The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-02-06
MARK TWAIN AND CABLE.
Gossip About Their Csroer-A1r. Clemens
~ . Washington CoErsspondsut.

- Woo0kA1w W. 0OfkYDRO9A00Uts
Marx Twain and George w. Gable
have been reciting extracts from their
works 70 large audiences here this week,
writes Warrington correspondent Of
the Cleveland Leader. The two men
are as different ~ the poles, and both
are surprises.
George W. Gable Is under medium
height, very straight, very slender. and
as sall0w a. many Of the creoles whom
he portrays In his novels. He has q
face rather efeminate than manly, and
his beard Of silky black and his long
mustache twisted with It's ends hanging
down below his chm and making bow
over his mouth, carries out this Illusion.
His nose IL straight snd small, his eyes
forshssd Medium "a Ssif /. the ana oo n,s
Of Jet, and as glossy % Oiled, ebony.
he does not weigh, should say, over
lS0 pounds He has y good voice, well
trained and melodiots. He articulates
distinctly, and bis gestures have all the
grace OF Q woman. Ten years ago the
world knew nothing Of Gable; now be
stands In the front rank of the Ameri-
can Hterati. He was at one time O
merchant, then tried newspaper writing
ION the New Orleans Rcayune, 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 Magazine. 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 lie an accomplished now
elist and has made reputation which
will last.
Mark Twain is just as big and awk-
ward as Cable 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 pntting 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 overhaDgs his characteristic
mouth. AS he stood on the stage he
reminded me much Of q mammoth in
terrogation point, and as he drawled
out his words with scarcely a gesture
his voice made me think of little
buzz-saw slowly grinding inside
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 mnstache.
Still he could not help being satisfied,
and l 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
1t is not generally known. Mark Twain
was once Washington correspondent.
He came here from the West with Sem
ator Stewart and for a time wrote let
ters 10 the Alta California and the New
York Tribune. He used to drink q
good deal In those days, and was hard
ly considered reputable character. It
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 IL. and he was
about giving up In despair when Hart
ford company took hold OF 1t. The re-
suit was they made $4,000 of the book
and sold more than 200, 900 copies of 1t.
II was after this that Mark Twain tried
editing the Buffalo cypress. 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 office-boy. and
teinhng jokes and stories rather than
writing, and the Galy fruit Of his Buffa-
10 experience was his marriage: which,
like 'Innocents Abroad" turned" on.
we'll. His wife brough pot of gold
into the family, aud When he got to
Elmira be found that his .father-in.law
had made him the present Of brown
stone front, and thrown In coschman
with bug on his hat. Twain did not
remain in Elrnira. 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 in
the country. He has his Hartford firm
publish his books for him, and he so
arranges 1t that he gets a royalty on
those printed In Europe. He is better
known In foreign lands than any other
American writer. and he 10 an interna-
tional character Many of his scenes
are taken from real life, and his descrip-
tons Of travel are In the main true.
He is hard worker, and while at Hart
ford he writes in his bilIiard.room in
the attic. Like Trollope, he believes
that there Is nothing like a piece Of
shoe maker's wax on the seat of ones
chair to turn out good literary work,
and, like Blaine, he has fixed amount
of writing for each days duty, He re-
writes many of his chapters. and some
OF them have been scratched out and
interlined again and again. Mr.. Glenn
ens-everyone knows Mark Twain's
name Is Clemens-will be 40 years old
on the 30th of this month. He is
Missouri man by birth. and has taken
care Of himself ever since he was Is.
He has been practical printer,
pilot, private secretary, a
miner, a reporter, n lecturer. and
book-maker.
One Kind OF Christianity.