The Portland daily press., 1883-02-17
How Mark Twain Wrote "Inno-

cents Abroad"
[Ramsdells Washington Letter to Philadelphia
Press1
To my surprised found Clemens among
the boarders. He appeared glad to see me
and was certainly glad to see him. He was
not good-natured, but then he was an old
acquaintance, and that was something. 1
was modest then-as I am now-and l was
greatly interested in the quarrels between
Townsend and Twain. They were both
very aggressive and very opinionated and
neither liked to give up. I said nothing. 1
was very "green' then, and did not think I
knew as much as 1 really did. am quite
different now. So became quite intimate
with Twain, for / respected himfor his trav
els, his memory, for the dangers he had
wrought and for his droll humor. At that
time we all did our work in eur rooms, and
when one of us got tired we went to the
room of one of the others. If the other fell
low was working hard he snubbed the visi-
tor; if he was idling he welcomed him. 1t
was here became very good drinker and
very good smoker. At Twains room.
however, the visitor was always welcome,
for by nature Twain is so lazy that he will
not work if there is any excuse for loafing
He had little back room that was nov
city, a museum, a hermiFs cave, den for
wild-animal, and the wild animal was there.
In this room Clemens wrote his "Innocents
Abroad" | wish you could see it to-day in
the light of Mark Twain's present reputa-
ton and his half-million of money. | am
rather hardened now, but remember it
nlrAlx not fI.rA IL
stove was full of ashes, running over on
the zinc sheet, which was covered all over !;
the bed seemed to be unmade for a
week, the Stops had not been carried out for
a fortnight, the room was sour with tobacco
smoke, the floor, dirty enough to begin with,
was Uttered with newspapers from which
Twain had cut his letters. Then there were
hundreds of pieces of torn manuscripts
which had been written and then rejected
by the author. A dozen pipes were about
the apartment-on the wash stand, ON the
mantel, on the writing table, on the chairs
everywhere that room could be found. And
there was tobacco and tobacco everywhere.
One thing, there were no flies. The smoke
killed them, and | am now surprised the
smoke did not kill me, too. Twain would
not let servant come into his room. He
would strip down his suspenders This coat
and vest, of course, being Off and walk back
and forward in slippers in his little room
and swear and smoke the whole day
long. OF course, at times he would
work, and when he did work it was
like steam-engine at full head. / do be-
lieve that ii Clements bad not been under
contract to write for the Hartford firm his
'Innecents Abroad" he never would have
done it. OF course at that time, Townsend.
Stillson, Riley and myself never thought that
Twain's book would amount to anything,
and probably he did not think it would,
either, but he was writing for the money his
naked manuscript would bring from his
Hartford publishers. He needed that money
and SO he wrote. He is glad he did write
now, for that "Innecents Abroad written
in that little back room in Indiana avenue,
in Washington, has been the making of the
fame and fortune of Mark Twain. Whether
he smokes the same sinking old pipes;
whether he wears the same soiled UNDER
shirts; whether he heats his room with the
old uncleaned stoves; whether he swears at
his own or other peoples servants, whether
he mopes and snarls and whines-well, l
don't care. He is rich and aristocratic. He
has edited paper in Buffalo and another
in Hartford. He failed in both. Editing is
not his forte. Mining is not his forte. HUI
NOR is his forte, but will you excuse me if I
say that coarse humor should be nobodv's
forte?