The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-09-06

YSeVS3Os0ss - WDsC4S ~ OSsSsVOOAy 80
pitiably MANNED the reason Il the
whole 1oath, It does net appear In
his books, where there's not IN M
generous line, but always, On the
6ontEaIy, . burning resentment Of all
manner Of cruelty and Wron9.
The father, IN auste5eand angular
y upright msn, died bankrupt Whee
Clemens was twelve yeas old, and
the boy had thereafter to make what
scramble he could for IN education.
He got very LITTLE learning In school,
and like % many other Americans
In whom the literary impulse b M
tive, he turned to the local printing
ONCE for some Of the sdvantages from
which be Was Otherwiye cut 0lk. Ger
tain records Of the three yea1 spent
In Hannibal Courier Office are 70 be
found in Mark Twain's book Of
sketches; but believe there b no his
tory yet anywhere Of the wander
.j1kre, In which he followed the life
Of . jour-pr: nter, from town to town,
and ifosn city TO city, penetrating
even % fa1 into the vague and fA6led
East - Philndelphia and New York.
He returned to his own country
hh 120krja-sated, II not satisfied,
wits tsavel, and 1t seventeen he re-
solved to Learn the river from st.
Louis tn New Orleans - u steamboat
pilot. OF this pc. i0d Of his life he has
given . full account in the delightful
series Of papers, "Piloting on the
Aississipp,," which he printed seven
years ago In the atlantic Aoathly.
The growth Of the railroads and the
outbreak 0f the Civil War put IN end
to profitable plotting, and 1T twenty
four he was again open to vocation.
He listened for . moment to the loud
u calling drum Of that time, and he
was actually In camp for three weeks
on the rebel side; cut the unorgan-
lied force to which he belonged WIS
disbanded, and he finally did not go
with his section" either in sentiment
or In fact. His brother having been
appointed Lieutenant Governor Of
Nevada Territory, Mr.. Clemens went
oIt with him ~ his private secretary:
but he soon resigned his ONCE and
withdrew b the mines. He failed
% . miner, In the ordinary sense; but
the lie Il . mining camp yielded
him the wealth that the pockets OF
the mountain denied; he had the
didss-touch, without knowing 1t,
AMI ~: .!.r. .:vu:csIle experiences
have sii,..e tu,ned to gold under his
hand. After his failure ~ . miner
had become evident even to himself
he was glad to take the place Of local
editor on the Virginia City Enter.
prise, . newspaper for which he had
amused himself in writing from time
to time. He had written for the news
papers before this; few Americans e.
cape that fate; and - IN apprentices
In the Hannibal Courier Office his
hu,nof had embroilesl some Of the
leadi.lg citizens, and impaired the
fo, tunes OF that journal by the allen
alton Of several delinquent sutscri.
bes.
But It was in the Enterprise that
he first used his pseud0nym Of MARK
TWAIN" which he borrowed from
the verna cusar Of the river, where
the man heavings the lead calls out
MARK twain!" instead cf "Mark
two!" In 1864, he accepted, on the
San FranciscO Morning. CAL, the
same sort Of place which lie had held
on the Eatcrlvisc, aad he s>'on made
his nom tic gue1rc familiar '0n the
coust;" he not only wrote "I0cs!
items" in the Gu, but he printed
humorous sketches I'm various period
icals, and, two years later he was
sent 10 the Sand y ich Islands a. cur
respondent Of Sacramento paper.
4
In 1867, Mr.. Clemens made In the
Quaker City the excursion to Europe
and the East which he has cs,inIilein-
GRATED In 1.-The InnOcents Abroad" "
Shortly after lis return he married,
and placed himself at Buffalo, where
he bought nm intere=t in one Of the
city newspapers; later he came t"
Hartford, where he has since remain
ed, except In the two years spent In
scceud visit to Europe.