21st January

I got a letter from New York today, but not from Mr. Bennett. It came from somebody called Mr. Fredrick Hudson. I tore open the envelope and took out a letter from him on New York Herald newspaper stationery It read:

Dear Miss Kellogg,

I am sorry to be so long in replying to your letter. I have to inform you that Mr. James Gordon Bennett is not in New York at present. He now lives on his yacht, the Lysistrata, on the Seine near Paris. However, he does maintain telegraphic contact with the office, and I was able to communicate with him regarding your request.

He said to tell you he was very sorry not be able to meet you at this time, but asked me to make available to you and clippings that we have on the Indian situation since The Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana in June 1876.

As he is not present, and it would not be possible for me to offer you accommodation in New York, Mr. Bennett has asked me to reserve rooms for you and your sister at the Washington Hotel which is on Greenwich Street, on Friday and Saturday nights the 30-31st of January, at his expense.

I wish to offer you the following itinerary:

Friday night  Arrival at Grand Central Station (I will meet you and take you to your hotel where you can unpack at your leisure and have a meal at the hotel restaurant (at Mr. Bennett’s expense, of course.)

Saturday morning -10 a.m. Meeting with me at the Herald offices (we will send a cab for you at 9.45) and you will be free to peruse the files which you indicated an interest in at our office here. I’m afraid that you cannot take any of the material away with you, however.

Saturday afternoon -1.30 I will get tickets for you and your sister to go with my wife, to the Fifth Avenue Theatre which is showing the Pirates of Pinzance by Messr Gilbert and Sullivan, whom I have no doubt you have heard of. After that, I will meet up with you and we will take you on a tour of downtown Manhattan and take you out to a restaurant nearby and provide you with a ride back to your hotel afterwards.

Sunday morning - Mr. Bennett indicated to me that you girls are Catholics, and you might like to attend Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. My wife and I will call for you, escort you there, and then take you afterwards to Grand Central Station for your train journey home.

Please RSVP if these ideas suit you. Again, apologies for this being not quite the meeting you might have anticipated, and Mr. Bennett hopes that he will meet up with you on another occasion.

Might I just add a personal note and say how much I enjoyed reading your father’s work when he was retained by us.

Yours sincerely,

Fredrick Hudson,
Manager of the New York Herald

“Cora Sue,” I couldn’t help shouting out, “we’re going to New York and we are going to see a play and go to St Patrick’s, and stay at a hotel. What do you think of that?”
 

“I’ve never been to a proper theatre before, or out to eat in a posh restaurant. I wonder if Aunt Lillian would let us spend some of our money on new clothes.”

“We’ll ask her after supper, and after we do the dishes, and hopefully if she is in a good mood, she will be more agreeable.”

“We can stop by Lonergan and Downy tomorrow night on the way back from school.”

“It isn’t on the way back.”

“Well, it isn’t that far out of the way. Just to look and see what they’ve got and then we can see how much a nice dress will cost before we ask Auntie Lillian. But there isn’t time for her to make us anything. Oh this is so exciting!”

Earlier at school we had been telling our friends all about our exciting interview with Mr. Barnum, and how we were going to meet with him again, and would also be meeting Mark Twain. Fredrick Burroughs was beside himself with excitement when we told him he could come too. He had intended going to Hartford to interview Samuel Clements, but now he wouldn’t have to, (although I think he should do it anyway, if we wants to have a good essay as there won’t be time for an in depth interview with him on the next occasion, not with all the people that would be there.)

There was much information about Mr. Barnum that Cora Sue could get from the library - about how he was Mayor of Bridgeport one year, and how he donated the Hospital, and loads of other good works that he did. So we didn’t really think of our next visit as one to get specific information, but just to enjoy seeing him again, and meeting Mark Twain.

And now our plan to go to New York was reaching fruition. I was very disappointed that we wouldn’t be meeting Mr. Bennett, but as long as we got the information I was after, that was the main point of the visit.

I was a bit concerned that Mr. Hudson had only allocated a few hours for our research, but if both Cora Sue and I read and took notes quickly, we could ascertain quite a lot in that time.

Aunt Lillie has been very patient with allowing us to go off to see Mr. Barnum on Saturday, and hopefully she won’t object to this trip to New York. We can do our chores early to make up for the days we will be gone.

Once the baby is born we won’t be quite as free to take off when we want, but that won’t be for a few months yet.