Mark Twain - Reporter: Day By Day

June 19 Friday – Sam wrote “All About Fashions,” (“Mark Twain – More of Him,”) a piece that was published in revised version in the San Francisco Golden Era on Sept. 27. It was probably published in the Enterprise sometime between June 20 and 24 [ET&S 1: 304]. Note: Budd says between June 21 and June 24, 1863 [“Collected” 1001].

June 2 Saturday – Frear on the start of the journey to the volcano Kilauea:

June 20 Saturday – Sam wrote from San Francisco to Orion and Mollie—all in a dither about Echo stock, of which he had a small share. Sam had speculated on the stock and helped to raise the price later by writing glowing accounts of the mine to the San Francisco Morning Call [MTL 1: 258].

June 20 Tuesday – Edgar Branch gives this as the date Sam began corresponding with Joseph T. Goodman’s Enterprise [“My Voice” 591].

June 20 Wednesday – Sam’s twelfth letter dated “HONOLULU, MAY 23, 1866: HAWAIIAN LEGISLATURE” ran in the Union:
THE CAPITOL – AN AMERICAN SOVEREIGN SNUBBED
The Legislature meets in the Supreme Court-room, an apartment which is larger, lighter and better fitted and furnished than any Court room in San Francisco. A railing across the center separates the legislators from the visitors. When I got to the main entrance of the building, and was about to march boldly in, I found myself confronted by a large placard, upon which was printed:

June 21 Tuesday – A local item in the Call, “Short-Hand Law Reporter” is attributed to Sam [Branch, C of Call 289].

June 21 Thursday – Sam’s thirteenth letter dated “HONOLULU, MAY 23, 1866: LEGISLATURE CONTINUED – THE SALONS AT WORK” ran in the Union:

June 21–24 Wednesday – Sam’s LETTER FROM MARK TWAIN – ALL ABOUT FASHIONS was printed in the Enterprise. It was the main body of “Mark Twain—More of Him” written on June 19; see also Sept. 27 entry for reprint in Golden Era [ET&S 1: 304]. An excerpt:

EDS. ENTERPRISE: – I have just received, per Wells-Fargo, the following sweet scented little note, written in a microscopic hand in the center of a delicate sheet of paper — like a wedding invitation or a funeral notice — and I feel it my duty to answer it:

VIRGINIA, June 16.

June 23 Thursday – A local item in the Call, “Another of Them” is attributed to Sam [Branch, C of Call 289].

June 23 Friday – Sam’s brief article, “Enthusiastic Eloquence,” appeared in the San Francisco Dramatic Chronicle [ET&S 2: 233].

June 24 Saturday – The fourth of Sam’s columns for the Californian, “Answers to Correspondents,” ran with subtitles: True Son of the Union; Socrates Murphy; Arithmeticus; Virginia, Nevada; Young Mother; Blue-Stocking; San Francisco; and Agnes St. Clair Smith [ET&S 2: 197]. Sam’s article, “Advice for Good Little Girls,” first appeared this date in the California Youths’ Companion [Budd, “Collected” 1004]. It was revised and reprinted in 1872 and 1874 [ET&S 2: 243].

June 25 Saturday – Two local items in the Call, “A Trip to Cliff House,” and “Charge Against a Police Officer,” are attributed to Sam [Branch, C of Call 289].

June 26 Sunday – Sam’s articles, “In the Metropolis,” and “ The Evidence in the Case of Smith vs Jones,” were published in the Golden Era [Walker 77; ET&S 2: 13]. This latter article was an early experiment with reliance on dialogue, dramatic narrative, and rhythm of dialect.

June 27 Wednesday – Sam wrote from Honolulu to his mother, Jane Clemens and sister Pamela of his story on the Hornet crew. I got the whole story from the third mate & ten of the sailors. If my account gets to the Sacramento Union first, it will be published first all over the United States, France, England, Russia and Germany —all over the world, I may say. You will see it. Mr.

June 27–30 Friday – Sam’s article, “Just ‘One More Unfortunate’,” was printed during this period in the Enterprise, copies of which are lost. The Downieville, California Mountain Messenger, copied it July 1.
JUST “ONE MORE UNFORTUNATE”

June 28 Tuesday – The following six local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “Hackmen Arrested,” “Accessions to the Ranks of the Dashaways,” “Missionaries Wanted for San Francisco,” “Board of Supervisors,” “Charges Against a Police Officer,” (About Lewis P. Ward) “Swill Peddlers” [Branch, C of Call 289].

June 29 Wednesday – Two local items in the Call, “The Kahn of Tartary,” and “Police Court” are attributed to Sam [Branch, C of Call 289].

June 29 Friday – From Sam’s notebook: “—visited the hideous Mai Pake Hospital & examined the disgusting victims of Chinese Leprosy” [MTNJ 1: 118].

June 3 Saturday – The Californian announced that all letters to its new department, “Answers to Correspondents,” should be sent to Mr. Mark Twain. “Courting Etiquette, Distressed Lovers, of either sex, and Struggling Young Authors, as yet ‘unbeknown’ to Fame, will receive especial attention” [ET&S 1: 174]. The first of six weekly columns by Sam followed offering a burlesque of advice to readers on various topics. Subtitles: Discarded Lover; Arabella; Persecuted Unfortunate; and Arthur Augustus [ET&S 2: 174].

June 3 Sunday – From Mrs. Lyman’s diary: “The strangers left after breakfast for the volcano” [Frear 71]. From Frear’s account:

June 30 Thursday – Two local items in the Call, “Municipal Records,” and “The Sacrilegious Hack-Driver,” are attributed to Sam [Branch, C of Call 289].

June 4 to 6 Wednesday – Sam and a “stranger Marlette” walked on hot lava fields at night. A few days later Sam witnessed a great eruption [RI Ch. 75]. Note: no further account of Marlette was found —another imaginary like Mr. Brown? Or was Stoddard now called Marlette?

June 4 Thursday – Sam wrote from San Francisco to his mother, and sister Pamela, sending another $20 greenback. “…it seems like going back to prison to go back to the snows & the deserts of Washoe, after living in this Paradise. But then I shall soon get used to it—all places are alike to me” [MTL 1: 256].

June 6 Monday – Sam secured employment as a local reporter for the San Francisco Morning Call at forty dollars a week [Branch, C of Call 16]. His duties included local news, public meetings, and local theater productions. His hours were long and irregular. He wrote candidly about the racial and social injustices he saw, particularly about the Chinese. These articles were censored or discarded by the paper’s conservative editor, but many were printed by the Enterprise.

June 7 Tuesday – A local item in the Call, “Burglar Arrested” is attributed to Sam [Branch, C of Call 289].