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June 28 Thursday – Susy Clemens went to bed with a fever of 102; she’d had some fever before this day. This was Sam’s departure day, but the rioters and Susy’s condition forced a postponement:
June 29 Friday – In La Bourboule, France Sam cabled H.H. Rogers: “Unavoidably Detained,” then wrote him a long letter explaining the delay (see June 27 and 28 for events leading up to the cable and letter). He added to the letter on June 30. The soldiers were gone from the hotel and most of the policemen.
June 30 Saturday – In La Bourboule, France Sam completed the June 29 letter to H.H. Rogers. News had come about the steamer New York having a collision at sea and needing some repairs, and Sam noted it would be unable to sail today. Susy still had the fever in the morning and the only doctor in town said she had no fever, even though Sam took it and found it 102 degrees.
July – The North American Review published the essay, “In Defense of Harriet Shelley” in July–Sept.
Henry M. Alden for Harper & Brothers wrote to Sam, setting forth a proposed contract for serialization of JA, and the book rights [MTP].
July 2 Monday – At the Grand Hotel in La Bourboule, France, Sam wrote a short note of request to Chatto & Windus. He announced he would sail the next Saturday July 7 from Southampton on the Paris. As there was no bank there and no way to use a letter of credit, he asked them to send their royalty cheque directly to Livy. If not possible would they please telegraph the hotel, and Sam would stop in Paris “long enough to fix things at the bank” [MTP].
July 4
July 5 Thursday – Sam left the family at La Bourboule and traveled to Paris [July 4 to Clara]. He described his trip as “sweltering” in a July 6 to Livy, but he arrived “totally unfatigued.”
July 6 Friday – At 11 a.m. in the Paris office of Morse, the US Consul-General, Sam wrote to Livy:
Well, I’ve been flying around, Livy darling, & now I am through & ready to leave for Southampton. I had myself called at 7.30 & my coffee ordered for 8.15. Meantime I took a grand bain & went back to bed (in our old room, No. 27.) Rose had made the bath horribly hot, as usual. …
July 7 Saturday – At noon in Southampton, England, Sam sailed for New York aboard the S.S. Paris [LLMT 302].
July 8 Sunday – En route from Southampton to New York on the S.S. Paris, Sam would write on July 13 to Livy that he had worked daily but “accomplished nothing; what I have written is not satisfactory & must be thrown away.” Some of his time was not for naught, however:
Part of my work was not lost, for I have revised Joan of Arc & made some good corrections & reductions. Also I have discovered that the introduction is incomplete. I will complete it on shore [LLMT 302].
July 9 Monday – Sam was en route from Southampton to New York on the S.S. Paris and spent time “most pleasantly” writing, including revisions to the Joan of Arc MS.
July 10 Tuesday – Sam was en route from Southampton to New York on the S.S. Paris.
July 11 Wednesday – Sam was en route from Southampton to New York on the S.S. Paris.
July 12 Thursday – Sam was en route from Southampton to New York on the S.S. Paris. In France, Livy wrote Sam a letter of concern (not extant) to which he responded on July 23.
July 13 Friday – En route from Southampton to New York on the S.S. Paris, Sam wrote to Livy:
Livy darling, we shall arrive early to-morrow — Saturday. It has been an astonishing voyage, as regards weather: warm, brilliant, smooth — the sea is a millpond, all the way over.
July 14 Saturday – The American Line steamship S.S. Paris arrived in New York. The N.Y. Times of the following day noted the arrival of Mark Twain [July 15, 1894 p.16 “Well-known Passengers from Europe”] Frank D. Hill the U.S. Consul at Montevideo was also listed, but not Consul Morse who Sam named in his July 6 to Livy.
July 15 Sunday – The N.Y. Times, July 16, 1894 p.8 in a column dated July 15, which included several misc. articles announced that Sam was Henry H. Rogers’ guest at the Oriental Hotel today. No enlightenment was given with the announcement.
July 16 Monday – In New York Sam wrote on Players Club stationery to Mary Mason Fairbanks in Newton, Mass. He was sorry for her “great loss” of her husband, Abel Fairbanks (1817-1894), who died in Boston on July 4 [MTLMF 274]. After a few comforting words, Sam wrote :
July 17 Tuesday – In New York Sam wrote on Players Club stationery to Livy. He’d deposited money, he thought $100, with Drexel Harjes in Paris to cover money that daughter Clara mislaid. The balance of the letter related the Rogers family’s grief over the loss of Abbie Gifford Rogers (Mrs. H.H.
July 19 Thursday – H.H. Rogers telegraphed Sam from Washington to ask him to go down to Manhattan Beach with the Rogers family. Sam went down in the afternoon, sleepy and “played out” from the heat that he had to “sit silent” while Cara Rogers Duff and friends talked. After dinner they all went out to watch fireworks.
July 20 Friday – In New York at the Players Club, Sam wrote to Livy, relating the events of the previous day, July 19 (see entry). Plans to go to Fairhaven with the Rogers family had to wait till H.H. Rogers returned from Washington. The weather was reasonably comfortable. He succeeded in reading daughter Clara’s “Sanskrit letter.”
July 21 Saturday – In the evening Sam went to the Oriental Hotel in Manhattan Beach to be with the Rogers family, sans Henry, who was still in Washington on business [Jan. 23 to Robinson].
July 22 Sunday – Sam was again at the Oriental Hotel in Manhattan Beach, New York, staying with the Rogers family. On July 23 he wrote Henry C. Robinson that he’d spent the “8 or 9 days that I’ve been in America” at the Oriental in the evenings, and the Players in the daytime.
July 23 Monday – In New York, Sam wrote Livy two letters — one in the wee hours past midnight from the Oriental Hotel in Manhattan Beach, and the other during the afternoon, ending at 1:15 p.m. at the Players Club.
July 24 Tuesday – Bainbridge Colby invited Sam to dine at his club in the evening. Present was the senior member of Colby’s law firm, Simon H. Stern (1847-1906), of Stern & Rushmore, as well as two or three other attorneys. Charles E. Rushmore (1857-1931), the other partner, had the distinction of having Mt. Rushmore named after him based on work he did as a young lawyer for mining interests in the Black Hills of South Dakota [NY Times, Oct. 31, 1931 p.17 “C.E. Rushmore Dies”].