The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-09-03

Mark Twain's Romantic Courtship ans
Marriage.

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Marriage.
In 1869, Twain tried journalism for
time in Buffalo, where he held On ed
itorial position on daily paper. While
there he fell in love with young lady,
O sister of Dam made famous in
"Innocents Abroad but her father, q
gentleman of wealth and position,
looked unfavorably upon his daughters
alliance with Bohemian literary char
acter.
IL like you," he said to Mark, "but
what do know of your antecedents?
Who is there to answer for you any
how?"
After rejecting for few moments,
Mark thought some Of his old Califor-
mia friends would speak good word
for him. The prospective father in
law wrote several letters of inquiry to
several residents of San Francisco, to
whom Clemens referred him. and, with
one exception, the letters denounced
him bitterly, especially deriding his ca
pacity for becoming good husband.
Mark sat beside his fiance when the
letters were read aloud by the old gen.
tleman. There was dreadful silence
for q moment, and then Mark STAN
mered; well, that's pretty rough on
fellow, anyhow"
His betrothed came TO his rescue,
however, and overturned the mass of
testimony against him by saying, "Pll
risk you, anyhow"
The terrible father-in-law lived in
Elmira, New York, and there Mark was
married. He had told his friends in
the newspaper office at Buffalo, to Sc
lect him suit of rooms in q first-class
boarding house in the city, and to have
a carriage at the depot to meet the
bride and groom. Mark knew they
would do it, and gave himself no more
anxiety about it. When he reached
Buffalo he found handsome carriage,
q beautiful span of horses, and driver
in livery. They drove him up to q
handsome house on an aristocratic
street, and as the door was opened,
there were the parents of the bride to
welcome them home. The old folks
had arrived on the quiet by special
train. After Mark had gone through
the house and examined its elegant
finishings, he was notified officially, that
he had been driven by his own coach
man, in his own carriage, to his own
house. They say tears came to his
wonderfully dark and piercing eyes,
and all that he could say was, well,
this is frst-class swindle."
Not long after his marriage Mark
settled down in Hartford, and invested
capital in insurance companies there.
The Clemens mansion in Hartford is
a model of architectural beauty, and is
elegantly finished IN the interior. In
the library, over the Fireplace, is q
brass plate with the inscription in old
English text: "The ornament of q
house is the friends who frequent it."
Mark does not use the library for his
study, but does nearly all his writing
in the billiard room at the top of the
house. 1t is long room, with sloping
sides, light and airy, and very quiet. In
this room Mark writes on plain table,
with his reference books lying scattered
about him. He makes it an invariable
rule to do certain amount of literary
work every day, and his working hours
are made continuous by his not taking
midday meal. He destroys much
manuscript, and it is said he rewrote
800 pages of one of his popular books.
Mark is an Industrious worker, and
continues his labors the year round.
In summer he retreats to his villa on
the Hudson, or to q cottage in the
mountains near Elmira, New York.
There he finds the most quiet solitude,
and there he works undisturbed. Mark
is fond of his wife, and of his three
beautiful children. He has achieved a
notable success as a lecturer, both in
this country and in England-FamoIs
Fu'l71p FelloDS.