The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1871-04-20
: NUMBER As
q ylI1..l - -. d JepEsaIl.... .


-u3s ral K BY MARK TWAIN, 49, =. 49,
i was very smart child at the age OF,
thirteenTan unusually smart child, II.
thought at the time. II was then that
did my first newspaper scribblIng, and
most unexpectedly to me- it stirred Up a.
hne sensation'In the community. Il did.
indeed, and l was very - nj Of II, too. go,
/ j was a printers I'd - nd progress
siye and aspiring one. incle had me
on his paper 1.-THE q W--isly HanuibalE
Journal 1.-TWO dollars year in .zdVanee--rr
800 subscribers, and they paid N cord
wood, cabbages, and uumarketable tur-
niPsl, and on a lucky summers day he
LETT town TO be goae a weak, and asked .
rneif l thought l cold edit oneizspeof stheV
paper Judiclously-- An, didn't I want 10 :
try Hinton was the editor Of the rival
paper. He had lately been jilted, and one
night friend found an open note on the
poor fellows bed, in which he stated that
be could no longer endure life and had
drowned himself in Bear Creek The
friend ran down there and discovered Him
ton wading back 10 shore He had CON-
eluded hewouldnitse The village was full.
Of 1t for several days. but Hinton did not
susPect.lt 1 thought this was fine op-.
portunlty. wrote an elaborately wretch
ed account Of the whole matter. and then
Illustrated it with villainous cuts engraved
on the bottom Of wooden type. with "a,
Jack knlfe-one of them 8, picture OF Him
ton wading out into the .sreek IN his shirt,
with lantern, sounding the depthlof the
| water with a walking stisk.1 LthOught Il
was desperately funny, and was denssly
| pnconsclous that there was any moral Oh.
4 hquity about such publication Beng
| satisfied with this effort, i looked about
| for other worlds 10 ,eonqner, andit struck
me that i would nake. good inlspesting
/ pnatterto charge the editor Of a peighboi-
| ing county paper with piece Of gfatuit-
Gus rascality and '"see him squinEss 4
| did it, putting the article into the form Of
: parody on the Burial Of sSirTJohnIs
/ Moore and pretty crude parody it
| was, too. Then / larnpooned two promi--
nent citizens outrageously--n because
/ they had done anything to deserve. ii, hat
| merely because thought ita nIy dntYrtea
| make the paper lively, Next i gently
! touched up the newest stranger-the Ion
Of the day, the gorgeous journeymen tain
| Or from QUINCY. He was q sim pering-c
| comb Of the first water and the, 'lpndeSt2s'
/ dressed man in the State. He WAS an,
| inveterate woman killer, Every week he.
4 wrote lushy poetry for the ''J0s7ildfls pa
! about his newest conquest Hi8 rhymes
| for my week were headed tM AIRY Is H7-Is,,iiI
/ meaning Mary IN Hannibal, OF course.=-ft
/ But while setting up the piece was sud-
! denly riven from head to heel By what ] Z
| regarded as perfect thundeFbolt- ofshus9i
i NOR and compressed il into .ausnaPpy.I
i ioot-note at the bottom, ihps;vf'We will
let this thing pass, lust this once but We,
wish Mr. j. Gordon Runnels TO undefs
Z, stand distinctly 1hat we have a-eharacters 3
to.sustain. and from this time forth; ashens
he wants 10 commune with his ,lriends-in
4 hi, he must select some other medium
i than the columns Of this journsl ~
The paper came out, and / meter SNOW.
+ any little thing attract so muclruattentidif
as those playful trifes Of, mine For once
the Hannibal "Jolty7aaE was in demand.
p novelty it had not experienced before.
The whole town WAS stifreifz9 Hinton
dropped in with a doubie-barreled Shut-E
gun early in the forenoon. When he found
:, that 1t was an lnfant tas he called mel
that had done the damage, he simply. pull
ed my ears and went away but be threw
up hls situation that night and lefttovn
for good. The tailor came with his goose
and pair of shears but be desplsed nee,
too, and departed for the south that night.
The two lampoohed citizens came with
: threats of libel, and went away ;ncenssa
at my insignifeance The couatry eaiterl
prapRed in. with war-whoop next day.
suffering for blood to dlink but be ended
10y tof-,fFin Lhe eotoit-ity atfO iiiNititit LIE
s down to the drug store 70 wash away all
2 luminosity in friendly bumper Of q .llahns-.
! stocks Vermiluges II was his little
Il 1joke.
ytI Ny uncle was very angry VIXEN be got
4 lback-unreasona 80. 1 thought, eonsid-
l'sidering what an impetus i had given the
1 paper, and considering also that gratitude
for his preservation. ought 70 have bean
1uppefihost ~ has ilits fii.tstticis ms
d delay he had So YendeFf0lly escaRelk dis
1 section, tomahawking, Libel, and getting
e his head shot of. But lie softened when
:, he looked at the accounts and saw shat 4
: had actually booked the unparalleled
lnumber of thirty-thrse, new subscribers,
a land had the vegetables TO show for IL.
.llbleturnips endhgh 10 run the family for
T Two years L--(fukaIy.i q sbrsi ssIa -0i iiir