St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-26
MENTAL TELEGRAPHY.
Mark Twain Tells ofan Occurrence
Hard to Explain.


Hard to Explain.
Harper's Magazine.
Now / come to the oldest thing that
ever happened to me. Two or three
years ago was lying in bed, Idly mus
ing one morning-it was the 2d of March
when suddenly a red-hot idea came
whistling down into my camp, and eX-
ploded with such comprehensive eff
fectiveness as to sweep the vicinity
clean of rubbishy reflections. and fill
the air with their dust and flying frag
mentS.
This idea, stated III simple phrase.
was that the time was ripe and the
market ready fer certain book; book
which ought to be written at once: q
book which must command attention
and be of peculiar interest-to wit,
book about the Nevada silver mines.
The Great Bonanza was new won
der then, and everybody was talking
about it, 1t seemed to me that the per-
son best qualified to write this book was
William ii. Wright, Il journalist of Vir-
gina, New, by whose side L had Scrlb-
bled many months when L was a re-
porter there, ten or twelve years ago.
lie might be alive still: he might be
dead; | could not tell; hut would write
him anyway. [ began by merely and
mOdestlv suggesting that he make such
a book: but my interest grew as | went
OH, and | ventured to map out what l
thought ought to be the plan of the
work, he being an old friend, and not
given to taking good intentions for i'll.
even dealt with details, and sug-
geSted the order and sequence which
they should follow. | was about to put
the manuscript in an envelope, when
the thought occurred to me that if his
book should be written at my SuggeS-
ton. and then no publisher happened
to want it. | should feel mfOrtable;
so concluded to keep my letter back
until | should have secured publisher.
l pigeOn-boled my document and
dropped a note to my own publisher.
asking him to name day for a business
consultation. He was out of town on
far journey. My note remained un-
answered, and at the end of three or
four days the whole matter had passed
out of my mind.
On the 9th of March the postman
brought three or four letters. ana among
them thick one whose superscriptiOn
was III hand which seemed dimly
familiar to me. | could not "Dlace" it
at first, but presently j succeeded.
Then ] said to visiting relative who
was present:
Now | will do a miracle. | will tell
you everything this letter contains
date, signature and all-withOut break
ing the seal. 1t is from a Mr.. Wright.
Of Virginia, New, and is dated the I'd
of March-seven days ago.
''Mr. Wright proposes to make book
about the silver mines and the Great
Bonanza, and asks what |. as a friend
think OF the idea.
lie says his subjects are to be so and
so, their order and sequence 20 and so,
and he will close with history of the
chief feature of the book, the Great b.
nanZa."
Iopened the letter and showed that l
had stated the date and contents cor
rectly. Mr.. Wright'S letter simply con-
tanned what my own letter, written on
the same date, contained, and mine still
lay in its pigeon hole, where it had heen
lying during the seven days since it was
written.
There was no clairvoyance about this.
If | rightly comprehend what cairvOy-
ance is. think the clarvOyant pro-
feSseS actually to see concealed writing
and read it off word for word.
This was not my case. / only seemed
to know, and to know absolutely, the
contents of the letter in detail and due
i translated them, so to speak, out of
Wright's language into my own.
Wrlght's letter and the one which L
had written to him, but never sent,
were substantially the same.
Necessarily this could not come by &C
cident; such elaborate accidents can
not happen. Chance might have dupli-
Gated one or two of the details, but she
would have broken down on the rest.
| could not dOubt-there was no ten
able reason for doubling - that Mr..
Wright's mind and mine had been in
close and crystal-clear communication
with each other across 5000 miles of
mountain and desert OH the morning of
March 2. | did not consider that both
minds originated that succession of
ideas. but that one man originated
them and simply telegraphed them to
the other.
| was curious to know which brain
was the telegrapher and which the re-
ceiver, so | wrote and asked for par
ticulars. Mr.. Wright's reply showed
that his mind had done the originating
and telegraphihg and mine the receiv-
ing.
Mark that significant thing now, con
slider for moment how many splendid
"Original'' idea has been unconSciously
stolen from man 3,0c0 miles away,
If one should question that this is so.
let him look into the encyclopedia, and
con once more that curious thing IN
the history of inventions. which has
puzzled every one so much-that is, the
frequency with which the same machine
or other cOntrivance has been invented
at the same time by several persons IN
different quarters of the globe.