The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-02-25
beautifully distinct. 1t Is . portion OF =
manuscript on the study of history

manuscript on the study of history
Mr.. Clemens, as he sits in his library,
presents q unique figure which would
attraet attention anywhere. He is not q
| tall man, though upon the platform he
looks so. He grows leaney as be grows
older, and aging he undeniaoly is with
his tossing name Of iron gray hair, his
gray mustachs verging upon white, his
scanned cheeks and heavy gray eyebrows
curling upward at the ends. His rheuma-
! tism Is probably due TO his early hard
ships and exposures. Certainly il is a
serious matter with him now, and for two
! years-so it is planned-his winter home
! in Hartford and his summer home in
| Elmira, and the cottage at Onteora,
where be lived last summer In inspiring
propinquity to John Burroughs, will
know him no more.
The mental habits Of ths'm.n are .
| perpetual surprise to one who has only
{ thought OF him as the prince Of humorists.
In conversation he is direct, foroible, en-
patio. The convulsing drawl with which he
tells funny story on the platform or in
an after-dinner speech, vanishes entirely
IN the energetic talk of the man of bust
ness when he is in earnest. That he is a
good man Of business his ample fortune
proves. He has made it fairly by the
earnings Of his books and increased it by
publishing them and others. 1t is, OF
course, known that Mr. Clemens is the
principal member OF the firm of Charles
l. Webster & Co. AS a matter Of fact
there is no Webster at all. The manag-
ing partner is named Hale, and these two
comprise the firm. The firm has made a
succession of hits with General Grants
book, the Stedman- Hutchinson work on
American literature, Mr.. Clemens ewn
books, and others, showing preference for
big undertakings Involving heavy out
lay.
intellectually, Mr. Clemens leans to
anything rather than the study of humor.
He is an accomplished Shakespearian
scholar, was the leading spirit OF the
Browning students at Onteora, can read
Dante IN the original, and thinks, as do,
that Emerson is the greatest of American
poets. The historical knowledge, liter
airy skill and earnest purpose shown in
his recent work prove him much more
than a mere funny man. He has ripensd
into a wholesome satirist.
When Mr.. Clemens married girl who
had a comfortable fortune Of her own,
some possibly envious fellow humorist
said that Mark had probably besn at
tracted as much by her ''fguren as by
her face, and this Is said to be the only
joke which ever stirred Mr. Clemens
wrath. Mrs. Clemens was a resident of
Elmira, where now stands the summer
home Of the family, with the famous
writing room away from the houss, built
In exact imitation of the wheelhousa of 3
Mississippi steamboat. In this wheel
house, like Daudet's tower, some of thu
writer's best work has been turned out,
for he does not devote the summer to
rest, but drives his task the harder when
the thermometer rises In its tube.
The Elmira girl of twenty years ago
has grown into one Of the most charming
of American women. Mrs. Clemens is OF
the brown haired type, which is not at all
blonde, not quite brunette and altogether
American She is ready In conversation
and a charming hotess, alert and inter
ested in things literary, and her forty
years sit lightly upon her
or Marx TwaIn's first child also story
is told 1t Is that, as be sat handling |
the baby on his knee, some ono asked /
him whether he loved the child
~ don't know that I exactly love f."
the humorist drawled, ''but l respect f." !
The lady who won Marx Tawin's respect 4
at such an early sgs, and has presumably /
regained it since, is Miss Susie Clemens /
She is ~, an age which few women OBJ 1
ject 70 having revealed Her sister Clara 4
is 10 and Jean Is about 10. There are no /
boys. The girls rcsembls their mother 4
rather than their father, brown haired 4
and OF medium height.
1t is particularly on the girls account
that ths Clemens family is in Florence
instead Of on TIE Rivisra, which you'd /
do as well for the rh=unatism. Their
education is one Of the objects OF the two
years absence from hone. They are sc-
linguists, reading and speak
ing several languages To perfect their
Italian, take dip in music and reveal IN
tee treasures Of Flore1tjne art, they have
made OF the villa Tiv.ari an American
home
Next summer the family viii tour
nurthward in Italy 70 avoid the hea. Of
Central Italy. Winter vii! fad them IA
Florenos again, and the coming OF 1884
viii fnd them thinking Ebous coming
home. Ard hope their thinking won't
be Of tbs Co!eridgs typs-'-to-De
ard to-morrow, AID to-marrow