecture published on Oct. 1: Age; Argus; Melbourne Evening News; and Melbourne Herald; On Oct. 5 by Advocate [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 11-12].

October – Sam’s notebook:

Punch (Melbourne) & Bulletin (Sydney) good papers. Good & bright cartoons in both [Gribben 462; NB 34 TS 14].

D.F. Hannigan wrote “Mark Twain as a Critic” in the Free Review p.39-43, in response to Sam’s “The Literary Offenses of Fenimore Cooper” in the July North American Review. Hannigan conceded that “Mark Twain possesses a gift which Cooper lacked” [Tenney 24].

October 1 Tuesday – On a rainy night Sam gave a Melbourne performance of “Mark Twain At Home” (No.2) lecture at the Bijou Theatre on Bourke St., a repeat of Monday’s event.

Reviews published on Oct. 2: Age; Melbourne Evening News [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 12].

October 2 Wednesday – Sam gave a Melbourne performance of “Mark Twain At Home” lecture at the Bijou Theatre on Bourke Street. Sam opened the lecture by praising Australian writer Marcus Clarke. Sam’s notebook: “It was a sweater! And all because of an idiotic advertisement mixing the two lectures.” This was the No. 2 program with some added pieces. Note: Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (1846-1881), author of For the Term of His Natural Life (1893). Gribben writes:

October 3 Thursday – Near Melbourne, Clara Clemens played two piano solos at a tea given by Mrs. S. McCulloch at Toorak. Livy attended. Sam wrote to H. Walter Barrett of Falk’s Photography, asking him to remove photographs of Livy and Clara from his window [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 12].

October 4 Friday – The Clemens party was still at the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne. Sam’s carbuncle problem caused the cancellation of a performance planned for Bendigo’s Masonic Hall. Dr. N.T. Fitzgerald froze, lanced, injected opium, and prescribed plasters for Sam’s carbuncle, which Livy dutifully applied for several weeks. Sam stayed out of the public eye and recovered enough to travel by Oct. 11 [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 12; At Home 72].