Vol 3 Section 0948

886                                                                        1903

August 9 SundaySam’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].

August 10 Monday

August 11 Tuesday

August 12 WednesdayAt the Grosvenor Hotel in N.Y.C. Sam wrote to daughter Jean at Quarry Farm in Elmira, N.Y.

I have just received your letter, dear Jean, & am very sorry for that stupid & entirely inexcusable botch which Mr. Smith has made in the Papiniano matter. Clara broke it to me yesterday, & I won’t deny that it did certainly add a ton or two to the load which Bliss is furnishing me to carry. I proposed to send a cable saying “Take your Papiniano & go to hell with it,” but Clara & I could not agree. She wanted to insert “dam” in front of Papiniano, but I felt that your mother would not approve of that; & so we split upon that trifle & sent no cable at all. Explain it to your mother, so that she will see that although Clara tried to get me to do wrong, I stood out & done right.

I believe the thing I should recommend would be that we keep Papiniano, put up with the swindle, & live in the hotel until we can get the house—but we will do whatever your mother prefers.

Mr. Poor has a villa there which he is not using, and Harry Harper wants to speak to him about it. I will now call Harry up on the telephone & ask him to call up Mr. Poor & let’s talk & make inquiries.

So I will cut this letter short, & attend to it.

After saying good-bye to Clara I ran up to see Reeves & ask questions; then ran to Helmer’s (his dam shop is shut up till Sept. 7); then down here, expecting an appointment with Doubleday—& got it—for noon-

        I don’t suppose Clara took the right railroad, but I done the best I could—I needed to be within telephone call, & to be at the hotel, here before 10. Cheer your mother up, & tell her we’ll try & pull through, all right, as regards Florence—which will begin to smell like Tarrytown, presently.

Telephone from Harry Harper tells me Mr. Poor has rented his villa [MTP]. Note: lined out text shows Sam’s prior intentions.

August 13 ThursdayOne of Sam’s notes to his invalid wife inform us of his activities this day at the funeral of William E. Dodge, Jr. (1832-1903), Riverdale neighbor, who died at age 71 on Aug. 9 in Bar Harbor, Maine. The funeral was held at the Presbyterian Church in Riverside at 10:30 a.m. Sam’s note, on or just after this day:

Dearheart, in accordance with orders, I drove in state in John’s ambulance at 4 p.m. & left cards at the Perkinses which were not to home, then visited an hour at William E.’s house—half an hour with Mrs. Dodge, then half an hour with Mr. Dodge & Miss Grace when they came from somewheres—& as Mrs. Wm E. was present all the time, it makes an hour & a half altogether; which is curious, because I was not gone from home as long as that. I can’t understand it, but it is so. I love you my darling, & you are booming along splendidly. / Y [MTP; NY Times Aug. 10, “William E. Dodge Dead,” p.1; Aug.11, “Funeral of William E. Dodge” p.7]. Note: George Walbridge Perkins, Sr. family.

August 14 Friday

August 15 Saturday – Margaret M. (not further identified), an 11-year-old girl wrote from Portland, Ore to Sam, a letter of admiration for his works [MTP].

August 16 SundayIn N.Y.C. Sam wrote to Samuel Merwin. Dear Mr. Merwin,—What you have said has given me deep pleasure—indeed I think no words could be said that could give me more” [MTP: MTLP 744].

SLC used mourning border for most letters from Susy’s death on, then from Livy’s death on.