The Arkansaw traveler., 1882-12-17
Mask Twain veze6. EHjladeaphia Prese.l

Mafx Ivan ve4eo-
 frAilaAsiphia Press.l
 Somebody vas asking . Hasafusa nsnn how it happened thza h1Ask Twin wsUee and pablfsked Q lifs1e noea6n1o llu writes as much as eveT,1 was 1Ae snpt6 but hiS barometer is out of og1m. cd he does nce know whae to pu11ink. Ss
 .SNh.s in ihe void does his bassne. ter have so do with his iiteszxy aesfvigyls
 His baromeaey is . unnn-ssgs9nl named Jacob, who is resnarlrahas fus 1iu de6ciene sense of humog. Yen aro = feil into tho habif of teszing ose<yohioR1 1l wrote by observing its eBecs on l1esG II Jacob listened to the rsading q 0he afti- de, jet os story with unmosud ceuine. nance, or merely smiled b pssfnncessy way, Mark was satisied and ndsenftheWan- uscri2tt to the printer. But | JaOob iaaghed outright or gave any osher indicaE3oA el genuine mesFiment, the hnmegist eouc1a- ded that the stuff was hopeless and with held 1t frum publication. He regarded Jacob as infaliible and came to lean upon his judgment.
 "About three years ago, it appears, Ja- cob learned for the first time from some outsider that his master was profession al humorist. He felt greatly konored that he should have been chosen habitu- ally to enjoy the first freshness of every new production of genius. He did noi exactly understand why he should have been thus chosen, but felt in a vague way that great humorist must need sympa- thy and appreciation, and must naturally lock for t to the fellou-being nearest al hand. He also fek that he had perhaps failed to be at all times sufficiently appre- ciative. So Jacob kept his discovery to himself as .far e his master vas con- cerned, and resolved to be as appsecia- tive in the future as anybody could de- sire.
 "One day Mark called Jacob in and read him sketch entitled The Cow and the lightning-rod man." Ia composing it Mark had fattered himself that he had struck pretty fine streak. To his amaze men, Jacob put his head back and roared. With a half-suppgessed ejaculation, Mark dashed the manuscript in the waste-papeE basket.
 Then Mark waited six weeks or two months to collect his forces (for he is never precipitaie in anything he does), and achieved a romance called Ho2 bounce the baby He summoned Jacob and watched his face with obvious anxie- ty a; he read the touching narrative. Ja- cob's mirth was painful to observe. Mark tore up the story. and then tore his hair
 1.-Two or three experiments of this sors, with unvarying results, persuaded Mari Twain that the malaria, which he has been dreading ever since 1t began to creep up the Connecticut valley, had reached him at last and destroyed his powers ol usefulness. He fell into settled melan. ancholy His friend, the Rev Mir. Twich. ell, tried in vain to cheer him up. Per. haps,' suggested Twichell, your man has really cultivated sense of humor, SC that you must no longer judge by oppo. sites.' Mark shook his head, and bor. rowed a volume oi Jonathan Edwards sermons from his friends library. He copied . long passage from the discourse on eternal punishment, and palmed it of on Jacob as his own latest effort. For the first time in history, the gloomy periods provoked peals of laughter. Jacob held his sides, and shook all over. Then he sad denly stopped, his countehance became blank, turned pale, and he incontinently fled. He had seen murder in his mas ter's eye.
 "That," said the Hartford man, in con. clusion. " is why Mark Twain does no, write. He hung his reputation as . hu- morist upon his barometer, and his ba- rometer no longer works"