The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1885-01-08
MARX TWAIN AND CABLE.
Gossip About Their Career-1Ir. Clemens
as . washington Correspondent.


Mark Twain and George w. Cable
have been reciting extracts from their
works to large audiences here this week,
writes a 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. ana
as sallow as many of the creoles whom
he portrays in his novels. he mas
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 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
$50 pounds. He has a good voice, well
trained and melodious. He artlcuIates
distinctly, and his gestures have all the
grace of a woman. Ten years ago the
world knew nothing of Cablei now he
stands in the front rank OF the An1erl-
can literati. He was at one time
merchant. then tried newspaper writing
on the New Orleans Rcayttae, and
SO DtStlu 5IlAJ SAAO CoAAI
history of New Orleans. He became
interested in the creoles, and wrote
several sketches of them for the Oc1s-
turn MAGAZINE. These attracted attens
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 Cable is small and graceful.
He has big head stuck on by q long
neck to pair of round shoulders. He
came on to tho stage as though he were
half asleep, and he looked to mo 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. Ho has
thick, bushy name of hair which is
now iron gray, and 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 O little
buzz-saw slowly grinding inside
corpse. He did not laugh while no 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
tiers to the Alta California and the New
York Tribune. He used to drink Q
good deal in those days, and was hard
" considered 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 $50, 600 off the book
and sold more than 200. 600 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 n success. He loafed around
the office, guying the office-boy, and
telling jokes and stories rather than
writing, and che only fruit Of his Buffa-
10 experience was his marriage, which,
like ''Innocents Abroad" turned ont
well. His wife brought pot of gold
into the family, and when he got to
Elmira he found that his father-in-laW
had ms a d int f,ar Of hro
stone front, and thrown in coachman
with bug on his hat. Twain did not
remain in Elmira, however, but went
to Hartford and began towrite Rough
ing IL. 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 it that he gets a royalty on
those printed in Europe. He Is better
known iii foreign lands than any other
American writer, and he is 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 billiard-room in
the attic. Like Trollope, he believes
that there is nothing like a piece of
shoemaker 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-wilT be 40 years old
on the 30th of this month. He is q
Missouri man by birth, and has taken
care of himself ever since he was Is.
He has been practical printer, q
steamboat pilot, a private secretary, a
miner, reporter. lecturer, and q
book-maker