Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1892-08-14
MuNIlL DELIBERATELY.
A Strange Experience Related by
Mark Twain.
He and - Friend Three Thousand Miles
Away Arc Possessed OF I:Iactiy
tho Same Idon Mt the
Sauna limo.

So AAnA ~ - -'eNSASs vi .
years ago was lying in bed. idly IL
ing, one morning-it was the I'd OF
Mnrch-whcn suddenly n red-hot new
Idea came histling down into my camp,
und exploded with such comprehensive
effectiveness as to sweep the vicinity
clean OF rubbishy reflections and fill the
mir with their dust and flying fragments.
This idea, stated i'll simple phrase, was.
hat the time was ripe and the market
ready for n certain book; u book which
oryht to be written ~ once; n book
which must command attention and be
OF peculiar iutcrcst-to-wtt: n book
abJut the Nevada silver mines. The
'TT"at Bonanza'' was q new wonder
then, and everybody was talking about
IL. IT sccmcd to me that the person
bcst qualified to write this book Was
William II. Wright, IL journalist Of Vir-
ginia. New, by whose side l had
scribbled many months when 1
vas reporter there ten or
twelve years before. He might I've
alive stilI-he might be dead; l could
not tell, but would write him, anyway.
I began 10y merely and modestly sug-
geStinG that he make such n book, but
~ "AA1iNp 6AN" ~ 4 = phs III 4
vcnturcd to nap out what | 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 suggested tie
order and sequence which they should
follow. | was about to- put the manu-
script i'll an envelope. when the thought
occurred to me that if his book should
be written 1T my suggestion, and then
no publisher happen to want it, | should
feel uncomfortable; so ! concluded to
keep my letter back until I should have
secured n publisher. ] pigeon-holed my
document and dropped a note to my
W publisher, asking him to name a
day for IA business consultation. lie
was out of town ON a far journey. My
note remained unanswered, and at the
emil 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, and among them Il
thick n whose SuPcrscription was i'll q
hand which seemed dimly familiar to
me. ] could not place" it at first, but
presently | succeeded. Then | said To u
visiting relative who was present:
''Now 1 will do a miracle. / will tell
you everything this letter confirms
date, signature, and all-without
breaking the seal. It is from n Mr..
Wright, of Virginia, New, and is dated
the I'd of M~arch-scven days ngo. Mr..
Wright proposes TO make q book about
fie silver mines and the Great Bonnn-
IN, and asks what /, as n friend, think
OF the id Y. lie says his subjects arc
TO be 30 aud so. their order and sequence
So and so, and he will close with IA his
tory Of the chief feature OF the book,
the Great Bonanza"
j opened the letter md showed that
l had stated the date and the contents
correctly. Mr.. WriSht's letter. simply
contained what my W letter, written
on the same date, contained. and mine
still lay in the p~igcon-holc, where it had
been lying during the seven days since
1T wa written. There was no clair
voyance about this, II | rightly COM
prchend what clairvoyance is. ] think
the clnirvoyant Processes actually to
see concealed writing and read it word
for word. This was not my case. I
only seemed to know, and to know ali.
solutcly, the contents OF the letter in
detail and due order, but ! had to word
them myself. translated them, so to
speak, out OF Wright's language into my
own. Wright's letter and the one | had
written to him, but never sent, were in
substance the same.
Necessarily this could not come by
accident; 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. I
could no doubt-thcrc wus no tcnable
reason for dOubtinc-thnt Mr.. Wrights
mind and mine had been in close and
crystal-clear communication with each
other across three Thousand miles OF
mountain and desert on the morning OF
the ed OF March. I did not consider
That both minds originated that she.
ccSSinn OF IDEAS, but that one man orig.
mated them, and simply tclcgrapllcd
thcm To tho other. ] was curious to
KNOW which brain WAS the tclcgraphcr
lid winch the receiver, so | wrote
ahd asked for particulars. Mr..
Wrights reply showed hat his mind
had lone the originating and telegraph.
ing and mine the receiving. Mark
that significant thing now; consider for
q ONE how many Il splendid "orig.
inai' idea has been uncousciougIy
stolen from n innn three Thousand miles
away. II ono should question that this
Is so let him look into the cyclopedia
mud con once more that curious thing
In the history Of inventions which has
puzzled every one 80 inuch-tiiat is, the
frequency with which the same mn.
chine or other contrivnncc has been i'm
vented Mt the same time by several per.
A,..4 Il, ali n.,s.oE,N