August 31 Monday – Sam returned to Elmira, either this day or the next. In his account to Twichell of Sept. 1 he complained of being in N.Y. the whole month for business.
To The Person Sitting in Darkness: Day By Day
August 4 Sunday – Sam’s ship log:
August 4, Sunday. Reached Fairhaven in the forenoon. Took on board Rev. Dr. Collyer & Rev. Minot Savage. The ship has been searched [for the umbrella], but without result. Rain. Laying of the corner-stone of the Memorial Church post-poned a day, in consequence [MTP].
Note: Rev. Dr. Robert Collyer (1828-1912), pastor of Rogers’ NY Church of the Messiah, and Rev. Minot Judson Savage (1841-1918), Unitarian minister, were likely guests on the Kanawha; they are not mentioned thereafter on the ship’s log.
August 4 Monday – Harper & Brothers wrote to Livy, advising that Sam’s article on Christian Science she ordered had not been republished in book form; the magazine was out of stock but Mr. A.S. Clark of the City could “supply good second hand copies” at more than 35 cents each [MTP].
August 4 Tuesday – Sam’s notebook: “Deposited $1,000 in Lincoln for Guaranty Trust. Sent by messenger from Grosvenor” [NB 46 TS 22].
Richard Watson Gilder wrote to Sam.
August 5 Monday – The Kanawha stopped in Fairhaven, Mass. There, they attended the laying of a cornerstone for the Unitarian Memorial Church, which Rogers was donating in memory of his mother. Sam gave a speech honoring H.H. Rogers. The Hartford Courant covered the ceremonies on Aug. 8, p. 10.
MARK TWAIN’S LATEST SPEECH.
It Was at a Religious Ceremony in Massachusetts.
(New Bedford Standard, Tuesday.)
August 5 Tuesday – In N.Y.C. H.H. Rogers gave his advice about Sidney A. Witherbee’s proposal to purchase Sam’s Hartford house:
August 5 Wednesday – Sam’s notebook: “Brought away International Navigation Co. coupons for Feb. & Aug. 1904 and Feb. 1905 ($1,500), & shall leave them with Mr. Rogers. / Paid for my box at Produce Exchange Safe Deposit, in advance from March 1904 to March 1905 ($10.)” [NB 46 TS 22].
Chatto & Windus’ Jan. 1, 1904 statement to Clemens shows 2,000 2s.0d. copies of The Stolen White Elephant were printed, for a total printed to date of 14,600 [1904 Financials file MTP].
August 6 Tuesday –The Coes, Benjamins, and Mary Benjamin Rogers stayed in Fairhaven. The next twelve days were filled with excursions from port to port, poker, some light horseplay, good conversation, and jokes [MTHHR 468n1].
August 6 Wednesday – In York Harbor, Maine Sam wrote a short note to Franklin G. Whitmore, on the top of H.H Rogers’ Aug. 5 letter. “Dear Brer: The following shows that Mr. Rogers disapproves. So do I, then, for I have the greatest confidence in his judgment” [MTP].
Sam also replied to John M. Sosey, secretary of the Missouri Press Assoc.
August 6 Thursday – Walter Reid of The Lincoln Safe Deposit Co. wrote a receipt to Sam for “1 Bdl. Of blankets in white condition unknown No. 27898” [MTP].
August 7 Wednesday – Sam’s ship log:
Went to Bar Harbor [Maine], & cast anchor. Drove about the region, acquiring information by pumping it out of the driver. The pump was manned by Col. Payne, spelled by Messrs. Rogers & Reed, subordinates.
Rain.
Dumplings.
Reflections upon the perils of property when it goes down to the sea in ships & encounters certain of the wonders of the deep.
August 7 Thursday – In York Harbor, Maine Sam wrote to Klaw & Erlanger, who were agents for Lee Arthur’s dramatization of HF.
Above, you will find a pair of samples; they are authentic autographs, for I wrote them myself.
August 7 Friday – Sam’s notebook: “The comedy-tragedy visit to the Austrian Grand Duchess” [NB 46 TS 22]. Note: Sam was recollecting. Also put under Aug. 7 was a listing for Nov. 4—see entry.
August 8 Thursday – At Bar Harbor, Maine at 2:30 p.m. on the Kanawha Sam wrote to Livy.
“Livy dearest, the anchor is just down, & we shall go ashore presently. I shall telegraph you where to telegraph me—Halifax, probably. We still cannot make an itinerary. We shall leave word here (as we did in Portland) to hold letters & telegrams till we know of some sure point to send them to.”
