The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1873-12-31
Marx Tuain's First Interview with
A-tcmas Ward.


by invitation breakfasted with him.
1t was almost religion, there in the
silver mines, TO precedc such a meal
with whisky cocktails.
Artemus, with the true cosmopoli-
tan instinct, always deferred to the
custom Of the country he was in, SO
he ordered three of these abomina-
tions.
4 kingston was present.
| am q match for nearly any bev-
erage YOU can mention except whis-
key cocktail, and therefore ] said
would rather not drink one. ! said
/ it would go to my head and confuse
me so that would be in helpless
tangle in ten minutes. | did not want
to act ike a lunatic before strangers.
But Artemus gently insisted, and
drank the reasonable mixture under
protest, and felt all the time that
was doing thing | might be sorry
for.
In minute or two | began to i'm
aginc that my ideas were clouded.
waited in great anxiety for the
conversation to open, with sort Of
vague hope that my understanding
would prove clear, after all, aud my
misgivings groundless
Artemus dropped all unimportant
remark or two, and then assumed q
look Of saperhuman earnestHess,
and made the following speech; He
said:
"Now, there is one thing ought
to ask you about before | forget it.
Yon have been here in Silverland-
here in Nevada two or three years,
aud, Of course, your portion on the
daily press has made it necessary for
you to 80 down in the mines, and
therefore Won know all about the sil-
ver-mining business. Now, what |
want to get at is-well, the way the
cposits are made, you know For
instance Now, as | understand it.
/ the vein which contains the silver is
sandwiched in between castings Of
granite, and runs along the ground,
and sticks M ike a curbstono. Well.
take vein forty feet thick, for exam
pie, or eighty, for that matter, or
even a hundred-say you go down
on it with q shaft, straight down.
I you know, or with what you call the
incline" Nay be vou 20 down five
3 huplra1 f,.f -. ,,,a,- I,o 80, lo,f. o..
down but two huudred-anyhow,
you go down, and all the time the
/ veins grow narrower, when the cas-
iGgs come near or approach each 9TH
or, you may sav, that is, when they
do approach, which of course they
do not always do. particularly in cas-
e3 where the nature Of the formation
is such that they stand apart wider
than they otherwise would, and
which geology has failed TO account
for, although everything in that sci
ence goes TO prove that, all things be-
ing equal, it would if it did not, or
would not certainly if it did, and
thea of course they are Do YOU not
think it is ?''
| said to myseIf-"Now, I just
knew how it would be; that cussed
whiskey cocktail has done the bust
ness for me; | don't understand more
than a clam"
And then said aloud
'I-I-that is-if you don't mind,
would you-wOuld you say that over
again? | ought
ooh, certainly, certainly! Ycu
see | am very unfamiliar with the
subject. and perhaps | don't present
my case clearly, but /"
NO, nO-no, no-vOu state il plain
enough, bat that vile cocktail has
mudded me alittlc But | wili-no.
| do understand, for that matter but
| would get the hang Of it ali the bet
ter If you went over it again-and
I'll pay better attention this time.n
He said, why, what | was after
was this"
Here he became even more fear
fully impressive than ever, and en-
phasizcd each particular point by
checking it on on his fingers end.
This vein, or lode, o. ledge, or
whatever You call it, runs along be-
tween two layers of granite, just the !
the same as if it were sandwich. |
Very well. Now, suppose you 20
down on that, say a thousand feet, or
may be twelve hundred Git don't real
ly matter), before you drift; and then
you start your drifts, some of them
across the ledge, and others along
the length OF it, where the sulphu- |
rcts-I believe they call them sulphu-
rets, though why they should, con
sidering that, so far as | can see, the
main dependence Of miner does not
80 lie, as some suppose, but in which /
it can not be successfully maintained, |
wherein the same should not contin-
ne, while part and parcel of the same
ore. vet not committed to either in
the sense referred to, whereas, under |
different circumstances, the most in
experienced among us could not de-
tect it if it were or might overlook it
if it did, or scorn the very idea of
such a thing, even though it were
palpably demonstrated as such. Am
| not right ~
| said, sorrowlullv: Il feel asham-
ed of myself, Mr.. Ward know |
ought to understand You perfectly
well. but YOU see that Internal whis-
key cocktail has got into my head, /
and now | cannot understand even
the simple proposition. | told you
how it would be-
20, don't mind it, don't mind it !
the fault was my own, no doubt
though | did think it clear enough t
for
"DJn't say word. Clear. Why, /
you stated it as clear as the sun to
anybody but an ahiect idiot. but it's
that confound cocktail that has play
ed the mischief"
NO, now don't say that. III be-
gin it all over again, and"
Don't now-for goodness sake,
don't DO anything Of the kind, be-
cause | tell you my head is in such
condition thai | don't believe /
could understand the most triiling
question a man could ask me-"
"Now, don't you be afraid. I'll