, 1884-06-08
AFTER MARK TWAIN.
The April Fool Applications Mado
for tho Humorist's Autograph.
George w. Cable. the Novelist. SnId
To BE the sugGestCr of the
Job---EXtracts from
Letters.


The sensation of the day is tho April Fool
joke put up on Mark Twain by his friend,
George W. Gable, the novelist, who arranged
with $50 of the leading authors, stage poo
pie, ard notables to leave their letters, ask
ing the great humorist for his autograph,
until April |. Twain was ovcrTun with the
letters, and they have not ceased to come.
He takes the joke practically, and proposes
to send the signatures to the requests to Bar
mum to be exhibited in his show. a few OK
tracts from n few of the letters are appended:
John Hay wants Mark Twain to take n
leisure hour or two and copy FOR him II few
hundred lines of "Young's Night Thoughts"
and an equal amount of that other dry poem
known as Pollok's course of Time" Col.
Hay closes his letter by rcmarking that he
wants his boy to form n taste for serious and
elevated poetry, and that the quotations
suggested would be of considerable CONNER
cial value if in the handwriting of the great
humorist.
Clara Louise Kellogg sends a dainty note
asking for an autograph, and Clara'3 mother
writes that She is suffering for one. Henry
Irving sends n typical letter from the Brc-
WORT house, saying that the possession Of an
autograph Of Twain is II matter of life and
death with him, while Ellen Tcrry's npplica-
ton is brief and to the point. Napoleon
Sarony writes over the dash of the pen that
he calls his trades mark for an autograph.
Modjesia drops into "reminiscences. She be
gins her application in English and winds up
i'll Polish. Edmund Clarence Stedman's let
ter is a good take-off on the average school
girl who fills in her time in writing to noted
people for their autographs. Mr.. Steiman
not only wants n sentiment in his handwrit.
ing, but n few pages from "Roughing It," tho
"Princes Abroad or "Tho Innocents and
Pnuper." Boyesen writes from Columbia
college, and as an inducement mentions
that the autograph, if Forthcoming,
would have the companionship of the sig
natures of Noah, Dante, William Tweed,
Martin Luther, John Kelly, Copernicus,
and other worthless. Daniel Frohman offers
TO dramatic and adopt an autograph for
the stage. Bunner, of Puck, wants an auto
graph for his 2-weeks- old granddaughter,
adding: THE little innocent abroad in this
strange world of ours will value your gift
when she is old enough to appreciate it
Joe Howard, Jr., recalls meeting Mr..
Clemens twenty-four years ago, in front of
the New York city hall, and then makes an
appeal for the autograph. Thomas w, Knox
has n royal commission from the king of
Siam for autographs for the kings 2jS chill
dren, and suggests that the order had better
be filed for 800, as the kings family is in
creasing. Stephen Fiske wants Il Mark
Twain autograph for u friend who is
going abroad, who wishes to take it
along as a mascot, and Mrs. Fiske So
licits l5O for n church fair booth. Mr.. Whit
ing, of The Springfield Republican, wants
Mark Twain to let him know by mil
whether the latter had any traditional
ground for the story of Edward WIS inter
change of identity with a boy of the slumS
Lawrence Hutton wants to complete his col.
lection of manuscripts by adding the original
of Mr.. Clemens latest and most charnii-
work, Jean" As Jean is the youngest
child in Twain household, she will probably
not be forwarded.
Henry Ward Beecher mentions that he IS a
curmudgeon about answering autograph let
tiers. He wants two from Twain, however,
one Of the real name and one of tho
pseudonym. {. c. Buel, of The Century
Magazine, wants a humorous article for pub
LEGATION with Clemens signature attached to
every paragraph, so that the COPY could DO
sold. K. W. Johnson, of The Century. want,
All autograph for a lame boy, whose mother
has interested him in things spiritual by on
couraging him to make an autograph cp!lcc-
ton, to be rallied for at n fair, the Irorrg-I,
to go to the society for the suppression uG
the TOW pistol. c. y. Beach, of Bridgeport.
bases his claim for an autograph on an tx
change of linen busters by mistake at l'ough-
keepSie a few years ago. NJ. S. Beach, wit
ing from Brooklyn, alludcs to the prominence
Mr.. Clemens has acquired through his rein
tions with Capt. Duncan. Col. Fa.rcLill J., Of
Boston, wants a signature for an uncle. HJr-
ace E. Scudder, of Boston, wants something
"A Photograph, he thinks.
j. Hyatt Smith, of Brooklyn, WANTS MARI
Twain to notify him by mail if he objects to
sending his autograph. 4. b. Aldrict
wants the autograph because it would he
that of the maj who wrote Gabriel Conroy.r
Henry Peters, of New York, wires N.r.
Clemens for two carloads of his heaviest
waterproof autographs. BlooIgood II. Cut
ter, the Long Island farncr-poet, makes lis
request in poor rhyme, and Henry T. Gilli-,
of the American exchange in Europe, tile
graphs to have Mr. Clemens be surc 10 save
HIM n signature. a University club writer
wants to secure enough of Clemens auto
graphs to start out seven daughters rs ant
graph fends. One Of the best Of the lot say,
its writer wants Mark Twain's signature TO
put in a cornerstone. Another applicant
lauds Mr.. Clemens as the author Of TIL.
Bread Winners" The applications OF Julian
Hawthorne, Charles Dudley Warner, aud
George p. Lathrop are included in tine dclugt.