Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-07-06

Twain Tells How Those Afflicted
with Either Can Remove Them.

With Either Can Remove Them.
find the following suggestive dere-
lict wandering about the ocean of jour
nalism:
..I'd rive "A thousand dollars" said
well-to-do New Yorker the other day,
.'to have that mark removed" and he
held out a w~ell-shaped and well-cared-
| for hand. on the back of which, be-
tween the thumb and iirst-iinger. was
tattooed "A big blue anchor. when
was Il little fool at school, with my
head full of stories OF adventure, my
highest ambition was to 90 to sea. An
old sailor who lived in the village tat
tooed about a dozen of us on tho sly,
and | remember the lies | told my
mother, as | kept my hand done up in
IA RAG, pretending | had cut it, till the
sore healed, Then she gave me such
a thrashing as broke my plan, fortu-
nately, to have a fine red and blue heart
done on the back of the other. The
disagreement had caused me no end Of
annoyance since and has cost me con-
siderable money for gloves, which l
always wear, winter and summer,
though | detest them in warm weather.
bNb AZ llldh thu "CaA SioFNo ~ WV
table. and often at restaurants | catch
people staring at my hand and | Won
der if they think 1 have served my
term in the fo'-castle of some oyster
scow or lumber schooner"
A tattoo mark is easily removed.
May i drop into personal history? says
Mark Twain in a lecture IL the New
York San. When | was q small boy ]
had my share of warts. tried in turn
the 36S ways of removing them, but
without results; indeed, | seemed to
be getting wartier and wartier right
along. But at last somebody revealed
to me the 369th way, and | tried it.
Thus: drove a needle down into the
basement of the wart; then held the
other end Of the needle in the flame OF
a candle some little time; the needle
became red hot throughout its length,
and proceeded to cook the wart. Pres
entity | drew the needle out; if it had
white atoms like nits sticking about
its points tho wart was done; if the
point was clear, | drove it in again
and cooked till | got those white
things. They were the roots of the
wart. Twenty-four hours later tho
wart would be become soft and tlabby,
and | removed il with a single wipe OF
my hand. Where il had been was q
smooth surface now, which quickly
healed, and left no scar. Within tive
days | was wartless, and have SO re
manned unto this day.
Well, a long time afterward, when
was 10 years old. a sailor tattooed al
anchor and rope on the back of my
lcfs hand with India lux. The colo.
was "A deep, dark blue, and eXtrava
gantly conspicuous. | was proud o
1t for awhile, but by the time | haC
worn it nine years | was tired of i
and ashamed of it. | could ind no
body who could tell me how to get ric
of it, but at last my wart eXperienc,
of near half a generation before oc
Cured to me, and | got mi severa
; uro]err fe %iccufcs along Jusu 'rmuer tn
surface OF the skin and tolerably clos
together and made them include tin
. whole tattoo mark; then I fired up O
? them and cooked that device thorough
Iy. Next day | wiped the device OF
with my hand. The place quickl
healed and left no Sea A faint bluis
!. tinge remained, and | was minded t.
/ begin again and cook that out; but a
it was hardly detachable and not nc
l ticeable, it did not seem worth the fueI
4 and so left il there, and there it i
yet, though suppose | am the onl,
member OF my tribe that knows it.
,, was in London a good many year
ago, when the Tichborne claimant
case was being tried, and a batch O
learned experts testified that an InH
; ink tattoo mark could % be removed
but | was lot asked to testify, and S,
those people don't know any bette
, to this day. Let the .'well-to-do New
Yorker fetch mo some needles and
Z candle and name his bet. l will tax
|, him up.