The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1885-01-08
MARK TWAIN AND CABLE.
Gossip About Their Career-Mr. Clemens
rs a Washington Correspondent.

Gossip About Their Career-Mr. Clemen,
rs Washington Correspondent.
Mark Twain and George w. Gable
have been reciting extracts from theiI
works to large audiences here this week,
writes Washington correspondent OF
the Cleveland Leader. The two men
are as different as the poles, and both
are surprises.
George w. Cable is under medium
height, very straight, very slender, and
he portrays in his novels. He has a
face rather effeminate than manly, and
his beard of silky black and his long
mustache twisted with its ends hanging
down below his chm and making a bow
over his mouth, carries out this illusion.
His nose is straight and small, his eyes
bright, black, and piercing, and his
forehead medium. His harris the color
Of jet, and as glossy as oiled ebony.
He does not weigh, should say, over
130 pounds. He has a good voice, well
trained and melodious. He articulates
distinctly, and his gestures have all the
grace of i woman. Ten years ago the
world knew nothing of Cable; now he
stands in the front rank of the Ameri-
can literati. He was at one time a
merchant, then tried newspaper writing
on the New Orleans PcaV1ne, and
while doing so began to study the early
history of New Orleans. He became
interested in the creoles, and wrote
several sketches of them for the Cen
tury Magaztfae. These attracted atten-
ton, and he found the field upon which
he had entered one worth developing.
In the carrying out of his idea he has
shown that he is an accomplished nov
elist and has made a reputation which
will last
Mark Twain is just as big and awk-
ward as Gable is small and graceful
He has big head stuck on by long
neck to pair of round shoulders. He
came on to the stage as though he were
half asleep, and he looked to me as
though nature, in putting him together,
had, somehow, gotten the Joints mixed
He has big face, nose large enough
to represent any kind of genius, and
eyes large, black, and sleepy. He has
a thick, bushy name of hair which is
now iron gray, and a bushy mustache
which overhangs his characteristic
mouth. AS he stood on the stage he
reminded me much of a mammoth in
terrogation point, and as he drawled
out his words with scarcely a gesture
his voice made me think of a little
buzz-saw slowly grinding inside a
corpse. He did not laugh while he ut
tered his funniest jokes, and when the
audience roared he merely stroked his
chin or pulled his mustache.
Still he could not help being satisfied.
and do not doubt the contrast of his
first days IN Washington, when he
came here years ago and had hard work
making money enough to pay his board
bills, came forcibly before him. Though
it is not generally known, Mark Twain
was once Washington correspondent
He came here from the West with SEN
ator Stewart and for time wrote let
York Tribune. He useu TO dim q q
good deal in those days, and was hard
" considered a reputable character. 1t
was shortly before this that he made
the trip from which he wrote limo
cents Abroad" and this book he wrote
here from the notes he took during his
tour. The book made him both fam
Gus and wealthy. His manuscript he
first sent to several prominent publish
ers, but they all rejected it, and he was
about giving up in despair when Hart
ford company took hold of it. The re-
suit was they made $75, 200 off the book
and sold more than 100000 copies of it.
1t was after this that Mark Twain tried
editing the Buffalo Express. A man
who worked on the paper at the time
told me to-day that this venture of his
was not a success. He loafed around
the office, guying the ofiice-boy, and
telling Jokes and stories rather than
writing, and the only fruit of his Buffa-
10 experience was his marriage, which,
like :sInnocents Abroad" turned out
well. His wife brought pot of gold
into the family, and when he got to
Elmira he found that his father-in-law
had made him the present of brown.
stone trout, and thrown in coachman
with bug on his hat. Twain did not
remain in Elmira, however, but went
to Hartford and began to write Rough
ing IT, This was also successful and
established his fame.
Mark Twain probably makes as much
out of his books as any other writer II
the country. He has his Hartford firm
| publish his books for him, and he Sc
arranges it that he gets a royalty OF
those printed in Europe. He is bettel
known in foreign lands than any othel
American writer, and he is an interna
tional character. Many of his scene:
are taken from real life, and his descrip
tions of travel are in the main true
| He is a hard worker, and while at Hart
ford he writes in his billiard-room il
the attic. Like Trollope, he believe:
that there is nothing like a piece o
shoe aker's wax on the seat of one!
chair to turn out good literary work
and, like Blaine, he has fixed amour
of writing for each days duty. He re
writes many of his chapters, and som'
of them have been scratched out ant
interlined again and again. MIR. Glenn
ens-everyone knows Mark Twain
name is Clemens-will be 49 years OLE
on the 30th of this month. He is
Missouri man by birth, and has takel
! care Of himself ever since he was Is
He has been practical printer,
steamboat pilot, private secretary,
miner, reporter, a lecturer, and
| Eor