Scott -- as to that Feb. 7 entry in DBD -- that could be based on a misdated letter. It would be necessary to read those two separate letters side-by-side that SLC wrote to Olivia that are catalogued online as Feb. 6 and Feb 7 and see if they are referring to only one train trip. Perhaps one letter was a draft and revised or just sent along with another. You are right that taking secondary sources literally is hazardous. Barb On Tue, Aug 8, 2023 at 6:47 PM Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Your point is well taken. I have been unable to locate an on-line copy > of any Lafayette paper for that date. I was actually trying to find > train schedules, such as I found for the Fort Wayne departure. My > reference to Scharnhorst was not about the interview but about his > paragraph in "The Middle Years" page 446. One needs to be careful about > all secondary sources, however. This particular entry has them > departing Fort Wayne before 6am, the Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, February > 6, 1885 has the train departing at 6:30 am. I'm still bothered by the > DBD entry for February 7th - why would he need to take a train to > Indianapolis at 7am if he was already in Indianapolis. This would make > more sense if he actually woke up in Lafayette that morning.As an > asideregarding the interview, I enjoyed Twain's description of the canal > and its comparison with Venice. > > On 8/8/23 15:30, Barbara Schmidt wrote: > > Scott -- a couple of things to consider -- the two letters catalogued by > > MTP described as from Lafayette or en route from Lafayette may have been > > written on the same date or several hours apart but misdated or mailed > > separately. I have found no convincing evidence that Clemens and Cable > > lectured in Lafayette. They may have and the news accounts of it just > have > > not surfaced. > > > > Yes, there is that interview in Scharnhorst (#37) from the Lafayette > > COURIER newspaper. Footnote 1 indicates a paragraph has been omitted > > because it appeared in an earlier interview. The question that arises for > > me — Was this an authentic interview or a reporter’s spoof or hoax with > > Clemens quoting poetry, drinking beer, and commenting on the mayor and > tax > > issues in Lafayette? To nail down whether the Lafayette interview is > > authentic and if Clemens and Cable did lecture there, it would help to > take > > a look at issues of that paper for the week before and after the > interview > > was published to see if any lectures were advertised or reported. > > > > Barb > > > > On Tue, Aug 8, 2023 at 10:31 AM Scott Holmes<[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > >> While tracking the trains between Fort Wayne, Lafayette, and > >> Indianapolis, I became confused over the Day By Day entries for > >> February 6 and 7. It appears that both "Chronology of Known Mark Twain > >> Speeches,..." and "Touring with Cable and Huck" missed the Lafayette > >> Lecture on February 6th of 1885. Gary Scharnhorst did not. What caused > >> me to stumble was the February 6th DBD entry that goes on to describe > >> the February 7th lecture in Indianapolis and then the February 7th entry > >> that notes Sam had to get up a 7am to take the train to Indianapolis. > >> Why would he need to do that if he was already in Indianapolis? > >> > >> -- > >> /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/ > >> > -- > /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/ >