SLC and P. T. Barnum knew one another only casually.  SLC and Livy read and
reread Barnum's autobiography and, I believe, used it to help mold the
public
persona and career of Mark Twain.  Barnum and SLC shared a wild disdain for
people who wrote them begging letters and in the mid-1870's exchanged the
most
pitiful ones they received.  Barnum collected his begging letters and
induced
SLC to keep his too.  I do not believe that SLC stayed at any of Barnum's
many
mansions -- they had an unpleasant habit of burning down -- and have never
heard that Barnum named a room after Mark Twain, but I won't stake my life
on
either conclusion.  Despite the limited degree of friendship between the
men,
there is no denying the impact Barnum had on SLC's manipulation of the media
to
 achieve notoriety for Mark Twain.