Vol 3 Section 0521
Sam also autographed a slip: “Truly Yours, Mark Twain, Jan. 22, 1901” Note: The slip was in a copy of The Man that
Corrupted Hadleyburg, and Other Stories and Essays [MTP: American Art Assoc. catalogs, Jan. 20, 1914, Item 174].
The New York Times, Jan. 23, p.8 ran a special from Washington, reporting Clara Clemens’ afternoon debut at the Columbia Theatre.
DE SOUZA AT THE CAPITAL.
The Titled Baritone Received with Enthusiasm—Miss Clemens’s Debut
Special to the New York Times.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22.—A large and fashionable audience, including many representatives of the Diplomatic Corps in Washington, this afternoon heard the Portuguese baritone singer, Marquis de Souza, in a concert at the Columbia Theatre, in which Miss Clara L. Clemens, daughter of Mark Twain, made her American debut. … Miss Clemens, who is a slender and graceful brunette, with sufficient self-possession, met with a cordial reception, and her French and German songs were sung to the manifest satisfaction of the audience…
January 23 Wednesday – At 1410 W. 10th in N.Y.C., Sam began a reply to Joe Twichell that he finished Jan. 24. (Twichell’s incoming not extant, yet from Sam’s text we can deduce at least some of the subject matter of Joe’s letter).
Certainly. I used to take it in my coffee, but it settled to the bottom in the form of mud, & I had to eat it [Plasmon] with a spoon; so I dropped the custom & took my 2 teaspoonfuls in cold milk after breakfast. …
No, blame it I can’t go to the Alumni dinner Joe. It takes two days, & I can’t spare the time. Moreover I preside at the Lincoln birthday celebration in Carnegie Hall Feb. 11 & I must not make two speeches so close together. Think of it—two old rebels functioning there—I as President, & Watterson as Orator of the Day! Things have changed somewhat in these 40 years, thank God.
Sam added that when Joe came to New York he must be their guest; Livy would “make trouble” for him if he went elsewhere [MTP]. Note: Twichell had invited Sam to go to the Yale alumni dinner [MTB 1122].
Sometime after 3 p.m. Livy and Clara Clemens returned from Washington, D.C., where Clara debuted as a singer on Jan. 22 [Jan. 22 to E. Rogers].
In the evening the Clemens family attended Charles
Major’s play, When Knighthood Was In Flower, at the
Criterion Theatre [Jan. 21 to E. Rogers; NB 44 TS 4]. See insert ad.
January 24 Thursday – At 1410 W. 10th in N.Y.C., Sam finished his Jan. 23 to Joe Twichell, confirming that Livy approved of Joe staying with them; asked for a day or two notice should he come.
I’m going to stick close to my desk for a month, now, hoping to write a small book, full of playful & good-natured contempt for the lousy McKinley. Oh, think of that nickel-plated Joe Hawley! / P.S. I forgot to add my gratification at the prospect of having flogging for certain offenses resumed in our State. I hope the bill will become a law. Flogging is the only thing that has ever put a serious check upon the crimes & trespasses contemplated by it [MTP].
Sam’s notebook: “Thursday Club Bigelow 21 Gramercy Park” [NB 44 TS 4]. Note: Fatout lists a reading at the Thursday Evening Club, N.Y.C. for this date, but does not give the text [MT Speaking 668]. Another reading for this club was on Mar. 7 at Prof. William Milligan Sloane’s home. Sloane (1850-1928) was
SLC used mourning border for most letters from Susy’s death on, then from Livy’s death on.