August 8 Saturday – Sam’s notebook: “20 Manufac / 20 commission / 30 branches & collection / 8% losses. / 7 wear & tear, clerks &c / Profit is 15%. / It is really 25% no doubt” [NB 46 TS 22-23]. Note: musings about Am. Pub. Co.’s profits?
August 9 Friday – In St. John, New Brunswick on the Kanawha, Sam wrote to Livy.
Livy darling, I got your telegram here yesterday afternoon, & was very glad indeed to hear from you. Give aunt Sue my love, & now that you’ve got her, hang on to her.
August 9 Saturday – Brand Whitlock (1869-1934), municipal reformer, “novelist, politician, diplomat and a devoted younger friend of Howells,” visited Sam. Mrs. Whitlock accompanied her husband. Whitlock wrote a friend on Aug. 11:
August 9 Sunday – Sam’s notebook: “A P H / As concerns Christ there are some uncertainties but for our solace we know one thing for sure—He was not a Christian” [NB 46 TS 23].
This Everlasting Exile – Plasmon in Syndication – Depressing Fog, Hadleyburg Book McClure’s Scheme Fizzles – Harvey Runs Harpers – Seeking Osteopaths “I am an Anti-Imperialist” – Another Heart-Stab – Preaching Copyright to Lords Dollis Hill Idyll – “That Singular Tapeworm” – Home at Last! - Feeding & Speeching – Yale-Princeton Football – Crooked Cab Driver Introduces Churchill – Another Lawsuit –“Hide the Looking-glass”
Another Lawsuit – Anti -Imperialist, Anti-Doughnut – Sitting in Darkness “Women Should Vote”– Clara’s Washington Debut – Speeching & Feeding Demonizing Missionaries – Albany for Osteopaths – Witness for Kipling - “The Lair” Repose at Saranac Lake – Old Debts Never Die – Pallbearer for J.D.F. Slee Kanawha Cruise to St. Johns – Lyncherdom & Double-Barrelled – America’s Cup Acorns & Fusionists – Yale Gives Litt. D. – Suing Newbegin Co.
Small & Maynard Scheme – Oesophogus:“It is a joke & you are an ignoramous!” Juggernaut Club – Double Barrelled – Christian Science Humbug – West Indies Cruise - Charleston Fair Resembled a Funeral – Tarrytown Bargain – Defense of Funston Clara’s Escape – Pallbearer for Stockton – Hannibal Revisited – LL.D. - Piloting & Christening – York Harbor & “The Pines” – Huck on Stage – Livy’s Crisis Barred from the Sickroom – Omaha & Denver Ban Huck – Invalid Car to Riverdale Birthday Bash: “I cannot make a good mouth” – Reed’s Last Speech
Riverdale – Lying to the Invalid – Jean to Old Point, Va. – Plasmon Concealments Writing Christian Science Articles – Queen of Frauds – Ordered to Italy “Sell that God damned House!”– Bronchitis Blues – Tarrytown Leased – Collier Offers Godalmighty Bissell Buys Hartford House – Measles! For Clara – Fairhaven Trip Long-Distance House-hunting – Major Pond Dies – Escape to Quarry Farm “A Dog’s Tale”– Yacht Races a Diversion – New Harper Contracts – Sailing For Italy Florence Villa di Quarto – Landlady from Hell – Livy’s Set-back
Sour Weather in Florence – Roosevelt: “What he wants, he takes”– Butters a Fraud Mollie Clemens Dies – Dictating Autobio. – Pigs & Enunciator Wars – Donkey Attack Clara Hysterics – Livy, a Shadow – Charity Reading – Gelli’s Portrait
December 1 Saturday – Sam’s notebook: “Dinner 730 Mrs. De Forest / 7 Washington Sq. / Meet Artist Zorn & wife” [NB 43 TS 30]. Note: source indicates Livy made this entry. Anders Zorn (1860-1920) Swedish painter, sculptor, and printmaker, became internationally famous. His wife, Emma Amalia Zorn (born Lamm; 1860-1942).
December 1 Monday – Sam, daughter Jean, and Katy Leary were in Elmira, N.Y. [NB Dec. 3; 45, TS 34].
an unidentified person wrote from St. Louis to Sam offering an “obituary” for his Harper’s Weekly contest [MTP].
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